Meet Mark Hertling

Lieutenant General (Retired) Mark Hertling served thirty-eight years in the US Army as a tanker and cavalryman, serving at every level from tank platoon leader on the East-West German border to commander of the US Army, Europe (USAREUR) and the Seventh Army. Mark served a total of thirty-eight months in combat in multiple roles: as a major in a cavalry squadron during Desert Storm; as an assistant division commander in the 1st Armored Division in Baghdad in 2003–2004; and later as the commander of the 1st Armored Division, Multinational Division North, and Task Force Iron in Northern Iraq in 2007–2008 during the surge. Later, during his time as commander of USAREUR, Mark prepared units for assignments to Iraq and Afghanistan and was heavily engaged in theater security cooperation activities with the fifty-one countries in Europe and the Levant. During his time in command of USAREUR, he contributed to the transformation of the armies of Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Poland, and several other countries.

After retiring from the army, Mark became a senior vice president for a major health care organization in Orlando from 2013 to 2018. While there, he also designed and executed an award-winning health care leadership course in which he trained over 1,400 physicians, nurses, and administrators at several health care organizations. He is the author of the book Growing Physician Leaders, which was an Amazon bestseller in the health care genre. Mark was appointed to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition by President Obama in 2014. In 2021, he was appointed by President Biden to be a commissioner of the American Battle Monuments Commission, where he served as chairman until 2023. Mark was an adjunct scholar at West Point’s Modern War Institute, was a member of the Dean’s Alliance at Indiana University’s School of Public Health, and is a professor of practice in strategic leadership at the Crummer School of Business at Rollins College. He is an active public speaker on leadership, national security issues, and health care.

From 2014 to 2024, Mark appeared as a military and national security analyst for CNN/CNN International. Today, he is a freelance analyst and writes extensively on national security and leadership for a variety of media outlets. His book If I Don’t Return will be released in 2026, offering further reflections of life and service based on a journal he wrote to his young sons during Desert Storm.

A graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, Mark holds master’s degrees from Indiana University, the School of Advanced Military Studies, and the National War College. In 2019, he earned a doctor of business administration from the Crummer Graduate School of Business, defending a mixed-methods research study on leadership.  

Mark is married to his best friend, Sue. They have two sons, five grandsons, and two granddaughters.  

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