FD On the Hill

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Bennett has an Army career spanning 26 years with 19 in active federal service.  He enlisted into the Massachusetts Army National Guard immediately upon finishing high school and was later commissioned as an aviation officer graduating from the Initial Entry Rotary Wing Course (UH-60 Track) at Fort Rucker, AL as a Distinguished Military Graduate.  He deployed from March of 2007 through May of 2008 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and later served as a Tactical Information Operations Planner before selection into the Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) Program in 2011.  Upon his transition to AGR, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett was assigned as the Chief of Casualty Operations and Military Funeral Honors, G-1 followed by as Chief of AGR Management Branch, Human Resources Directorate. 

In 2013, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett was assigned to the Recruiting and Retention Battalion (RRB) as Commander of Company A and later Company B for a period of 3 years.  Upon completion of his assignment to the RRB, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett was assigned to the 79^th Troop Command (HLS) as the Brigade Training Officer and Assistant S-3 later assuming duties as S-3 actual for his last year of the assignment.  Alongside his duties, he was dual hatted as S-3 and later Deputy Commander, CBRN Task Force, FEMA Region 1 Homeland Response Force (HRF).  In March of 2020, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett assumed duties as Commander, mobilized and deployed over 100 members of the CBRN Task Force acting as the CBRN Medical Support Element (CMSE) in support of Massachusetts National Guard’s Joint Task Force-Minuteman for a period of 3 months.  During the deployment, the CBRN and medical assets under his command performed over 500 missions equating to over 50,000 nasopharyngeal swab tests in addition to delivering high quality training on decontamination and protective don/doff procedures to both civilian and military personnel all while acting as the primary National Guard agency liaison with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health with regards to the testing mission. 

Lieutenant Colonel Bennett was and remains the only CBRN Task Force Commander in the region to mobilize and deploy the unit for a real-world response since its inception.  Upon demobilization of the unit from the COVID-19 mission, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett was reassigned to the 1^st Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team (CST) as its Deputy Commander and later as State Training Officer, G-3 Directorate.  Lieutenant Colonel Bennett is currently assigned as Deputy Brigade Commander and Administrative Officer, 79^th Troop Command (HLS) and is dual hatted as Commander, CBRN Task Force, FEMA Region 1 HRF.  Lieutenant Colonel Bennett has extensive experience in the CBRN response, civil support and emergency operations arena and in addition to his vast domestic operations background has participated in several multinational exercises with partner nations to increase emergency response capabilities including Key Resolve; Korea, Regional Cooperation; Germany and Regional Cooperation; Tajikistan. 

Akin to his National Guard service, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett is a member of the 54^th Massachusetts Regiment and was an original charter member of the redesignated and reactivated unit in 2008.  In his career, he has participated in over 1,700 missions including marching in 2 presidential inaugural parades in Washington, DC.  He previously served as Commander of Company C (Honor Guard) for 5 years as a Captain and currently serves as the Regiment’s Operations Officer.  His awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army and Air Force Commendation Medals, Iraq Campaign Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Massachusetts Military Medal (for Heroism), Massachusetts Medal of Merit, Army Aviator Badge, and he is recipient number 14 of the Massachusetts Military Funeral Honors Identification Badge; one of the most difficult decorations to earn with only 89 having ever been awarded.