Colonel Mark A. Olinger entered active duty through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), as a Second Lieutenant in 1983, serving as a Infantry Officer until his transfer to the Quartermaster Corps in 1987, where he specialized in supply operations and multi-functional logistics. Thereafter he served 22 years, enjoying a widespread reputation as one of the Army’s tactical logisticians. Throughout his illustrious career, he commanded at multiple levels: Commander, Defense Energy Support Center-Middle East, Naval Support Activity Bahrain. A “muddy boot Soldier,” his combat service includes: Company Commander, 528th Support Battalion during Operation Earnest Will/Prime Chance in the Arabian Gulf; Deputy Director of Logistics, US Special Operations Command-South/ Joint Special Operations Task Force during Operation Just Cause in Panama; Support Operations Officer, 528th Support Battalion during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm; Commander, 142d Corps Support Battalion, and later the Assistant Chief of Staff for Logistics, 1st Armored Division during the initial attack and subsequent stability operations in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom; and Commander, Defense Energy Support Center-Middle East, within the 27-country US Central Command, area of responsibility, during Operations Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom, and Combined/Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Colonel Olinger culminated his over 26-year career as the Director of Operations, Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where he provided leadership and management of an organization that had global support for America’s Armed Forces, its Allies, and the Interagency.