Biography: Mark J Hovatter

Biography: Mark J Hovatter, Brigadier General (Retired), US Army 1985-2024

Brigadier General (BG) Mark J Hovatter began his military career in 1985, enlisting in the United States Army Reserve. His first assignment was a Cannon Crewmember of the M110 8” self-propelled howitzers of C Battery, 3rd Battalion, 92d Field Artillery of the 83rd Army Reserve Command in Akron, Ohio. Mark joined Ohio State Army ROTC in 1986, and joined the 2d Battalion, 11th Special Forces Group in Reynoldsburg, Ohio as a Cadet and later earning his commission as an Engineer Officer in 1989. Upon beginning active duty in 1990, Mark’s first assignment was with the 3d Battalion, 325th Infantry (Airborne Battalion Combat Team) in Vicenza, Italy where he served as the Assault and Barrier, then Combat Engineer Platoon Leader and later as Executive officer of HHC and deployed to Northern Iraq for Operation Provide Comfort in 1991. After attending the Engineer Officer Advanced Course in 1994, Mark was assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, Engineer Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas where he served as Assistant Brigade Engineer and Commander of A Company, 20th Engineers. Mark then moved to Fort Knox, KY where he served as the Regimental Engineer for the 16th Cavalry Regiment and Small Group Instructor for US Army Armor Center, earning the Joseph Hibbs Award for Company Grade Instructor of the Year in 2000. Mark was then assigned to the 416th Engineer Command as the Engineer Plans Officer for US Army Central Command and deployed to Kuwait for Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. After attending the Command and General Staff Course and School for Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Mark was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, deploying as the Chief of Plans to Iraq as Multinational Division-Baghdad in 2005. Mark then moved to Functional Area 59, Strategist and would return to Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division as the Assistant Chief of Staff-G5 Plans in 2007 as Multinational Division-Center. Mark was then assigned to the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk where he served as an Assistant Professor in the Joint Combined Warfare School and deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 with CJTF-101 to establish United States Forces-Afghanistan Headquarters. Mark would then move to the Army Capabilities Integration Center at Fort Eustis, VA where he served as a Branch Chief in Future Warfare Division and Division Chief of the Science and Technology Division. Mark was then selected for War College where he attended the Joint Advanced Warfighting School in 2013. Upon completion of JAWS, Mark was assigned to the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, Norfolk where he served as the Logistics Chief for the Joint Planning Support Element. In 2016, Mark moved to the Pentagon, where he served in the G-3/5/7 of the Army Staff as the War Plans Division Chief. Selected for BG in 2019, Mark was moved to the Deputy Director, Strategy Plans and Policy Directorate. In 2020, Mark would move to Stuttgart, GE where he served as the Deputy Director, Plans and Strategic Integration, US Africa Command. In 2022, Mark returned to the Pentagon, and served as the Deputy Director for Operations, National Joint Operations and Intelligence Center, Operations Team Four, J-3, Joint Staff. He concluded his 38-year career there in 2024. 

Mark is a graduate of Airborne School, the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Combined Arms Services Staff School, Command and General Staff College, School for Advanced Military Studies, Joint Advanced Warfighting School, Seminar XXI Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Capstone, National Defense University.  Mark holds a Bachelor of Arts from The Ohio State University, Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, KS and a Master of Science from the Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, VA.

His awards and decorations include:  the Defense Superior Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal with Silver and 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, Southwest Asia Service Medal with Bronze Star, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Bronze Star, Irq Campaign Medal with 3 Bronze Stars, Global War on Terrorism Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, NATO Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award with Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Superior Unit Award, Parachutist Badge, Joint Staff Identification Badge, Army Staff Identification Badge, Spanish Armed Forces Parachutist Badge. 

Mark is currently a Defense Security Cooperation Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton and lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife Amie and his son, Benjamin who is a senior majoring in Business at Virginia Tech and will complete Army ROTC, graduate and commission in Field Artillery in May 2026, and daughter Gabriella, who is a junior majoring in Neuroscience at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.