Mark Owens was born in Highpoint NC, and grew up in Charlotte NC. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and his commission from the University
of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1998. Mark earned his Master’s in Business Administration from Webster University in 2007.

Mark is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic Course and Infantry Officers Career Course at Ft. Benning GA. Additional military schooling consists of the Infantry Mortar
Leaders Course, the Bradley Leaders Course, Air Assault School, Airborne School, Combined Arms Staff Services School, the Army Acquisition Course, Intermediate
Level Education and the Command and General Staff College. He has served in mechanized infantry, mortar, initial entry training, instructor and staff environments deploying
to the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Working in the functional area of Acquisitions, he served as an acquisition officer at United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) working with
Biometrics, Forensics, and ground based ISR assets. He was inducted into the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Identity Intelligence Hall of
Fame in April of 2014 for his work in this area. While serving as an Assistant Program Manager at PEO-Soldier in Ft Belvoir VA, he had acquisition assignments in
Operational Energy, Tactical Communications, Soldier System Integration and Rapid Acquisition processes. He also served in the Pentagon as the Ground Maneuver and
Special Programs Department of the Army Systems Coordinator (DASC) for the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASAALT).

In his final active duty assignment, he was the Program Manager for United States Special Operations Command Ammunition and Weapons program where he
managed 383 Programs of Record and $1.3B in active appropriations. Upon his retirement from the Army in Jan 2019, he started O2 Defense LLC. O2 is a
defense aerospace consulting company specializing in Department of Defense related business development, technology development and is registered with the
Department of State for import, export, and brokering activities. He continues to manage this company today.

Additionally, he is the Chief Strategy Officer for True Velocity, a technology company headquartered in Garland TX, specializing in lightweight composite ammunitions. In
addition to his work at TV, Mark serves as the Symposium Chair of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) SO/LIC Division (Special Operations/Low
Intensity Conflict).