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 as a Lieutenant of Infantry 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 Fighting Vehicle 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- while 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. He retired from USSOCOM in January of 2019.

He is currently 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 is a Board of Directors Member for the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Armaments, and also serves as the Symposium Chair of the (NDIA) SO/LIC Division (Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict).