BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former United States Military Academy water polo player Lieutenant General Mark Hertling continues to achieve outside the pool as the former commander of the Seventh Army is giving back to his community.
From March 2011-November 2012 he served as the Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and the Seventh Army. Hertling served in Armor, Cavalry, planning, operations and training positions, and he commanded every organization from Platoon to Field Army. He commanded the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division and Task Force Iron/Multinational Division-North in Iraq during the troop surge of 2007 to 2008.
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Hertling attended Christian Brothers College High School in Clayton, Missouri, graduating in 1971. He is a member of the CBC Alumni Hall of Fame, elected in 2010. In 1975, Hertling was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Armor Branch after graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point. While at West Point, Hertling was on the school’s swimming and water polo teams and was active as a member of his class committee and attained the rank of Cadet Captain.
Hertling received a Masters of Science in Kinesiology from Indiana University, a Masters of Military Arts and Sciences from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and a Masters of National Security and Strategic Studies from the National War College in Washington, D.C. In May 2019 he received a doctorate in business administration from the Crummer School of Business, Rollins College, defending research regarding physician leadership in the healthcare industry
His military service was marked by a number of firsts as Hertling became the first Deputy Commanding General for Initial Military Training.
Prior to his final posting as the USAREUR Commander, Hertling commanded the Army’s 1st Armored Division from 2007–2009, and he was the first Deputy Commanding General for Initial Military Training (IMT) from 2009–2011. In the former role, he commanded the “1st Tank” in both its home location in Germany, and for 15 months as part of the surge in Iraq. In Iraq, Task Force Iron was based in Tikrit, and cooperated with five different Iraqi Army divisions in a security and on a “whole of government” approach. As a combined force, these units conducted many operations to strengthen the Iraqi Security Forces and the provincial governments in the four Arab and three Kurdish provinces in the north, and they contributed to significant improvement in the economic and security conditions in the region. Hertling integrated a series of named kinetic operations (“Iron”) with a unique series of non-kinetic engagements (“United and Strong”) to further improve stability, government, economics and security.
As the first Commander of IMT from 2009-2011, Hertling was responsible for integrating the initial training of approximately 160,000 officers and enlisted soldiers entering U.S. Army training every year at 27 installations across the United States. Hertling led change in several areas, including integrating new training methods into basic combat training, advanced individual training, and basic officer leadership courses. IMT revised the Army’s Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills and developed further training in rifle marksmanship, combatives, values instruction, first aid and cultural training. IMT’s “Soldier-Athlete” initiative also brought about innovative changes in physical readiness training, introducing athletic trainers and physical therapists to training units, and integrating performance nutrition into Army dining facilities (“Fueling the Soldier”).
Throughout his military career, Hertling saw alternating assignment between operational and training postings, and he gained a reputation as a skilled trainer and a soldier-focused leader and commander. He has been assigned to all of the Combat Training Centers in the United States and Germany, expanding the center in Europe.
Hertling served in various command and staff assignments, both in the continental United States and overseas. He began his professional career in Europe as a second lieutenant, leading tank and scout platoons in the 3rd Infantry Division in 1975–1977. In 1988, he returned to Europe as a major, serving first on the staff of the 1st Armored Division as the deputy G-3, then as the S-3 of 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment (Blackhawks) with whom he deployed during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. The 1-1 Cavalry was cited for its role in the Battle of Medina Ridge, where Hertling was wounded in action.
Hertling also commanded 1st Squadron, 16th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Knox, Ky. He also commanded 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Wash. when that unit was named as the Army’s first Stryker Brigade. He was Commander of Operations Group, National Training Center and Fort Irwin, Fort Irwin, Calif., and commanded the 7th Army Training Command, transforming it to the Joint-Multinational Training Command, in Grafenwoehr, Germany. He also served as the Vice J-7 and the J-7, on the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C. from 2001–2003, and as the U.S. Army Europe G-3 from 2005–2007.
His overseas assignments include responsibility as the Commanding General, 1st Armored Division/Multi-National Division-North, as a major general from October 2007 to December 2008, both in Wiesbaden, Germany and in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Prior to this, as a brigadier general, he was the assistant division commander from September 2003 to August 2004 of the 1st Armored Division, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army, in Baghdad, Iraq.
Hertling taught in the Department of Physical Education at the U.S. Military Academy, and served as a speechwriter for Gen. (ret.) Frederick M. Franks when he commanded TRADOC.
In 2013 after retirement from the Army, Hertling became a Senior Vice President for the Florida Hospital organization in Orlando. While serving there he developed a successful Physician Leader Development course for that organization and in 2016 published the book Growing Physician Leaders. He continues to serve as an advisor to the AdventHealth Leadership Institute.
In September 2013, Hertling was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama to be one of 25 people serving on the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. He served as a Council member until 20 January 2017. He also acts as a senior advisor to “Mission Readiness”, a nonprofit, bipartisan organization of retired military leaders who call for smart investments for U.S. children; he has served as a board member for World TEAM (The Exceptional Athlete Matters) Sport, an organization providing opportunities for physically challenged athletes; and he serves as an advisor to “Operation Gratitude”, an organization supporting deployed military and their families. In 2016, he was named as an Adjunct Scholar to the Modern War Institute at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Since June 2014, Hertling has appeared as a national security and military analyst for CNN.
