Colonel Mark D. Rosengard entered military service as an Infantry Second Lieutenant upon graduation from Tufts University in 1979.  He is now the Commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force – Trans Sahara (JSOTF-TS), and concurrently serves as the Chief of the Operations Staff at Special Operations Command – Europe (SOCEUR), in Stuttgart Germany.

Colonel Rosengard came to Germany in 2002, following a year in Afghanistan, where he served as the J3 (Director of Operations) of Task Force Dagger, the Special Forces unit which, via use of the indigenous population, expelled the Taliban regime.  After Operation Anaconda in March of 2002, Colonel Rosengard assumed duties in the US Embassy’s Office of Military Cooperation (OMC) in Kabul, where he was a principle architect of the Afghan National Army Training Project.
Colonel Rosengard’s infantry assignments include duty as a RANGER Platoon Leader, a Mechanized Infantry Company Commander, and Operations Officer.  His previous Special Forces assignments include overseas service in Central and South America, Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, and extensive service with the 10^th Special Forces Group (Airborne).  He has commanded an SFODA (“A-Team”) and two Special Forces Companies, held numerous staff positions, and served for three years as 10th Group’s Deputy Commander.  He is a veteran of multiple unconventional and other special operations with the 10^th Group across Europe and in Northern Iraq, in addition to his recent experiences with 5^th SFG in Afghanistan.

Colonel Rosengard’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.  He is a Master Parachutist, and has earned foreign jump wings from the nations of Norway, Poland, and Mali.  Colonel Rosengard is married to Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Lynn Wagner, a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and they have three children, all of whom will likely join the Navy...