About this guy

My name is Mark

and I’m kind of a writer.

1-HS Basketball; 2-HS Football; 3-plebe year; 4-cow year; 5–2005 Baghdad; 6–2012 Norway; 7-speech to a HS; 8-presenting to a client; 9-kid #4 in 2009

My name is Mark McMillion. Since I was 13, I’ve spent my life learning, studying, and practicing leadership. I was born and raised in West by God Virginia. I was kind of a big fish in my little pond where I played football, basketball, and ran track. I was also a pretty good student (ok, not accurate — I was a lousy student but had good grades).

I graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Plebe year is your freshman year and Cow year is when you’re a junior (as pictured above). Sophomores are called Yearlings and seniors are called Firsties. I was a horrible student but graduated. While not a talented athlete, my Firstie yearbook bio calls me an “intramural warrior” because I boxed, wrestled, played football, and reveled in the athletic violence of those sports. I also earned my bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

In 1991, I graduated, became a field artillery officer, married, and moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Pretty big year. After that, my wife and I lived in Germany for three plus years, back to Fort Sill (picked up daughter #1), and then to grad school at The Ohio State University. Loved grad school and picked up a master’s in Cognitive Systems Engineering. Enormously fortunate to get to teach three years back at West Point (found daughter…