Commanding General
Lt. Gen. Mark P. Hertling
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On 25 March 2011, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling assumed Command of US Army Europe and Seventh Army. Prior to this posting, he served as the DCG-IMT, TRADOC and previous to that the Commander of the 1st Armored Division. During the majority of his time with 1st AD, the unit was deployed to Northern Iraq as the nucleus of Task Force Iron.
LTG Hertling has led tank and cavalry platoons assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany, and has commanded Armor and Infantry companies of the 5th Infantry Division, Ft Polk, Louisiana. He commanded the 1-16th Cavalry Squadron, Ft Knox, Kentucky; 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry -- an Armored Brigade which transformed to be the Army's first Stryker Brigade at Ft Lewis, Washington; the Operations Group at the National Training Center, Ft Irwin, California; and the Joint Multi-National Training Center in Grafenwoehr, Germany.
LTG Hertling has served as a staff officer in various organizations. He was the S-3 Operations for 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment in Katterbach, Germany (and during Operation Desert Storm); the Armor/Cavalry Branch Chief in Washington, D.C.; the J-7 for War Plans and Joint Training and Exercises on the Joint Staff from 2001-2003; the Assistant Division Commander-Support of the 1st Armored Division in Hanau, Germany and in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2003-2004;and was the G-3 of U.S. Army Europe from 2005-2007.
Commissioned from the U.S. Military Academy in 1975, LTG Hertling is a graduate of the Army's Command and General Staff College and School of Advanced Military Studies; and the National War College. He also holds a master's degree in Exercise Physiology from Indiana University, which he gained prior to teaching in the Department of Physical Education at West Point.
LTG Hertling's awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device, and the Combat Action Badge. He was also awarded the Gold Cross of Honour of the Bundeswehr and the Romanian Land Forces Emblem of Honor.
LTG Hertling is married to his best friend, Sue. They have two sons, Todd and Scott, and a daughter-in-law, Lauren, who are active duty Soldiers. Their other daughter-in-law, Karen, is a teacher and the mother of their grandsons, Ryan and Ethan.