Robert Mark Brown

Brigadier General Mark Brown is the Commanding General, Soldier Systems Center (SSC), Natick Massachusetts, and the Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier, headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

The United States Army Soldier Systems Center (SSC) is a military research complex and installation in Natick, Massachusetts charged by the U.S. Department of Defense with the research and development (including fielding and sustainment) of food, clothing, shelters, airdrop systems, and other servicemember support items for the U.S. military. The installation includes facilities from all the military services, not just the Army, and is so configured to allow cross-service cooperation and collaboration both within the facility and with the many academic, industrial and governmental institutions in the Greater Boston Area.

PEO Soldier's vision is to be the center of excellence for delivering capabilities to U.S. Army Soldiers so they can dominate the battlefield across the full spectrum of warfare. PEO Soldier remains focused directly and exclusively on the Soldier – today and throughout the Army's transformation to: increase soldiers' combat effectiveness; Deliver products that save soldier's lives; and improve soldiers' quality of life. PEO Soldier designs, develops, procures, and sustains virtually everything the Soldier wears or carries by means of a $4.1 billion annual appropriation managed through 380 discreet programs of record. BG Brown is dual-hatted as the Commanding General for the Natick Soldier Systems Center under the Army Materiel Command, where $1 billion of R&D is conducted annually by Natick's two thousand Science and Technology personnel.

Brown is a 1977 graduate of the United States Military Academy, where he received his commission as an Armor officer. He received an MS in Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1989. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Senior Service College Science and Technology Fellowship at the University of Texas-Austin; the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; the Executive Program Manager's Course; the Advanced Program Management Course of the Defense Systems Management College; and the Training with Industry Program at BMY Defense Group in York, PA (now United Defense Limited Partnership UDLP).

Brown served in a wide variety of command and staff positions during his career. Prior to his current assignment he was the Deputy Commanding General, United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Chief of Staff and Senior Military Assistant to the Honorable Claude M. Bolton, Jr., the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASA(ALT)) and Army Acquisition Executive; Commander of Defense Contract Management Area Baltimore, Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Procurement), Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology); Commander of Defense Contract Management Command Clearwater, Florida; Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Army; Procurement Program Analyst, Office of the Chief of Staff, Army; Chief of Army Acquisition Corps Personnel Policy, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel in the Pentagon; Procurement and Nuclear Weapons Assignments Officer, Total Army Personnel Command; and Armored Systems Modernization (ASM) Program Procurement Officer and later ASM Milestone Decision Project Leader at U.S. Army Materiel Command.

As a company grade officer, Brown served in command and key staff positions in the 1st Infantry Division, the 2nd Armored Division, and Joint Task Force Bravo in the Republic of Honduras, including two Company Commands.

Awards and decorations
His military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with oak leaf cluster), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with five oak leaf clusters), Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal (with oak leaf cluster), Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award (with oak leaf cluster), and the Army Staff Identification Badge. Also, he was recognized for his work during a NFL football game on Sunday Night Football, in his hometown of Chicago.


 * US Defense Superior Service Medal ribbon.svg Defense Superior Service Medal
 * [[Image:Legion of Merit ribbon.svg|60px]] Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
 * [[image:Defense Meritorious Service ribbon.svg|60px]] Defense Meritorious Service Medal
 * [[Image:Meritorious Service ribbon.svg|60px]] Meritorious Service Medal with one silver oak leaf cluster
 * Joint Service Commendation ribbon.svg Joint Service Commendation Medal
 * Army Commendation Medal ribbon.svg Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
 * Army Achievement Medal ribbon.svg Army Achievement Medal
 * [[Image:Joint Meritorious Unit Award-3d.svg|60px]] Joint Meritorious Unit Award with oak leaf cluster


 * [[Image:GeneralStaffID.gif|100px]] Army Staff Identification Badge