MARK W. ELFERS

252-646-1868 ! markelfers@gmail.com

Energetic and focused strategic planner, levelheaded leader, and sound decision maker able to solve complex problems and implement long-term solutions. Honest assessor, consensus builder, and gifted motivator who consistently leads the team in the right direction.

PIVOTAL STRENGTHS

SUMMARY US Naval Academy Engineering graduate, Naval Aviator, Strategic Planner, and Marine Corps Harrier jet squadron Chief Executive with the intellect, work ethic, and drive to succeed. Over 17 years experience bringing order to chaos as an organizational strategist, complex problem solver, and director of process improvement.

Building and Leading Elite Teams

Chosen from highest performing peers to serve as chief executive and change agent for a failing aviation organization. Authored and set the turnaround plan into motion. Built and steered a new leadership team through extraordinarily turbulent times and achieved superlative results within five months.

Strategic Planning

Selected from hundreds of applicants to join the US Marine Corps’ elite strategic/operational planning school. Awarded the Clifton Cates award for planning solving excellence. Became the ‘go to’ strategic planner for all chief executive officer level leaders in Afghanistan. Pioneered and supervised the implementation of an aviation logistics strategy in Helmand province. Uncovered critical insights from environmental trends and developed thoughtful data-backed recommendations. Drove plan’s implementation across the entire enterprise. Efforts led to two new expeditionary landing sites for helicopters and unmanned aircraft.

Forging Relationships

Developed, negotiated, and sealed an international training initiative to address a lack of partner interoperability. Required over 12 months of innumerable one-on-one negotiations with principals and representatives from the Italian Navy, US Embassy Rome, and the US Marine Corps.

Cross-Disciplinary Management

Led USAID, UK Government Provincial Reconstruction Team, US Army, and US Marine Corps leaders through design of the 2014 Helmand Province vision. This product was used as the future desired end state for all subsequent long-range planning.

Persuasive Communicator

Seasoned presenter and published author of articles relating to leadership, planning, and campaign design. Excellent communicator able to engage all from the newest associate to the Chief Executive or President.

MARK W. ELFERS

252-646-1868 ! markelfers@gmail.com

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Chief Executive, Marine Attack Squadron 214, March 2014-Present Directly responsible for all facets of a Harrier jet squadron worth over $600M. Turned around an underperforming organization. • Developed and communicated a winning strategic vision which all team members could

understand. Used this vision as the touchstone throughout the turnaround effort. • Studied leadership team. Replaced those whose performance did not match strategic vision. • Analyzed aviation logistics and maintenance capacity and found multiple weakness. Sought

subject matter expertise and implemented a detailed training plan that prioritized process quality over production rate.

• Mapped production and maintenance processes to find constraints and waste. Established new standard operating procedures to ensure production outpaced neither maintenance manpower nor supply chain capacity.

Within 12 months: • 400% improvement: maintenance programs went from 15% ‘on track’ to over 93% ‘on track.’ • 200% improvement: went from accomplishing 40% of FY14 assigned production goals to

over 95% of FY15 goals with no increase in manpower or materiel resources. • Achieved highest production rates of all five USMC Harrier squadrons not deployed.

Director, US Marines’ Joint Strike Fighter Current Readiness Team, June 2013-March 2014 Tasked with increasing production and removing barriers associated with F-35B flight operations. • Extensively studied, mapped, and charted F-35B readiness degraders’ effects on flight time

and sortie production. Found constraints, waste, and superfluous bureaucratic overhead stifling execution.

• Authored and presented detailed technical solutions for the enterprise’s executive leadership to eliminate or reduce all from the most simple to the most vexing issues.

• Efforts contributed to over 300% increase in flight hour generation, from less than 60 hours per month to nearly 200 hours per month.

Vice President for Strategy equivalent, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, June 2010-Dec 2011 Tasked with solving long-range, long-standing, and complex strategic problems threatening mission accomplishment. • Led strategic planning to define the 2014 end state of the Helmand and Kandahar Provinces. • Conceived the strategic design methodology and tactical details of the USMC's drawdown

efforts from over 22,000 service members to below 10,000 for the senior Commanding Generals in Afghanistan.

• Guided a study of aviation operational assessments that led to a strategic assessment concept, which blended production capacity, historical data, and enemy kinetic activity. Outcome resulted in decreased casualty evacuation response times as well as increased force protection and kinetic fire support to all coalition service members.

EDUCATION • Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Trained, 2015 • Master of Operational Planning, Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting, 2010 • Bachelor of Science, Aerospace Engineering, United States Naval Academy, 1995