Mark Hicks, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, is a visiting national defense fellow at The Washington Institute. Previously, he served as commander of the 14th Weapons Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida, from April 2003 to June 2005. In that capacity, he was responsible for training weapons officers in three separate weapons instructor courses for Air Force special operations aircraft (specifically, the AC-130, MC-130, and MH-53).
Prior to squadron command, Colonel Hicks served as executive officer to the director of aerospace operations at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, from September 2001 to June 2002. He also served at Air Force headquarters in the Pentagon from June 1999 to August 2001.
A command pilot who has flown more than 2,900 hours, mostly in the AC-130H and AC-130U gunships, Colonel Hicks served as instructor and evaluator pilot in the 16th Special Operations Squadron and as an initial cadre evaluator pilot in the 4th Special Operations Squadron. He flew combat missions during Operation Just Cause over Panama and Operation Deny Flight over Bosnia.
The colonel is married to Lauren Hicks.
Education: BSEE, Virginia Military Institute; MAIR, Troy State University; MMAS, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; MAAS, U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Airpower Studies
