Retired Marine, sustainability executive to speak at inaugural speaker series event

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Co-Founder of Long Haul Capital Group and retired Marine Colonel Mark "Puck" Mykleby will present "A New American Grand Strategy" to kick off The Office of Sustainability's inaugural Sustainability Speaker Series on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. in Langdon Hall.

"Colonel Mark "Puck" Mykleby, USMC(Ret) offers a tremendously important and insightful assessment of where we are as a nation and where we need to go to ensure our prosperity, security, and sustainability in the 21st century," said Mike Kensler, director of the Office of Sustainability. "He lays out possibilities for the future that are so exciting and full of opportunity while at the same time warning us that perpetuating the status quo would be dangerous to our future."

Mykleby graduated from the United States Naval Academy with distinction in 1987 and served as a Marine fighter pilot through 2006. From January 1991 to May 2006 he served in five fleet fighter squadrons and performed numerous operational squadron billets, including Commanding Officer. He is a graduate of Marine Weapons and Tactics Instructor School, the Navy Fighter Weapons School and the Allied Air Forces Central Europe's Tactical Leadership Program. Mykleby's operational and combat experience includes numerous deployments (land-based and ship-borne) to the European, Pacific and Southwest Asian theaters.

Mykleby's staff experience includes serving as the George Washington Battle Group liaison officer to Joint Task Force-Southwest Asia in 1997, serving as a Marine Air Ground Task Force Staff Training Program instructor from 1999-2001 and serving as the Harry S. Truman Battle Group liaison officer to the NATO Combined Air Operations Center Five headquarters in January 2003. In June 2007, he was assigned to the US Special Operations Command where he developed strategy for Special Operations Forces.

In July 2009, he was assigned as a special strategic assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen. Admiral Mullen assigned Colonel Mykleby and Navy Captain Wayne Porter to devise a new grand strategy for America, one that focused on the 21st Century future. Their research and writing led them to conclude in a white paper, "A National Strategic Narrative," that installing sustainability as a national strategic imperative would lead to America's renewed greatness at home and abroad.

After retiring from the Marine Corps in August 2011, Mykleby joined the New America Foundation in Washington, DC, where he was a senior fellow from August 2011 to August 2014. He then served as co-director of the Strategic Innovation Lab at Case Western Reserve University from September 2014 until February 2017. While at Case Western, he co-authored "The New Grand Strategy," which lays out a business plan for America that embeds sustainability as a national strategic imperative. His company, Long Haul Capital Group is dedicated to creating sustainable, walkable and healthy communities.

"What he has to say is relevant to every major, every discipline, every career path," Kensler said. "During his visit we will engage with Colonel Mykleby and his ideas to explore what role Auburn University can and should play in seizing the opportunities he describes and bringing this inspiring future into being."

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