Col. Marcus Hunter most recently served as the commander of 1st Battalion in the Army’s 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
Col. Hunter is a Joint-qualified Special Forces officer with regional expertise in Latin America, and operational experience in Afghanistan, Europe, Africa and the Indo-Pacific Region.
As a lieutenant, he served in the 3rd Bde., 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis, Washington. From 2000 to 2003, he helped activate and validate the first Stryker Brigade Combat Team and served as an infantry rifle platoon leader, company executive officer, and reconnaissance platoon leader.
In 2005, he graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course and was next assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and then at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
As a captain and major, he deployed three times to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While serving with the U.S. Southern Command Crisis Response Force, he deployed throughout Latin America in support of disaster relief operations and other special operations exercises and activities with partner forces. In 2014, he activated the first Special Warfare Planning Detachment, with duty at the Special Operations Command South in Miami, and was responsible for planning and supporting Special Operations Forces, or SOF, training and activities throughout Latin America between the 7th Special Force Group (Airborne) and Special Operations Command South, or SOCSOUTH.
In 2016, he was assigned as the first special operations liaison officer to the Republic of Panama, with duty at the U.S. Embassy in Panama City. There, he served as the primary SOF adviser to the U.S. ambassador and Panamanian Public Forces, while synchronizing all SOF activities with the Integrated Country Strategy.
Col. Hunter commanded the Headquarters Battalion, U.S. Army Africa/Southern European Task Force, from 2018 to 2020, where he coordinated and synchronized the command’s logistical and operational support activities to regionally aligned forces across Africa, as well as the command’s lead role in multiple Joint Chiefs of Staff-level exercises with African partner forces.
Col. Hunter is a graduate of the Brigham Young University Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program and the U.S. Naval War College Command and Staff program. He holds a master’s degree in irregular warfare from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Col. Hunter is married to the former Caren Case from McLean, Virginia. They have four daughters and one son.