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Fort Sill protection officer develops skills at Joint Base San Antonio

By Mark BrownFebruary 27, 2024

Growing force
Mark Brown, Fort Sill Physical Security Officer, has goals of moving up professionally in his career. Brown applied for the Deputy Director of Emergency Services Developmental Assignment Opportunity and was selected for the program. (Photo Credit: Marie Pihulic) VIEW ORIGINAL

Mark Brown stepped out of his role as the Physical Security Officer at Fort Sill to develop skills he hopes to use in the future.

Brown recently spent 90 days at Joint Base San Antonio as part of the Developmental Assignment Opportunity program. Brown applied for the Deputy Director of Emergency Services Developmental Assignment Opportunity in 2023. He was selected from a pool of candidates across all of the Army’s Installation Management Command directorates.

Brown was notified in August 2023 that he was selected for the assignment and began training Sept.15, 2023. He said not being the subject matter expert in this instance was not easy, but he viewed this as a necessary step to progress.

“I didn’t know what to expect from this developmental assignment, but I did know the Provost Marshal/Protection Division at IMCOM is full of professionals and subject matter experts. I anticipated I would learn a lot,” said Brown. “It was very thorough, and the assignment was designed to take me from start to finish in the most efficient and effective manner possible.”

Brown’s developmental assignment was divided into three 30-day segments. On Day One he met with the Deputy Provost Marshal of the IMCOM Protection Division, Floyd Williams, and the Law Enforcement Branch Chief, Josh Franklin. He received an in-brief and was assigned objectives to research. Brown was also introduced to key leaders and staff who would provide support and information to accomplish the assigned objectives.

The first 30-days were spent with the Law Enforcement and Fire & Emergency Services Branch. The second 30-days was spent with the Physical Security Branch, and the third and final 30-days was spent with the Protection Branch which is comprised of Anti-Terrorism & Emergency Management.

At the end of the 30-day period Brown was responsible for briefing the senior leaders of the Provost Marshal’s/Protection Division.

“I am more confident and prepared to become a Deputy Director of Emergency Services because of the people that took the time to develop me and because of how well designed and structured the program was to help me learn.”

Currently, Brown is serving as the Fort Sill Physical Security Officer. He plans to apply for Deputy Director of Emergency Services in the continental United States as positions become available.