Craig Alan Marks, CEM, CERP
Craig served in the military for 30 years, retiring as a Captain in 2003. He spent 14 years with the US Marine Corps, working with the National Security Agency and as a Crash-Fire-Rescue Specialist. He then joined the Army and completed OfficerCandidateSchool. Craig served as a Military Police Officer and was then accepted to the elite Special Forces where he served for 16 years. As a Green Beret Officer he prepared for war against the Soviet Union, trained for Desert Storm, conducted missions in the U.S. and overseas and served for a year in the Republic of Haiti. He’s been an advisor to foreign armies and was a professor at UNC Chapel Hill, from 2001 to 2004 teaching the future leaders of our nation.
While in the military Craig graduated from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Academy, served with the LA County Fire Department, and served as a deputy sheriff in Yuma County, AZ, and Utah. Today he serves as an officer with the Lillington Police Department in North Carolina. He also served as a Lieutenant with the Rural-Metro Fire Department in Arizona, as a Captain on the US Naval Base Fire Department, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and on fire departments in Wyoming, Utah, and in North Carolina. He has been an EMT for over 25 years and certified in 5 states.
His last overseas tour in the Army was as the First US Army Representative to the Caribbean Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency, San Juan, Puerto Rico. He battled Hurricane Georges and planned for Y2K. He has been involved in wildfires in California and Florida, Hurricane Andrew in Florida, Fran in North Carolina and Mitch in Central America. He has also responded to ice storms and other winter disasters along the East coast, tornadoes and floods. His Emergency Management training includes the Professional Development Series and CERT Train the Trainer from FEMA, he is a Certified Emergency Manager® by the International Association of Emergency Managers, and a Certified Emergency Response Professional® by the Blue Sky Foundation.
At the University of North Carolina, Craig has been a faculty member for four years and served as the Director, Community Preparedness and Disaster Management Program, a graduate level program in the UNC School of Public Health. He is an Adjunct Faculty with DurhamTechnicalCommunity College where he teaches fire, EMS and Emergency Management Courses. He has an Associates Degree from the LA Community College System in Criminal Justice, a Bachelors in Liberal Arts from The University of the State of New York, Albany; a Master’s in Fire and Emergency Management Administration from Oklahoma State; a Master’s in Public Administration from Central Michigan University and is a Doctoral candidate at Walden University studying Public Policy and Administration – Emergency Response Policy. He speaks Spanish, some French and Haitian Creole.
Craig is a national speaker and Military Analyst and Homeland Security Consultant for CBS News. He was the regular guest host on the Jerry Agar Show in Raleigh, NC, which was number two in the 3-6pm radio market in the Triangle (#42 Market). He writes for various emergency service publications and is completing his first book “Disaster is Hell…how to survive and win in crisis, emergencies and disaster” which he is co-authoring with Kay Goss.
Craig is the founder and President of Blue Horizons Consulting, LLC, a company dedicated to increasing preparedness in public and private sector companies and infrastructure through planning, exercises and leadership training. He is also the Director of Operations for Blue Sky Foundation, a 501c3 engaged in mitigation strategies to create disaster resilient communities, and in the development of programs for bringing interoperability to our first responder communities. He serves on the Board of Directors of the local American Red Cross, and a Captain in the US Air Force Auxiliary.