Hank Brown

Hank Brown is a retired Marine Corps Officer and was one of the original members of U.S. Cyber Command. He grew up out of doors: hunting, fishing, hiking and camping with family and friends.

Active in (old school) Scouting, he advanced to the rank of Eagle Scout when he was 17 and later was Scoutmaster to an American Troop in Iceland in the late 90's. On multiple occasions in the Marines, he applied a Scouting skill to prevent or mitigate accidents.

Hank pestered admissions at the Naval Academy for almost four years until they finally admitted him as part of the class of 1993. With an attrition rate of over 25%, only his parents believed he'd make it, or at least said they did. No one was more surprised than Hank when he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Marines.

Upon completion of The Basic School, 2ndLt Brown went to Fort Sill for Artillery training and was subsequently ordered to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for assignment to the 5th Battalion, 10th Marines. He progressed through several billets, was qualified as an Artillery Officer, Range Safety Officer and certified as a Small Unit Leaders Advanced Marksmanship trainer. He deployed to the Far East, the Caribbean, and did four Combined Arms Exercises during his first tour in the Fleet Marine Force.

Promoted to captain, Hank’s second assignment was to Keflavik Iceland for duty as the Guard Officer and Second in Command of the Marine Corps Security Force Company. Assigned a mission of base defense with a secondary role to be prepared to protect and evacuate the American Embassy in a contingency, Hank had the opportunity to train with his Marines in a variety of northern climes in Iceland, as well as in Greenland, Norway, Germany and Scotland.

After a year of Marine Corps “post-graduate work” at the Amphibious Warfare School, Hank took command of Battery C, 1st Battalion 12th Marines in Kaneohe Hawaii. “Charlie Battery” trained in the Pohakaloa Training Area on the island of Hawaii, then forward deployed to Okinawa Japan, Hijudai Japan and Thailand for 7 months. Upon their return, Hank was promoted to major, and assumed duties as the Battalion Operations Officer and Regimental Fire Support Coordinator. He traveled regularly around the Pacific Rim to support Marine Corps training and operations.

Following four years based out of Hawaii, Hank was accepted into the MBA program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey California – which was followed by a three-year assignment teaching in the Economics Department at his alma mater, the Naval Academy. During the summer training blocks, Hank evaluated midshipmen who wanted to be Marines in Quantico and Camp Lejeune.

At the end of his tour in Annapolis, now Lieutenant Colonel Brown was transferred to the III Marine Expeditionary Force Fires where he participated in exercises and combat operations in the Eastern hemisphere. During time in Iraq, he met two Marines in Al Faw Palace who were planning to start USCYBERCOM. They recruited him to their team, and he received orders to Fort Meade Maryland.

In the early days of USCYBERCOM, Hank’s team designed procedures to be used to support military operations with effects delivered through cyberspace. Their challenging work is continuing today through the dedication of their successors at the command.

After retirement from the Marines, Hank joined industry in order to continue to support military cyberspace operations. It was during this time he became more aware of how fragile our infrastructure is and started taking small steps to protect his family from a disruption to the grid.

After studying and practicing this on a personal level for several years, as a matter of conscience, he feels compelled to share what he’s learned with others so that you don’t have to be a prepper to be prepared.