Lieutenant Colonel Michael “Macho” Mariner started his career as a mechanic and worked his way through the ranks to become a commander in the United States’ newest military force, the United States Space Force. Lt Col Mariner is the Commander of the 2nd Space Warning Squadron, Space Delta-4, Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado and is in charge of a space based, global missile warning system for the world.
Lt. Col. Mariner overcame what he calls “a rough childhood” and choices that were not in his best interest to become an aircraft mechanic on F-15 fighter jets in the United States Air Force (USAF) as an enlisted man. After about 8 years as an aircraft mechanic, he realized he “had the capacity and the drive to want to do something better” so he went to college, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Professional Aeronautics, went to the USAF Officer Training School where he was a Distinguished Graduate, and then became a commissioned officer in the USAF.
Lt. Col. Mariner then went to the USAF Weapons School, which is the Air Force’s top tactical war fighting school, where he learned a lot about the science of electronic communications. He’s earned 14 medals and has even worked at the Pentagon! While we’re counting, he also has 3 Master’s Degrees, one in in Management and Leadership, another in Science and Technology Intelligence, and most recently, one in International Public Policy with a focus on Strategic Studies as part of the Secretary of Defense’s Strategic Thinkers Program.
Lt Col Mariner has also worked as part of the Secretary of the Air Force’s Space Cadre Task Force, The Chief of Staff of the Air Force Readiness Crisis Team, and served in campaigns ranging from Operations SOUTHERN WATCH and ENDURING FREEDOM to Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and INHERENT RESOLVE. As a matter of fact, the work Lt Col Mariner does is important in assisting the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States make decisions that help keep our country out of harm’s way.
As Lt. Col. Michael Mariner so nicely sums it up, “My skills from my very humbling beginnings as a mechanic to where I am now, where I have the same level of education as someone that works for the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, and I have the capacity and capability to go work for those very same folks, if not be them myself, just goes to show how your drive and determination in what you want in life, so long as you are willing to hustle and get it, and work hard to get it, you can achieve anything you want.”
Way to go Lt. Col. Michael Mariner!