Mark Alexander Callanan

NEW (added August 6, 2016): A military funeral service will be held for Mark at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, October 14, 2016. Attendees should meet in the main Administration Building at 12:30 pm. All are welcome.

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Mark Alexander Callanan was born August 25, 1987 in Rochester, NY and died June 7, 2016 in Washington, DC. He is survived by his parents Anne Patricia Williamson Callanan and Terrance Patrick Callanan, and his brother Ryan Patrick Callanan.

Mark was raised in the village of Fairport, NY with the best neighbors. He attended Fairport Schools throughout his childhood and was a 2005 graduate of Fairport High School. Amazing teachers recognized and cultivated Mark’s gifts of writing and speaking as he grew up and have always supported and cared for him as an adult.

Mark attended Geneseo State University of New York where teachers gave him the intellectual challenges he loved. His fraternity Sigma Nu Chi gave him many brothers that he loved. He graduated with degrees in Political Science and History in 2010.

Mark served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 2006 to 2013. He…

• Served as Platoon Sergeant of a Rifle Platoon, leading a platoon of up to 36 Marines and acting as the liaison between the company command element and the platoon

• In 2009, served as a Rifleman and Team Leader in Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment during Operation Iraqi Freedom

• Operated as part of A Co.’s 1st Convoy Security Team on dozens of missions with a 100% success rate, always escorting high value personnel and equipment to the destination intact

• Participated in Operation Agile Spirit 2011, training the Republic of Georgia’s Army in basic and advanced infantry skills

• Taught classes on Infantry tactics, using both classroom and hands on training to ensure Alpha Company Marines reached appropriate levels of expertise on multiple subjects

During his time as a Marine, Mark received the Sharpshooter Rifle Badge, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Service Deployment Ribbon, Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. The Marine Corps was Mark’s dream come true. The Marine brotherhood was everything to him.

In the Fall of 2010, Mark was a White House intern in the Office of Presidential Correspondence, where he managed hundreds of volunteers who drafted nightly and weekly reports for senior White House personnel summarizing, the correspondence received through the White House Comment Line. Mark had the distinct pleasure of formally introducing Vice-President Joe Biden at the closing event of the internship.

From 2011 to 2013, Mark was the Logistics Team Lead for the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, where he served in Kabul, Afghanistan and Washington, DC. Mark…

• Supervised the multi-phase logistical movement of $20 million (6,000 tons) of pipeline equipment into Afghanistan via USTRANSCOM, and personally managed the distribution of the equipment throughout Northern Afghanistan for an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)-priority pipeline project

• Acted as a TFBSO liaison to the key development organizations in Afghanistan, attending regular meetings with the senior leadership of organizations such as the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), US Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A), US Agency for International Development (USAID), and ISAF

• Coordinated consolidation of equipment to Dubai from nine suppliers in seven countries, then managed the shipment of all the equipment into Mazar-e-Sharif

• Managed the ground movement of equipment from northern Iraq to Kuwait for airlift into northern Afghanistan in support of oil and gas exploration in the region

• Served directly under the Senior Military Advisor (Navy Captain, O-6), providing intelligence and threat assessments to the security team and coordinating with US Military assets to facilitate the transportation of millions of dollars of equipment into Afghanistan for development projects

• Acted in the stead of the Senior Military Advisor when he was not in Afghanistan, taking the lead to ensure accountability and progress on several major projects

• Made regular trips to the Ghorband and Panjsheer Valleys in support of multiple Micro-Hydro Power (MHP) sites in order to strengthen operational knowledge of the sites and assist the MHP team in information gathering and preparation for future projects

From 2013 to 2014 he assumed the role of Project Manager for the Task Force, during which time he…

• Managed a $60 million pipeline project in northern Afghanistan, creating the first increase in gas processing capabilities in Afghanistan in the post-Soviet era and significantly increasing the flow of natural gas to the industries and residents of the city of Mazar-e-Sharif

• Led efforts to establish the first natural gas distribution company in Afghanistan

• Managed the expansion of natural gas industry in Northern Afghanistan through signing of the first commercial Gas Purchase Agreement in Afghanistan’s history, developing industrial use of natural gas, and creating an accountability process for gas production nation-wide

• Facilitated construction of a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Mother Station and a CNG Car Conversion Facility in order to establish and expand Afghanistan’s CNG industry, the first use of Afghanistan’s natural gas resources for economic development in the post-Soviet era

In 2015, Mark joined Deloitte as a Project Delivery Specialist where he was working the Transportation Security Agency.

In life, Mark was a giant – in size and in heart. He filled the rooms he entered with his larger-than-life personality. Kristi was the love of his life. There is now a big hole that will never be filled, but we remember how Mark made us laugh, feel, cry, think, question and become better for having known and loved him.

Mark is survived by his fiancé and love of his life, Kristi Marie Altieri; his amazing brother, Ryan Patrick Callanan; parents, Terrance Patrick Callanan and Anne Patricia Williamson Callanan; along with loving and supportive aunts, uncles, cousins and grandfather.

For those desiring, the family wishes that memorial contributions be directed toward K9s for Warriors, 114 Camp K9 Rd., Ponte Verde, FL 32081 (http://k9sforwarriors.donorpages.com/MyEvent/MarkCallanan).