Using AI to Manage Hybrid Environments – and Improve Security

AI Lead, Deputy Commandant for IS Data Office

Captain Christopher D. Clark enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2008. His initial assignment was with the Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron Futenma, where he served as a Financial Analyst until 2010. He then moved to Marine Corps Forces Pacific, holding the position of Budget Chief until 2013, where he was responsible for overseeing financial transactions worth $38 million annually.

In 2012, Captain Clark completed an Associate of Arts in General Studies at Hawaii Pacific University, which assisted in his selection for the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program. He continued his education at The Ohio State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 2016, followed by commissioning as a Communications Officer in the Marine Corps.

Captain Clark served as the Staff Communications Officer (S-6) for Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) from 2017 to 2021. In this role, he managed the communications requirements for the Group and its seven Squadrons in garrison, exercise, and deployment requirements across the Pacific Region to include multiple Marine Corps Rotational Forces Darwin deployments, exercises in South Korea and the Philippines, and Service Level Training Exercises as the Aviation Command Element S-6.

Captain Clark obtained a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management and Policy from the University of Maryland Global Campus in 2020 while working as the MAG-24 S-6, complementing his military duties and expertise in the field of information security.

Captain Clark was then selected to attend the Naval Postgraduate School, graduating in 2023 with a Master of Science in Computer Science, specializing in Artificial Intelligence. For his thesis, he created a novel adversarial example attack using the A* Search algorithm that creates adversarial images that cause deep neural networks to misclassify images with minimal added noise. This thesis involved significant work in building, training, and attacking advanced machine learning models in white and black box settings.

Currently, Captain Clark is the Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Information, Service Data Office Artificial Intelligence Lead Officer, a role that utilizes his extensive academic background and experience in the Marine Corps. He is the author of the USMC Artificial Intelligence Strategy, is leading the development of the USMC Artificial Intelligence Implementation Plan, and is a Doctor of Engineering in Artificial Intelligence candidate at George Washington University.