Deputy Commander (Active) West, Naval Special Warfare Command
Capt. Mark Burke
Captain Burke is from Pittsburgh, PA and commissioned from the United States Naval Academy in 1999. He completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in 2000 with Class 228. He earned a master’s degree in special operations Low Intensity Conflict at Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California and earned Joint Professional Military Education 2 qualification.
Captain Burke’s operational assignments include multiple deployments with SEAL Team THREE, including Operation Iraqi Freedom. He served as an Assistant Operations Officer at NSWU-TWO, and he served as a Platoon OIC at SEAL Team FIVE culminating in a deployment to Ramadi, Iraq in 2006. He served as Troop Commander, Operations Officer, and Executive Officer in NSWTACDEVRON TWO and deployed in support of numerous Joint Task Forces (JTF). He deployed to the CENTCOM and AFRICOM AORs multiple times in several capacities for combat and sensitive operations, including Strike Force and Task Force Commander. Captain Burke also served as an Operations Department Head at Special Operations Command North at Peterson Air Force Base, CO and deployed as a SOC Forward Commander. Captain Burke then served as a JTF Operations Officer prior to taking command of NSWTACDEVRON THREE. As the DEV THREE CO, he served as the Commanding Officer of two JTFs. Following his command tour, he served as the NSWDG Operations Officer and then as the Deputy Commander. In 2023, Captain Burke assumed command of Naval Special Warfare Center in charge of all NSW basic pipeline and advanced operator skills training, outreach and education, and NSW’s range complexes nationwide.
In August 2025, Captain Burke reported to Naval Special Warfare Command to serve as its Deputy Commander (West).