Raised in Hampton, Virginia, Major General Douglas K. Clark graduated from Virginia Tech in 1990 and received his commission in 1991. He initiated his career as an Infantry Officer with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment during which he participated in Operation PEACEMAKER (Los Angeles Riots-1992), the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operations Capable (MEU-SOC) and 13th MEU-SOC, including Western Pacific deployment in support of the United Nations in Operation UNITED SHIELD (Somalia-1995). He was then assigned to the Amphibious Reconnaissance School, Expeditionary Warfare Training Group Atlantic (1995-1998) and the 4th Supply Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group (1998-1999).
Following his assignment as Platoon Commander in the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion, Major General Clark commanded Company C, 4th LAR (2001- 2004) deploying in 2003 to Operation IRAQI FREEDOM with Task Force Tarawa. His company then completed redeployment to Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, in Okinawa, Japan. His following assignments included U.S. Joint Forces Command (2004-2005); executive officer of 4th LAR (2005-2006); U.S. Marine Forces Command (2006-2007) and command of 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment (2007-2009).
Major General Clark served as the Pakistan Planner and Civil-Military Planner for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Commander in Kabul, Afghanistan (2009-2010) for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. He was then assigned as the Washington liaison for U.S. Central Command (2010-2012). He completed multiple tours in Headquarters Marine Corps as lead Force Structure Planner for the Quadrennial Defense Review Integration Group (2012-2014), Branch Head in Programs and Resources (2014-2015) and Deputy Chief of Expeditionary Policy and Assistant Director of Operations in Plans, Policy, and Operations (2015-2017). He then served as Marine Detachment Commander in the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, U.S. Transportation Command (2017-2020) in Norfolk, Virginia. In his last tour, he became the first Marine Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the NATO Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway (2020-2022).
Major General Clark is a graduate of Joint Advanced Warfighting School; Joint Forces Staff College, Canadian Militia Command and Staff College, USMC Command and Staff Distance Education Program, and Amphibious Warfare School Distance Education Program. His awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and Presidential Unit Citation.