Colonel Berentson was commissioned in 2002 following graduation from Washington State University and was designated an Infantry Officer. His additional military occupational specialties include Expeditionary Ground Reconnaissance Officer, Operational Advisor, and Foreign Area Officer (Latin America and Africa).
From 2003 to 2006, Colonel Berentson served with 3d Battalion, 3d Marines, in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii and deployed to the Western Pacific on the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, to Afghanistan, and to Iraq before transferring to the Inactive Ready Reserve.
From 2009 to 2013, Colonel Berentson served as a platoon commander with 4th Force Reconnaissance Company. In 2012 his platoon mobilized as the Maritime Security Force Assistance Team for Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force–Africa in Sigonella, Italy. His platoon of reconnaissance Marines and riverine sailors deployed throughout sub-Saharan Africa to train and advise foreign security forces. From 2013 to 2014, he served as the operations officer and then XO of 4th Force.
From 2014 to 2017, Colonel Berentson mobilized to Marine Forces Europe and Africa (MARFOREUR/AF) as a future operations planner, supporting crisis response and operational planning throughout the U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility. He subsequently remained with MARFOREUR/AF as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) through 2018 to train the Uganda People’s Defence Force.
From 2019 to 2021, Colonel Berentson served as an IMA with Marine Forces South, supporting planning efforts for exercises PANAMAX, UNITAS, and TRADEWINDS.
From 2021 to 2023, Colonel Berentson commanded 3d Battalion, 25th Marines. During his tenure, subordinate units participated in Exercise RAVEN with Marine Forces Special Operations Command, TRADEWINDS in Belize, and UNITAS in Brazil. During UNITAS, he served as the Ground Combat Element commander for the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force. He also oversaw the sequential deployment of three platoons to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
From 2023 to 2026, Colonel Berentson served as a Joint Operational Planner with Joint Enabling Capabilities Command in Norfolk, Virginia, supporting a variety of planning efforts. In 2025, he mobilized to U.S. Southern Command, where he served in the J-5 to plan operations in the Caribbean and South America.
Colonel Berentson is a graduate of the Expeditionary Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Joint and Combined Warfighting Course, Air War College, and Army War College, all through non-resident programs. He holds master's degrees in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati, International Relations from Webster University, and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.
Colonel Berentson is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. His overseas assignments include Honduras, Pakistan, and Nigeria, and he has worked in the Operations Center and the Bureau of African Affairs in Washington.