Brigadier Mark Totten joined the Royal Marines in 1998 and passed for duty in September 1999.  His early career was dominated by Regimental Duty.  During this period, he saw operational service in Norther Ireland and Iraq, and had the privilege of training new-entry Royal Marines. 

Following promotion to Major, he was Adjutant at the Commando Training Centre and a Company Commander at 40 Commando.  In the latter, role he deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan, as part of the NATO Security and Assistance Force.

Progressing to Lt Col in 2012, he spent a year as the lead planner within the UK’s 2* Amphibious Headquarters.  From there, he returned to 3 Commando Brigade - first as the Chief of Staff within the Brigade Headquarters and then as Commanding Officer of 42 Commando Royal Marines. 

As a Colonel, he was Chief of Staff to both the EU Naval Force ATALANTA, running counter piracy operations in the Horn of Africa, and to Commander UK Strike Force, the UK's 2* expeditionary Maritime Component Command.  After leading the team that developed the Future Commando Force concept for the Integrated Review of 2021, he was promoted to Brigadier and is now the Senior Responsible Owner for the Commando Force programme within Navy Command.

Brigadier Totten holds an MA in Defence Studies from King’s College London. He is a graduate of the Higher Command and Staff Course at the UK Defence Academy and the Major Project Leadership Academy at Oxford Saïd Business School.