The Commitment to Saying Yes: A Tribute to Mark Elliott on Veterans Day

“We never say no to an adventure.” – Mark Elliott

This month, we honor the courage, honor, and sacrifice of veterans across the country. Today, we honor Mark Elliott, Director of Solutions Engineering at Asimily. Not only has he served his country in the U.S. Coast Guard, but he has also used his military training to support underserved communities across 17 countries in Africa and Haiti.

As a Director of Solutions EngineeringFri at Asimily, Mark Elliott has the opportunity to share the power of its cybersecurity solution and how it integrates with existing software at hospitals to create a layered defense within their organization. While that may describe his current role, his road to getting to Asimily has been quite the ride. 

The Early Military Years

Mark started his adult life serving with the U.S. Coast Guard at the young age of 17. His career choice was a combination of his passion for public service and being around water. His first assignment was in Alaska serving as a deck seaman on the USCGC Sweetbrier, a 180 ft Buoy Tender, where he serviced Aids to Navigation and performed Search and Rescue missions where he performed as the ship’s rescue swimmer for persons struggling in the frigid waters.. 

Mark was accepted into the Navy/Marine Officer Prep Program (BOOST) in San Diego early on in his career.  During his participation in the Cuban Mariel Boatlift of 1980, the mass emigration of Cubans from Mariel Harbor to the shores of Florida, Mark saw people put their lives at risk to leave failed nations and this started his passion for humanitarian efforts. 

He moved from the officer training program with the Marines to the US Coast Guard Academy in 1982. He completed a four-year degree and was commissioned as an officer. He was sent back to Alaska and surprisingly found himself in charge of the boats he used to jump off of as a rescue swimmer. After serving 10 full years in the Coast Guard, Mark decided to pursue other life goals.

An Expat Life Abroad

While in Boston, Mark married a nurse practitioner with a similar heart for humanitarian efforts. Mark and his new bride moved to Singapore and spent the next 4 years traveling as expats in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia while working for a financial company. 

While settled in Singapore, they connected with American international missionaries who were taking a brief respite from working in the jungles of Papua New Guinea with the Taman tribe. Mark and his wife were moved by their stories and wanted to do something to make life a bit more comfortable for them – even if it was only temporary. They created what they called a “halfway house” to support these American development workers who were in need of some creature comforts like air conditioning, Oreo cookies, and an ice-cold Coca-Cola. 

The Calling to a Life of Service

After 4 years of managing an unofficial “halfway house” for American development workers, a friend confronted Mark with a question that would change the course of his work. 

“What if this isn’t what God wants you to be doing? You and your wife have a very unique set of skills that any organization would be grateful to have.” 

Mark and his wife had settled comfortably into expat life in Singapore and they weren’t ready to go live life in the jungles of Southeast Asia as so many of their friends had done. The couple did some months of research and found an organization in West Africa that performed 20,000 free surgeries a year on children in need of cataract surgery and women who had suffered through difficult birth or violent injuries. Mark applied and took on a new position that shifted his life immediately. And so began his 7-year sabbatical into humanitarian work. 

Mark went from having a lucrative job as an expat in Singapore to making just a few thousand dollars a year traveling across West Africa. He served in places like Liberia and Sierra Leone during their civil wars. In his new role as a Ship Security Officer, Mark was fitting people for prosthetic limbs, treating leper patients, restoring eyesight, and other surgeries that restored these people’s purpose and dignity so that community members could get back to living as part of their community and not as outcasts. 

Be a Sheepdog, Not a Sheep

Over the years, Mark has developed a deep resonance with the spirit of the sheepdog from the military to civil society. Sheepdogs are known as guardians and protectors. They stand up for what is right even if it means going against the crowd. Sheepdogs are devoted to standing up in the face of danger in order to save others. 

Mark comments that one of the greatest lessons from being a member of the Coast Guard was focusing on activities that give you purpose. His time in the military jumping into the frigid 30° F waters of Alaska to save people from sinking ships taught him how to react quickly and work with a team. However, he also found fulfillment in witnessing men, women, and children taking a more active role in their own communities after receiving much-needed medical care. He and his wife had no problem giving up the fancy expat life in favor of humanitarian work. In fact, in Mark’s eyes, there was nothing but benefits. “The more you give away, the richer you become.”

Service in Haiti

Mark was sent to Haiti as a 2 man Advance Team in 2010 after the devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 that killed over 150,000 people. Once again, Mark’s inner sheepdog instinct kicked in to work in support of people who had lost family members, homes, employment, medical care, and any infrastructure that was connected to daily survival. As in any disaster, there were many NGOs sending in teams but they constantly needed new people and supplies. Mark used his technical skills and professional network to get equipment donated that he could set up to allow dozens of organizations to communicate their needs back to their parent organizations and to let the volunteers keep in touch with their families

“In Haiti, one of the immediate needs was to go find more beds as the local hospitals were running out of space for post-op patients. Mark’s teams made connections with the Mennonite community schools up in the mountains that were training women to sew and perform other skills that would help them earn a living. The schools also had empty barracks that could potentially be used as a post-op center for patients who desperately needed more time to heal.” 

Mark helped get medical supplies to the mountains while ensuring that the local women would be trained to assist doctors in wound healing. Military helicopters were used to fly all the post-op patients from the city hospital and hospital ships to these mountain schools.

Shift to “Normal Life”

Mark received a call from one of the largest military contractors in the U.S. in 2011 that felt more than a bit odd. The HR representative had somehow heard of Mark’s unique skill set that combined experience in the military and humanitarian assistance. They invited him to interview for a classified role. His family joked that he was being ‘recruited to be an international spy’. It turns out that he was interviewing for a technology security position that combined every skill he had done in the military and humanitarian work. The company sent him to school to upgrade his skills and certifications so that he’d be up to speed on the position and he has spent the last 13 years working in Wireless Technology and Network Security, while his wife, Zana, opened her own practice and provides care for the elderly and highly compromised children needing a long term health facility.

What’s to Love about Security Management?

Mark reflected on what he loves most about his work in security management at Asimily.

“At the end of 2023, 25 hospitals were on the verge of funding collapse after their payment system got hit. The back-end system of these hospitals that were affiliated with much larger hospital systems was attacked on Thanksgiving day. They couldn’t receive payment for pharmaceuticals and health services delivered. They went from operating in the year 2023 to being forced to use 1970 technology in a matter of an hour.” 

“Because none of the data was available, they couldn’t look at images like patient X-rays. Hospital staff were taking notes on paper like they did in the 70s. And I consider this work as part of my purpose. I strive to assist others in protecting the sick and hurt from all the bad guys out there that are striving to cripple our infrastructure and steal vulnerable patients’ data.  I am a sheepdog watching over my client’s systems and data and trying to keep them safe from the wolves.”

Outside of all the excitement of serving in the military, as a humanitarian, and as a civilian on the front lines of HTM, he and his wife, Zana, have raised two beautiful daughters – one who is an ICU Covid Nurse earning her doctorate as an anesthesiologist and the other who has worked with Syrian refugees in Greece. Zana and Mark are proud that their 2 daughters have become sheepdogs themselves with their own flocks to protect.  Their tradition of selfless service lives on in the next generation.