Thirty-five years after graduating from Union High School, and 30 years after being commissioned a Naval officer, Captain Mark H. Robinson, United States Navy Reserves, retired at the USS North Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Captain Robinson was surrounded by family and friends from Harrells, Ivanhoe, and as far away as Texas. Captain Robinson was a Naval Supply officer (business logistics officer) and was on active duty for six years. On active duty, he served onboard the USS GARCIA (FF-1040) and the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, S.C.
He had 15 reserve assignments that included working at the Pentagon and two recalls to active duty Iraq (2007 and 2011) on the staffs of General Petraeus and General Austin in logistics. Captain Robinson attributes his success to the values he learned in church, including Royals Chapel Missionary Baptist and Snow Hill Missionary Baptist, at Bland Elementary School, Clear Run School and Union High School.
He has an undergraduate degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and an MBA degree from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He said in his retirement speech that people need to “Give, Obey, Do” to be successful. Captain Robinson resides in Oxford, Conn., with his wife and three children. He is the son of Charles and Minnie Robinson of Harrells.
