PROFESSIONAL:
LTC Dobner grew up on U.S. Army bases in Germany. Before becoming an Army officer, he completed an enlisted tour with the U.S. Marine Corps in Japan (1990-94), and a Navy Surface Warfare Officer tour assigned to combatant ships for operational deployments across the globe (2000-05). He transferred directly to the Army in 2009 and qualified as a Civil Affairs Officer and Foreign
Area Officer. His Army experience includes Chief of Civil Military Operations for Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul, Afghanistan (2012-13), Company Command in Germany-based 457th Civil Affairs Battalion (2014-15), and HQ U.S. Army Europe Liaison to the Office of Defense Cooperation in U.S. Embassy, Latvia (2015). From 2015-17, he was assigned to HQ U.S. Army
Europe G-3/5/7 as an exercise planner and pol-mil affairs officer. From 2017-19, he was a pol-mil affairs officer at HQ U.S. European Command J-5/8 Europe Division (South/West). From 2019-21, he completed a Pentagon assignment as Europe Team Chief, Army International Affairs Division in HQ Department of the Army G-3/5/7. Since 2021, LTC Dobner is assigned to U.S. Embassy, Republic of Georgia as Chief, Defense Threat Reduction Agency Regional Office for the Caucasus and Turkey.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING:
LTC Dobner earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from American University in
Washington, DC (1997) and a Master of Arts in Eurasian Strategic Studies from Excelsior Graduate School of Liberal Arts in Albany, New York (2012). His military training includes Marine Combat
Training, Navy Surface Warfare Officer School, combat system qualifications on an Aegis missile defense ship, Army Civil Military Affairs Qualification Course, Army Captain Career Course, Army
Command and General Staff Officer Course, and the Defense Security Cooperation Management Course.
AWARDS AND DECORATIONS:
LTC Dobner’s military awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal,
and Army Achievement Medal. His decorations include the Navy Surface Warfare Officer Badge, Army Parachutist Badge, and Marine Corps Expert Rifle Marksmanship Badge.
PERSONAL:
LTC Dobner currently resides in Tbilisi, Georgia with his wife and their two young children.