Carl Bryon Forkner

Cold War Veteran
HAV Veterans Day Parade 2025

U.S. Navy Commander Carl Bryon Forkner (RET)
Mesa, Arizona

Born in Chicago, IL, in 1958, Carl Forkner served 28 years as a Naval Flight Officer and Surface Warfare Officer. He began his Navy career as a Naval Flight Officer in the P-3C Orion aircraft, based in Jacksonville, FL, and participated in deployed operations against Libya in 1986. He then spent two years as a joint Advanced Navigation Instructor at Mather Air Force Base (AFB), CA, before rejoining the Navy on the staff of Carrier Group ONE in North Island, CA, where he flew the S-3A/B aircraft carrier-based aircraft. His Department Head tour took him to Ventura, CA, from where he deployed four times to Antarctica in support of the National Science Foundation. He was selected for a Fellowship at the Pentagon, from which he was promoted to Deputy Director for Naval Matters at the Center for Naval Analyses.

Following his tour in Washington, DC, he reported to the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) in Bremerton, WA, as Combat Direction Center Officer, Assistant Operations Officer, and Integrated Training Team Leader. On September 11, 2001, the ship was off the west coast of India, en route to the Persian Gulf, but it took station in the North Arabian Sea. It was here that the battle group and air wing launched the first strikes into Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. He returned home in 2002, becoming the Senior Naval Officer at NORAD’s Western Air Defense Sector HQ at McChord AFB, WA, where he was responsible for directing airborne operations for Operation Noble Eagle, protecting National Special Security Events, and providing Presidential support with the Secret Service when the President was west of the Mississippi. He finished his career as an Assistant Professor at the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, AL in 2011.

After retiring from the Navy, he completed the first of two Ph.D. degrees and then worked as the Chief Operations Officer for a Tempe training company. He left the business world in 2018 to volunteer full-time for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) in Mesa, AZ, where he served as a Veteran Service Officer, Chapter Adjutant, and Chapter Commander, before being elected Junior Vice Commander for the state DAV organization. In June 2025, he became Department Adjutant and CEO for DAV in Arizona.

His civic accomplishments include serving as a Boy Scout leader, a Dementia Friends Champion, Secretary/Treasurer of the Board of Directors of Resurrection Street Ministry, which supports homeless and underserved veterans, and Chair of the Mesa Chamber Veterans Program.

Carl Forkner is an outstanding leader who exemplifies honor, courage, and a commitment to his community and its residents, as well as to veterans.