Vice Admiral Architzel currently serves as commander, Naval Air Systems Command, headquartered in Patuxent River, Md. He assumed his duties May 18, 2010, after serving as the principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition).

Previous flag assignments included program executive officer for Aircraft Carriers, commander of Operational Test and Evaluation Force, Norfolk, commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, commander, Naval Safety Center, Norfolk, and commander, Iceland Defense Force and commander, Fleet Air Keflavik.

At sea, Architzel served as the executive officer, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and Pre-Commissioning Unit John C. Stennis (CVN 74).  He served as the commanding officer, USS Guam (LPH 9), flagship for commander Amphibious Squadron Two, and the sixth commanding officer of USS Theodore Roosevelt(CVN 71).

A career naval aviator, Architzel has accumulated over 5000 flight hours, 4300 in the S-3, and the remainder in some 30 other aircraft types in his role as a test pilot at NAS Patuxent River. He served in VS-30, deploying aboard USS Forrestal(CV 59), and as maintenance officer in VS-28, deploying aboard USS Independence (CV 62).  He later returned to VS-30 as the executive officer and subsequently as commanding officer.

Architzel was born in Ogdensburg, N.Y., and raised in Merrick, Long Island.  He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics at the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1973 and also holds a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Systems from the University of West Florida.

His decorations include the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, four Legions of Merit, three Meritorious Service Medals, the Navy Achievement Medal and various service related awards and campaign ribbons. He was also awarded the Spanish Naval Cross of Merit from His Majesty, King Juan Carlos of Spain, the Navy League's John Paul Jones Leadership Award for 1998, and the Commander's Cross with Star of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon presented by the president of Iceland.

Vice Adm. Mark D. Harnitchek is the deputy commander, United States Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. He serves as a principal advisor and assistant to the commander, USTRANSCOM. USTRANSCOM is the single manager for global air, land and sea deployment and distribution for the Department of Defense.

Harnitchek, a native of Philadelphia, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Penn State in 1977 and was commissioned through the Navy ROTC Program. In 1987, he received a master's degree in Management from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif.

Harnitchek has served in a variety of sea tours including two submarines, USS Will Rogers (SSBN 659) and USS Buffalo (SSN-715), two ships, USS Holland (AS-32) and USS Proteus (AS-19), and the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). His shore tours include Commander, Submarine Group Seven, Yokosuka, Japan, the Navy Ships Parts Control Center, Naval  Air Station Oceana, and the Chief of Naval Operations Staff.

Flag assignments include commanding officer, Naval Inventory Control Point;  vice director for logistics, the Joint Staff; director, strategy, policy, programs and logistics, USTRANSCOM; and director, USCENTCOM Deployment and Distribution Operations Center in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.