A surface warfare officer, his career included command of ships at sea, senior U.S. Navy and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commands, staff assignments with the Chief of Naval Operations and the National Security Council, and a tour as President of the Naval War College.

[2] After returning to the United States, Stark went back to sea, serving as Combat Information Center officer aboard the destroyer leader USS Wilkinson (DL-5).

[2] In 1970, Stark began graduate studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, from which he received two master's degrees and a doctorate in political science in 1973.

He assumed command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Standing Naval Force Atlantic on 14 April 1994, and during that tour directed its operations in support of the United Nations embargo of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars.

[2] In retirement, Stark worked in London, England, for Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems for nearly seven years as vice president for European Marketing.