BENS President and CEO Addresses Southeast Members

Business Executives for National Security • Southeast Region • Member Brief • Spring 2014
Spring Edition 2014
BENS President and CEO Addresses Southeast Members
Luncheon host and BENS Board Member Tommy Holder welcomes members and
guests to lunch.
General Schwartz addresses BENS SE members at the Capital City Club in February.
More than 50 members, their guests
and staff welcomed BENS President and
CEO Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, U.S. Air
Force (Ret.), for his first 2014 visit to the
Southeast Region during a luncheon at
Atlanta’s Capital City Club on February 4.
During remarks following lunch, the former U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff stated his
vision and priorities for the organization.
“BENS is different than other organizations,” he said, “because we’re the only
organization I know that uses a business
lens to help address national security
issues.”
Since its founding in 1982, BENS has
earned a proud history of accomplish-
Luncheon sponsor Mike Campbell welcomes new member Andy Stull to the BENS SE
region.
ment and a great reputation, he said.
“Our government partners trust us. They
know we won’t take advantage of them,
take the credit, or be self-serving. We just
want what’s right for the country.”
The general noted that its patriotic
members and mission that make BENS
special. “We’re all about product. In the
future, we’ll do fewer projects, but we’ll
focus on doing them well,” he emphasized. Current BENS projects focus on
cyber and energy security, fiscal responsibility, military compensation and benefits
(includes healthcare), and reducing the
barriers to government service faced by
business leaders.
He said BENS needs to grow and become
more diverse in terms of member business skills, age and gender. He plans
to recruit the 40-50 year-old “successor
generation” and more members with
healthcare and information technology
backgrounds.
The luncheon was hosted by BENS Board
member Tommy Holder, Chairman and
CEO of Holder Construction Company, and
generously sponsored by Mike Campbell,
a Wealth Management Advisor with the
Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
and Vice Chairman of the BENS Southeast Membership Committee.
To submit contributions for the next edition of the Southeast Region Newsletter, please email Sarah Rossetti at [email protected]
Business Executives for National Security • Southeast Region • Member Brief • Spring 2014
Stepping into the Situation Room: Daryl Moody, CEO, Instrumentation & Engineering
Services, Inc.
Like every member, I’ve heard about
some of BENS’ great accomplishments
from prior years: initiatives to privatize
base housing, remove politics from decisions to close and realign military bases
(BRAC), and bring greater efficiencies
to fuel acquisition. However, I never
thought to ask how these initiatives got
started. I found the answer in the situation room of U.S. Strategic Command
(STRATCOM) in Omaha, NE during a
recent BENS trip.
My expectations for the trip were drawn
from similar experiences with various
organizations. I knew we would get a
tour of the facility, spend several hours
with a public affairs officer and, schedule permitting, have a few minutes with
the Commander or one of his deputies.
There would probably be time for the
infamous “grip and grin” and we’d leave
with a nice memento for the office.
The BENS trip to STRATCOM was different. From the moment we arrived,
Admiral Haney, Commander STRATCOM, greeted our team and didn’t
leave our side until he left for D.C.
the next day. He wasn’t alone. Lt.
General Kowalski, the Deputy Commander, Major General Uberti,
Chief of Staff, and the majority of the STRATCOM
leadership cleared their
schedules so we could
meet uninterrupted
for the better part
of two days.
During that time,
we discussed such
topics as the future
of nuclear deterrence
in the U.S., common
problems of managing
a workforce, the effects
of cyber espionage and
potential hazards of
Daryl Moody discusses his personal experiences on a BENS trip to STRATCOM.
information management. All our discussions took the same format; the leadership of STRATCOM shared their biggest
problems and asked how we handle
similar challenges in the business world.
Much of what we said they had
heard before; it’s hard to share
something new with some of
the sharpest military minds
in the world. I know I learned
a lot more about running an
efficient organization from the
leadership at STRATCOM
than they learned from
me. But, in two days of
conversations, our BENS
group was able to cast
a new light on some of
their old problems and
every member shared a
unique perspective.
Admiral Haney (Commander) STRATCOM
Bob Cohen (Chairman,
RelateIQ) and Skip Zimbalist (CEO, Active Interest
Media) shared messaging
insights from a lifetime of
dealing with the media. And
Angie Messer’s (EVP, Booz Allen Hamilton)
experience in information management
was of particular interest to the leadership. I noticed Admiral Haney and General
Kowlaski busily taking notes.
That’s when it hit me. BENS’ great
initiatives don’t come from back rooms
or academic journals. They come from
these very conversations. The leadership
of STRATCOM didn’t clear their schedules
to be polite or make us feel important;
they spent time with us so we could
help. Over the past few decades our
military partners have learned they can
trust BENS to listen and offer valuable
solutions that are in the best interests of
National Security.
I’ve learned too; if you sign up for a
BENS trip, be prepared. Be prepared
to work, be prepared to sit down with
the highest levels of leadership and be
prepared to make a difference - when
one of your ideas becomes the basis
for the next world class BENS initiative.
BENS isn’t a sight-seeing organization.
These trips are how the work - and the
rewards - begin.
To submit contributions for the next edition of the Southeast Region Newsletter, please email Sarah Rossetti at [email protected]
Business Executives for National Security • Southeast Region • Member Brief • Spring 2014
Army Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG) Visits Florida
then advise our forces on appropriate countermeasures to
existing and emerging threats.
Dr. Crino, speaking before BENS audiences in Palm Beach and
Tampa on February 4, 2014, explained the Vulnerability Assessment Method, or VAM, which the AWG uses to identify threats
before they occur and develop solutions. The VAM is also useful for business leaders in the form of a Competitive Vulnerability Analysis, he said.
The Florida members also welcomed BENS President and CEO
Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), for his first visit
with them. He spoke briefly about BENS history, and his vision
and priorities for the future.
(L to R) SE member Roger Swinford with BENS President and CEO Norty Schwartz
and dinner speaker Dr. Scott Crino of the Asymmetric Warfare Group.
Asymmetric Warfare is the tactics used by an inferior force to
level the playing field against a superior force, according to
the AWG’s Dr. Scott Crino. The AWG mission is to identify our
nation’s global military vulnerabilities, develop solutions, and
The Palm Beach luncheon was hosted and sponsored by BENS
Board member Heidi Steiger, President of US Bank’s Eastern
Region. A Tampa dinner was hosted by Roger Swinford, President and CEO of Calhoun International. John Corcia, Chairman,
President and CEO of Gulfstream USA, LLC helped plan, advertise and coordinate the details for both events.
Expert from NCFTA Underscores Threat of Counterfeit Goods
Stephen Mancini , Program Manager,
Brand and Consumer Protection, from
Pittsburgh’s National Cyber-Forensics
and Training Alliance (NCFTA) spoke at
a March 20 BENS Southeast luncheon
held at the Buckhead Club in Atlanta.
Mr. Mancini is a decorated 20 year
veteran of both the U.S. Navy and Air
Force and spent three years with the
Department of Homeland Security prior
to joining NCFTA. The NCFTA is a nonprofit corporation focused on identifying,
mitigating, and ultimately neutralizing
cybercrime threats through strategic
partnerships in the public, private and
academic sectors.
ment agencies to better identify, mitigate
and neutralize these threats.
Mr. Mancini detailed the global threats to
the consumer product industries, specifically the U.S. Auto industry. Counterfeit
merchandise is a serious problem for
U.S. manufacturers and customers. His
group works closely with their strategic
partners to identify these potential and
existing areas of concern. This effective
collaboration is then shared with the
appropriate government and law enforce-
Stephen Mancini, Program Manager, Brand
& Consumer Protection Program at the National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance.
Mr. Mancini concluded his remarks by
emphasizing that NCFTA’s efforts are proactive and designed to protect their partners
brand, reputation and shareholder value.
New BENS member Mike Potts, CEO
of Lancope, sponsored the event with
Admiral Bob Wright as the host. Billy
Lovett of the Brookwood Capital Group
provided the invocation and led the
Pledge of Allegiance.
Luncheon host and new member Mike Potts (L) is welcomed to the Southeast region by BENS member Billy
Lovett (C) and luncheon host Bob Wright (R).
To submit contributions for the next edition of the Southeast Region Newsletter, please email Sarah Rossetti at [email protected]
Business Executives for National Security • Southeast Region • Member Brief • Spring 2014
LT. Gen. Theodore Nicholas Addresses Counter Terrorism and Cyber Threats
On Tuesday, April 15, 2014, we had a strong turnout for breakfast at the Capital City
Club to hear Lt. Gen. Theodore Nicholas, Assistant Director Partner Engagement for
the Office of the Director of National Security. General Nicholas had several of his
colleagues join him on the trip. They have visited twelve cities throughout the country meeting with local community leaders to hear directly about their concerns. The
General said various government agencies have been working effectively to manage
Counter-Terrorism (CT) threats and that the information flow among agencies was good.
Cyber Threats have become a higher priority than CT for the government due to the high
potential for disruption and public concern. The NSA continues to play a critical role
and is staffed with some the best and brightest. Collectively, these agencies are doing
their best to educate the public about the many ways that the bad guys are hacking into
private and public sector computer systems.
Additionally, General Nicholas talked about how terrorism has
become more decentralized and that this tracking makes terrorists
difficult to monitor. He explained that citizens of various countries
are going to Syria and other countries to learn various terrorist techniques and then return to their home countries with that
knowledge. The trick for the U.S. government is trying to determine
the “tipping point” that moves people to the other side. We must
analyze the patterns of those individuals and develop preventive
measures to stop them before they act in a violent way, he said.
Breakfast was hosted by Ted Miller, Senior Vice President – Investments, Senior Portfolio Manager, UBS Financial Services, Inc.
Breakfast host Ted Miller welcomes Lt. Gen. T. Nicholas,
Assistant Director of National Intelligence Partner Engagement, to BENS Southeast at the Capital City Club in April.
The group participates in a candid discussion on the impact of Edward Snowden’s
leaks of classified information on our intelligence and business communities.
Upcoming Events:
Friday, May 30, 2014: Luncheon with Fran Townsend, former
Homeland Security Advisor to President Bush and a BENS
Board member, at the Buckhead Club from 11:30 am to 1:30
pm. POC: Sarah Rossetti, [email protected]
Tuesday, June 17, 2014: Luncheon with Lt. Gen. Kenneth
A. Minihan, USAF (Ret.), former Director of the NSA and the
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), at the Capital City Club from
11:30 am to 1:30 pm. POC: Sarah Rossetti, [email protected]
BENS SOUTHEAST NEW MEMBERS
Mr. Joseph W. Chapman
Managing Director
Aon Risk Solutions
Atlanta, GA
Mrs. Phrantceena Halres
CEO
Total Protection Services Group
Charlotte, NC
Mr. James C. Eberle
CEO
Critigen
Atlanta, GA
COL. Sean M. Frisbee, USAF (Ret.)
President
Instrumentation and Engineering
Services, Inc.
Navarre, FL
BENS Southeast has the single purpose of helping make America safer
and more secure. We do this by
supporting national BENS policy and
program initiatives and by promoting
partnerships with state and federal
government agencies and other likeminded organizations throughout
the eight Southeastern states. BENS
Southeast has grown to include
more than 100 distinguished business leaders.
As a member-driven organization, BENS Southeast is guided by
members who have a passion for
our mission and a willingness to
devote time, talent, and resources
to its advancement. In addition to
their involvement in BENS’ national
activities, BENS Southeast members sponsor additional projects
and events dealing with homeland
security.
To submit contributions for the next edition of the Southeast Region Newsletter, please email Sarah Rossetti at [email protected]