All posts in Defense

Vinny Boles

Vinny Boles

America’s Army has historically developed leaders and teams to function at their highest performance levels under the most stressful of conditions. Vinny Boles shows your team how to do the same.

Six weeks before the attacks of September 11th, 2001, Vinny Boles was a newly selected one-star General. He reported to take command of a contingency command, one that would be needed by the nation if “the worst thing happened.” On September 11th, it did happen and Vinny and his team went from planning to execution in an ever-fluid environment. Read more…

Nick Halley

Nick Halley

Brigadier General Nick Halley (U.S. Army, Retired) is a recognized expert on leadership and terrorism. He has commanded thousands of our soldiers in combat in three conflicts – Vietnam, Grenada, and Desert Storm. He is an army paratrooper, army ranger and special operations veteran. He has been awarded many significant decorations, including two Silver Stars for bravery in combat actions, four Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts for wounds in combat operations. Read more…

Tom Ridge

Tom Ridge

A decorated Vietnam veteran, former governor, Cabinet official and international statesman, Tom Ridge understands what and where the threats are today – and how they will affect the United States and its allies in the future. As America’s first head of homeland security, he successfully achieved the biggest change management challenge of all time – quickly integrating 180,000 people from nearly two-dozen agencies, creating a culture of change within the new department and leading a national effort to make America more secure. Read more…

William “Gus” Pagonis

Gus Pagonis

William G. “Gus” Pagonis is the author of Moving Mountains: Lessons in Leadership and Logistics from the Gulf War, published by Harvard Business School Press. Now retired, three-star US Army General Gus Pagonis masterminded logistics for the 1991 Gulf War, earning accolades from General Norman Schwarzkopf. In 1993, he left the military and took his logistics magic to Sears, Roebuck and Co., where as executive vice president of Sears Logistics Group, he played a key role in transforming the retail giant. Read more…

Robert Siciliano

Robert-Siciliano

Robert Siciliano is fiercely committed to informing, educating, and empowering Americans so they can be protected from violence and crime in the physical and virtual worlds. His “tell it like it is” style is sought after by major media outlets, executives in the C-Suite of leading corporations, meeting planners and community leaders to get the straight talk they need to stay safe in a world in which physical and virtual crime is commonplace. Siciliano is accessible, real, professional, and ready to weigh in and comment at a moment’s notice on breaking news. Read more…

Joe Ruffini

Joe Ruffini -

Joseph Ruffini brings more than 25 years of experience from a broad array of fields including infrastructure security, counter-terrorist operations, risk management, and more to the private and civil sectors. Formerly an army lieutenant colonel charged with defending the United States and Canada against cyber intrusions, international terrorist plots, and nuclear, biological, and chemical attacks, Ruffini is currently an executive strategic information operations consultant supporting US Strategic Command, the Interagency, and the National Security Council, and US Central Command in Qatar and Iraq. Ruffini is a featured government, corporate, and personal security theorist, keynote speaker, and subject matter expert. His role in infrastructure security, counter-terrorist operations, operations security, information warfare and operations, command and operations, logistics management, training and education, and risk management combine to form a motivating “how-to” management presentation. Ruffini authored When Terror Comes to Main Street, an informative, straightforward, hard-hitting book for everyday people that boils down Ruffini’s lifetime of knowledge and operational experience into one all-inclusive read. Read more…