Advisory Board

Mr. Robert J. Vipperman retired in 2013 as a Systems Engineer and Intelligence Community professional with 32+ years of experience.  He worked 28+ years in Life-Cycle Systems Engineering Support in Requirements, Design, Development, IVV&T, Transition, and Operations. He has over 25 years in Space/Ground Systems, Satellite Operations, and Management; and 19 years in Program and Project Management.  19 years in Program Office and Acquisitions Support; 10 years in Systems Engineering and Technical Analysis (SETA) and 6 years in Systems Integration experience; and, 9 Years in Space Systems/Satellite Operations Technical Instruction. He worked exclusively under Government Central Intelligence Agency Reps in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Dr. Robert Allred is a national security and intelligence professional with experience working on international sanctions, arms trafficking, counterterrorism, and cyber issues. He currently works as a Data Analyst at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency where he tracks malicious cyber actors, works to modernize corporate data practices, and applies machine learning techniques to identify cyber threats. He has also served at the Central Intelligence Agency as an all-source analyst and has worked in the banking industry as a risk analyst. Dr. Allred holds a Ph.D. and Master of Arts in Political Science from Duke University and an undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Georgia. His dissertation studied the intersection of intelligence, secrecy, and congressional politics.

Lieutenant General Robert P. Ashley, Jr. retired from the United States Army in November 2020 after over 36 years of active-duty service. He assumed his last duty position on 3 October 2017 when he became the 21st Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). He formerly served as the Army Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2, where he was the senior advisor to the Secretary of the Army and Army Chief of Staff for all aspects of intelligence, counterintelligence, and security. Lieutenant General Ashley is a career army military intelligence officer with assignments in Fort Bragg, NC, Washington, DC, Fort Gordon, GA, MacDill Air Force Base, FL, Izmir, Turkey, and deployments to Operation JOINT FORGE, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, Iraq, and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, Afghanistan.

Mr.  Brian W. Goodman retired from the National Security Agency (NSA) on 31 December 2019 as a Senior Executive/United States Army Military Intelligence Field Grade Officer with 45 years of combined experience in diverse assignments in SIGINT, cyber, foreign affairs, program management, and leadership from squad leader to Deputy Commander, NSA Georgia. An accomplished leader known for pioneering SIGINT Support to Military Operations, Multi-Partnership Operations, and critical Program Management experience with a passion for optimizing mission success through Employee Wellness, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I), and Leader Development Programs.

Dr. Jennifer Hesterman is a retired Air Force colonel who served in three Pentagon tours and in multiple command positions in the field. Her last assignment was Vice Commander at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, where she led installation security, including the protection of Air Force One. She is the recipient of the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service medal with 5 oak leaf clusters, and the Global War on Terrorism Service medal. After her military retirement in 2007, Dr. Hesterman has worked as a cleared contractor in Washington, DC, performing operational research on international and domestic terrorist organizations, transnational threats, organized crime, human, drug, and weapon trafficking, and the terrorist and criminal exploitation of the Internet. She holds a doctoral degree from Benedictine University, Master of Science degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Air University, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University.

With a distinguished career spanning over two decades, Karyn Hayes-Ryan contributed years of dedicated service to the United States Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense. During this period, she held key positions in agencies such as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The latter part of her career, which spanned 17 years, was marked by her commitment and leadership in the Senior Executive Service. Following retirement, Karyn Hayes-Ryan established KHR Impacts, LLC, a consultancy specializing in providing strategic insights and guidance to the aerospace and defense industries.

Mr. Paul Hickey was selected to attend one of the first computer programming classes that the Air Force offered at Sheppard AFB, Texas. Later he was assigned to the National Security Agency (NSA) until his release from active duty. After three years in the NSA’s Intelligence Analyst Intern Program, he completed two overseas assignments at ground collection facilities in Europe. He then spent an additional 10 years with the Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) in Europe working for the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade with HUMINT operations, in addition to his SIGINT work. He was selected to be the Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM) for the 66th, and later for NSA/CSS Georgia (NSA/CSS-G) at Fort Gordon. While at NSA/CSS-G Mr. Hickey worked on a team to develop a strategic ten-year plan aimed at gaining political and financial support for a new operations building, which was approved by Congress. It was completed in 2013 and named the Whitelaw Building.

Robert Paulson retired as Deputy Director and Chief of Operations for the United States Department of State’s Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund. He was responsible for the implementation of 24 active international nonproliferation programs worth approximately $400 million in high-priority countries such as North Korea, Libya, Syria, Egypt, and Pakistan. These programs included securing, destroying, or removing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and related materials in foreign countries. From 1998-2001 Mr. Paulson was a Senior Program Management Advisor for the Department of State. Previously, Mr. Paulson had a long and distinguished career in the United States Air Force, where he flew more than 2500 hours in the F-4 fighter aircraft while serving in South Korea and Germany. As a Command Weapons and Tactics Officer, he was a recognized expert in fighter tactics and special munitions, as well as a liaison officer for intelligence issues.

Major General Mark R. Quantock is a career Military Intelligence officer and a decorated combat veteran of four combat tours in the Middle East and South Asia. His military career culminated as Director of Intelligence (J2) for United States Central Command. He has served in a variety of Military Intelligence, staff and command positions. Key senior leadership positions he held include Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Resolute Support, CJ2, United States Forces Afghanistan in Kabul, where he served as the senior intelligence officer in theater with oversight over all intelligence operations in Afghanistan. Among his other key staff assignments was serving as Military Deputy/Director of Operations for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Fort Belvoir, VA. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Cluster (OLC), Legion of Merit with three OLCs, Bronze Star with OLC, National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal and numerous other personal and unit awards.

Michael Rhodes is a specialist in space systems engineering, space systems acquisition, program management, and risk management. He has over 42 years of high-technology systems engineering experience with 37 years driving the state-of-the-art in space systems. During his 21.5 years of Air Force service, including 12 years of NRO government service, and 21 years of SETA (Technical Consulting) service to the the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), he directed or provided systems engineering support across GEOINT’s legacy, current-generation, and next-generation spacecraft and compartmented programs in Advanced Systems & Technology (AS&T) and GEOINT Directorates. In addition to program administration responsibilities, Mr. Rhodes leads three organizations aligned to the DA&M: The Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), Washington Headquarters Services (WHS), and the Consolidated Adjudications Facility.

Kelli Vazquez is a skilled Imagery, Geospatial, and All-Source Intelligence Analyst with 12 years of experience processing, exploiting, and producing GEOINT products from commercial, NTM (national technical means) and airborne assets, along with conducting in-depth research using classified and unclassified sources to compose detailed intelligence reports. She has deployed twice to the CENTCOM AOR conducting all-source analysis and supporting geospatial efforts. Ms. Vazquez has worked several contracts supporting DIA, NGA, NRO, CIA, and the U.S. Army. Most of her work has been as a systems engineer, testing and evaluating operational and future sensors. She is currently a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force Reserve Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) program supporting USINDOPACOM. She is also a Department of Defense (DoD) contractor supporting the United Sates Corp of Engineers. Ms. Vazquez completed her MBA with the University of Maryland in 2021. 

 

Dr. Kaitlyn Webster currently serves as the Director of Data Analytics at RS21, where she leads a division of 15 analysts providing statistical modeling, survey analysis, and data visualizations to clients across a variety of industries, particularly federal government projects on various homeland security topics. Dr. Webster previously served as an intelligence analyst at the National Security Agency, where she led the NSA’s reporting and analysis efforts on multiple current high interest events, including terrorism and counterterrorism issues. Her products were regularly included in the Presidential Daily Briefing and were lauded by customers including the FBI, CIA, DIA, and the US Army. She also spent nearly one year at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, where she authored long-term strategic analyses for the National Intelligence Council’s Near East Portfolio and provided daily analytic support to senior policymakers, including the Director of National Intelligence.