Our Members

Admiral Steve Abbot
United States Navy (Retired)

Admiral Abbot graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1966, deployed to Vietnam, and began a career of over 34 years with the United States Navy. He studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and completed U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. He commanded the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during Operation Desert Storm, the Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group during the Balkan Crisis and the Sixth Fleet from 1996-1998. His final active duty tour was as Deputy Commander in Chief, U.S. European Command from 1998 to 2000. His awards include the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star. Following retirement in 2000, Admiral Abbot served as Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003, followed by sixteen years as President of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, a non-profit organization assisting Sailors, Marines, and their families. He serves presently on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Admiral Thad Allen
United States Coast Guard (Retired)

Admiral Thad Allen retired in 2010 as the 23 rd Commandant of the US Coast Guard. He retired as an Executive Vice President (2017) and senior executive advisor (2021) at Booz Allen Hamilton. He serves on several federal advisory committees. He chairs the Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board, is a member of the Board of Visitors to the National Intelligence University, and a member of the Comptroller General’s Advisory Board. Admiral Allen led the federal responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He led Atlantic Coast Guard forces in response to the 9/11 attacks and coordinated the Coast Guard response to the Haitian Earthquake. He is a 1971 graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy and holds master’s degrees from George Washington University and the MIT Sloan School. A recipient of 5 Honorary Doctorate degrees and held the James Tyler Distinguished Chair of Leadership at the Loy Institute of Leadership at the Coast Guard Academy from 2014 to 2021. Admiral Allen and his wife Pam have three grown children. Pam recently retired as an Assistant Dean of the School of Management at George Washington University. They live in Vienna, VA.

Secretary Louis Caldera
United States Army (Retired)

Louis Caldera graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1978 and served in the Army on active duty from 1978 to 1983. After obtaining a J.D./M.B.A. degree from Harvard in 1987, Caldera practiced law and was elected to serve as a California State Assemblyman for the 46th State Assembly district from 1992 to 1997. He served in two Senate-confirmed positions in the Clinton Administration, including as Secretary of the Army, and in the Obama White House as an Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office. Louis Caldera is now a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School teaching a required first-year course in the MBA program, and serves on numerous nonprofit and public company boards, and on a number of educational, foreign policy, and national security commissions, task forces, and study groups.

General George Casey
United States Army (Retired)

General George W. Casey, Jr., enjoyed a 41-year career in the US Army following his graduation from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1970. He is an accomplished soldier and an authority on strategic leadership. During his tenure as the Army Chief of Staff, he is widely credited with restoring balance to a war-weary Army and leading the transformation to keep it relevant in the 21st Century. Prior to this, from July 2004 to February 2007, he commanded the Multi-National Force – Iraq, a coalition of more than 30 countries where he guided the Iraq mission through its toughest days. Currently, he lectures internationally on leadership to the leaders of national and multinational corporations and at other business schools. He serves on corporate boards and numerous boards of organizations that support our servicemen and women, our veterans, and their families. He also lectures on International Relations at the Korbel School, University of Denver and serves on several corporate boards and numerous boards of organizations that support our servicemen and women, our veterans, and their families.

Secretary Debbie Lee James
United States Air Force (Retired)

Deborah Lee James served as the 23rd Secretary of the Air Force, appointed by President Obama in 2013. Before this appointment, Ms. James worked as an assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, before being appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in 1993 to work in the Pentagon as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. Ms. James has 30 years of senior homeland and national security experience not only in the federal government but in the private sector as well, including President of Science Applications International Corporation’s Technical and Engineering Sector, Executive Vice President and COO at Business Executives for National Security, and Vice President of International Operations and Marketing at United Technologies. Ms. James now works as an author, speaker, and strategic advisor.

General John Jumper
United States Air Force (Retired)

General John P. Jumper is an accomplished Air Force Fighter Pilot, Instructor, and Commander, who served as the 17th Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from 2001 to 2005. General Jumper began his military career as a distinguished graduate of Virginia Military Institute’s ROTC program in 1966. He has commanded a fighter squadron, two fighter wings, a numbered Air Force, and U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Allied Air Forces Central Europe, and served as Commander of the Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, VA. General Jumper went on to serve at the Pentagon as Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, as the Senior Military Assistant to two secretaries of defense, and as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff for Roles and Missions before becoming the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. His tour as Chief of Staff has spanned operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Following his retirement in 2005, General Jumper joined the Board of Directors of Science Applications International Corporation in 2007, where his tenure has been marked by the company’s sustained growth, strong position in key markets, innovation, and strong customer affinity.

General Craig McKinley
United States Air Force (Retired)

After 38 years in the Air Force, McKinley retired as a four-star general in November 2012. His last assignment was as the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, where he also served as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he was a military adviser to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council and was the Department of Defense’s official channel of communication to the Governors and to State Adjutants General on all matters pertaining to the National Guard.

General Craig R. McKinley, USAF was elected Chairman of the ANSER Board of Directors in November 2020. He completed his tenure as National Chair of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve on November 14, 2019. General McKinley retired as the President and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) on June 30, 2017. McKinley came to NDIA from the Air Force Association (AFA) where he had served as President since October 1, 2012.

Secretary Sean O’Keefe
United States Navy (Retired)

Sean O’Keefe began his career in the Department of Defense, becoming Comptroller of the department in 1989 and serving until 1992 when President George H. W. Bush named him Secretary of the Navy. O’Keefe also served in President George W. Bush’s administration, as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget in 2001 and Administrator of NASA from 2001-2004. O’Keefe is the recipient of the Defense Department’s Distinguished Public Service Award, the faculty recipient of the Syracuse University Chancellor’s Award for Public Service; the Department of Navy’s Public Service Award; Syracuse University presented him the distinguished alumni Arents Award for Excellence in Public Service, and the Meridian International Center honored him with the Corporate Leadership award. O’Keefe is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and serves on the board of directors of the Partnership for Public Service, Sean O’Keefe now works as a University Professor and the Howard and Louise Phanstiel Endowed Chair in Strategic Management and Leadership at the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Concurrently, he is a Distinguished Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a partner institution with the Syracuse Maxwell School in Washington, D.C.

Admiral Jim Loy
United States Coast Guard (Retired)

Admiral James “Jim” Loy led a 45-year career in public service, graduating from the Coast Guard Academy in 1964, retiring from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2002 having served as its Commandant since May 1998. Prior to his position as Commandant, Admiral Loy served as Coast Guard Chief of Staff from 1996 to1998, and Commander of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area from 1994 to 1996. Admiral Loy left the Coast Guard in 2002 to become the first administrator in charge of the newly created Transportation Security Administration (TSA) where he served as Deputy Under Secretary for Security and Chief Operating Officer. In 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Admiral Loy to the position of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, where he served until his resignation in 2005.

Tom Ridge
Former Pennsylvania Governor

Tom Ridge is Chairman of Ridge Global. He provides clients with solutions to cyber security, international security and risk management issues. Following the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, Tom Ridge became the first Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and, on January 24, 2003, became the first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The creation of the country’s 15th Cabinet Department marked the largest reorganization of government since the Truman administration and another call to service for the former soldier, congressman and governor of Pennsylvania. During his DHS tenure, Secretary Ridge worked with more than 180,000 employees from a combined 22 agencies to create an agency that facilitated the flow of people and goods, instituted layered security at air, land and seaports, developed a unified national response and recovery plan, protected critical infrastructure, integrated new technology and improved information sharing worldwide. Tom Ridge served as Secretary of this historic and critical endeavor until February 1, 2005.

Before the events of September 11th, Tom Ridge was twice elected Governor of Pennsylvania. He served as the state’s 43rd governor from 1995 to 2001. Governor Ridge’s aggressive technology strategy helped fuel the state’s advances in economic development, education, health care and the environment. He serves as chairman of the National Organization on Disability along with other private and public entities. He also co-chairs the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense with former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman. He graduated from Harvard with honors. After his first year at Penn State University’s Dickinson School of Law, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star for Valor, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

After returning to Pennsylvania and to Dickinson, he earned his law degree and, later, became one of the first Vietnam combat veterans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served six terms.

General Tony Zinni
United States Marine Corps (Retired)

General Zinni joined the Marine Corps’ Platoon Leader Class program in 1961 and was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant in 1965 upon graduation from Villanova University. He held numerous command and staff assignments that included platoon, company, battalion, regimental, Marine Expeditionary Unit, and Marine Expeditionary Force command. His staff assignments included service in operations, training, special operations, counter-terrorism, and manpower billets.

General Zinni’s 23 personal awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; the Distinguished Service Medal; the Defense Superior Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters; the Bronze Star with Combat “V” and Gold Star; the Purple Heart, and more. From 2017 to 2019, General Zinni agreed to reenter public service as a special envoy to resolve disputes in the Persian Gulf region.