National Board of Directors
Ben Fernandes, President
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William Thorne, Vice President & Mentorship Chair
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Jonathan Gerson, Secretary
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Joel Garrison, Treasurer
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Brandon Archuleta, Board Member
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Mario Forriester, Board member
Mario Forestier retired as the Director of The Center for Counterterrorism Studies at the Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In that role, Mr. Forestier served as a strategist for 19 years and led The Center’s operationalized process that combined history and lessons learned to rapidly prepare special operations forces for global challenges. The Center’s operational analysts were deployable worldwide and provided on-call support to combat operations. They authored select studies and reports focused on countering terrorism. They supported contingency operations; recorded history; analyzed lessons learned; and sought creative solutions. Their solutions led to changes in better strategies, improved technology, greater efficiencies and increased capabilities. Members of The Center continuously interacted with academics and practitioners from the military, interagency and academia. They collaborated with colleagues from the United States Special Operations Command, Central Intelligence Agency, Joint Staff, United States Military Academy at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, RAND Corporation, Center for Naval Analyses and others. Prior to assuming that role, Mr. Forestier served in various assignments with the United States Army. He entered active duty as an infantryman assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and retired as the counterintelligence officer for the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta (Delta Force). Mr. Forestier is a graduate of the United States Army Management Staff College and has a Master of Arts in Military Studies with a concentration in strategic leadership. He is a Senior Executive Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Joint Special Operations University.y.
Ken Gleiman, Board Member
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