JV Venable

Senior Research Fellow for Defense Policy, The Heritage Foundation

• Former commander of the Air Force Thunderbirds with 4,400 hours of flying time including 300 hours of combat
• Author of Breaking the Trust Barrier, a book on leading high performance teams
• Former VP of IGRIS, LLC, a company specializing in explosives detection

Tom Spoehr

Director, Center for National Defense, The Heritage Foundation

• Served more than 36 years in the Army 
• and attained the rank of Lieutenant General
• Held senior leadership positions at the Pentagon and was responsible for charting the Army’s financial plans, developing strategies to modernize equipment, and achieving business efficiencies and reform
• Served as deputy commanding general of U.S. Forces Iraq during Operation New Dawn, overseeing the safe withdrawal of all American forces and equipment from Iraq ahead of schedule

Dr. Steve Bucci

Visiting Fellow, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign and National Security Policy and the Phillip N. Truluck Center for Leadership Development

• Former Military Assistant to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense
• Served for over 25 years as an Army Special Forces officer leading deployments to eastern Africa, South Asia, and the Persian Gulf
• Former lead consultant to IBM on cybersecurity