Keynote & Expert Presenters

Robert J. O’Neill is a former United States Navy SEAL, TV news contributor, and author.

Commander Kirk Lippold, USN (Ret.) was the Commanding Officer of the USS Cole when it came under a suicide terrorist attack by al Qaeda in the port of Aden, Yemen. During his command, he and his crew distinguished themselves by saving the American war ship from sinking. This event is widely recognized as one of the most brazen acts of terrorism by al Qaeda prior to September 11, 2001.

Today, Commander Lippold is a popular inspirational figure and leadership speaker who remains in high demand with Fortune 500 companies, leading financial institutions, top industry associations, the Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and state-level governments, both in the United States and internationally.

Greg Allen Stube was born in Long Beach, CA in 1969. The son of a career Navy man, Greg Stube enlisted to serve in the US Army in 1988 as an infantryman. Greg was later selected to be part of an elite team of Green Berets in 1992, and trained as a Special Forces Medical Sergeant, 18D. Greg’s training was extensive and included:

• Training in surgery, anesthesia, trauma management, pharmacology, minor dentistry, veterinary subjects and more. These skills were used to help his “A-Team” function where there is no doctor.
• Skills training as a Dive Medical Technician at the Special Forces Underwater Operations Facility in Key West, FL
• Greg is also SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) qualified, and as a career parachutist, Greg earned the qualification of Jumpmaster earning the Master Parachutist Badge award.
• Russian defense language training.

During his years of service, Greg participated in the initial development of the Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat training doctrine and the 10th SFG(A) SFAUC course, where his weapons capabilities and shooting abilities remained at the core of Special Forces proficiency and competency throughout a career on the teams. Greg spent the 1990s, with the Special Forces, stationed in hostile fire zones.

While serving in Combat Operations in the Global War on Terror, Stube was wounded in Afghanistan during Operation Medusa. Stube’s A-Team encountered overwhelming numbers of Taliban fighters in The Battle of Sperwan Ghar, which lasted over a week. Stube’s wounds from a remotely detonated IED and enemy fire seemed fatal, but instead he survived to endure months of hospitalization and surgeries. Huge wounds to his abdomen, hip and pelvis eventually closed, his nearly severed leg was restored, and extensive full-thickness burns were grafted. On the path to a “miracle” recovery, Greg endured 17 surgeries and an 18 month hospital stay. Greg retired in 2011 after 23 years of dedicated service.

After returning home, Greg went on to host his own television show on NBC Sports titled Coming Home with Greg Stube. Because of Greg’s inspiring story of strength and perseverance, and his heartfelt communication style, he’s become a sought after speaker where he often leaves people thinking how they’re going to achieve their highest possible goals in both their professional and private lives. Greg has take this same inspiring message and authored a book titled Conquer Anything, available in bookstores May 1, 2018. Greg is also a consultant and serves as a leadership presenter for the FBI and the FBI National Academy, in DC and Quantico. During his free time, Greg volunteers for various charity work.

Michael Thornton enlisted in the Navy in 1967 after graduating from high school at the age of 18. Upon successful completion of BUD/S training, Thornton was assigned to SEAL Team ONE, and served several tours in Vietnam and Thailand between October 1968 and January 1973.

On his last tour to Vietnam, at the age of 23, Thornton heroically saved the life of his senior officer on an intelligence gathering and prisoner capture operation. The small team of two Navy SEALs and three South Vietnamese commandos was discovered by a larger North Vietnamese Army force, and a fierce firefight ensued. SEAL LT Thomas Norris, who had himself earned the Medal of Honor just months earlier, was shot in the face and believed dead.

Thornton ran into a hail of enemy fire to retrieve Norris’ body, and found him badly wounded and unconscious, but alive. He dragged Norris to the beach, inflated his life vest, and swam both Norris and a wounded South Vietnamese commando seaward for two hours before they were rescued by a comrade in a support craft, who had refused to give them up for dead.

In 1982, Michael Thornton received his commission as a U.S. Navy Ensign, after which he served 10 years as an officer in the diving and salvage community. In April 1990, he reported as Bravo Company Commander where he coordinated a rapid response deployment in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm (the first U.S. invasion of Iraq).

Lieutenant Thornton retired in 1992. He was the last Congressional Medal of Honor recipient on active duty at that time.

Thomas Norris served with extraordinary distinction as a Navy SEAL on two tours of duty in Vietnam. He rescued two downed Air Force officers on separate and daring night missions amid overwhelming enemy forces.

LT Norris persevered in his repeated night sorties to find and rescue the American aviators, demonstrating the greatest courage and commitment Lt Norris was medically retired due to severe head injuries sustained when he was shot in the face during a combat mission six months later. Norris was rescued by fellow SEAL Michael Thornton, who received the Medal of Honor for his actions. Each had the pleasure of attending the other’s Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House.

In 1979, after years of surgeries, LT Norris achieved his life ambition of becoming an FBI Agent. FBI Director William Webster wrote that, “If you can pass the same test as anybody else applying for this organization, I will waiver your disabilities.” Norris gave 20 years distinguished service to the FBI and was an original member of its Hostage Rescue Team as an assault team leader.

Mark “Oz” Geist is a member of the Annex Security Team that fought the Battle of Benghazi, Libya, from September 11 to September 12, 2012. A Colorado native, Mr. Geist joined the United States Marine Corps in 1984. During his time in the service, he served in Barracks Duty in the Philippines, then with the 2nd Battalion 9th Marines Golf Company, as well as the Surveillance and Target Acquisition Platoon. He then was chosen to serve in the newly formed Marine Cadre program as an Anti-/Counter- Terrorism Instructor. Upon the completion of a very successful tour and re-enlistment, Mr. Geist changed his military occupational specialty to the Intelligence field, specializing in Interrogation Translation. He attended language school where he studied Persian Farsi.

After serving 12 years in the United States Maine Corps, Mr. Geist became a Deputy Sheriff in Teller County, Colorado. In that role, he was assigned as liaison with the Vice Narcotics and Intelligence Unit in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as well as an Investigator for Crimes against Children. Certified as a Forensic Interviewer of children, he investigated numerous case of abuse in which he helped to secure convictions of the perpetrators. He then took a job as Chief of Police in Fowler, Colorado. After leaving the Fowler Police Department, Mr. Geist began his own business in private investigations as well as bounty hunting and bail bonds.

In 2004, Mr. Geist began doing contract security work in Iraq. He worked for Triple Canopy, providing Personal Security Details for Department of State personnel in Baquba, Iraq. Upon the completion of that contract he worked for USIS, the United States Investigative Services, training Iraqi SWAT teams and Personal Security Details. He also served as a mentor/advisor to the Personal Security Detail of Dr. Ayad Allawi, the former Prime Minister of Iraq.

Mr. Geist finished his career as a security contractor in Benghazi, Libya, where he was credited with helping to save the lives of more than 25 Americans. Mr. Geist is still recovering from the injuries he sustained in the battle. He is a co-author of the bestselling book 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi.

Oliver North is a combat decorated U.S. Marine, #1 best-selling author, founder of a small business and holder of three U.S. patents. For seventeen years he was a syndicated columnist and host of “War Stories” on FOX News Channel. In May 2018, he retired from FOX News to serve as the 66th president of the National Rifle Association of America.

North was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1943, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968 and served twenty-two years as a U.S. Marine. His awards for service in combat include the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for valor, and two Purple Hearts for wounds in action.

From 1983-86 he served as Counter-Terrorism Coordinator on the National Security Council staff. He helped plan the rescue of U.S. students on Grenada, the liberation of American hostages, the capture of the Achille Lauro hijackers and the raids on Muammar Gadhafi’s terror bases; after which he was targeted for assassination by Abu Nidal’s Islamic Jihad. President Ronald Reagan described him as “an American hero.”

North has authored seventeen best-selling books and is co-founder of Freedom Alliance, an organization serving wounded U.S. military personnel and their families. He is widely acclaimed for award-winning FOX News coverage of more than sixty U.S. units in combat and his Freedom Alliance “Hero College Scholarships” for children of service members killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.

In 2020, North and a close friend founded Fidelis Publishing, a company dedicated to publishing books under the guidance of the Bible shining the light of truth in these dark times. Yet, he says his greatest achievement is being, “the God-fearing husband of one, father of four, and grandfather of eighteen.”

LtCol North and his wife Betsy live in Virginia. In November 2018, they celebrated their 50th anniversary.

Captain Phillips — an American Merchant Mariner, author, and public speaker — is an example of courage, endurance, leadership and heroism. On April 5, 2009, Captain Phillips of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama was held hostage after his ship was attacked and boarded by pirates in the Indian Ocean off the Horn of Africa. The ship was carrying U.S. food aid headed to Somali refugees in Kenya. On April 12, 2009, U.S. Navy SEALs on the USS Bainbridge opened fire against the Somali pirates in the Maersk Alabama lifeboat and rescued Phillips.

Despite knowing the harm and price he might pay, Phillips offered himself as a hostage to ensure that the other 18 merchant mariners aboard Maersk Alabama reached safety. After surviving the pirate attack, Phillips continued to serve our country as master of the vehicles carrier M/V Green Bay. Phillips retired in October 2014, as announced by the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots.

Merchant mariners, as said by Gen. MacArthur, “have brought us our lifeblood and paid for it with some of their own.”

“Seamen were there at the start of our country, and we will be there in the thick of things whenever we are needed,” says Phillips. Even in the hardest of times, Phillips embodied the creed “Deeds, Not Words.” Phillips “is a model for all Americans,” says President Barack Obama.

Phillips published A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea to recount his experience as a hostage. His book then became a film, Captain Phillips, released in October 2013 with a premiere at the New York Film Festival.

Roy Hallums earned a management BBA from the University of Memphis and an M.S. in management from the U.S. Navy Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA. Work as a career Naval officer and a civilian defense-related contractor has taken him to employment sites worldwide. He spent significant time in China, the Philippines, and recently the Middle East. The departmental and budgetary authority that he led often included over $100 million and large human resource staffs.

After retiring from the U.S. Navy as a Supply Corps Commander, he worked with the Royal Saudi Naval Forces for ten years. This service involved support for more than 50 Saudi ships in the port of Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Upon completion of his contract with the Saudi Navy, Roy accepted a contract with a Saudi company doing business in Iraq.

While working in Iraq in 2004, Roy was kidnapped and held for 311 days. He was eventually rescued by U.S. Army Special Forces.

Interviews include: 60 Minutes, Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN Morning, CBS Evening News, ABC Evening News, Scarborough Report, Hannity and Combs, New York Times, Discovery Channel, numerous magazine and newspaper articles.

Antonio Joseph Mendez was an American technical operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, who specialized in support of clandestine and covert CIA operations. He wrote four memoirs about his CIA experiences.

Mendez was decorated, and is now widely known, for his on-the-scene management of the “Canadian Caper” during the Iran hostage crisis. He exfiltrated six American diplomats from Iran in January 1980 by arranging to have them pose as a Canadian film crew. As part of their cover, the diplomats carried passports issued by the Canadian government to document them as Canadian citizens.

After declassification of records, the full details of the operation were reported in a 2007 article by Joshuah Bearman in Wired magazine. This was loosely adapted for the screenplay and development of the 2012 Academy Award-winning film Argo, directed by Ben Affleck, who also starred as Mendez. Mendez attended the 70th Golden Globe Awards to give a speech about the film, where it was nominated for (and later won) Best Motion Picture – Drama.

Jonna Mendez is an American former technical operations officer, photo operations officer, and chief of disguise in the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Technical Service.

After retiring from the CIA in 1993, Mendez and her husband served on the board of directors for the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. They were both involved in the museum planning and design.