General John Abizaid, USA, Ret. (Chairman)
General Abizaid retired from the U.S. Army as Commander of U.S. Central Command with responsibility for U.S. security interests in 25 nations that stretch from the Horn of Africa through the Arabian Gulf region and into Central Asia. He is recognized as one of the most knowledgeable Americans on the Middle East/Gulf region and is highly respected by the region’s leaders. Earlier in his career, he was the 66th Commandant of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He also served as Director of Strategic Plans and Policy (J5) on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of the Joint Staff. Previously, General Abizaid commanded the 1st Infantry Division, which provided the first ground forces into Kosovo. His education includes a U.S. Army War College Senior Fellowship at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a Master’s degree in Area Studies from Harvard University, and study at the University of Jordan in Amman, where he was an Olmsted Scholar. General Abizaid is an Operating Partner at Torch Hill Investment Partners.
General Sir Jeremy Mackenzie GCB OBE
General Mackenzie is Chairman of the Board of Blue Hackle. He was commissioned into the Queen's Own Highlanders and commanded its 1st Battalion Queen's Own Highlanders in Hong Kong, where he was awarded the OBE. He later commanded the 12th Armoured Brigade in West Germany and was subsequently promoted to Major General as Commandant of the Staff College and was next appointed Commander 4th Armour Division in West Germany. From there he was promoted Lieutenant General, was knighted (KCB), and was appointed Commander 1st British Corps. Subsequently he formed the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps, and was its first Commander from 1991-1994. General Mackenzie was promoted full General in 1994 in the post of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe and served three Supreme Capital Allied Commanders over four years, having special responsibility for the Partnership for Peace Programme involving 27 nations of Central and Eastern Europe, the Expansion of NATO, and the force generation of NATO forces in the former Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and latterly Kosovo. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Bath (GCB) in 1999, having previously been awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit twice in 1997 and 1999, the Czech Republic's Cross of Merit First Class, the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in 1998, and the Order of Madara Horseman First Class of Bulgaria in 1999. In 2003 he was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit of Slovenia. He was an Aide de Camp to Her Majesty the Queen from 1992 to 1996. In 1999, General Mackenzie retired and took up the post of Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. He is the UK MoD Advisor to the Bulgarian and Albanian Governments on the reform programs of their Armed Forces. He is a Director of SIRVA Plc since 2003, and Director of Selenia Communications Ltd since 2004.
Bill Whitlow, CEO, Blue Hackle Group LLC
Bill Whitlow was appointed CEO of Blue Hackle in December 2011, bringing with him extensive experience of the security industry. Bill served for 34 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, starting as a helicopter pilot and being assigned to various operational units throughout his career, including tours of duty with the United States Air Force Academy and Office of the Secretary of Defense.
After retiring from the Marines as a Major General, Bill held senior positions in the Pentagon. During this time, he carried out operational tours with the White House and Department of State, and also served as Commanding General of the Joint Task Force, Kenya.
In 2000, Bill joined Titan Corp (now L-3 Services Group) as a Vice President & Deputy General Manager in the Maritime & Intelligence Sector, becoming President of the C2S2 Division, from where he joined Blue Hackle.
Bill graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Science in Education. He also holds three Masters Degrees (Acquisition Management, International Affairs and Strategic Studies) and was awarded Post-Graduate Fellowships from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
George Lund
Mr. Lund is an experienced chief executive and successful investor with an extensive background in private equity, commercial banking, and international project finance. As Chairman and CEO of BANKFIRST he directed its growth of assets from $20 million to $1 billion and sold it to a syndicate of Marshall Bancorp and Merrill Lynch. Mr. Lund has worked on a diverse range of transactions from government contracting to consumer finance to petroleum infrastructure. His philanthropic activities include serving on boards of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the South Dakota Economic Development Authority, Lapham’s Quarterly, the Leadership Council of the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, and the Special Operations Fund. Mr. Lund is Chairman of Torch Hill Investment Partners and Chairman of its Executive Committee. Mr. Lund is a member of Business Executives for National Security, The Atlantic Council, and the Threat Finance Working Group.
Michael Raper
Michael was the previous CEO and a founding member of Blue Hackle in early 2004. He was very much responsible for pulling together a successful and experienced team and implementing the company’s operating procedures.
Between October 2001 and January 2004, Michael was head of Kroll’s Security Consulting Group (Europe, Africa and Middle East) and head of Kroll’s global security consultancy (excluding North America) between January and April 2004. He was also responsible for the company’s kidnap and ransom business worldwide between 2002 and April 2004, which he resurrected and brought to the Lloyd’s market after Kroll’s split with AIG in the US. New clients of Kroll developed during this period include US government agencies, including USAID in Iraq, management consultancies and financial institutions, multinational financial, mineral and oil companies and a number of high net worth individuals. Michael also created very strong relationships with a wide network of consultants and sub-contractors across all service lines provided by Kroll.
Prior to joining Kroll, Michael served in the Special Branch of the British Police with responsibilities in counter-terrorism, counter-espionage, counter-subversion and counter-proliferation. He has been involved in numerous anti-terrorist operations and investigations, and also has particular expertise in surveillance, counter-surveillance and anti-surveillance. Whilst with the police, Michael also provided threat assessments, intelligence and security reviews for British Nuclear Fuels, BAE Systems Marine (particularly involving the Nuclear Submarine Programme), British Gas, GlaxoSmithKline and the Faslane nuclear submarine base.
Michael had previously served as a British Army officer in Germany, Canada and Northern Ireland, and saw active service with a reconnaissance unit during the Gulf War.
Key Executives
Regina Snyder, Ethics & Compliance Officer, Blue Hackle Group LLC
Regina brings over thirty years’ experience in Human Resources and Facility Security. Over that period, she has worked closely with the management and corporate counsels of several New Jersey-based companies in developing and implementing their corporate policies and procedures. Regina was also tasked to assure company compliance with all policies and to develop employee incentive programs.
On many occasions throughout her career, Regina was her company’s point of contact with local, state, and federal entities, including the Defense Contract Audit Agency, Defense Security Service, New Jersey Department of Labor and insurance underwriters.