News & Media

June 2011: Nat’l Security Associates WorldWide (NSAWW) is proud to announce the addition of Ms. Marlene Nicholson to its Board of Advisors as a special advisor to the Transaction Services practice.

Ms. Marlene Nicholson recently retired after 29 years with Barclays Bank PLC, one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom. Ms. Nicholson served as Director of Government Relations for the Barclays Washington office from 1987-2010. She also chaired the International Trade and Investment Policy Committee of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association from 2008 through 2010. In this role, Ms. Nicholson participated in policy matters before both US and EU senior officials. Ms. Nicholson also was instrumental in establishing the "Financial Leaders Group,” a senior US/EU private sector group that was dedicated to the completion of the financial services portion of the Uruguay Round of multi-lateral trade negotiations. In addition, she assisted Barclays Chairman of the Americas in the design and establishment of the Americas Governance and Control Committee and served as the secretary of the committee for ten years. In 2005 the British government awarded Ms. Nicholson honorary membership in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to British Banking and Trade.

June 2011: NSAWW is proud to announce the addition of Lieutenant General Walter E. Buchanan III, U.S. Air Force (Ret.) to its Board of Advisors.

Gen. Buchanan has enjoyed more than two decades in senior leadership and management as a USAF general officer and senior business executive leading large organizations. He has ten years experience in Europe and the Middle East working with foreign governments and militaries, and he has commanded multi-national forces in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most recently, he worked as Senior Vice President and Sector Manager of Alion Science and Technology, located in McLean, Virginia, where he ran the company's most diverse sector with customers spanning the defense, federal, commercial and international market spaces. Prior to joining Alion in 2006, he had a long and successful career with the U.S. Air Force, culminating in his appointment as Commander of the Central Command Air Forces and Ninth Air Force, Shaw AFB, South Carolina, where he was responsible for air operations in the Middle East, and commanded coalition air forces conducting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and across the Central Command area of operations. Gen. Buchanan has also served the USAF in multiple other capacities, including as Commander of Joint Task Force South-West Asia and Deputy to the Combined Forces Air Component Commander at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia; Director of Operations and Training of the USAF at the Pentagon; Commander of the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida; and Chief Executive Officer for the Air Force Recruiting Service. He is a military pilot with over 3,800 flying hours in the F-15C/D/E, F-4D/E, OV-10, and T-38 aircraft.

June 2011: Nat’l Security Associates WorldWide (NSAWW) is proud to announce the addition of Mr. William Van Rensalier Parker to its Board of Advisors.

Mr. William Van Rensalier Parker has had a distinguished career spanning three decades as both a businessman and diplomat. During his time as a Foreign Service Officer in the United States Department of State, Mr. Parker served in several capacities; the most recent of these was his position as Foreign Policy Advisor in the United States Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, where he initiated the first ever US government access to highly sensitive Russian satellite control and test facility. In addition, he planned, coordinated, and implemented the Commander’s program for military-to-military engagement initiatives with military leaders from Russia, China and India. Prior to his appointment as Foreign Policy Advisor, Mr. Parker served as Office Director for Global Strategic Communications at the DoS Bureau of International Information Programs/SC (Strategic Communication), he planned and implemented the initial DoS/Interagency Strategic Communication Policy Coordinating Committee. He also conceived the interagency Strategic Communication Fusion Team, designed to create an intergovernmental forum to collaborate jointly on projects and amplify operational capabilities by cataloging interagency resources. In his lengthy career, Mr. Parker has served the DoS in many other functions; including the Cultural Counselor at the US Embassy in New Delhi, India; the DoS Organization Development Officer; and the Information Officer at the US Mission to NATO. His major contributions to US foreign policy are reflected through his numerous awards, including the Presidential Certificate of Appreciation, the DOD Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the DOS Meritorious Honor Award and the DOS Superior Honor Award. Mr. Parker received two US Information Agency Meritorious Honor Awards as well.

NSAWW is proud to announce the addition of Mr. Robert J. Finan II and Hon. Charles L. Hopkins III to its Board of Advisors.

Mr. Robert J. Finan II recently completed a forty-year Federal law enforcement career, retiring as senior Associate Director of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS). In this position, he was the third most senior executive and Chief of Operations, with a budget over one billion dollars annually and overseeing operations conducted by more than 7,000 employees and contractors. He directed the headquarters operational divisions and the operations of 150 field offices and foreign offices conducting fugitive apprehensions, sex offender investigations, court and judicial security, witness protection, prisoner detention and transportation, tactical and technical operations, protective intelligence, and multi-agency task force operations. Prior to the USMS, Mr. Finan served as Assistant Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). At NCIS, he was a member of the executive leadership team that managed a federal law enforcement agency comprised of 2000 employees engaged in protective operations and criminal and counterintelligence cases conducted in a military environment domestically and overseas. He began his career in federal law enforcement in the United States Secret Service (USSS), where he spent twenty years, retiring as the Supervisory Special Agent in Charge of the Special Services Division. Mr. Finan also served on active duty as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Military Police Corps, including a combat tour in Vietnam with the 173d Airborne Brigade followed by assignment as a unit commander, 11th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

April 2011: NSAWW is proud to announce the addition of Mr. Dennis L. Filler and Rear Admiral Lenn Vincent to its Board of Advisors.

Mr. Dennis L. Filler enjoyed a nearly two decade career with the FAA, culminating in his role as CIO and Director of Information Technology for the Air Traffic Organization (ATO). In this position, he was responsible for providing 24/7 IT business services to support the safe and efficient operation of the National Airspace System. During his nearly 5 years as CIO, Mr. Filler's key accomplishments included the consolidation of IT services across the ATO, the development of a standardized national IT service delivery infrastructure, the development of two National Data Centers and the implementation of an Enterprise Architecture for the ATO. Prior to his role as CIO of ATO, Mr. Filler spent 12 years at the FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. His most recent position at the Tech Center was as the Acting Deputy Center Director. In that capacity, he was responsible for the oversight of all technical, operations, performance, fiscal, human capital and support functions for this 5000 acre, 3000+ personnel FAA facility. His other roles at the Tech Center included Chief Scientist for Technology, Program Director of the NAS System Engineering and Analysis Division, and Supervisory Engineer for the Human Factors Lab Team. Mr. Filler also spent time in industry as Senior Staff Engineer at Martin Marietta Corporation and Program Manager/Senior Scientist for SciTec Incorporated. Mr. Filler currently runs his own consulting firm, DLF Consulting, where he provides executive level, business development and consulting services to large and small businesses serving industry and the federal government.

March 2011: NSAWW is proud to announce the addition of Mr. James C. Ballard and Mr. David A. Smith to its Board of Advisors.

Mr. James C. Ballard brings to NSAWW 38 years of leadership experience in the government services market and 24 years of leadership experience in the United States Navy. Recently, Ballard founded Global Services & Solutions, Inc. (GSS), which provides the federal government with program management, continuity of operations, and acquisition support. Ballard was previously Senior Vice President at 21st Century Systems, Inc. (21CSI). Prior to 21CSI, he worked as President of Perot Systems Government Services (PSGS) from January 2006 to December 2007, and as COO of PSGS from July 2002 to December 2005. PSGS grew from $57 million to $650 million in annual revenue through organic growth and three key acquisitions under his direction. In the Navy, Ballard successfully completed field assignments to include: Repair Officer, USS McKee (AS-40); Nuclear Repair Officer, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard; and Planning Officer, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. Ballard served naval headquarters as Deputy Program Manager and Technical Director for Ocean Engineering Programs, Director of Submarine Safety and Quality Assurance, and Major Program Manager for Nuclear Attack Submarines. He retired from the Navy at the rank of Captain. Ballard belongs to the Acquisition Professional Community, and he holds a Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act Level III Certification in Program Management.

March 2011: NSAWW is excited to announce the addition of Dr. James W. Morentz to their senior management team.

Dr. Morentz has been a significant contributor throughout his career to numerous marquis homeland security projects. These include: inventing the first commercial software designed for incident management (EIS™), working with DHS' national architecture for information sharing (UICDS), supporting the New Jersey Regional Operations Intelligence Center, as well as the Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center, and providing senior level support to the Federal Air Marshal Service.

March 2011: NSAWW is pleased to announce the addition of Mr. Donald Charles Semesky to its Board of Advisors.

Mr. Semesky is one of the nation's foremost experts on money laundering. Mr. Semesky is currently working closely with the Office of the Attorney General for Mexico to evaluate Mexico's anti-money laundering enforcement and regulatory programs, and to draft Mexico's National Money Laundering Strategy. As well, Semesky has served the U.S. DEA for 8 years, first as the Chief of the Office of Financial Operations, and now as a consultant. He directed the DEA's worldwide financial enforcement program, and introduced domestic and international initiatives to attack the flow of illicit drug monies back to international sources of drug supply. Prior to the DEA, Mr. Semesky spent 30 years at the IRS-CI, where he investigated drug trafficking organizations as the Mid-Atlantic Regional OCDETF Coordinator and the Anti-Money Laundering Policy Advisor for the ONDCP. Semesky served on joint Justice Department and Treasury Department Working Groups for ONDCP such as the Colombian Black Market Peso Exchange Working Group, the Hawala Working Group, the Money Laundering Working Group, and the High Intensity Financial Crime Area Working Group. Additionally, Mr. Semesky has served as an expert and/or modus operandi witness on money laundering and related Bank Secrecy Act reporting requirements in 23 Federal Judicial Districts and 47 trials, to include U.S. v. Saccoccia, et. al., U.S. v Edwards, et. al., U.S. v Traficant, and U.S. v Jefferson. Mr. Semesky received the August 2009 DEA Administrator's Award for Distinguished Service for his work in building the DEA's financial enforcement program, which, from 2004 to 2008, denied over $12 billion in revenue to domestic and international drug trafficking organizations.

February 2011: Nat’l Security Associates Worldwide (NSAWW) is excited to announce the addition of M.K. Narayanan to its Board of Advisors.

Mr. Narayanan is a distinguished career intelligence officer and has been a prominent figure in India’s security establishment for much of the last three decades.  He currently serves as the Governor of West Bengal, one of the states affected by Naxalite insurgency.  He has previously served as Director of India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) under four Prime Ministers, and also headed India’s Joint Intelligence Committee.  After leaving the IB, Mr. Narayanan was called back from retirement and subsequently served for six years in the Prime Minister’s Office, first as Special Advisor for Internal Security and later as National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister.  His responsibilities included internal and external security and intelligence, as well as overseeing nuclear, foreign affairs and defence issues. His professional reputation has spread far beyond the sub-continent and his experience, professionalism and insights are prized by Asian, European and American intelligence and security services alike.  During fifty years of service in various capacities Mr. Narayanan has dealt with both internal and external insurgencies, ethnic, faith-based and ideology based terrorism, and aggravated militancies of various kinds.

January 2011: NSAWW recently announced the addition of Secure Mission Solutions as one of its newest clients. Secure Mission Solutions, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, is an integrated security provider that offers end-to-end solutions for seamless physical and cyber protection at unprecedented levels. Their Command and Control, Intelligence Program Support, Cyber Security and Information Assurance, Critical Infrastructure Protection, and Communications and Network Security services are widely used by customers across the federal government and commercial market.

Secure Mission Solutions joins over two dozen other clients—including four Fortune 500 firms—in the national security, IT/cyber, global health and civil arenas currently benefiting from NSAWW's business development expertise.

Additionally, NSAWW welcomes two new members to its Board of Advisors, Mr. William Gaches and Mr. Chet Lunner.