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Here are just a few of our dedicated volunteers.
John M. Lenti, Chairman,
COO
Mr.
Lenti earned an
engineering degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an MBA
from Farleigh Dickinson University, and a Masters in Military Art and Science
from the Army Command and General Staff College. He is a graduate of the US Army
War College. He was a member of the staff and faculty at West Point for seven
years designing and teaching Leadership and related courses. He has been an
adjunct faculty at USC since 1976. He is the recipient of the Silver Star,
Bronze Star w/V, 5 Legions of Merit, the Purple Heart, ARCOM w/V and other
awards for exceptional service. His military career included assignments in
Special Operations, high level staff and as an instructor at West Point.
Mr.
Lenti is the past
director of the SC Small Business Development Center Program. The program
coaches entrepreneurs in methodologies to turn a business idea into reality or
enhance an already existing enterprise. He helped develop similar business
assistance programs in Poland, Hungary and Germany for the Small Business
Committee of the US House of Representatives. John, as an adjunct faculty
member of the Moore School of Business, designed and teaches a highly regarded
leadership course.
Jack Lovelady, President, CEO
Mr. Lovelady, a graduate of the
University of South Carolina with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management,
has served as President of the Celebrate Freedom Foundation since its inception
in 1999. Mr. Lovelady additionally holds an Associate Degree in Science and
numerous licenses from the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal
Aviation Administration.
As a senior
Information Technology Manager with the Budget and Control Board, Chief
Information Office, he was responsible for the operation and management of the
State of South Carolina’s voice, video, and data networks and systems from 1989
until his retirement in 2009
Following
Hurricane Hugo, Mr. Lovelady was appointed by the Governor to develop a
multi-hazard “Program to Mitigate State Communications Warning and Control
System Failures”, which was approved by FEMA as one of the first such programs
in the nation.
Prior to joining
South Carolina state government, he served in the position of Vice President
Engineering and General Manager for several major NBC and CBS affiliate network
operations. He was appointed by the Governor of New Mexico to serve on that
state’s Information Systems Council. Mr. Lovelady is recognized by the FCC as
having developed a model for measuring Airborne Radio Frequency Radiation
Measurements, by helicopter, which has been adopted around the country. A number
of articles have been published in national scientific and engineering journals,
including the IEEE, pertaining to his work.
Mr. Lovelady is a
veteran of the U.S. Army (1967-2007), having retired as a
Communications-Electronics Officer with thirty-eight years of service in the
Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard. He is a rotary wing aviator rated in
the TH-55, H300C, BH205, BH206, OH-58, and UH-1H Huey helicopters. Mr. Lovelady
is heavily involved in volunteer activities related to science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics education for “at-risk” students.
Robert (Bob) Decker, Treasurer,
CFO
Mr. Decker earned a Bachelor of Science degree in higher accounting and business
administration from Elizabethton Business College. He retired from the US Army
with over 20 years service. He is the recipient of the Purple Heart, Combat
Infantryman Badge, Army Commendation
Medal and other awards for exceptional service. His military career included
assignments in Vietnam and Berlin, Germany.
Mr. Decker is the past District Governor of District 31 B in North
Carolina for Lions International. He is a recent retiree from W.B. Guimarin,
Mechanical and Engineering Contractors in Columbia, South Carolina where he held
a position as Assistant Controller.
Vernie Nance, Program Manager
Mr. nance serves
as the Director of Aviation Maintenance and as a SOaR Aviation Instructor with
the Celebrate Freedom Foundation. Mr. Nance possesses over forty years of
aviation industry experience. He holds an Associate Degree in Business
Administration from the Columbia Commercial College, Columbia, South Carolina
and is a graduate of the Florence-Darlington Technical College, Florence, South
Carolina, Aviation and Airframe Maintenance Program.
Mr. Nance is a
veteran of the U.S. Army and he retired in 2004 after thirty eight years of
service as a Command Sergeant Major. During his period of military service, he
was responsible for supervising all aspects of aircraft maintenance,
inspections, and quality control for the Army’s most advanced helicopters and
fixed wing aircraft.
Mr. Nance is
heavily involved with community service and with the Celebrate Freedom
Foundation’s SOaR Education Program which focuses on reinforcing the science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects in the middle and high
schools and especially those schools with a large “at risk” student population
and which are considered “underserved”.
Johnnie
R. Graham,
Co-Chair. SOaR Proof of Concept Project
Mr. Graham is currently enrolled in the
Business Management Undergraduate program at Webster University.
He served as the lead agent of the
United States Special Operations Command Protective Services Detail at MacDill
AFB, Tampa, Florida supervising 14 personnel with the responsibility of
protecting the commander from assassination, kidnapping, injury and
embarrassment. Mr. Graham has coordinated security operations with all levels of
federal and foreign agencies to include the FBI, CIA, NSA, DOD, U.S. Secret
Service, Jordanian Secret Service, Israeli Secret Service, Malaysian Secret
Service and numerous other foreign security agencies. He has conducted security
missions around the world to include Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan,
Israel, Colombia, Brazil, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, United Arab Emirates,
India and numerous other locations.
He served on a no-notice
counter-terrorism force in Southeast Asia where he was in charge of 50
counter-terrorism personnel. Mr. Graham retired from the United States Army
having served over 23 years. He served over 10 years as a United States Army
Green Beret. Mr. Graham is a life member of the Special Forces Association.
Mr. Graham is the president of a company
specializing in executive protection and security & threat vulnerability
assessments.
Michael Mika,
Secretary, CAO
Mr. Mika serves as the Project Manager
for the prestigious Ally of Freedom Award.
Previously Michael served
as a Human Resource
Manager responsible for all personnel management and executive, managerial and
technical training and as a Certified Compensation Professional in the electric
power industry. Michael also served as the Chairman of the Governor of
Tennessee’s Welfare to Work Program for the greater metropolitan area of
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Mr. Mika has more than 35 years of
management experience that includes strategic planning, crisis management,
community relations, and training. He is a graduate of the University of
Maryland where he received his undergraduate degree in Business Management and a
graduate of Pepperdine University where he received his Master of Arts degree in
Human Resources Management.
Mr. Mika is retired from the United States
Army having served over 20 years active service with over 10 years with the
United States Army Special Forces. He is a graduate of the United States Army
Sergeants Major Academy. During his career,
Michael has received numerous
domestic and foreign military awards. He currently serves as the President of
the South Carolina Chapter of the Special Forces Association.
Larry
Russell, Executive Director, CIO
Mr. Russell recently retired after 35 years
in the Computer Industry. After acquiring a degree in Computer Science, Mr.
Russell worked for SC Farm Bureau, Policy Manual Systems, and the State of South
Carolina. Mr. Russell spent 10 of those years in the computer retail industry
as Technical Manager for a national chain of computer stores, where he was in
charge of all support services and training. He holds certificates from IBM,
Microsoft, HP, Compaq, Epson, 3Com and is a certified
Network Systems Engineer. Mr. Russell retired after being the CIO for the State
Transport Police, Department of Public Safety of South
Carolina.
Mr. Russell participates in numerous civic
and social organizations. He founded the Palmetto Personal Computer Club, the
Carolina Classic Chevy Club, and was a past president
of the South Carolina Helicopter Association. He’s the Webmaster for the Army
Aviation Heritage Foundation, the Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew Network and the
Celebrate Freedom Foundation. He is a life
member of the 1st Cavalry
Division Association and the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association.
Mr. Russell belongs to American Legion Post #6, the
Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 303, and the NRA.
Mr. Russell was a commissioned officer in
the US Army and served two tours in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot and a
logistical staff officer. He also served a tour of duty in Germany where he was
an operations staff officer and a tank company commander. He was awarded
numerous domestic and foreign awards. Larry
currently serves as the Executive Director and CIO for the Celebrate Freedom Foundation, in Columbia SC.
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