Executive Officers

Damian Perl, 45
Chief Executive Officer, Secretary, Treasurer and Director

He is the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Global Strategies Group. In this capacity, Mr. Perl acquired SFA, Inc. and The Analysis Corporation in 2007, rebranding them as Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc. Mr. Perl became a director of Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc. in April 2009 and was instrumental in its initial public offering in November 2009. While Mr. Perl was on its Board, Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc. made two further acquisitions prior to its sale in April 2011 to Ares Management LLC. Prior to 1998, Mr. Perl worked on a consultancy basis in the risk management field for industry clients drawn from the energy and mining sectors. Mr. Perl began his career with the British military, serving in both the Royal Marines Commandos and in Special Forces. Mr. Perl is a member of the SAS Regimental Association, the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He holds a degree in Physiology and Biomechanics. Mr. Perl brings to the Board of Directors fifteen years of experience as an investor, operator and mentor in the defense and national security sectors, as well as experience as a counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency advisor.

Dale R. Davis, 53
President, Chief Financial Officer and Director

His principal role within Global Strategies Group is Executive Vice President (Operations), and he is a member of the executive board. Mr. Davis’ role within Global Strategies Group also includes oversight of Global Strategies Group corporate development. Mr. Davis joined GLOBAL in February 2006 as the Managing Director of Global Integrated Security (Middle East). In 2010, he was Executive Director, National Security Initiatives for GLOBAL before taking up his current post. Prior to joining GLOBAL, Mr. Davis was Security and Brand Enforcement Manager, Middle East, for British American Tobacco between 2004 and 2006. Between 2003 and 2005, he was Adjunct Professor at the Joint Special Warfare University, and prior to that was Director of International Programs at the Virginia Military Institute. Mr. Davis served between 1983 and 1995 as a U.S. Marine Officer with command and staff assignments across Asia and the Middle East. Mr. Davis serves on the Advisory Board of the Council of American Colleges Abroad as well as the Advisory Board of the Department of International Studies, Virginia Military Institute. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Military Institute and an M.A. in National Security Affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School. Mr. Davis brings to the Board of Directors thirty years of experience in the defense and national security sectors and ten years of commercial operations and profit and loss leadership experience.

Craig Dawson, 38
Chief Executive Officer, Secretary, Treasurer and Director

In his principal role within Global Strategies Group as Financial Controller, Mr. Dawson heads Global Strategies Group’s treasury and taxation functions and serves as the technical financial reporting expert for GLOBAL under IFRS. He is also a Director of Global Strategies Group. He joined Global Strategies Group in 2009, leading its financial reporting and treasury support team in the initial public offering of Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc. From 2004 to 2009, Mr. Dawson held a number of managerial positions with Deloitte LLP working in the U.S., U.K. and South Africa. Mr. Dawson is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, and holds a B.Com in Accounting from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Mr. Dawson brings to the Board of Directors well-developed business and financial acumen.

Frederic Cassis, 33
President, Chief Financial Officer and Director

In his principal role within Global Strategies Group as the Director of Legal and Compliance, he is responsible for overseeing GLOBAL’s corporate structure, legal affairs and regulatory compliance, and he is a member of the executive board. He joined GLOBAL in July 2008, initially as the lead commercial lawyer for GLOBAL’s Middle East operations headquartered in Dubai. Subsequently, Mr. Cassis assumed responsibility for regulatory compliance, corporate governance and host government engagement for the region. Prior to joining GLOBAL, he practiced as a corporate and commercial litigation lawyer in Australia between 2004 and 2008. Mr. Cassis holds an LL.B. (Honors) and a B.Bus (Finance). He is admitted to practice law both in Australia and in England and Wales. Mr. Cassis brings to the Board of Directors well-developed business and legal acumen.

Gavin Long, 37
President, Chief Financial Officer and Director

Since 2013, Mr. Long has been Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Global Strategies Group. Between 2010 and 2013, Mr. Long was a Partner and Managing Director at Civitas Group, a strategy and management consultancy focused on the national security sector. While at Civitas, Mr. Long helped formulate M&A strategies for many of the large defense contractors. Between 2008 and 2010, Mr. Long was Director of Strategy, Development and Planning for BAE Systems, working to establish the U.S. intelligence and security line of business. Prior to BAE Systems, Mr. Long was a Vice President with Imperial Capital, a New York and Los Angeles-based, full service investment bank, between 2004 and 2008. He joined Imperial Capital via the acquisition of USBX Inc., a national security market-focused M&A boutique. Mr. Long has participated in over forty transactions, with an aggregate value of over $4 billion. He began his career with Arthur Andersen Corporate Finance, where he was a part of the Technology M&A practice between 1998 and 2001. Mr. Long holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Appalachian State University.

Board of Directors

Dean G. Popps, 65
Director

Between 2010 and 2013, Mr. Popps has been self-employed as a senior advisor, consultant, corporate director and lawyer to the defense industry. Since 2013, he has served as a Director of Global Integrated Security (USA) Inc., the U.S. security services business of Global Strategies Group. He is Of Counsel to the law firm of Fluet Huber+Hoang, Co-Chairman of the Strategic Materials Advisory Council, and a Board member of Eutelsat America Corporation. Between 2004 and 2010, Mr. Popps served as both the Acting Assistant and Principal Deputy Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology and the Army Acquisition Executive. In these roles, he acted as the Service Acquisition Executive alongside counterparts in the Navy and the Air Force, the Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Army, and the Army’s Senior Research and Development official, and had principal oversight of all Department of the Army matters related to logistics. Mr. Popps led the execution of the Army’s acquisition function, including more than 600 Army and Joint Programs. In 2003, Mr. Popps was recruited from the private sector to join the Department of Defense’s Coalitional Provisional Authority (“CPA”) in Baghdad, Iraq, where he served as Director of Industrial Conversion to the Coalition. He also served on the CPA’s Iraq Transition Planning Team. Mr. Popps worked in the private sector as a CEO, senior executive, attorney, and consultant for two decades prior to entering government service in 2003. Mr. Popps serves on the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Assistance Project, a non-profit organization involved in UXO (unexploded ordnance) awareness. Mr. Popps brings to the Board of Directors experience in senior roles in the defense and national security sectors, significant business experience, and experience as an attorney and consultant to the private sector.

Hon. David C. Gompert, 67
Director

 Currently, he is Distinguished Visiting Professor for National Security Studies at the United States Naval Academy and Adjunct Senior Fellow of the RAND Corporation. Mr. Gompert has served as a Director of Global Integrated Security (USA) Inc., the U.S. security services business of Global Strategies Group, since 2011. Between 2009 and 2011, Mr. Gompert was with the Office of the Director of National Security, initially as the Principal Deputy Director. In 2010, he served as Acting Director of National Intelligence, providing strategic oversight of the U.S. Intelligence Community, and serving as President Barack Obama’s chief intelligence advisor. Between 2004 and 2009, Mr. Gompert was a Senior Fellow at the RAND Corporation and Distinguished Research Professor at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy, National Defense University. From 2003 to 2004, he served as the Senior Advisor for National Security and Defense, Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq. He served as President of RAND Europe from 2000 to 2003, and was Vice President of RAND and Director of the National Defense Research Institute from 1993 to 2000. Mr. Gompert was a special assistant to former President George H. W. Bush, as well as the senior director for Europe and Eurasia on the staff of the National Security Council from 1990 to 1993. At Unisys from 1989 to 1990, he was president of the systems management group and vice president for strategic planning and corporate development. From 1983 to 1989, he was AT&T’s vice president of civil sales and programs, and its director of international market planning. Mr. Gompert held several senior positions at the State Department from 1975 to 1983, including deputy to the under secretary for political affairs, deputy director of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and special assistant to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Institute for the Study of Early Childhood Education, a Trustee of Hopkins House Academy, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Naval Academy Center for Cyber Security Studies. He holds a B.S. in Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and a M.P.A. from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Mr. Gompert brings to the Board of Directors experience in senior roles in the defense and national security sectors and private sector executive leadership experience.

Dr. John Gannon, 69
Director

Currently, he is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches a graduate course in the National Security Studies Program of the School of Foreign Service. He is also the Vice President for Mission Technology at CENTRA Technology in Arlington, Virginia, and has served as a Director of Global Integrated Security (USA) Inc., the U.S. security services business of Global Strategies Group, since 2012. From 2005 to 2012, Dr. Gannon was a senior executive at BAE Systems, where he established the Global Analysis business area and retired as the President of the company’s Intelligence and Security Sector. Previously, Dr. Gannon served in senior analytic positions at the CIA and in the U.S. intelligence community, including as Deputy Director for Intelligence at the CIA, Chairman of the National Intelligence Council and Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production. From 2002 to 2003, he was the team leader for intelligence in the White House Transition Planning Office establishing the new Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Gannon also served as the staff director of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Homeland Security. Dr. Gannon serves on the Board of Directors of Voices of September 11^th and the Center for National Policy. He is a founding member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Security Preparedness Group and is a member of the National Academies of Science Division Committee on Engineering and Physical Sciences. Dr. Gannon holds a B.A. in Psychology from Holy Cross College and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in History from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a former naval reserve captain and Vietnam veteran. He has served as a member of the Falls Church City Council, Chairman of the Falls Church Planning Commission, and a member of the Falls Church Economic Development Commission. Dr. Gannon brings to the Board of Directors experience in senior roles in the defense and national security sectors and private sector executive leadership experience.