Bios

Jimmy B. Persels is the former principal of each of the law firms of The Persels Group, consisting of Persels & Associates, LLC, and Consumer Law Associates, LLC. He is a 1966 graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, and a Vietnam-era veteran. He also holds a Master's Degree in Public Health from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, and a Juris Doctor (cum laude) degree from the Southern Illinois University School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Southern Illinois Law Journal.

Mr. Persels retired his ownership interest in the Persels Group in 2009. He also serves as the President and Executive Director of the Persels Group Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that focuses its giving on members and veterans of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and their families in their times of need.

David E. Lovelady completed a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy where he rose to the rank of Captain. He was a fighter pilot and test pilot, commanded an F-14 Tomcat fighter squadron with 350 personnel, and then went on to command an Air Wing composed of nine squadrons with over 1,800 personnel in seven states. He was Director of Weapons Engineering at Naval Air Systems Command Headquarters, responsible for management of engineering, design, research, and development for all weapons carried on Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. He has spent over 18 years in business in the Washington, DC, area where he has:

• Helped small and mid-sized companies improve their products and services and better plan for the future
• Developed Master Plans, Strategies, and Long-Range Plans, then helped execute those plans to fruition
• Became expert at contracting, including business development, needs analysis, proposal development, product/service positioning, winning strategies, teaming, pricing, contract negotiation, and contract execution
• Taught client development, leadership, project/program management, and business development
• Been intimately involved with technologies ranging from aeronautical and weapons engineering to biological and chemical research, from environmental contamination and cleanup to information technology, and from counter-terrorism to human factors.

With this diverse background, Mr. Lovelady is quick to grasp synergies, as well as unforeseen risks. His greatest value is in analysis and strategy to help an organization achieve its full potential.

Mr. Lovelady obtained a Bachelors degree in General Engineering and Naval Science from the U.S. Naval Academy. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, an inductee into the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and a former astronaut candidate. He has completed extensive graduate level courses at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, the Defense Systems Management College, George Mason University, and the Wharton School.

Richard G. Wilmes retired in 1996 as a Colonel, United States Marine Corps after a 30 year career. He is a 1966 graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. He received his Master's Degree in Facilities Management in 1977 from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton Ohio. He also studied Arabic for one year at the Defense Language Institute(DLI), Monterrey, CA. As a junior officer he held command billets for engineer units at the platoon and company level in Vietnam. He also commanded the 2nd Interrogator Translator Team (ITT) at Camp Lejeune, NC. As a field grade officer he commanded the 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, Okinawa, Japan and was the Executive Officer for Marine Wing Support Group 27 at Cherry Point, NC.

His latter career focused on three facilities billets; Facilities Maintenance Officer for the Logistics Support Base at Barstow, CA; Facilities Engineer for the Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, HI; and the Assistant Chief of Staff, Facilities Engineer for Marine Corps Base, Camp Butler, Okinawa, Japan. The latter billet lasted eight years due to his extensive experience and intimate knowledge of land issues on Okinawa. He served as the Marine Corps representative at the working level developing land return options for the Special Action Committee (SAC) that was finalized in 1996 with the main issue to relocate the MCAS Futenma to a location in northern Okinawa. That issue remains a major effort today between the Government of Japan (GOJ) and the United States to include a major transfer of Marines to Guam.

Upon retirement from the Marine Corps he worked as a Facilities Manager for Intel at Ronler Acres, Hillsboro, OR and as a Contract Administrator for Bechtel Engineering on the extension of the light rail from Portland to Portland International Airport. During this time he also served as a consultant to Bechtel National, Inc in San Francisco, CA for the relocation project of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. He currently is a volunteer for the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) in Arizona monitoring Native American sites in the southwest desert areas to prevent looting and vandalism.