Advisory Board

Mr. Agee graduated from The Citadel in 1996 with a B.S. degree in Mathematics and a minor in Management Information Systems. After receiving his commission in the U.S. Navy, Mr. Agee graduated from the Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, FL and served eight years in the nuclear submarine service. During his naval service, Mr. Agee was assigned to the NROTC Unit, The Citadel where he also served as Tactical Officer for Kilo Company and conducted his graduate studies in Computer Science. Mr. Agee earned his J.D. from the University of South Carolina, his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida and is a partner at the law firm of Johnston, Allison & Hord, P.A. in Charlotte, N.C. Mr. Agee practices primarily in the areas of taxation, estate planning and administration and business succession planning and serves clients in both North and South Carolina. A frequent lecturer and author in his areas of practice, Mr. Agee also currently serves as a legislative committee member for the North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section. A native of Richburg, S.C., Mr. Agee currently resides in Fort Mill, S.C. with wife, Kathryn, and two sons, Thomas and William.

Bruce Alexander Joined Operation Homefront in January 2018 and leads all communications and external outreach efforts for Operation Homefront.  His team captures, curates, and promotes the many stories that show just how Operation Homefront helps build strong, stable and secure military families.  Bruce, a retired Air Force officer of 25 years and a graduate of The Citadel, Central Michigan University and the Harvard University Senior Fellows Program, is an accomplished, award-winning communications professional who most recently served as Director of Communications for the Food and Nutrition Service at the US Department of Agriculture.  In this key capacity, he was a key member of the National Board of Directors for the Combined Federal Campaign.  As the former Director of Public Affairs and Director of Staff at Andrews AFB, Deputy Commander for the Operations Group at Bolling AFB and Services Squadron Commander at Charleston AFB, Bruce shares Operation Homefront’s passion to give military families the opportunity to thrive, not simply struggle to get by, in the communities they worked so hard to protect.

In over 35 years of law practice, David Bell has successfully handled thousands of cases, tried over 100 cases in front of juries and has won dozens of cases on appeal.

David is a 1971 Distinguished Military Graduate of the Citadel where he earned Dean’s list honors. He graduated in 1977 from the University of Georgia School of Law where he was also on the Dean’s List. Between College and Law School, he served in the United States Army as a Lieutenant.

As a lawyer, he has earned many honors. In 2003, he served as President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. He was the 2010-2011 President of the University of Georgia Alumni Association. In 2012, he received the Traditions of Excellence award from the General Practices and Trial Section of the State Bar of Georgia. In 2007, he received the “Robert Benham Award for Community Services.” He currently serves as chairman of the Bench and Bar Committee of the State Bar. David Bell is listed in Best Lawyers as well as Super Lawyers. He earned a Martindale Hubbel AV rating.

David and his family are active members of First Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia, where he teaches Sunday School.

A former officer in the United States Army, Chris graduated summa cum laude from The Citadel in 1985 where he was a Business Administration major and English minor, and a member of the Inn of Court and the Summerall Guards. He received his J.D. from Mercer School of Law in Macon, GA.

Chris has received the highest rating (AV) from Peer Rating service Martindale Hubbell, a ranking based primarily upon professional and ethical conduct. Chris has received ―Best Lawyers in America designation each year since 2009 and is listed as one of the ―Best Lawyers in America in the field of personal injury. He has been selected as a Georgia Super Lawyer each year since 2007. In September 2009, the Atlanta Business Chronicle selected Chris as one of The 100 Most Influential Individuals Who Help Shape & Guide Atlanta‘s Legal Industries.

Mr. Coffey received a B. S. in Business Administration from The Citadel in 1992 and his J. D. from the University of South Carolina in 1999.  He is a partner in the law firm of Coffey & McKenzie, P.A. of Manning where his practice is focused on real estate, business issues and estate matters.  He was appointed Master in Equity for Clarendon County in 2016. Mr. Coffey serves on various civic and church related boards.

Mr. Coffey is married to Katherine S. Coffey, and they have two children, Merrix R. Coffey and Walker K. Coffey.

Mr. Couch currently serves as the Deputy Director, Office of Strategic Stability and Deterrence.  He served as the U.S. Chairman of the Conforming Group on the New START Treaty delegation.  Additionally, he manages the interagency treaty implementation process for U.S. Government decisions and correspondence relating to the New START Treaty and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.  He also served as the U.S. Head of Delegation to the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification.  Prior to his current position, Mr. Couch spent two years as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton.  Mr. Couch retired from the United States Air Force in 2005.  In his last assignment, he served as the Deputy Director of Arms Control Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, managing issues related to strategic, conventional and global/multilateral arms control treaties and agreements, including the START, INF, Moscow, CFE, and Open Skies Treaties.  Mr. Couch graduated with a BA in English from The Citadel in 1982 and an MBA from Webster University in 1987.  In addition, he has completed two Executive Education programs from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Dwight Davis is a retired senior partner in the Litigation Practice Group at King & Spalding. He served as the leader of the firm’s Business Litigation Group from 1998 until 2001. In 2001, he was asked to relocate to the firm’s New York office to develop its litigation practice. He was elected three times to the firm’s management committee.

Sandrine Ennis is Founder and CEO of Talentstream recruiting company and Sherpa recruiting software company. At Talentstream Sandrine founded and grew a leading boutique recruitment firm specializing in revenue-generating talent. They partner with the world’s most innovative companies to build their technology, sales, marketing and management teams. She has lead Talentstream to successfully empower the top emerging technology companies with the talent necessary to realize their growth potential. At Sherpa Sandrine founded and developed an employee engagement, diversity driven, referral and retention software platform that delivers more qualified and diverse referral candidates than internal programs.

Sandrine is currently working to establish a family foundation focused on initiatives around education to narrow disparities amongst women and minority groups in science and emerging ideas in orphan disease treatment in biotech. She graduated from Brandeis University in 1991 with a BA in Economics. She has 4 grown children and currently splits her time between Washington DC and San Francisco.

Stephen is a strategic and operational executive leader with a three-decade career of driving transformation and innovation in a complex, highly sensitive global organization. Throughout his 34-year career in the U.S. Navy, Stephen served in a diverse range of leadership positions across the globe, including combat roles as Ship, Task Force and Strike Group Commander, critical training/professional development positions to ensure quality Navy personnel, advisory role to the 75th Secretary of the Navy, and serving as U.S. representative in deliberations and actions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to protect U.S. interests in Europe and around the world. Most recently, Stephen was appointed to the NATO Military Committee as Deputy U.S. Military Representative, where he was a key player in the NATO initiative to develop next level modeling and simulation capability for wargaming. 

Toshika Hudson-Cannon, better known as Peaches, is a South Carolina native. While at the Citadel, Peaches excelled in both academics and athletics while making history. She was the first female in the school’s history to gain South Conference honors in athletics. She was also the first African-American female to command her own company. Hudson-Cannon earned a B.A. in Psychology, making her one of the first African-American females to graduate in the school’s history. As a cadet, she was a member of the Track and Field and Cross Country teams, a member of the Gospel Choir, and a member of The African-American Society.

After graduation, she attended the University of North Carolina Charlotte, where she obtained her teaching certification, and began her teaching career with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. While working as a special education teacher, Hudson-Cannon also assumed coaching responsibilities as a track and cross country coach. During this time Toshika was very active in the community and served as an advocate for childrens’ rights, early childhood education, and communities in school programs. After leaving Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, she took her passion for teaching and coaching to the Cabarrus County Schools and was influential in the development of many students and athletes. After teaching and coaching in Cabarrus County for multiple years, Hudson-Cannon became the Athletic Director for a local charter school and was instrumental in creating athletic and academic programs for the school and community. She currently serves as an independent athletics liaison in the community in addition to being a coach for the Charlotte Panthers Track Club. Toshika currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband, Dan, and their three children, Aydan, Kaylen, and Kyleigh.

Dr. Kays graduated from The Citadel in 1966 with a B.S. and he continued his academic career at the University of Iowa, achieving his D.D.S. and serving as president of his class. Following graduation from dental school, he joined the United States Air Force as a dental officer from 1970-1972 prior to opening a private practice where he is still active. Dr. Kays served on the dental school faculty of the Medical University of South Carolina from 1972-2008. He has played a dynamic role in the professional dental fraternity Psi Omega for the last 45 years and he is currently the executive director. Dr. Kays hold numerous professional honors and has endeavored in his career field by participating in state and professional associations. He is the former President of the South Carolina Dental Association and the South Carolina State Board of Dentistry. Dr. Kays has researched and published numerous articles and has held membership and leadership roles with the American College of Dentists as well as the International College of Dentists. In addition, Dr. Kays serves as a board member to the Bank of South Carolina West Ashley as well as the Trident Technical College Foundation. In addition to his dental career, he returned to the Citadel and graduated with a M.Ed. in clinical counseling in 1982. He is married to the former Claudia Johnson, of Aiken, South Carolina and they have three children and six grandchildren.

Jim Lariviere is the Senior Vice President for Department of Defense Operations for GardaWorld Federal Services. He is responsible for maintaining and promoting excellence in mission operations.

Jim Lariviere has over 20 years of senior civilian and military experience in national security affairs. As a Major General in the Marine Corps Reserve his active and Reserve service as a combat arms officer includes command at every level from reconnaissance platoon through Marine division, serving in over 30 countries and participating in contingency operations in Lebanon and Afghanistan. His last active duty assignment was as Deputy Director Politico-Military Affairs (Africa), J5 Strategic Plans and Policy, The Joint Staff. In civilian life Jim has over a decade and a half of experience on Capitol Hill. He served as military legislative assistant to the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel, and later as a professional staff member on the Defense Policy Staff of the House Armed Services Committee. Finally, he served as the Staff Director and Minority Staff Director of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs with responsibility for legislative and policy oversight for all aspects of the second largest department in the Federal Government. In the private sector, Jim was Vice President (Government Relations) for Health Net Federal Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a Fortune 500 company. He previously worked as a senior public policy advisor/consultant assisting companies develop legislative and marketing strategies in the defense, homeland security and veteran’s affairs sectors.

General (Ret) Kenneth F. “Frank” McKenzie, Jr. became the Executive Director of the University of South Florida’s Global and National Security Institute in May 2022. In July 2022, he also became the Executive Director of the Florida Center for Cybersecurity, also known as Cyber Florida.

He is the former Commander, United States Central Command. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, upon graduation from The Citadel in 1979, General McKenzie was commissioned into the Marine Corps and trained as an infantry officer.

A native of Atlanta, GA, Mr. Plunkett received his Bachelor of Arts degree (Political Science) from The Citadel in 1964 and a Master of Arts degree (English) in 1996. As a Citadel student, Mr. Plunkett was initiated into Phi Alpha Theta (History), Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science), and Sigma Tau Delta (English), and is believed to be the only Citadel graduate to be elected to all three honor societies as a Citadel student. Mr. Plunkett began his military career upon graduation as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army and served in both Korea and Vietnam, among other assignments, from 1964 to 1968, attaining the rank of Captain in 1967. He was also a member of the United States Army Reserve until 1972. Ron began his professional career as a Management Trainee with Sea-Land Service, Inc. in 1968. Sea-Land was purchased in 1999 by Maersk Line, the world’s largest containerized steamship line, and Ron continued working in various capacities before retiring in 2009 as a Senior Account Executive. He is a member of numerous civic, professional, and fraternal organizations in the Charleston area. He is a recipient of The Citadel’s Palmetto Medal, the Order of the Palmetto from the State of SC, the Silver Beaver Award from Scouting BSA, the Knight Commander’s Accolade from the Kappa Alpha Order, and volunteers as Chief of Staff to Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, MOH, USMC, ret. Ron is married to Dr. Linda Muckenfuss Plunkett, a graduate of Emory University (BBA) and Georgia State University (MPA and Ph.D,) who was a Professor of Accounting at the College of Charleston for many years. Linda is a past Board Chair of the Coastal Community Foundation and the Hollings Cancer Center (MUSC) Advisory Board.

Mr. Pope is a partner of Georgia’s Hasty Pope LLP, where he focuses his trial practice exclusively on personal injury cases, including wrongful death, automobile and truck accidents, and other catastrophic injuries. A Citadel graduate in 1992, he received his JD from Georgia State University in 1995. He has been recognized multiple times in Atlanta Magazine’s list of Top 100 lawyers in the State of Georgia as well as Georgia Trend Magazine’s “Legal Elite.” Jon is an officer of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and a frequent speaker on handling jury trials in personal injury cases. He and his wife, Amy, live in Gainesville Georgia and have two children, Andrew and Caroline.

Mr. Poston graduated from the Citadel in 1997 and served as the President of his class. Following graduation, he served as an Army Signal Officer for 9 years with assignments in Korea, Georgia, Germany, Iraq, and D.C. Mr. Poston has worked for Booz Allen Hamilton for over 11 years and currently leads Booz Allen’s work across the Defense Health Agency and provides senior leadership to teams working across the Department of Defense (e.g. DHA CIO, DoD CIO, etc.) supporting programs with IT impacts to the broader DoD and Defense Healthcare. Harold is married to LTC Laura Poston (nee Gensmer). They live in Northern Virginia with their two daughters, Carolyn and Katherine.

Mr. Robards earned a B.A. in Political Science from The Citadel in 1981, an M.B.A. from The Citadel in 1988 and a J.D. from The University of South Carolina in 1984. He practiced law with a firm in Columbia, SC for 7 years before moving into the trust and wealth management business in 1996. He is currently a Senior Vice President in the trust department at BB&T in Charlotte, NC. Mr. Robards also spent 33 years as a reserve officer in the US Navy before retiring as a Captain in 2015. His service included 4 tours of active duty and numerous reserve assignments where he specialized in international and operational law. He is also a graduate of the US Naval War College in Newport, RI. Mr. Robards has been involved with a number of church, community, professional and civic organizations over the years. 

GRAMMY Award-winning bass, Morris Robinson is considered one the most sought-after singers performing today. With regular appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, (MET) he made his debut in the 2002 production of Fidelio. Other featured MET appearances include
Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte (both in the original production and in the children’s English version), Ferrando in Il Trovatore, the King in Aida, roles in Nabucco, Tannhäuser, and the new productions of Les Troyens and Salome. He has also appeared at the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Teatro alla Scala, Volksoper Wien, Opera Australia, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. His many roles include the title role in Porgy
and Bess, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Ramfis in Aida, Zaccaria in Nabucco, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, Timur in Turandot, the Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino, Ferrando in Il Trovatore, and Fasolt in Das Rheingold.

On March 7, 2018, President Donald J. Trump appointed Macon native Tilman E. “Tripp” Self, III to serve as a United States District Court Judge for the Middle District of Georgia. The District of Georgia was one of the original 13 federal district courts created by the Judicial Act of 1789. Congress divided the district into the Northern and Southern districts in 1848 and created the Middle District from those districts in 1926. Judge Self is the 15^th judge to serve in the Middle District of Georgia.

Judge Self attended The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, on Army ROTC and Citadel Scholar scholarships. In 1990, he received his B.S. in Business Administration, graduating summa cum laude as The Citadel’s top business graduate and 9^th overall from a class of 516.

Mr. Thomas earned a B.A. in history from The Citadel and a J.D. from the University of South Carolina. He taught and practiced law in Columbia, S.C. before being commissioned as a Foreign Service office.  He served as a consular officer for 23 years with overseas postings in Korea, New Zealand, Japan and Hong Kong, as well as several tours in Washington. His decorations include the State Department’s Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards.  After working as Managing Director and VP of an export firm in Fairfax, VA, he is now a Senior Consultant with BCMC, LLC, a information technology engineering and consulting firm in Falls Church, VA.

Ms. Thompson entered the United States Air Force in 1985 after graduating from North Texas State University, Denton, Texas and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program.  She retired from the Pentagon as a Colonel in 2013. 

Her military career spanned 27 years as a communications advisor to senior Air Force leadership, developing strategies and plans garnering Congressional, public and media support for the United States Air Force.  She has served in NATO, and the Pacific as well as military operations in Iraq, Turkey, Hungary, Singapore, Italy and France. 

Her last position was as a civilian at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. as communication advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. 

In 2010, her media relations team and the Air Force was awarded the distinguished national Public Relations Society of America’s “Best of the Best Silver Anvil Award” from 800 entries.  Her PR campaign supported a Presidential order lifting a ban on media coverage of  “dignified transfers” of slain service members remains from combat zones to the military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

Pete Trainer is a noted defense executive and career Air Force officer currently serving as the Vice President and General Manager of the Air Force Solutions business area within the Intelligence & Security (I&S) sector of BAE Systems, Inc.

At BAE Systems, he leads a unit that provides the U.S. Air Force and combatant commands with innovative solutions to help modernize, maintain, test, and cyber-harden aircraft, radars, missile and space systems. His group also creates mission applications that detect and deter threats to national security.

Pete joined BAE Systems in May 2018, after overseeing business development, management, and strategy for SAIC’s $220 million Air Force Operations business. Prior to that role, he served as Vice President and Sector Director of the Defense Services Sector at Scitor Corporation.

A Space Operator, Pete served 30 years in the Air Force on active duty and in the reserves. Career highlights include an assignment to the Air Force’s Legislative Liaison staff, advocating for space, intelligence, and missile programs to Congress. Mr. Trainer served on the Space Exploitation team that stood up the nation’s Blue Force Tracking capabilities in response to the attack on 9/11. His military career culminated at the rank of Colonel, in the role of the Senior Individual Mobilization Augmentee to the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office.

Mr. Walters, Jr., a native of Charleston, SC, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (English) from The Citadel in 1995, following in the long gray line of his father (1967) and both grandfathers (1942). He is General Manager of Jones Ford of North Charleston, a business his grandfather began in 1967; his great-grandfather began the first Ford dealership in Charleston, Paul Motor Company, in 1918. Mr. Walters, Jr. currently serves on the Board of Directors for the South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association as well as the Board of Directors for the Carolina Ford Dealers Advertising Agency for North and South Carolina. He is active in his church, Church Creek Presbyterian where he serves as an elder; he also serves in both his local presbytery (in which he has twice held the seat of moderator) and in the General Assembly. He and his wife, Amy, have three teenage children, and they reside in Charleston.