Christopher Michel
Founder and Chairman
Chris is the President of Affinity Labs, a company focused on building a global network of world-class, online communities. Founded in 2006, the company is led by an experienced management team, initially backed by the Mayfield Fund and Trinity Ventures. In 2008, Affinity Labs was acquired by Monster Worldwide (Nasdaq:MNST), the nation's leading careers company.
Prior to founding Affinity Labs, he founded Military.com, the nation's largest military membership organization. Military.com connects its over 10 million members to the lifelong benefits of military service and provides public and private sector clients efficient access to the military market. Members trust Military.com for career, education and financial services. Founded in 1999, Military.com raised over $30 million from leading investors and strategic partners, including A&E Television Networks. In 2004, Military.com was also acquired by Monster.
Chris also served as a Naval Flight Officer in the United States Navy. While on active duty, Chris flew as a P-3 Navigator, Tactical Coordinator and Mission Commander in support of maritime interdiction operations in the Red Sea, NATO enforcement operations in the Adriatic, and counter-narcotics missions in Central America. Following his operational tour, Chris worked in the Pentagon as Aide to the Chief of the Naval Reserve.
An advocate for those who serve, Chris is a frequent speaker and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business Week, Financial Times, and others. He is also a regular guest on CNN and other national radio and TV programs. In addition, he is the author of The Military Advantage (Simon & Schuster 2006).
Chris serves as a Director of Dale Carnegie and Alliance Health Corporations and is a Governor on the USO World Board. He's also an active investor and advisor in a variety of digital media companies.
Chris earned his commission from the NROTC program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he graduated with high distinction and was named a Distinguished Naval Graduate. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Anne Dwane
General Manager
Anne Dwane is the co-founder of Military.com. As the General Manager, Anne leads a team focused on developing outstanding member experiences and delivering value to clients — the quality companies, government agencies and employers that tap Military.com to reach the military community. Anne and the team actively seek out the information, products and services that meet the needs and interests of members. They are advocates for hiring Veterans, offering military discounts and accessing military benefits.
Prior to founding Military.com, Anne was in business development at Paul Allen's Interval Research Corporation in Silicon Valley and conducted due diligence for Vulcan Ventures. Formerly, Anne managed consumer research at Nabisco before transitioning to brand management for Nabisco's Planters Peanuts line. A pioneer in interactive marketing, Anne has been involved in this field since the days of 14.4 modems and the launch of Nabisco Direct, the online and direct response division of Nabisco.
Anne holds a bachelors degree in Marketing and International Management from Georgetown University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Tom Aiello
Vice President
Tom Aiello is Vice President for Military Advantage, a division of Monster Worldwide and the nation's largest military membership organization, Military.com. He is charged with corporate and product-level marketing planning, product development, and strategic leadership for military recruiting at Military Advantage and Monster Worldwide. Tom joined the organization in May 2005.
Tom came from advertising giant Leo Burnett, where he lead the McDonald’s Happy Meal business, developing programs to launch Mighty Kids Meals and Kid Dessert Menu, and overseeing the completion of hundreds of Happy Meal and Ronald McDonald ads.
Tom also supervised the ROTC brand and local advertising and field marketing for the U.S. Army account. Tom helped evolve the Effie-winning “Army of One” campaign, and volunteered his time to the Ad Council branding campaign. Tom is an ambassador for the Advertising Education Foundation, and in early 2004, was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Labor as a member of the President’s National Hire Veterans Committee, a position he still holds.
Prior to joining Burnett in 1998, Tom spent five years serving in the U.S. Army in the armored cavalry. Leading groups of 50 or more people, Tom was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his accomplishments during real-world deployments to Panama, Korea, and Kuwait.
An Alabama native, Tom earned a BS in engineering management from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Josh Brody
Director, Sales
Since 2001, Josh Brody has praised the market Military.com serves, in addition to super-charging advertising revenue from premier brand advertisers and their agencies.
Josh serves as the site specialist for the Monster Media group and is responsible for sales training, development, and idea creation. He also creates custom programs that answer the needs of online marketers and assist the national sales force with revenue achievement.
Josh comes to Military.com from multiple online publishers (having served in the heyday of the Internet) including Sega.com, InfoUSA.com and AuctionWatch.com. Prior to online sales roles, Josh worked at the largest branding and name creation company in the United States — responsible for brand name development of new products with a focus on pharmaceuticals.
Josh holds a Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York, College at New Paltz.
Ward Carroll
Editor
Ward Carroll is the editor of Military.com, responsible for all news, editorials, features, and other content on the site and in newsletters.
During his 20-year Navy career Ward served in four different F-14 squadrons based at NAS Oceana and was the operations officer for Carrier Air Wing One. His last tour on active duty was on the faculty of the U.S. Naval Academy for four years, teaching English, leadership, and ethics. He was editor of Approach magazine and is currently a contributing editor for Naval Aviation News. Immediately following his retirement from the Navy, Ward spent three years in the civil service ranks, working as the public affairs officer for the V-22 Osprey program at the Naval Air Systems Command. Ward is also a popular novelist; his three books about a Tomcat pilot — Punk's War, Punk's Wing, and Punk's Fight — have been widely praised for their realistic portrayals of a Naval Aviator's life. He earned the Naval Institute Press "Author of the Year" honors in 2001. His latest novel, The Aide, was recently published by Signet.
Ward is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and retired at the rank of commander. His military decorations include the Strike Flight Air Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards). He is married with two teenaged sons.
David Grayson
Director of Product Development
David Grayson is Director of Product Development. He is responsible for managing the execution of web development projects through the entire project lifecycle, and leads the Product Development team. David joined Military.com in February 2000.
Previous to Military.com, David worked at PC World magazine and Mercer Management Consulting. David holds a Master of Arts from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts from San Francisco State University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Dana Heath
Vice President - Product Development
Dana Heath has a Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering and has been involved in software development for the last 20+ years working in a variety of different environments. He has been involved in in-house IT management and development, has worked for multiple commercial product companies, and has managed a sizeable professional services organization in the web space. Prior to joining Military Advantage, Dana worked in an ISO9001 environment and made several process improvements and focused on team organization and technical mentorship, while maintaining a 100% on-time product delivery schedule. Dana is married and has seven children.
Loree Hirschman
Vice President of Marketing
Loree Hirschman is the VP of Marketing at Military.com. Loree leads the marketing team and is responsible for member communications, strategic partnerships and member acquisition.
Prior to her work at Military.com, Loree wrote, produced and marketed leadership videos at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Prior to working at Stanford, Loree was a management consultant for Bain & Company, advising Fortune 500 clients on marketing and strategy. Formerly, Loree spent ten years as a carrier-based naval aviator for the U.S. Navy and was one of the first women pilots to deploy in a combat squadron. She attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander and led divisions of up to 130 sailors. She is the author of She's Just Another Navy Pilot, published by the US Naval Institute.
Loree holds a bachelors degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jeff Kimble
Director of Network Operations and IT
Jeff Kimble is the Director of Network Operations and IT. He is responsible for managing the operation of the Military.com internet presence and internal technology. He joined Military.com in January 2007.
Jeff has been involved in software and systems development for over 10 years, with experience spanning commercial product development, internet space architecture and development, engineering managment, as well as project and process managment. He is versed in ISO9001 and ITIL standards. He brings an additional 10+ years of retail management and customer service experience to the operational team.
Prior to Military.com, Jeff worked for Verizon Business Remote Application Management - a division that manages the operational availability for Fortune 500 companies. He holds a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science.
Brian McGlothlen
Director of Software Engineering
Brian McGlothlen is the Director of Software Engineering, and is responsible for the development of the Military.com website applications. He joined Military.com in May 2007.
He has been involved in commercial software development for over 17 years at leading internet, database, and life science companies. He has been responsible for project management, architecture, and development of commercially successful internet and database websites and applications.
Brian served in the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and used his Veterans Educational Assistance Program to pay his expenses while earning a Bachelor's of Science degree in Computer Science at Sacramento State University. Brian also enjoys hiking the backcountry and bagging high country peaks.
Vince Patton
Director of Community Outreach
Master Chief Vince Patton is Director of Community Outreach for Military Advantage. In this role he is responsible for executing the company’s grassroots outreach marketing program, oversight of the installation ambassadors program and maintaining a close liaison with contacts at all levels in the military community. He joined the organization in September 2002, first serving on the company’s advisory board, then in full time capacity in November 2004.
Vince served as the 8th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard from May 1998 until his retirement from more than 30 years of active service in November 2002. In this position he was the Coast Guard’s senior most enlisted member representing over 45,000 personnel as the principal advisor to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. His illustrious career included staff and operational assignments throughout the country, both afloat and ashore. Among his numerous military awards includes the Distinguished Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, three Coast Guard Commendation Medals and three Coast Guard Achievement Medals. He also earned the 'Cutterman’s Insignia' for sea duty recognition, and also is one of the few Coast Guardsmen to have earned the Paratrooper's 'Jump Wings' while serving in a joint service assignment with the U. S. Army's 82nd Airborne.
He received his doctorate of education degree from American University, a master’s degree in counseling psychology at Loyola University at Chicago, a B.S. in social work from Shaw College and a B.A. in communication from Pacific College. His extensive military education includes the Department of Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, U. S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, and the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Academy. He is a member of the Joint Military Intelligence College Board of Visitors, and serves on the editorial advisory board of the U. S. Naval Institute as well as a board positions on number of nonprofit organizations. He is also an ordained Unitarian minister.
Heather Rader
Director, Account Management
Heather Rader is charged with managing key client accounts, oversight of the account management team, and serving as a cross-property liaison to ensure client success. Heather joined the organization in May 2001.
Heather came to Military.com from database marketing giant Infousa.com, where she marketed and managed their private label division. Prior to that, she worked in the marketing and sponsorships division of the National Football League in New York. While at the NFL, she developed and grew relationships with key client accounts such as Budweiser, Sprint and Visa.
An Oregon native, Heather earned a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Oregon with a concentration in Sports Marketing. She received the Monster Worldwide award for ”Account Executive of the Year in 2006,” and volunteers with numerous non-profit organizations such as the YMCA Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.
Fred Siegel
Site Manager for Fred's Place
Prior to joining Military Advantage, Fred founded Fred's Place (fredsplace.org) -- a large, high volume Web site dedicated to bringing together past and present members of the U. S. Coast Guard.
Fred has been awarded the Coast Guard's Meritorious Public Service Medal for Fred's Place. Fred's Place is now owned by Military Advantage.
Fred retired from the U. S. Coast Guard as a Chief Warrant Officer (W4) after serving nearly 25 years in military communications. Following his military career, Fred founded Siegel Consulting, a Washington, DC based consulting firm specializing in training and software development.
Maria Szymanek
Senior Director, Finance
Maria Szymanek has been a member of the Military.com family since 2005. Maria is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of Military's financial data and reporting.
Prior to joining Military, Maria was the CFO of a start-up company. Additionally, she's worked in consulting, improving financial processes for Fortune 50 companies, and investment banking, managing global strategic projects.
Maria earned a master's degree in business from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in accounting from Arizona State University.
###
