About

SOS Chief Executive Officer:

Brigadier General Joseph S. Stringham, US Army (Ret.)

General Joe Stringham retired from active duty after more than thirty-two years of military service, during which time he commanded at every echelon from rifle platoon through brigade. This included command of the 75th Ranger Regiment; three US Army Infantry Battalions, including the 1st Ranger Battalion; and the US Military Group in El Salvador at a pivotal point in the war in that country. He has served at the highest levels of the US Army staff in the Pentagon and as the senior military attaché in the US Embassies in Brazil and Mexico. In the latter, he was the focal point for directing Department of Defense activities associated with the counter-narcotics interdiction effort in these regions. Over half of his military service has been in overseas theaters ranging from East- and SE Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. Of particular note is the fact that he has served forty-two months of his thirty-two years with units engaged in close combat. He has numerous decorations for valor in addition to El Salvador’s Medalla de Oro (Gold Medal). General Stringham is an Airborne Ranger Infantryman who, as a Green Beret, organized, trained, and led in combat the first MIKE Force unit (an indigenous rapid-reaction force unit) in Vietnam. The MIKE Force became legendary in US Army Vietnam lore and was featured in the John Wayne movie, “The Green Berets.” He was inducted into the prestigious Ranger Hall of Fame in 1995 and into the Special Forces Hall of Fame in 2010.

Since retirement from active duty, General Stringham has worked in both the public and private sectors of the US as well as overseas in Brazil, Mexico, Angola, and the UAE. He has been a frequent lecturer in numerous Latin American countries on the subject of “Strategy Development in Counter-Terrorist Operations.”

General Stringham holds a BS in Engineering from West Point (1961) and an MA in International Relations (Latin American Studies) from the University of South Carolina. He is a graduate of the US Army War College and completed the National Defense University Capstone Course. He is fluent in Brazilian Portuguese and has a working knowledge of Latin American Spanish.

SOS Founders:

Larry Bailey, CAPT (SEAL), USN (Ret.)

A nati

ve of Marshall, Texas, and a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State College (BS) and East Carolina University (M.Ed), Captain Bailey is a 1962 Navy OCS graduate who served aboard ship before completing UDT/SEAL Training in 1963. He was a platoon commander in both UDT-22 and SEAL Team TWO in Little Creek, VA, and deployed to Viet Nam from the latter in 1967. He was later Executive Officer of UDT-12 in Coronado, CA; Commanding Officer of Naval Special Warfare Unit TWO in Machrihanish, Scotland; and Commanding Officer of Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, CA. He has had tours of duty in Panama, Bolivia, and Scotland, in addition to numerous stateside assignments. He is a sub-specialist in Latin American Politico-Military Affairs and is a Spanish linguist. He served 27 years on active duty.Captain Bailey chaired Vietnam Vets for Truth during the 2004 presidential campaign and is the current chairman of Gathering of Eagles, a military support organization.Captain Bailey is married and the father of two adult children.

Colonel Richard F. (“Dick”) Brauer Jr. USAF, (Ret)

Colonel Richard F. (“Dick”) Brauer Jr. USAF, (Ret) is native of Needham, Massachusetts, graduating from Boston University in 1964 as an AFROTC Distinguished Military Graduate. Completing Undergraduate Navigator Training in 1966, he embarked upon a flying career in Tactical Airlift and Special Operations, amassing 5200 hours of worldwide flying, attaining the aeronautical rating of Master Navigator. His tours of flying duty and deployments include Southeast Asia/Vietnam (1967-68), Europe, Central and South America (1968- 1971) and Australia (1971-1973), where he represented the USAF and the United States as an Exchange Officer, flying as an instructor in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Colonel Brauer has been assigned to a variety of Air Force and Joint Special Operations units during his career from unit to HQ and Joint Staff levels. Significantly, he was handpicked to be a “plank holder” as an Air Force member in the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) (1980-1983). He graduated with top honors from the United States Army War College in 1984 and then served in the Joint Special Operations Agency (JSOA) (1983-1986), the organization that preceded and led to the founding of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and subsequently the US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).

Following his Pentagon tour he was selected to be the 12th Commandant of the United States Air Force Special Operations School (Hurlburt Field, FL) and served the joint SOF, conventional and interagency communities in that education leadership position from 1986 until his retirement in 1991 having completed 26 years of active duty military service. In 2010 Colonel Brauer was inducted into the Air Commando Hall of Fame.

Larry C. Johnson Senior researcher and subject matter expert (SME)

Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder of BERG Associates, LLC, an
international business-consulting firm with expertise combating
terrorism and investigating money laundering. Mr. Johnson works with
US military commands in scripting terrorism exercises, briefs on
terrorist trends, and conducts undercover investigations on
counterfeiting, smuggling and money laundering.

Mr. Johnson, who worked previously with the Central Intelligence
Agency and U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism, is a
recognized expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security,
crisis and risk management.

Mr. Johnson has analyzed terrorist incidents for a variety of media
including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio, ABC’s
Nightline, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News, and
the BBC. Mr. Johnson has authored several articles for publications,
including Security Management Magazine, the New York Times, and The
Los Angeles Times. He has lectured on terrorism and aviation security
around the world, including the Center for Research and Strategic
Studies at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, France. He represented
the U.S. Government at the July 1996 OSCE Terrorism Conference in
Vienna, Austria.

From 1989 until October 1993, Larry Johnson served as a Deputy
Director in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism.
He managed crisis response operations for terrorist incidents
throughout the world and he helped organize and direct the US
Government’s debriefing of US citizens held in Kuwait and Iraq, which
provided vital intelligence on Iraqi operations following the 1990
invasion of Kuwait. Mr. Johnson also participated in the investigation
of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103. Under Mr. Johnson’s leadership
the U.S. airlines and pilots agreed to match the US Government’s two
million-dollar reward.

From 1985 through September 1989 Mr. Johnson worked for the Central
Intelligence Agency. During his distinguished career, he received
training in paramilitary operations, worked in the Directorate of
Operations, served in the CIA’s Operation’s Center, and established
himself as a prolific analyst in the Directorate of Intelligence. In
his final year with the CIA he received two Exceptional Performance
Awards.

Mr. Johnson is a member of the American Society for Industrial
Security. He taught at The American University’s School of
International Service (1979-1983) while working on a Ph.D. in
political science. He has a M.S. degree in Community Development from
the University of Missouri (1978), where he also received his B.S.
degree in Sociology, graduating Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1976.

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