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Valarie is a uniquely experienced and successful accounting and financial leader with proven success in both established and start-up for profit businesses as well as large non-profit organizations, who balanced a dynamic career while also successfully raising and managing a family. * A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), she began her career in public accounting with Ernst & Young (then, Ernst and Whinney) working on a variety of demanding public sector accounts. As the Controller for the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, she led the day-to-day accounting operation for this non-profit and was the lead financial accountant for the Peach Bowl for multiple years. As the CFO of a multi-office architectural firm, she orchestrated the acquisition of this firm to one of the largest architectural/design firms in the world, managing financial due diligence and acquisition integration. Her unique experience across multiple industry settings – Big 4 Fortune 500 audit experience combined with a detailed understanding of all financial aspects of high growth, small and mid-sized manufacturing and service companies – make her an in demand fractional CFO. At Military Expert Witness Group, she is often involved in financial modeling and performs our day-to-day accounting tasks. As a military spouse for over 30 years, she successfully raised four children and kept everything humming while her husband was deployed, as well as helped lead multiple family support groups. Valarie is a CPA and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgia State University with a BS in Accounting.

Command Sergeant Major (Retired) Phillip Paquette is a proven senior enlisted leader with over two decades of service in the United States Army, culminating in his role as the Command Sergeant Major of the 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Over a 23-year career, he held critical leadership positions across the special operations and conventional force spectrum, leading at every echelon from team leader to Battalion Command Sergeant Major. His career is marked by extensive combat experience, innovation in leader development, and a deep commitment to organizational excellence.

A native of Rhode Island, CSM Paquette enlisted in the Army in 2001 and began his career with the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, where he served in multiple leadership roles. In 2015, he joined the 1st Ranger Battalion in Savannah, Georgia, where he served as the Charlie Company First Sergeant and as an Interagency Enabling Team Ground Force Commander in Afghanistan. Additional key assignments include Operations Sergeant Major for 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade and Battalion Command Sergeant Major of 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. In 2022, he returned to the 1st Ranger Battalion as the Command Sergeant Major, where he served until his retirement in 2025.

CSM Paquette deployed for over 70 months in support of combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, and support of Operation Assure, Deter, and Reinforce across Europe.

He is a graduate of Ranger School, Airborne School, Pathfinder School, Jumpmaster School, and Air Assault School. His academic credentials include a Bachelor’s degree in Leadership and Workforce Development from the Command and General Staff College, a Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts from Excelsior College, and a Master of Business from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

His military awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal (4 OLC), Meritorious Service Medal (4 OLC), Army Commendation Medal with “Valorous” device (2 OLC), Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, and the Air Assault Badge. He also holds foreign parachutist wings from the United Kingdom, Chile, Guatemala, Germany, and Ecuador and is a recipient of the Order of Saint Maurice.

In his civilian career, Phil serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Cronos LLC, an Audio Video and Information Technology firm specializing in the design, integration, and procurement of AV/IT solutions for the Department of Defense as well as state and local governments. Phil also advises corporate clients on leadership, process improvement, and talent development through his personal consulting and executive coaching work.

Brigadier General (Retired) Robert E. Suter, DO, MHA is a Healthcare Executive, Emergency Physician and currently the Senior Associate Dean-Clinical Integration at Sam Houston State University. He has an over 30-year career in emergency medicine practice, academics, and healthcare leadership in both the civilian and military healthcare systems. He completed his medical and graduate studies in healthcare administration at Des Moines University and the Emergency Medicine Residency at Brooke Army Medical Center. Upon completion he served as Chief, Department of Emergency Medicine and Acute Care, Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, and Consultant for Emergency Services for DoD Region VI. Dr. Suter mobilized multiple times to fill critical leadership assignments in support of Operations in Afghanistan and Iraqi. BG Suter commanded the 94th Combat Support Hospital as well as the 3rd MDSC- Forward with overall Middle East theater responsibility for Medical Logistics and Force Health Protection. He subsequently served as the Deputy Commanding General (Support), 807th Medical Command Deployment Support and then deployed as the JFLCC Surgeon for NORTHCOM during COVID Relief Efforts.

Dr. Suter also had an extremely distinguished civilian career, serving on the Board of Directors of numerous Emergency Medicine and EMS organizations over the past 20 years, including serving as President of the American College of Emergency Physicians in 2004-05, and President of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine, and the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians. He also served as Vice President, Quality and Health IT for the American Heart Association from 2013 to 2016, where he led global efforts to improve cardiovascular and stroke care quality, certification, and accreditation in over 2500 hospitals in the U.S. and over 200 internationally and while simultaneously a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas.

He is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Legion of Merit and the MG Malogne Award for Military Academic Excellence.

Will Grimsley graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina in May 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and was commissioned in the US Army as an Infantry officer. Throughout the next 33 years he served in assignments throughout the United States, Germany, Korea, Kuwait, multiple combat tours in Iraq, and operational deployments around the world. Grimsley held command and leadership positions at every level from platoon through corps and served on staffs from small unit levels up to both the Joint Staff and as Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, with his last tour as Chief of Staff of United States Strategic Command. Among his many awards and decorations, Grimsley earned the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, multiple awards of the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat, along with the Combat Infantryman Badge and Combat Action Badge.

Will earned two Masters Degrees: one in Advanced Military Arts and Sciences, and one in National Security Strategy, as well as a Doctor of Education degree from Creighton University with a concentration in organizational leadership.

Grimsley most recently served as the first South Carolina Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs, a Governor-appointed and State Senate confirmed Cabinet officer, and has now returned to the private sector to consult in leadership development and executive coaching, strategic and operational planning and execution, and organizational design. An Eagle Scout, he serves on the Executive Board of the Coastal Carolina Council of Boy Scouts of America and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in August 2018.

MG (Retired) Grimsley serves as a senior advisor and expert for the Military Expert Witness Group on cases involving training, education, combat operations and active component Soldiers.

Todd is a retired Marine with enlisted and officer experience in the infantry, armor, intelligence, and special operations communities. He was meritoriously promoted four times as an enlisted service member and received his commission under the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP), a commissioning program for specifically selected active duty, enlisted Marines leading to a baccalaureate degree and a commission in the United States Marine Corps.

His government service has afforded the opportunity to serve in all Combatant Commands, 50+ US Embassies, with a variety of partner nation defense organizations and militaries, international organizations and institutions including the UN, various NGOs, and humanitarian organizations in combat, non-combat, and humanitarian missions.

Todd holds an Executive MBA with a focus in international business from Georgetown University, an Executive MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, an Executive MBA from Fundação Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an MA in National Security Studies from Naval Postgraduate School, a BS of Civil Engineering from the University of Nebraska, and an AA in Spanish from the Defense Language Institute. He is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese. Todd serves as a Marine Corps SME for our firm.

Captain (Retired) Robert Urso has over 36 years of service in the U.S. Navy as an enlisted sailor and a commissioned officer – both unrestricted line (Officer Qualified in Submarines) and restricted line (Intelligence).

As an enlisted sailor he received a fleet appointment to the US Navy ROTC scholarship program. He was a Captain (O-6) and reporting senior for the last 10 years of his service including Commanding Officer assignments at the Defense Intelligence Agency and with the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. His personal decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal (w/ 2 gold stars), and the Navy Achievement Medal.

Captain Urso has had a very successful civilian career as an entrepreneur and senior executive with top defense contracting firms. He currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Board for Noble Supply & Logistics, he is a Director on the board for the University of Idaho’s Foundation, and he serves as a Commissioner for the City of Palmetto Florida’s General Employee Pension Fund. He is a self-employed consultant through Strategic Analytics Group providing leadership and strategic planning mentoring and coaching for senior executives in international technology companies. He serves as the Navy SME for Military Expert Witness Group.

Selected academic accomplishments include: Graduate of the US Naval War College Strategy and Policy Course; an MS in Management earned through an Executive Fellowship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and a BS in Accounting from the University of Idaho through the Navy ROTC scholarship program.

During his 28 years as a JAG officer, Michael expeditiously processed thousands of adverse personnel actions, including separations, resignations, bars to reenlistment, nonjudicial punishments, referred evaluations, administrative reductions, etc. He also effectively managed thousands of criminal and administrative investigations. At the pinnacle of his military career, he served faithfully for four years as the Chief of Military Law at the Army Reserve headquarters, primarily processing all officer disciplinary actions throughout the Army Reserve.

In addition to his JD degree from Baylor, Michael obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) degree. He also attended the Command and General Staff Officer’s Course. He earned a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the Army War College and is now also a licensed mental health provider.

BG (Retired) Lynne Owens is widely recognized as one of the Army’s foremost personnel authorities. She has held virtually every human resource policy position in the service, to include serving as the senior human resource officer in the Army Reserve and finally culminating in her tenure as the Deputy Commanding General of the Army’s Human Resources Command. Lynne brings a focused, common sense, deep expertise to her work. After retiring from the Army, Lynne continued her service as a senior human resources executive for U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.

Lynne’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

Lynne has a BA from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master’s in Human Resources Management from Webster University. She has a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College and is a combat veteran.

MG (Retired) James Young was a Distinguished Military Graduate and received his commission from Davidson College in 1983. He has commanded all ranks from Second Lieutenant through Major General. He served as Commander of the 203d Military Intelligence Battalion (TI) from 2003 to 2005 where he deployed the battalion to combat operations in Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom and served as the co-CJ3 of a joint command, consisting of Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as allied partners. In Iraq, then LTC Young organized and/or led well over a hundred missions throughout Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction and other weapons that were brought into the country in violation of UN sanctions, often in some of the most contested and violent areas of Iraq.

As a Colonel he commanded two separate commands, including a joint intelligence unit at the Pentagon, consisting of all four service components, and a Brigade consisting of ten deployable MI Battalions. As a General Officer, he commanded the Military Intelligence Readiness Command (MIRC) and was the senior intelligence officer in the Army Reserve. He also served as the Human Capital Enterprise Director, Army Reserve, where he had day to day oversight over all human capital/resource activities in the Army Reserve to include pay, promotion, benefits, retirement, recruiting, leader development and medical health/readiness/disability policy. Promoted to Major General, he was selected as the Chief of Staff of the Army Reserve, where he was the senior staff officer in the Army Reserve, responsible for all human capital policy and program issues, intelligence, operations, deployments, training, logistics, medical readiness, and resourcing. As a Major General, he commanded the 75th Training Command, an organization that trained and prepared dozens of National Guard and Army Reserve command teams and units that deployed to combat zones throughout the world, and the 75th Innovation Command.

He was the senior Army representative on the Defense Innovation Board, the DODs senior forum for transferring private sector innovation and ideas into the military. He was the only Army Reserve General Officer on the Board of Directors of the Exchange (i.e., AAFES), a Fortune 200 sized global retailer.

He has served multiple times as an expert witness in high profile, multi-million-dollar cases involving military service members or military issues.

Boe has a BA in Economics from Davidson College, an MBA from Emory University and an MSS from the Army War College. He is Ranger and Airborne trained and has received several awards and decorations in recognition of his service, including the Ranger Tab, Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit and Bronze Star.