MERCURE GLOBAL - Key Persons
Cary is an advisor to both governments and international corporations. He is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience in creating, developing and implementing industrial partnerships/offset programs worldwide. Cary recently retired from the Lockheed Martin Corporation as Director, Industrial Participation for Lockheed Martin Corporation's Missiles and Fire Control Business Area. His responsibilities included the offset program management of both new business initiatives and existing industrial participation commitments in the Africa and Middle East region with total offset obligations of over $3B. Cary was also the Corporate offset lead for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman. Prior to that position he was Director, Industrial Participation for Lockheed Martin Corporation's Electronics Systems Business Area. His responsibilities included management and coordination of all industrial participation activities worldwide for 3 business units with 16 locations in the U.S., Canada, and U.K., with total offset obligations of over $6B. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin in 1998, Cary held management positions of increasing responsibility with McDonnell Douglas/Boeing, General Dynamics Corporation, Sears World Trade, and the International Harvester Company.
Cary is currently Chairman, Global Offset and Countertrade Association, the world's largest international offset and countertrade organization, a position he has held since 2009. He is also on the Advisory Board of Stratesphere and has served on a number of other boards and working groups to include the EMAAR Knowledge Company and the International Forum for Ethical Business Conduct (IFBEC).
Cary received his MBA in Management and a BS degree in Marketing from Drake University. He was commissioned in the U.S. Army and is a Vietnam veteran.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Member and Strategic Finance Advisor
Over his nearly 30-year career, David has worked in a variety of international and domestically-focused finance and investment banking roles including private investing, corporate finance, cross-border structured products, high yield, debt capital markets and acquisition finance.
David is also founder and partner of GlobalView Group, LLC, a private investment and strategic advisory firm focused on Aerospace, Defense and Government ("ADG") and Transportation & Logistics ("T&L") sectors. Previously, David was a Managing Director at Pier Six Capital, LLC, a middle market ADG-focused private investment firm.
Prior to that, he was a senior member of The CIT Group's Aerospace & Defense Finance team, where he led the group's leveraged finance origination and execution efforts for the eastern United States. Previously, Mr. Orner was a member of the ING Capital's Acquisition Finance and Debt Products & Private Placements groups and the CIBC World Markets Transportation & Defense Investment Banking group.
David started his professional career as a member of the International Tax Services practice of KPMG where he assisted foreign and domestic multinational clients on tax issues relating to cross-border mergers & acquisitions, investments and financing transactions. His experience includes a secondment to KPMG's Moscow, Russia office where he assisted clients in the tax and legal aspects of cross-border investment and business in Russia.
David is a former Intelligence Officer in the United States Navy. His active duty and reserve experience included assignments with USS AMERICA (CV-66), Atlantic Intelligence Command and Naval Special Warfare Unit Two. He is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.
Mr. Orner holds a LL.M. (Taxation) from New York University School of Law, a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law and a B.S. cum laude (and Honors Program distinction) in Finance and Economics from University of Tampa. David is a CAIA Charterholder and Moody's Certified Credit Analyst, and holds a FINRA Series 65 license.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Member of the Advisory Board of the Defense and Aerospace Export Council of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Derek Gilman is Managing Director of Mercure Global LLC.
Previously, Mr. Gilman was General Counsel and Principal Director of the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), where he was chief legal advisor on over $30 billion annual government-to-government military sales. He also served as Chair of the DoD Offsets Working Group and was DoD counsel on numerous high-profile matters, including Presidential priorities. He has worked with the European Commission at the Director General level on issues related to U.S.-EU Member State defense trade.
He has also served as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of a satellite solutions company, where he focused on the financing and implementation of satellite projects for foreign sovereigns.
Prior to serving as General Counsel for DSCA, Mr. Gilman was DoD senior counsel for Afghanistan-Pakistan matters, and served as US Government counsel supporting the "reset" summit with Russia. He was also senior DoD counsel for International Armaments Cooperation, where he served as DoD counsel for the negotiation of treaties and numerous international agreements, including those signed at the Presidential level.
He served in Iraq with the Coalition Provisional Authority where, consistent with UN Security Council Resolutions, and in concert with the IMF, World Bank, Iraqi leadership, and Coalition governments, he supervised the revision of 30 Iraqi laws to enable Iraq to transition to a market economy. He was also principal U.S. advisor on the establishment of the war crimes tribunal that tried Saddam Hussein.
Mr. Gilman has been a law firm partner, where he focused on international aerospace and defense, and was selected by one of the largest global banks to serve as an Independent Trustee to fulfill U.S. Government Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)-related requirements for an international merger. He has also served as an Executive Director with a "Big 4" accounting firm, where he focused on complex international tax matters.
In addition to his Mercure Global responsibilities, Mr. Gilman is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Defense and Aerospace Export Council of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
He has degrees from the U.S. Military Academy (B.S.), University of Connecticut (J.D.), University of Cambridge (M.A.), and New York University (LL.M.).
He is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and an author of the U.S. DoD Law of War Manual. His awards include the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award, Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Award (2 awards), Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence (2 awards), Department of State Superior Honor Award, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Combat Action Badge.
His public speaking, interview, and media consulting experience includes: the New York Times, CBS, PBS, USA Today, Hartford Courant, Yale Law School, New York University School of Law, The George Washington University Law School, University of Connecticut School of Law, US Naval War College, US Army Legal Center and School, the American Bar Association, American Society of International Law, Aerospace Industries Association, National Defense Industrial Association, Defense Industry Offset Association, Global Offset and Countertrade Association, and Defense Industry Offset Association.
Ed Eberhart has been praised for bringing together the five military branches of service, including the National Guard and Reserve forces to ensure the security of our nation in the aftermath of the tragic September 11, 2001 attacks.
Ed Eberhart serves on the boards of several privately and publicly held companies, including TERMA, Jacobs, Triumph Group, and VSE, and non-profit organizations such as Segs4Vets and the American Air Museum in Britain (AAMB). Additionally, he serves as the Chair of AAMB, VSE, and Triumph Group. He has previously served on the U.S. Air Force Academy Association of Graduates Board of Directors. He is currently a Trustee for the Falcon Foundation and serves on the board of the USAFA Endowment.
Ed Eberhart is the recipient of the Pacific Air Forces Able Aeronaut Award (1971); the Air Force Association General Jimmy Doolittle Award (1997); the National Football Foundation's Tom Lombardo Leadership Award (2001); the General Thomas D. White United States Air Force Space Trophy (2001); the General James V. Hartinger Award (2002); the El Pomar Foundation Award for Excellence (2004); the General Bernard A. Schriever Award (2007); the Jim Otis "Hustle" Award (2008), the Kent Leadership Award (2008); the Air Force Order of the Sword, Air Force Space Command (2008); the United States Air Force Academy Distinguished Graduate Award (2011); the American College Soldier-Citizen Award (2015); and, the Segs4Vets Battle Flag Award (2018). He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ed Eberhart, and his wife Karen, reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Dr. Raveché was awarded a doctoral degree in Physical Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego. Following his US Federal Senior Executive Service position as Founding Chief of the Thermophysics Division at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology near Washington, DC, Raveché was named Dean of Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. He then served as President of the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey until 2010, where he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in engineering and a scholarship was established in his name in recognition of his leadership. Raveché launched Innovation Strategies International, LLC (www.innostrategies.com), where complete bio can be found) in 2010, while continuing to serve as a consultant to Stevens until 2012. He served as Advisor for Science and Technology to Leonel Fernandez while he was President of the Dominican Republic and was Entrepreneur in Residence at the National University of Malaysia (UKM) from 2010-2012. He speaks and advises globally on innovation and entrepreneurship.
Raveché was privileged to serve on the Boards of financial, electric power and electronics businesses. Currently he is Founding Director of VT Systems (www.vt-systems.com), the US Division of Singapore Technologies Engineering. He is Senior Corporate Advisor to two global technology and manufacturing businesses: Accton Corporation (www.accton.com) in Hsinchu, Taiwan and to Comintel (www.comintel.com.my), near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Raveché is a Director of Boneal Inc. (www.boneal.com), an aerospace business in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, and Chairperson of the Board for Global Development of Janus Technologies, a Silicon Valley enterprise in cyber security (www.janustech.com).
James (Jim) is the principal partner of a management-consulting firm specializing in advising companies and governments around the world on cyber security and a variety of other matters including business development, contract capture, M&A, as well as strategic program initiatives. He also teaches cyber security in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at The University of Alabama and teaches ancient Egypt for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
He retired in 2012 as Microsoft's Chief Strategist for its worldwide public sector and its executive sponsor for the State of Alabama. Jim's role was to engage with senior government officials around the world concerning Microsoft products most notably in cyber security, advanced analytics, and research and development. In 2004, he founded Microsoft's Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments, and for five years, led its efforts to connect Microsoft's advanced research and development activities with the global public sector.
Jim is retired from the US Army Reserve, was a principal negotiator for the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, and, a career CIA analyst, he was appointed by President Clinton, and confirmed by the Senate, as Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Administration. He serves on several corporate boards and various governmental advisory groups in the US and elsewhere.
Jim has written on cyber security, military history, intelligence, and security. He has presented papers before various professional associations including the Business Executives for National Security, the Operations Research Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, the Kokoda Foundation, and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. He has made numerous public appearances and has lectured at both civilian universities and military colleges in the US and elsewhere.
Jim has a B.A. from The University of Alabama and an M.A. from the University of Southern California. He has studied at the University of Maryland, the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität in Frankfurt, the Universität Bayern e.V. in München, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and Harvard University. Jim interned at Radio Free Europe and held both Herman and Earhart fellowships.
A native of Montgomery, Alabama, Jim's interests include his church, family, Egyptology, history, poetry, genealogy, linguistics, golf, and The Crimson Tide. He is married to Cheryl and they have three children and five grandchildren. Family, friends, and innocent bystanders find him somewhat pedantic.
Job Titles:
- ADVISOR
- Chairman, Director, and Former CEO of Vision Technologies, Inc
General (Ret.) John G. Coburn is Chairman, Director, and former CEO of Vision Technologies, Inc. (VT Systems), a company that provides engineering solutions, products, integrated systems, and services in the Americas across the core business areas of Aerospace, Electronics, Land Systems, and Marine. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, VT Systems operates around the globe and offers a broad range of proven innovative services to both the commercial and government sectors. In addition, he grew the company from $61 million in revenue to over $1 billion in 2008.
General Coburn retired from the United States Army in 2001 after 39 years of service. His last assignment was as Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC), one of the largest commands in the Army with an annual budget of $49.2 billion, almost 50,000 employees and with activities in more than 42 states and 28 foreign countries.
General Coburn is a distinguished military graduate of Eastern Michigan University, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry. He has served in various logistics assignments throughout his career, to include Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics (U.S. Army), Deputy Commanding General (AMC), and Commanding General (U.S. Army Ordnance Center and School). He is a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Fort McNair, Washington, DC.
In addition to his military achievements, General Coburn possesses a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Missouri and is licensed to practice law before the Supreme Court, State of Michigan; Supreme Court, State of Kentucky; District of Columbia Court of Appeals; the United States Court of Military Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Job Titles:
- President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 's Defense
- STRATEGIC ADVISOR
Keith Webster is President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Defense and Aerospace Export Council (DAEC). He is responsible for guiding the development of the Defense and Aerospace Export Council to strengthen U.S. defense and aerospace exports. Webster leads the Chamber's efforts to increase advocacy and analytic work on behalf of council members; promote DAEC to government entities, Congress, and the broader business community; and work cross-divisionally with various councils of the Chamber's International Affair's Division to engage foreign and U.S. government officials to advance the council's agenda.
Before joining the Chamber, Webster served the Department of Defense with distinction. He was director of International Cooperation from 2012 to 2017 and has years of expertise in foreign sales of military equipment and services, international agreements, and technology security foreign disclosure processes.
Webster brings to the Chamber 30 years of experience leading international policy formulation and implementation. He was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 2017, the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award in 2015, and Knighted in 2012 by the Ambassador of France to the United States. He received his M.A. in international relations from Catholic University in 2001 and his B.S. in business finance from Towson State University in 1984. Webster is also currently seated on the Board of Directors for HENSOLDT Inc. and is a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of Mercure Global LLC.
General Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart, USAF (Ret.) currently serves as the Chair of The Armed Forces Benefit Association (AFBA) and its related enterprise, 5Star Life Insurance Company. The AFBA Board of Directors appointed Ed Eberhart as President of AFBA December 1, 2004, and as Chairman of AFBA February 19, 2009. He retired as President of AFBA on March 6, 2020. In 1987, Ed Eberhart became a member of AFBA and then served on AFBA's Board of Directors beginning in 1997.
A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, Ed Eberhart's active duty military career spanned 36 years with his last assignment as Commander, U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), and Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. He is also a command pilot with more than 5,000 flight hours.
Job Titles:
- Member and Strategic Technology Advisor
Robert has over 30 years experience in the space industry, working as an engineer, program manager, business capture lead, and general manager with P&L responsibility. Cleave started his career in 1987 at Rockwell International (now Boeing), working GPS and scientific satellite programs, and developed a novel engineering exchange program with NASA JPL on the very first rover to Mars.
He was former president, Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services, LLC.
In 1994, he joined Space Systems/Loral and contributed to multiple satellite programs, and later founded a start-up to provide the worlds' first satellite services company exclusively offering capacity at the coveted X-frequency band for government users.
Cleave was recruited by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in 2003 to manage the business development activities of a $2B organization, and became President of their commercial launch services business unit, growing sales by over 50% and increasing earnings by 35%. He also managed their commercial satellite business pursuits, winning the largest order in company history with multiple international organizations. Cleave oversaw all organic and inorganic investments, which included taking equity positions in multiple small companies.
A prolific author with one patent and a TED speaker, Robert is also active in several non-profits, including the famous Maverick's surf contest, and is currently an advisor on three different start-ups.
Cleave earned a degree in aerospace engineering from Arizona State University and a certificate in systems engineering from the University of Southern California.
Job Titles:
- President of WE LANDAY Consulting LLC
William E. "Bill" Landay III is the President of WE LANDAY Consulting LLC where he provides consulting services in the areas of Foreign Military sales, DoD Acquisition programs and Science and Technology (S&T) programs. He is a member of the Board of Directors of SAFE Boats International, METRON Incorporated and Gibbs & Cox Inc, and is a senior Advisor at Avascent International and the Potomac Institute of Policy Studies.