Admiral Dennis Blair comes to Arcanum having overseen 16 intelligence agencies as the senior-most U.S. Intelligence official, the Director of National Intelligence. He has had a long and distinguished career in the U.S. Military, including as the Commander in Chief U.S. Pacific Command (CINCPAC). He is a renowned expert on Asia Pacific policy and issues.

Admiral Blair spent 34 years in the Navy, culminating in his position as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command (CINCPAC), the largest of the combatant commands. Previously, Admiral Blair was Director of the Joint Staff in the Office of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was seconded to the National Security Council, under Presidents Carter and Reagan.

Admiral Blair was the first Associate Director for Military Support at the Central Intelligence Agency.

After retiring from the Navy in 2002, Admiral Blair became president and CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a Pentagon-funded research and development center which supports the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Intelligence Community.

Admiral Blair has served as director of both public and private corporations, including Tyco International, EDO Corporation (now incorporated into L-3 Inc.) and Iridium LLC (now a public corporation).

He currently presides on the boards of Freedom House, the National Bureau of Asian Research and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

Admiral Blair has been awarded four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, three National Intelligence Distinguished Service medals, and has received decorations from the governments of Japan, Thailand, Korea, Australia, the Philippines and Taiwan.

Lieutenant General Robert P. Ashley serves as Senior Advisor to the Chairman, providing strategic advice on all intelligence-related matters for Arcanum and its clients.

He is the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and has over 36 years of leadership, operational and combat experience in intelligence, global security, and risk management.

Lt. Gen. Ashley served as the United States’ highest-ranking military intelligence officer in his capacity as Director of the DIA from 2017 to 2020, responsible to the Secretary of Defense for global security and risk management.

Prior to his appointment to head the DIA, Lt. Gen. Ashley served as the Army Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2, where he was the senior advisor to the Secretary of the Army and Army Chief of Staff on all matters of Intelligence, Counterintelligence and Security, and was responsible for the training, equipping, policy and oversight of the Army Intelligence Corps’ 58,000 soldiers and civilians. As part of this role, Lt. Gen. Ashley was Commandant for the Army’s Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca in Arizona, where he trained more than 10,000 soldiers annually in multiple intelligence specialties including cyber, counter-intelligence, analysis, HUMINT, OSINT and reconnaissance collection systems.

Lt. Gen. Ashely’s other key assignments include the Director of Intelligence, United States Army Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC); the Director of Intelligence, United States Central Command (CENTCOM); the Deputy Chief of Staff (Intelligence) – International Security Assistance Force, Afghanistan; and Commanding General, the United States Army Intelligence Center of Excellence and Fort Huachuca, AZ.

With decades of active duty behind him, Lt. Gen. Ashley’s previous assignments include Fort Bragg, NC, Washington, D.C.; Fort Gordon, Georgia; MacDill Air Force Base, Florida; Izmir, Turkey; and deployments to Operation JOINT FORGE in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Operation IRAQI FREEDOM in Iraq and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in Afghanistan. He has served at the company, battalion, squadron and brigade levels with combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a squadron, brigade commander and J-2.

Lt. Gen. Ashley commanded the 206th Military Intelligence Battalion in Fort Gordon, Georgia; Intelligence Squadron, Office of Military Support, Washington, DC; and the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade (Airborne), XVIII Airborne Corps.

Lt. Gen. Ashley received a BA in Political Science from Appalachian State University, an MA in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University (formerly known as the Defense Intelligence College) and an MA in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College. His awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal (2OLC), Legion of Merit (1OLC) and Bronze Star Medal (2OLC). In addition, he has also earned the Parachutist Badge, Army Aviation Crewmember Badge, Army Staff Identification Badge and Australian Parachutist Badge.

Maj. Gen. Jim Linder serves as Senior Advisor to the Chairman, providing strategic advice on Special Operations, Irregular Warfare and intelligence-related matters for Arcanum.

Maj. Gen. Linder, the former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Special Operations Command, brings with him more than three decades of direct command leadership around the world.

As Chief of Staff of USSOCOM, he successfully directed a staff of 2,200 personnel responsible for the resourcing and support of U.S. Special Operations Forces in combat and sensitive operations worldwide. His exceptional leadership and deep understanding of strategic intelligence and irregular warfare make him an invaluable asset to Arcanum.

Throughout his distinguished career, Maj. Gen. Linder has traversed a remarkable span of 71 countries including Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South America.

As a General Officer, he spearheaded the creation of groundbreaking capabilities, he assumed leadership and command responsibilities for all US special operations activities across the African continent, deftly engaging with US interagency personnel and African leaders to uphold and advance vital US national security objectives.

As commandant of the Army Center of Excellence, he brought his vision to the process of selecting and training Special Operations Forces. During a critical phase of transition, he commanded the entirety of US and NATO special operations forces engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan.

Most recently, in his role as Chief of Staff for USSOCOM, Maj. Gen. Linder achieved outstanding outcomes through effective management of a multifaceted and agile organization comprising 80,000 individuals. Overseeing a government operating budget of $13.4 billion, he consistently prioritized value-driven results, aligning the organization with its mission and objectives.

He is currently the President of Tenax Aerospace, a leading provider of special mission aviation and services.

Maj. Gen. Linder has a master’s degree in International Relations from Webster University and National Security and Strategic Studies from the US Naval War College.

Field Marshal Charles Ronald Llewelyn Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank, GCB, LVO, OBE, DL, former Chief of the Defence Staff, comes to Arcanum having served as the leading figure in the U.K.’s military. Field Marshal Guthrie provided leadership and direction to the U.K.’s Armed Forces over his long and distinguished career, first with the Welsh Guards in Germany and Northern Ireland, and then with the SAS in the Middle East, Malaysia and East Africa. He was also involved in the NATO Partnership for Peace after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which advised former Soviet satellites such as Poland, Hungary and the Baltic States how to restructure their forces to cooperate with NATO. This culminated in his appointment as Chief of General Staff, and later, his appointment as Chief of Defence Staff.

Lord Guthrie has held a number of senior staff appointments in the Army, including as Commander of the 1st British Corps, the Northern Army Group and the British Army of the Rhine (from 1992 to 1994), before becoming the Chief of the General Staff (from 1994 to 1997) and Chief of the Defense Staff (from 1997 to 2001). He served for ten years as Colonel Commandant of the Intelligence Corps and he was Colonel Commandant of the SAS from 2001 to 2010. He is currently Colonel of the Life Guards, Gold Stick to Her Majesty the Queen.

Since he left the Active List, he has been a Director of NM Rothschild and Sons from 2001 to 2011 and a Director of Sciens Capital, Colt Defense, Petropavlovsk and Gulf Keystone Petroleum in Kurdistan; a Council Member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies; a Visiting Professor and Honorary Fellow of King’s College London University; and Chairman of the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives at King’s College London.

He is Chairman of the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth and St. John’s Hospice, Action Medical Research and the Federation of London Youth Clubs. He is Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University. Lord Guthrie is a Crossbench Peer.

Honorable John Hannah was Vice President Cheney’s National Security Advisor and headed his Office of National Security Affairs. During President Bush’s first term, he served as the Vice President’s Deputy National Security Advisor for Middle East Affairs.

During the Presidency of William J. Clinton, Mr. Hannah served as Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Warren Christopher, focusing on the Middle East, the Balkans and Russia, as well as the former Soviet Union. He also served in the administration of George H. W. Bush as a member of Secretary of State James A. Baker’s Policy Planning Staff, where he worked extensively on the collapse of the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact.

Outside of government, Mr. Hannah has also practiced law, specializing in international dispute resolution. He was also Deputy Director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Mr. Hannah, a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, often writes and speaks on U.S. foreign policy. His articles have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Policy Magazine.

James Clad is a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and in addition to his role at Arcanum, he currently also serves as Senior Advisor for Asia at the Center for Naval Analysis.

Mr. Clad comes to Arcanum with 25 years of senior defense and foreign policy formulation and implementation experience, as well as energy consulting, from broad policy to specific outcomes. He was previously with the National Defense University in Washington, DC, where he mentored defense and security officials from the Maghreb to the Near East, Turkey, the Gulf and South Asia.

During the course of his career, Mr. Clad has held various advisory positions in the U.S. Intelligence Community. As U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs from 2007 to 2009, Mr. Clad crafted defense and security policy in Asia and Australasia, coordinating combatant command relationships for over 25 Asian countries. He negotiated armed services support and logistic agreements with India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka and led Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) negotiations with several major countries.

From 2003 to 2004, Mr. Clad was a National Security Detailee in Iraq. Prior to that he was Senior Counselor at the U.S. Agency for International Development, developing foreign assistance policy for a $15 billion annual aid budget and working to harmonize this with Australian, British, German and Japanese funding for Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan and Sudan. From 1997 to 2002, Mr. Clad was Director for Asia-Pacific Energy at Cambridge Research Associates, where he briefed clientele on Asia Pacific energy and risk issues including evolution, personnel and direction of national oil companies. This coincided with a Luce Foundation professorship of South and Southeast Asian Studies, at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Calvin Humphrey is Executive Vice President. He has the primary responsibility of managing client relationships at Arcanum. Mr. Humphrey also provides executive oversight on staffing, program details and communications during projects, thus bringing effectiveness to the flow of work. He joined the Company in 2004, and has held senior management positions within the Company since then.

Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Humphrey had a distinguished career in the U.S. Intelligence Community culminating in several senior leadership functions. He was the Staff Director of the Committee on Homeland Security in the U.S. House of Representatives where he was responsible for developing strategies and policies to protect the U.S. against terrorist attacks, prioritizing risks through cost benefit analysis and managing investments in critical infrastructure protection across all sectors, including both domestic and international land, air and sea transportation.

In 1998, Mr. Humphrey was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as the Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of International Affairs. In this role, Mr. Humphrey developed and led the Department’s efforts to establish energy partnerships with Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. He was also charged with the responsibility of developing and implementing the DOE’s international programs, policies and activities relating to international energy security issues and international technology cooperation.

Prior to his service at the DOE, Mr. Humphrey was the Senior Counsel for the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. House of Representatives, for 13 years. Mr. Humphrey distinguished himself on the Committee through his focus on counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics and the enhancement of human intelligence capabilities.

In recognition of his distinguished service for the U.S. Intelligence Community, Mr. Humphrey was awarded the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) Agency Seal Medallion and the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Trailblazer Award.

He is based in the Company’s London and Washington, DC offices.

Vice President & General Manager, Financial Intelligence Unit

Petra Sipe is Vice President & General Manager of Arcanum’s Financial Intelligence Unit. She is responsible for leading, developing and managing client work relating to financial crimes, and analysis with a particular focus on forensic investigations, anti-money laundering, terrorist financing, asset tracing and recovery operations, sanctions, enhanced due diligence and business intelligence. She reports directly to the Chairman.

She has nearly 20 years of experience in the financial sector, with a particular specialization in financial crime. She has extensive experience in the areas of international and domestic financial systems, financial compliance, as well as business development and management.

Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Sipe was Assistant Director of Forensic, Business Intelligence Services at Deloitte, based out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In that capacity, she managed both government and commercial clients on a wide array of matters related to anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, sanctions, enhanced due diligence, business intelligence, asset tracing and forensic data mining on issues related to the MENA region. She was previously situated in Deloitte’s Washington, DC office, most recently serving as Senior Manager of Forensic, Anti-Money Laundering Practice. During that time she managed a staff of 30, focusing on AML, forensic investigations, forensic data mining and cross-border asset tracing investigations. She was responsible for researching and utilizing analytical tools to provide finished products on commercial due diligence, money laundering, proliferation schemes, and terrorist financing schemes in the U.S., the UAE and other jurisdictions.

Previously, she was an Investment Analyst at Sol Capital Management Company, an international financial advisory firm, where she managed the firm’s relationship with investment companies and conducted all of the firm’s domestic and offshore securities trading ($1.4 billion assets under management). She led business transformation efforts that promoted a greater flow of information between team members and resulted in improved efficiency and accuracy of the investment process.

She is based in the Company’s Dubai, UAE offices.