Team Member Category: Partners

With over 30 years of experience in the Air Force and defense industry, Tony is a seasoned leader bringing operational, staff, and leadership perspectives to understand and solve logistics, data, and air refueling issues.  Throughout his career, Tony has consistently sought to create cohesive teams to produce better outcomes.  Tony has recently been focused on… Read more »

Kurt Wendt joined Elara Nova in August of 2025. Prior to starting his consulting career, Kurt served as a Colonel in the US Air Force. During his 30-year military career, Kurt commanded the 501st Combat Support Wing, leading over 2,000 personnel across 8 bases in the United Kingdom and Norway, and overseeing U-2 and Bomber Task… Read more »

For 3+ decades, Dan served our nation in a variety of positions in the United States and around the world.  He has enjoyed leading our men and women, from all military services, in organizations both large and small, in environments that ranged from peaceful settings at home, to the stress and chaos of receiving incoming… Read more »

Experienced, driven Space Technology Strategist with an active Top Secret Security Clearance and 20+ years of defense aerospace experience leading laboratory, test, program office, and Pentagon staff organizations. Expert in transitioning emerging technology into game-changing space capabilities. Well-versed in research, architecture, operations research/analysis, system-of-systems engineering, budget development, portfolio management, and program execution. Strong ability to… Read more »

C-Suite Executive with a proven track record of success leading a 30K-person global organization responsible for the nation’s most strategic resources worth 10s of billions of dollars.  Demonstrated skill in understanding convergence of geopolitical trends, defense acquisition and change management to realize organizational excellence in turbulent times, promoting national security and stability.  Highly adept at… Read more »

Jon “Ty” Thomas is a retired Lieutenant General, having served over 32 years in the United States Air Force (USAF).  He is a combat-proven pilot, with over 4,100 flight hours in twelve aircraft types, to include the C-17, KC-10, C-130, T-38, and KC-46.  Immediately prior to retirement in 2021, he served as Deputy Commander, Pacific Air… Read more »

Dr. Shawn Phillips joined Elara Nova in August of 2025. His focus is on organizational growth and product development in the aerospace industry through a phased approach to technology readiness level advancement across the key swimlanes of strategy, stakeholders, portfolio, workforce and resources. He engages at all levels, from C-suite strategic advisement to site/manufacturing operations… Read more »

A retired Brigadier General, Feltman served as the Deputy Chief Strategy and Resources Officer for the U.S. Space Force, where he oversaw its $30B budget development, space systems requirements, strategy creation, and international partnerships for the service’s 16,000 members and global operations. In addition, he served on the senior staff at United States Space Command… Read more »

Eileen Vidrine is a national security executive, U.S. Army veteran and the former Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence officer for the Department of the Air Force. Ms. Vidrine possesses more than 35 years of experience leading transformative change initiatives in defense, intelligence, air and space. A visionary leader within the Federal Senior Executive Service, she… Read more »

Adm (R) Chas Richard completed a distinguished career of over 41 years in service to the nation. He is a career submarine officer. His final assignment was as Commander, US Strategic Command, from November 2019 to December 2022, responsible for one of 11 Unified Commands under the Department of Defense. At STRATCOM Richard was directly… Read more »