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New Members Join JINSA Board of Advisors

- Wednesday, December 3, 2014 |
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JINSA is proud to announce that General James T. Conway, USMC (ret.), Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, USN (ret.), Vice Admiral John M. Bird, USN (ret.), Vice Admiral David Pekoske, USCG (ret.), Lieutenant General Michael C. Gould, USAF (ret.), Lieutenant General Mark D. Shackelford, USAF (ret.), Rear Admiral Garry Bonelli, USN (SEAL) (ret.), and Major General John A. Macdonald, USA (ret.) have joined our Board of Advisors. These high-ranking former officers will join an already prestigious group of JINSA advisors.

JINSA is proud to announce that General James T. Conway, USMC (ret.), Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, USN (ret.), Vice Admiral John M. Bird, USN (ret.), Vice Admiral David Pekoske, USCG (ret.), Lieutenant General Michael C. Gould, USAF (ret.), Lieutenant General Mark D. Shackelford, USAF (ret.), Rear Admiral Garry Bonelli, USN (SEAL) (ret.), and Major General John A. Macdonald, USA (ret.) have joined our Board of Advisors. These high-ranking former officers will join an already prestigious group of JINSA advisors. They will play an important role in providing guidance and expertise on a wide range of topics related to JINSA’s mission of advocating on behalf of a strong U.S. military, a robust national security policy, and a strong U.S.-Israel strategic relationship as well as strong relationships with like-minded allies.

David Steinmann, Chairman of JINSA’s Board of Advisors, said, “JINSA is proud to have these Generals and Admirals join our Board of Advisors. Our Advisors have always provided JINSA with the wisdom, insight, and expertise to help guide us in our missions – to advocate on behalf of a formidable American military, robust national security policies, and a strong strategic security relationship with Israel and other like-minded allies. These men are American heroes. It is an honor to have them join us.”

JINSA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Michael Makovsky shared Steinmann’s thoughts: “I am thrilled by the addition of such experienced, high-quality members to our Board of Advisors, which will benefit JINSA in a variety of ways. We are looking forward to working with them in furthering our mission as JINSA continues to grow.”

  • General James T. Conway, USMC (ret.) – General Conway served as the 34th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps from November 2006 until October 2010. He was commissioned in 1970 as an infantry officer. His company grade assignments included multiple platoon and company commander billets with both the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions. As a field grade officer, he commanded two companies of officer students and taught tactics at The Basic School and served as operations officer for the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit to include contingency operations off Beirut, Lebanon. He also commanded Battalion Landing Team 3/2 during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In November 2002, then Major General Conway was promoted to Lieutenant General and assumed command of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. He commanded I Marine Expeditionary Force during two combat tours in Iraq. General Conway’s personal decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with palm, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with two Gold Stars, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.

  • Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, USN (ret.) – Admiral Fitzgerald was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1973 and designated a naval aviator in October 1975. He flew the A-7E Corsair II during numerous sea assignments and also led the first Navy strike on Baghdad during the opening hour of Operation Desert Storm. He has logged over 4800 flight hours and has over 1100 carrier arrested landings from the decks of 13 aircraft carriers. From November 2007 to October 2010, Admiral Fitzgerald was Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples with operational responsibility for NATO missions in the Balkans, Iraq, and the Mediterranean.

  • Vice Admiral John Bird, USN (ret.) – Admiral Bird graduated from the United States Naval Academy and as a career submarine officer, has served on fast attack and ballistic missile submarines in both the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. He commanded Submarine Squadron Eight (CSS-8), which included eight fast attack submarines in Norfolk, Virginia from August 1999 to April 2001. Ashore, Vice Admiral Bird served as the Director for Operations and Plans, Logistics and Engineering, United States Joint Forces Command as well as Commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet. Following his tour at the 7th Fleet, he reported to the Pentagon and OPNAV staff as the Director of the Navy Staff.

  • Vice Admiral David Pekoske, USCG (ret.) – Admiral Pekoske is a graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy. He served on active duty in the Coast Guard for over 30 years, retiring as the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard in 2010. In that position he was also the Component Acquisition Executive and the senior leadership sponsor for the Coast Guard’s innovation program. As a Flag officer, he commanded the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area, the First Coast Guard District (New England, New York and northern New Jersey) and was the Assistant Commandant for Operations at Coast Guard Headquarters.

  • Lieutenant General Michael C. Gould, USAF (ret.) – General Gould served as the 18th Superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs from June 2009 to June 2013. He earned his commission and a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1976 and has flown more than 3,000 hours in a variety of aircraft as a command pilot. General Gould commanded an operations group, an air refueling wing, an air mobility wing, and the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center. His operational and staff assignments included three tours at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, along with duty as the Air Force aide to the President and senior military assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force. He served as the Director of Mobility Forces for Operation Joint Endeavor and as USEUCOM’s Air Expeditionary Task Force commander for the deployment of African Union troops into the Darfur region of Sudan.

  • Lieutenant General Mark D. Shackelford, USAF (ret.) – General Shackelford entered the Air Force in 1977 as a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has more than 2,700 flight hours in 40 aircraft types with operational experience in the F-4 and F-16. He was an experimental test pilot in the F-16 and the first Air Force pilot to fly the YF-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter prototype. General Shackelford commanded a test squadron at Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB in Utah, and the test wing at the Air Armament Center, Eglin AFB in Florida. He also served as Deputy, Test and Assessment, for the Missile Defense Agency. General Shackleford retired as the Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition where he was responsible for research and development, test, production, and modernization of Air Force programs.

  • Rear Admiral Garry Bonelli, USN (SEAL) (ret.) – Admiral Bonelli has served in both active and reserve capacities for 45 years. He made combat deployments in Vietnam as a frogman, and served as the commanding officer of SEAL Team 5 during the 1990 Gulf War. In 2006, Admiral Bonelli was promoted to Flag rank and served as Deputy Commander and the ninth Force Commander of Naval Special Warfare. He provided the vision and leadership for a 9,000-person worldwide maritime special operations force. In March 2014, Admiral Bonelli was selected as the volunteer Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Navy SEAL Foundation.

  • Major General John A. Macdonald, USA (ret.) – General Macdonald is an attack helicopter aviator who served in the 82nd Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps. He spent 33 years in the U.S. Army and 17 of those years outside of the U.S. He has led troops in combat in Grenada, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and most recently in Afghanistan. He worked as a U.S. Deputy in Afghanistan with the primary mission to build the required bases for the expansion of 60,000 troops in 12 months including all aspects of life support, security, training, ranges, induction, and departure for combat troop units. His last tour of duty was in Korea as the Operations Officer for the Four Star United Nations, Combined and Joint Command. He is credited with significantly advancing the Republic of Korea (ROK)-U.S. war fighting capability with creative exercises, tough negotiations, and great teamwork in tense crisis situations such as the North Korean sinking of the ROK ship Cheonan.