Arcadia Cognerati

Major General (Ret.) Simeon G. Trombitas spent over 37 years on active duty in the U.S. Army. Major General Simeon G. Trombitas graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He was commissioned as a U.S. Army Second Lieutenant in the Infantry Branch. He became a Special Forces Officer in 1984.  His military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic Course, the Armor Officer Advanced Course, the Special Forces Officer Qualification Course, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the Armed Forces Staff College. He earned a Master’s Degree in National Security Strategy from the Army War College.

    Major General Trombitas began his active duty in the 1 ^st Battalion, 41 ^st Infantry Regiment, 2 ^nd Armored Division as an Infantry Platoon Leader, Scout Platoon Leader and Infantry Company Commander at Fort Hood, Texas. He was assigned to the Joint Readiness Training Center as a Senior Infantry Company Observer Controller. He served three tours in the 7 ^th Special Forces Group (Airborne) as an Operational Detachment “A” Commander, Special Forces Company Commander, Battalion Operations (S3) Officer, Group Executive Officer and Special Forces Battalion Commander.  Assigned to USMILGP, El Salvador, he served as Senior Advisor to the 4 ^th El Salvadoran Infantry Brigade during that country’s conflict. He served as the Assistant Deputy Director for Operations of United States Army Special Operations Command and Commander, U.S. Army Garrison, 7 ^th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, Colorado. His Joint Duty Assignments include Deputy Director of Operations, Special Operations Command South in Panama; Commander, U.S. Military Group in Bogota, Colombia, and Chief Regional Special Operations, Special Operations Division (J3), the Joint Staff, in Washington, D.C.

    Major General Trombitas served as a general officer for nine years in various duty assignments beginning as the Commanding General, Special Operations Command, Korea. Following Korea, he assumed command of the Iraqi National Counter-Terrorism Force Transition Team, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Major General Trombitas commanded U.S. Army South from 2009 to 2012 including deployment to Haiti for Operation Unified Response. He also served as the Senior Defense Official/ Defense Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico. Major General Trombitas culminated his career as the Deputy Commanding General of United States Army North.

    Major General (Ret.) Trombitas currently resides in San Antonio, Texas. Upon retirement he worked as a security consultant in the private sector. He is currently a consultant for various DoD and DoD related activities. Trombitas served as chairman of the board of the Green Beret Foundation and is on the advisory board of two other foundations. He is married and has two sons.

Dr. Joan H. Johnston has over 30 years of experience as a Senior Research Scientist with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army. She has written and collaborated on over 100 publications and has given innumerable presentations and tutorials about her research which has had a significant impact on advancing the science of Learning, Team Training, Decision Making under Stress, Performance Measurement, and Organizational Development. She obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. in Industrial & Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida.  

Dr. Johnston’s career with the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) was marked by extensive collaborations across the Department of Defense, academia, and private industry. She was a principal Investigator and project manager for the Office of Naval Research (ONR) sponsored Tactical Decision Making Under Stress (TADMUS) program; ONR recognized her outstanding performance with the Dr. Arthur E. Bisson Prize for Naval Technology Achievement. In 2001 the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology also recognized this achievement with the M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace. In recognition of her sustained performance excellence NAVAIR made Dr. Johnston a Research and Engineering Associate Fellow in 2000 and then a Fellow in 2008. After 22 years Dr. Johnston moved on to a promotion as the U.S. Army Research Institute’s Unit Chief in Orlando, and then eventually joined the U.S. Army Research Laboratory as a Senior Scientist at the Simulation Training and Technology Center (STTC). She continued to work across agencies and services in pursuit of advancing the science of team training, most notably as the scientific lead for a 5-year program of research addressing Squad Overmatch for Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3). She and her colleagues were recognized in 2016 for their outstanding accomplishments with the Department of the Army Achievement Medal for Civilian Service and the NTSA Modeling and Simulation Team Award. Dr. Johnston’s leadership on this program was recognized by an ARL 2016 Award for Excellence in Program Management.

Clark Dever is an entrepreneur with 15 years experience in emerging technology. He explores the commercial edge of the technology fractal in the realms of virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. He has a proven track record of driving innovation within organizations. Dever guides teams as they build disruptive products in their industries. Helping them distil the problems of their customers and then iteratively build tailor-fitted products that scale. Clark restlessly brings teams and concepts from idea-to-existence across many industries including National Defense, Law Enforcement, and Industrial Safety.

Mr. Chavez is an accomplished instructional design and human performance technology (HPT) professional with over 15 years of experience designing, developing, and delivering learning solutions in the private and public sector. Dan’s focus is on providing performance-based and cognition-centered training to professionals who operate in complex environments.

Dan has previously supported multiple learning and development projects for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Most recently, Dan served as the Assistant Commissioner for Training & Development for the New York City Department of Correction on Rikers Island during the COVID-19 crisis. Dan holds an MBA and Masters in Instructional Design, is PMP certified, and is a proud veteran of the US Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment. His expertise in instructional systems design and public safety related training informs role-based instructional strategies, course design and content development aligned to improve organizational performance.