Military Advisory Board
James Linder
Jim Linder is a recognized leader in the world of Special Operations and Intelligence organizations as a high performing and skilled strategist. He was a U.S. General Officer with over three decades of direct command leadership around the globe.
Originally from South Carolina, Jim graduated from Clemson University as a Distinguished Military Graduate. His service has taken him to over 71 countries across Europe, into South East Asia, throughout Africa and the Middle East, and Central and South America.
As a General Officer, he created new cutting-edge capabilities and accelerated the growth of highly skilled Afghan Special Forces. He also led and directed all U.S. special operations across the African continent, while interacting with U.S. interagency and African leaders to achieve U.S. national security goals. He adeptly applied new ideas as commandant of the Army’s premier Center of Excellence for selecting and training Special Operations Forces and was the commander of all U.S. and NATO special operations forces in combat in Afghanistan during a critical period of transition. Most recently, he achieved value-driven resultsm managing a complex and agile organization of eighty thousand persons with a $13.4B government operating budget as the Chief of Staff for U.S. Special Operations Command.
Major General (retired) Linder is currently the President of Tenax Aerospace and has master’s degrees in International Relations from Webster University and National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.
Paul Toolan
Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Paul Toolan joined the Army as a Private in 1986. Over the course of more than three decades in uniform, he has risen through the ranks and completed every elite school in the U.S. Army. He is a Special Forces Airborne Ranger and started his Special Forces career as a Detachment Commander in 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg. He has held nearly a dozen leadership positions in multiple Special Forces Groups, including Detachment Commander, Company Executive Officer, Battalion Operations Officer, Support Company Commander, Company Commander, Group Operations Officer, Group Executive Officer, Battalion Commander, Chief of the Special Forces Training Division, and the Director of Operations at 1st Special Forces Command. He has worked at the National Counter-Terrorism Center as a Special Forces advisor and worked as a Special Forces consultant in the United States Army Special Operations Commander’s Initiatives Group. His last duty assignment was the Deputy Commander of the 1st Special Warfare Training Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where Green Berets are assessed, selected, and trained.
Since retiring from military service, Paul has dedicated himself to helping Special Operators address the effects of life in Special Operations such as post-traumatic stress (PTS), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Operator Syndrome (overstimulated sympathetic nervous system) by facilitating access to treatment innovations.
Timothy Szymanski
Vice Admiral (r) Szymanski has led and served in many Navy and Joint Special Operations assignments as a Navy Special Warfare Officer (SEAL) for over 36 years. He most recently served as the Deputy Commander for United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) after serving as the Commander of Naval Special Warfare (NSW). In both roles he was responsible for the manning, equipping, training, and employment of Navy SEAL and joint special operations forces, of 11,000 and 73,000 uniformed and civilian personnel, respectively.
He has commanded a SEAL Team, Special Boat Team, a Squadron at a Special Mission Unit, and a Special Operations Joint Task Force. His recent assignments as a flag officer were Deputy Commander USSOCOM, Commander Naval Special Warfare Command, Assistant Commanding General Joint Special Operations Command and Deputy Commander of NATO Special Operations Component Command – Afghanistan. Szymanski attended the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1985.
Keenly aware of the detrimental effects of invisible wounds on Force and Family Readiness, he established policy to cognitively baseline the entire Special Operations community as well as created initiatives to prevent, protect, recover, and enhance cognitive performance.