First Air Force One

Michael Stoltzfus is President & CEO and Owner of Dynamic Aviation. Since 1985, he has founded, co-founded, operated, and co-created multiple businesses and lines of business primarily in the Aerospace and Defense industry.

He joined Dynamic Aviation in 1990. He held various roles in Flight Operations and Business Development prior to becoming President and COO in 2002. He became President and CEO in 2006.

He holds an Airline Transport Pilot rating, has DC-3, DC-3S, BE-1900D and Flight Engineer Reciprocating type ratings and has flown over 6000 hours in over 10 countries.

He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization and Tiger 21. He has served on multiple advisory councils and non-profit boards. He currently serves as Chairman of the First Air Force One Foundation and on the James Madison University Board of Visitors.  

Michael attended Eastern Mennonite University and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School (HBS). He has completed multiple Executive Education programs at HBS including the Owner/President Manager program.

Phil Douglas has a deep enthusiasm and passion for this project that has driven him to the position of Executive Director, First Air Force One, where he will have oversight of the development and implementation of the restoration of President Dwight Eisenhower’s Presidential aircraft.

Phil joined the Dynamic Aviation team in 2011 as Director of Engineering, and since, has served in many leadership roles within the organization. Before joining Dynamic Aviation, he spent over 30 years in leadership roles at Cessna Aircraft and Hawker Beechcraft and served in the Oklahoma Army National Guard.

He enjoys being involved with his local community and has served on multiple boards and advisory councils of non-profit and civic organizations. He currently serves on the Executive Advisory Committee for the College of Integrated Science and Engineering at James Madison University.

Phil earned a B.S. in Manufacturing Technology from Southwestern College and graduated from the General Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Mary Jean Eisenhower was born in Washington, D.C. during her grandfather, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s, first term in office as President of the United States. She was christened in the White House Blue Room and grew up in nearby Gettysburg, PA. She attended several schools in Pennsylvania until her father, John, was named as US Ambassador to Belgium. She lived in Brussels with her family from shortly after her grandfather’s death in 1969 through 1972.

Mary Jean was CEO, President, and Chairman Emeritus of People to People International (PTPI), which was founded in 1956 by President Eisenhower. She joined PTPI hoping to carry on her grandfather’s dream of peace through understanding.

She established the PTPI Friendship Fund in 1999, designed as a way for people to help the friends and facilities they visit throughout the world and to help the PTPI Chapter network assist each other in humanitarian and educational endeavors. The fund provided assistance to many humanitarian, health-related, education, and other causes in countries around the globe.

Following September 11, 2001, her focus intensified toward getting young people from around the world together to learn about each other and conflict management. Her vision resulted in “Peace Camp: An Evolution of Thought and Action” and “The Global Peace Initiative.” Both efforts have brought people from diverse areas and more than 30 nationalities together to discuss issues and reach a better understanding of their unique and individual cultures. In total, Mary Jean visited or established programming in over 80 countries, many multiple times.

Some of Mary Jean’s highlighted awards are: the Knight of Peace Award from the International University in Assisi, Italy; the Medal of Honor from the Slovak Republic; The Consular Corps Award of Excellence; The Harry S. Truman Award for Public Service; Friendship Ambassador from The Peoples’ Republic of China; Friend of Foreign Service Award, Taiwan; the Mother Theresa medallion from Albania; the Peace Award from South Korea, among others. She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Schiller International University, Park University, and William Jewell College; and an Honorary Doctorate of Law from York University. She has served as a Fellow at Stanford University and The Churchill Foundation at Westminster College.

“Peace like hostility is a learned behavior, teach peace.”

 Lieutenant General (Ret.) Bradley Heithold has over 40 years of dedicated service since enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1974. General Heithold possesses a heavy concentration of career experience within the special operations community. He has amassed over 3,400 hours of flight time primarily in the AC-130-H Spectre Gunship, and has Commanded at the Squadron, Group, Wing, Agency and Major Command levels.

Most recently, General Heithold served as a Deputy Director within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. General Heithold holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Arkansas and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Troy State University. Additionally, he attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University. General Heithold brings forty-five years of aviation experience and leadership to the First Air Force One team.

 Ray Palumbo is a leading defense strategist, problem solver, and team builder who supports a broad range of public, private, and philanthropic organizations. He is the founder and senior partner of Venturi Solutions LLC, a firm that delivers winning solutions in the aerospace, defense, intelligence, and IT sectors.

A former US Army 3-star general, Ray served 34 years leading conventional and special operations forces during peacetime and in combat. He completed his military career as the Director for Defense Intelligence where he simultaneously led the Pentagon’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Task Force, an organization that delivered critical aerospace and ground-based platforms, sensors, IT, and intelligence analysis to warfighters around the globe.

Ray’s philanthropic passion is committed to improving the well-being of our nation’s military veterans and their families. As such, he serves as director on the board of the Spookstock Foundation and as ambassador for the Boulder Crest Foundation.

Ray has a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from West Point, a Master of Science in administration from Central Michigan University, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. He is a graduate of the British Higher Command and Staff course at the British Defense College in Shrivenham, England.

Gary L. Sojka is a partner and cofounder of PRASAM (DBA: The Potomac Advocates). He focuses his efforts on representing defense, intelligence, electronic, aerospace, and high-tech companies before the executive and legislative branches. In addition, he assists companies perform executive search, acquire domestic and foreign technology, identify teaming arrangements, obtain large-scale financing, and market advanced technologies to meet unmet requirements.

Prior to joining PRASAM, Mr. Sojka served for eight years in the U.S. Senate, on both the Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee. Mr. Sojka had programmatic responsibility for space and intelligence programs, including advance research and development, totaling over $30 billion per year. He chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Arms Control Group and provided oversight of numerous, sensitive foreign policy activities. During these years, Mr. Sojka became a seasoned negotiator, managing numerous provisions through mark-up, floor debate, and conference. He worked with both the executive branch and foreign representatives to insure proper execution of programs.

Mr. Sojka started his career in the Office of Naval Intelligence, where he managed collection and analytical efforts concerning foreign military threats. He subsequently moved to the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he supported high-priority operational programs under the auspices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Towards the end of his career in the executive branch, he performed several projects for the Director of Central Intelligence.

Mr. Sojka is the Secretary of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a non-profit organization specializing in technology policy. The Institute provides nonpartisan analysis of technology and technology policy to leaders in government, business and academia. Mr. Sojka is also a member of the board of the United States Technology Leadership Council, a non-profit that focuses on addressing leading-edge technological challenges facing the US. He continues as chairman of “The Cockroaches”, a speaking series that emphasizes presentations by senior personnel with extensive government experience. Finally, he is honored to recently have joined the board of First Air Force one, seeking to restore the original Air Force One as an inspiration to the next generation of aerospace performers.

Robert F. Stanford is one of the world’s foremost authorities in aircraft and aircraft parts sales, acquisitions, and aviation consulting services. That is a bold statement. However, considering he has been personally involved in the transfer of more than 500 aircraft – it is a statement easy to support. Few people today can match the experience in aviation sales, marketing and planning of Bob Stanford. With more than five decades served in the aviation arena, he has become one of the industry’s leading authorities. Bob’s personal drive and level of dedication were developed in positions as President and CEO, as well as vice president of sales and marketing, for several aviation entities, prior to founding Zenith Aviation. You will also recognize the leadership qualities and energy level he gained as a military officer and pilot. Bob’s consistent attention to the marketplace has resulted in his personal record of more than 300 aircraft sold and countless aircraft appraisals performed for various purposes, including acquisitions and dispositions of both individual aircraft and fleets, financings, and in connection with other corporate business transactions.

More important than the sales figures, though, is the level of professionalism and integrity that he brings to each transaction. You will find that once you have been introduced to Bob, it will be a valuable relationship for a long time to come. In fact, a majority of his business is done with clients served previously. Maintaining these close relationships helps him to effectively anticipate and meet your needs. You will also notice that he values your company’s privacy more than trumpeting his services on your behalf.

Another characteristic you will appreciate is his standards for ethical conduct. Bob Stanford adheres to a strict code of ethics for accurately representing himself, his services, and aircraft for sale. He believes only this standard of integrity can give his customers and business partners a higher level of confidence.

Merle Zook is directly responsible for developing and overseeing annual financial plans, implementing cost improvement measures, and managing the performance and growth of Dynamic Aviation’s financial resources and assets. He brings these experiences and knowledge to the First Air Force One Board.

He has been a member of the Dynamic Aviation team since 1999, serving as Controller, Executive Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer. Over the years, Merle has been instrumental in the organization’s growth and expansion into new markets.

Prior to joining Dynamic Aviation, he was Manager of Auditing and Accounting for Phibbs, Burkholder, Geisert & Huffman, LLP. There, Merle planned and supervised the audits of various entities including automobile dealerships and manufacturing and processing companies.

Merle is a Certified Public Accountant in the states of Virginia and Indiana. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Merle holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Michelle Olson serves as Advisory Council Chair for the Executive Roundtable of the Republican Governor’s Association (RGA).  She was the Victory 2022 Board co-chair (with Governor Chris Christie) for the RGA and the National Finance Chair for Glenn Youngkin for Governor. Michelle is skilled at building relationships and organizing teams to advance a common mission.

 Michelle is the Founder and co-chair of the Foundation for Democracy.  The foundation’s mission is to preserve, protect, and promote democracy in the digital ecosystem.  The foundation works with universities; marrying public policy, engineering, and technology, to help launch digitally proficient policymakers.

She is a Director of The American Friends of the Czech Republic (AFoCR), the American organization that advocated for the Czech Republic’s entrance into NATO.

 Michelle is a graduate of Duke University (1990) and The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University (1991).

Senator Pat Roberts retired from the US Senate in January 2021, ending a Washington career that spanned 10 presidencies, beginning in 1967.

In 1980, Roberts was elected in the sprawling “Big First” Congressional District, serving for 16 years. In 1996, he was elected to the U. S. Senate where he served for 24 years, making him the longest serving Member of Congress in Kansas History, winning 24 straight elections.

Senator Roberts was known for his unique success in passing bi-partisan legislation. Senator Mitch McConnell, in his speech highlighting the Roberts’ career and his retirement on the Senate floor, said “Here we have a Senior Senator from a State that expects greatness…first, a young man from Abilene, KS who became President…another young man from Russell, KS who became Majority Leader and ran for President…then a third Kansas statesman from Holton, KS…who belongs in that distinguished company—” Eisenhower Dole and Roberts.” Two years later, the Kansas State Historical Society honored Roberts with his name on the Honor Walk in front of the Kansas State Capitol. “Pat Roberts – Marine – Senator,” joining President Eisenhower, and Senators Dole and Kassebaum.

Roberts achieved a reputation as a national leader in agriculture, health care, intelligence, and defense, serving as the Chairman and/or Ranking Member of all these US Senate committees. He was an advocate for a strong education system, free and fair-trade policies, increased investment in science and technology, a focused foreign policy, and a strong military.

Senator Roberts left the Senate as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, passing the 2018 farm bill with a record 87 votes. He was the original author of the national crop insurance program and led efforts to preserve and improve this vital program for our nation’s farmers, ranchers, and growers. As Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, he led the effort to pass the “Freedom to Farm” bill that reformed 40 years of Federal top-down farm program policy and freeing farmers to plant for the market, not the government.

As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senator worked to improve intelligence gathering and analysis capability at a critical time in our nation’s history. He led the Intelligence Committee through one of the most sweeping and exhausting reviews of U.S. intelligence ever conducted, resulting in critical and forward-thinking intelligence reforms which later became the foundation for and were included in the 9/11 Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.

As a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, (HELP), Roberts passed legislation to address the high cost of quality childcare, fully fund the Individuals with Disability Act, and working tirelessly to protect and bolster the embattled rural health care delivery system.

Senator Roberts was also the long running Chairman of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, persevering through the long and difficult effort to finalize the design and construction of the Memorial, which was dedicated in September, 2020. Roberts was quoted as saying, “As a Marine, you learn you never give up, you take the hill.”

Pat Roberts is a fourth generation Kansan, born in Topeka on April 20, 1936. He is the son of the late Wes Roberts, Chairman of the Republican National Committee under President Eisenhower. Following graduation from Kansas State University in 1958, Roberts served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, then worked as a reporter and editor for several Arizona newspapers before becoming staff director for Senator Frank Carlson in Washington in 1967.

Roberts and his wife, Franki, have three grown children – David, Ashleigh, and Anne-Wesley, and seven grandchildren.