bios of the players
as you can see, thousands and thousands of hours of flight time and a lot of instructor experience.
ON THE TADF SIDE
Mike “Ratso” Cariello, Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Cariello is one of the most renowned pilots to have served in the U.S. military in recent decades. He has flown civilian and military aircraft for over 30 years, and has accumulated over 9,000 flight-hours, mostly in high performance jet fighters such as, F/A-18, F-16, A-4 Skyhawk. Mr. Cariello has a distinguished career having served in the U.S. Marine Corp for some 14 years. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1998 following his 3 year appointment as Adversary Officer at the Top Gun Fighter Weapons School for the Navy and Marine Corps. Mr. Cariello has also served as the 767 Program Manager and Pilot for Blackwater Inc., one of the largest U.S. Defense contractors in Iraq from July 2005 through December 2007.
ON THE TACAIR SIDE
Rolland C. “R.C.” Thompson PRESIDENT / CEO
Prior to founding Tactical Air Support, RC worked in the government contracting industry for three years. He also served 26 years in the U.S. Navy and four years in the Army. Some of his many assignments and positions included: “Exec” to the Commander, U.S. Strategic Command; Commander of an Operational Carrier Air Wing and the Strike Warfare Commander for Operation Enduring Freedom; Commanding Officer of TOPGUN; Director of Training at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC); Operational Command of an FA-18 squadron; and a tour of duty as a Deputy Director on the Navy Staff dealing with fleet requirements and the budget process. His aviation experience also includes two instructor tours at the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) and over 6500 total flight hours to include 5500 in fighter aircraft, 1200 carrier landings while achieving full qualifications in the FA-18, F-14, F-16, A-7, A-4, and AH-1, with additional experience in the L-29, Mig-17/21 and Mig-29. RC was designated an Army Aviator at the age of 19 and has completed three combat deployments since that time. RC earned a BS degree in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, MS in National Security Strategy from the National War College and an EMBA from the University of Nebraska.
Gerald S. “Spud” Gallop COO
Gerry is currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer at TacAir, responsible for overseeing the contract execution and marketing of the company’s Air Operations, Consulting, and Maintenance Divisions. Since the fall of 2003, Gerry has also served as a military analyst supporting Navy strike-fighter tactics development at NAS Fallon and NAWC China Lake. His flying responsibilities have included extensive over-water fleet support operations in the L-29s, and in 2008 was one of the first two western civilian pilots to become fully IP qualified in the Sukhoi Su-27.
Prior to his work at TacAir, Gerry served as the Director of Tactical Air Services at Advanced Training Solutions International (ATSI) in Phoenix, Arizona. In that role, he supervised all aspects of a 10-aircraft flight department, supplying adversary services to the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Canadian Forces.
His military career in aircraft carrier fighter aviation spanned twenty years, following graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1980. His operational assignments included pilot tours aboard four different aircraft carriers, flying F-4 Phantoms, F-14 Tomcats, and the FA-18 Hornet. He served as the commanding officer of a fleet Hornet squadron, the head of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), and supervised graduate-level carrier air wing training and the Helicopter Training Division as well.
Rick Seley DIRECTOR OF MAINTENANCE
Rick became Director of Maintenance for TAC AIR in March, 2008 after a 34-year military and civilian career in all levels of tactical aircraft maintenance. Since retiring from the US Navy in 1995, Rick has held management and business development positions in contract maintenance with aviation industry leaders such as Boeing, L-3 Vertex Aerospace and Raytheon Aerospace. As Maintenance Manager for Boeing’s maintenance contract at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC), Rick was responsible for the production efforts of over 200 civilian mechanics maintaining more than 40 tactical aircraft including F-14, F-16, FA-18 fighter jets and H-60 helicopters.
Rick’s 21-year military career included 11 years as an enlisted avionics technician maintaining F-14 weapons systems. After receiving his commission as an officer, he served as the Maintenance/Material Control Officer of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron FOUR and Fighter Squadron ONE. During his final tour on active duty, he served as Wing Maintenance Officer and T-45 Project Officer for Training Wing ONE in Meridian, MS, where he managed over 300 contract personnel maintaining over 150 aircraft.
Archie Rippeto DIRECTOR OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS
Archie joined Tactical Air Support in January of 2006 after having worked as the Site Manager for Lockheed Martin’s simulation, training and support of F-15 air-to-air training at Kingsley Field, OR. During that time, Archie was responsible for managing the instruction of academic and simulation support of the F-15 Eagle. Prior to that, Archie served for 21 years in the U.S Air Force, accumulating over 3000 flight hours in the F-15A/B/C/D. During his active duty career, Archie served as an F-15 squadron commander and also served as an instructor at the Air Force Fighter Weapon’s School. Archie earned a BS from the United States Air Force Academy and is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College.
John ”Jeep” Stivers TEST AND EVALUATION
John is TAC AIR’s Director of Test and Evaluation. After a successful Navy career and following employment as a contractor supporting Navy flight test, he joined the company 2007. During his 30- year military career he was an A-7 and FA-18 pilot and achieved command of the Strike Fighter Weapons School-Pacific, an operational FA-18 squadron (VFA-151), the Navy’s tactical aircraft operational test squadron (VX-9), and Naval Air Station Lemoore. After retiring from active duty, he provided contract support to developmental flight test of the FA-18 AESA radar. Jeep has logged over 5000 hours primarily in A-7 and FA-18 aircraft. He also has significant time in A-6, T-38, F-4, and O-2 aircraft. He developed and implemented the Advanced Attack Readiness Program while commanding the Strike Fighter Weapons School, lead the FA-18E/F fleet introduction effort as the Officer in Charge of the Super Hornet Fleet Introduction Team, and lead the planning and execution of the FA-18E/F Operational Evaluation of the Super Hornet while commanding VX-9. Jeep earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Idaho and is a graduate of the US Air Force Test Pilot School.
Andrew “Oscar” Gamble TACTICS DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION
Andrew is TAC AIR’s Director of Tactics Development and Evaluation Projects and is based in Fallon, NV. He joined the company directly after retiring from the Navy where he was an EA-6B Electronic Counter Measures Officer. During his 20 year military career he was an Operational Test Director at VX-9, a Flight Test Director for the 413th Flight Test Squadron, a two time Instructor at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, and a Readiness and Training Officer for an Air Wing. He is both an electronic attack and unmanned aircraft systems subject matter expert. Andrew has logged over 2200 hours in EA-6B, FA-18, F-16 and F-15 aircraft in both the operational and test environments. He has been a Project Manager for numerous aircraft and weapons system improvement programs; to include foreign material exploitation. In 2003 he was awarded the Association of Old crows “Information Operations Individual Award” for his leadership as Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses Chief in the Combined Air Operations Center during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Andrew holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a M.S. (CERT) in Aviation Systems from the University of Tennessee Space Institute, and a M.A. in National Security Affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School.
AI
