Support A Soldier
Board of Directors – Biographies
Barbara VanHorn
Barbara VanHorn is the proud mom of a soldier. She co-founded the ‘Support-A-Soldier Clearinghouse’ when her son was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom V in 2007, and serves as its current President. She is the one that makes that difference we all hear about and is currently writing a book, from a mother’s perspective, about her experience supporting her soldier son on his continuing journey in the military.
Barbara has an undergraduate background in special education/deaf education and a Masters Degree in audiology/speech & hearing science. She currently works as an audiologist for a large ENT medical practice in Greenwood Village, Colorado and is a qualified teacher of sign language for the deaf. Barbara is also a Black Belt karate instructor and, time permitting, teaches martial arts, especially to children...(her “little ninjas”).
She is the mother of 3 children including her soldier/son and a newly minted “grandmother” of 1.
John Arellano
John Arellano, son of a Basque sheepherder worked 10 years in Oil & Gas Transportation in the Rocky Mountains and the past 23 years in cement manufacturing at Mountain Cement Company.
He is currently Vice President, Sales & Marketing for Mountain Cement Company. He sits on the board of PCA Rocky Mountain Cement Council, American Concrete Paving Association (Colorado Wyoming Chapter), and Wyoming Power Producers Coalition. He is a member of Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Colorado Contractors Association, Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute, American Concrete Institute, American Concrete Paving Association/Utah Chapter, Wyoming Contractors Association, Concrete Association of Wyoming, Wyoming Trucking Association, Kansas Ready Mix Association.
John has 4 children and 7 grandchildren. His hobbies include shooting sports, hunting, fishing, motorcycle touring and golf. John’s brother, Frank served in the USAF in Vietnam.
Kenneth R. Olive, Jr.
Ken Olive founded The Oil & Gas Asset Clearinghouse in 1993 and currently serves as its President and CEO. The Clearinghouse is an industry leading Acquisition and Divestiture Advisor of oil and gas assets and has closed on over 29,000 transactions totaling in excess of $9 Billion since inception.
Ken is a member and has chaired numerous oil and gas industry professional associations as well as numerous industry and corporate boards. He has received Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award in the category of Energy and Energy Services, and was named Outstanding Landman to include receiving the APEX award from American Association of Professional Landmen for professional excellence and his entrepreneurial spirit.
He received his BBA from Texas Tech University in 1974 and currently resides with his wife, Marie, in Kingwood, Texas where they have raised three children and have four grandchildren.
Daniel J. Reid
Dan Reid has been a professional negotiator and strategic risk analyst for over 25 years. Among other services, he is an expert in new country entry planning for business, crisis planning/oversight and international security/risk mitigation for personnel and assets. He has worked in more than 35 foreign countries on every continent except Antarctica.
Dan is the founder and Managing Director of Paladin International, LLC, an international negotiations and business development firm and Paladin Special Operations Branch, LLC an international security and crisis management firm.
Dan also teaches courses for many international business entities and associations and is an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Business at Colorado State University where he teaches international business and strategic negotiations. Other courses taught include crisis management planning and international corporate security to industry personnel as well as various courses for the Special Operations Command of our US armed forces.
Dan received his MBA in 1991 and has worked with the Harvard University School of Law and MIT/Tufts Program on Negotiation for over 15 years. He is also a decorated Vietnam special operations combat veteran and co-founder of Support-a-Soldier.
He has two children and 4 grandchildren.
James T. W.
“Jim” is a serving US Army Special Forces, First Sergeant (1SG). His previous assignments span over 21 years of military service. During his resent deployment to Iraq he was the Team Sergeant of a Special Forces A-Team and he has also served as a Senior Engineer Sergeant on a Special Forces A-Team in Afghanistan. 1SG W started his military career in the Marine Corps Reserve and then served with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Airborne) before joining Special Forces.
1SG Willis’ military awards and decorations include two Bronze Star Medals, four Army Accommodation Medals, five Army Achievement Medals, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Expert Infantryman’s Badge and the Master Parachutist Badge. He has graduated from the Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat Course and the Master Breachers’ Course.
MSG W has served in numerous leadership positions throughout his military career. In addition to his position with SF in Afghanistan and Iraq, he served as the Company Training and Operations NCO. He has trained potential candidates to attend the Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS), the Special Forces Qualification Course (Q-Course) and has served as an Infantry Platoon Sergeant.
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