Reynold Hoover retired in December 2018 from his final assignment as the Deputy Commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) with over 35 years of service.

Prior to his NORTHCOM assignment, General Hoover served briefly at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as the Mobilization Assistant to the Director. From 2014 to 2016, he served as the National Guard Bureau’s Director of Intelligence and Chief Information Officer. General Hoover deployed to Afghanistan in 2009-2010, serving as the Commanding General of the Joint Sustainment Command. During his career, General Hoover commanded EOD warriors at the detachment, task force, battalion and group levels, including while deployed in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. His last command was as a

Major General at the 167th Theater Sustainment Command.

Complementing his military service as a National Guardsmen, General Hoover also has had a distinguished civilian career. He started as a Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,

followed by a stint as an attorney in private practice.

From 2002 to 2003, General Hoover served as the Chief of Staff for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), then leading FEMA’s Office of National Security Coordination. In 2005, General Hoover was appointed as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush for Homeland Security, responsible for homeland security, continuity of government programs and policies, as well as nuclear defense matters.

General Hoover joined CSX Corporation in 2007 as Assistant Vice President (AVP) for Police & Infrastructure Protection; and, later, he was appointed AVP for Law & Risk Management at

CSX Intermodal, Inc., serving as chief counsel.

In 2011, General Hoover returned to federal service as a Senior Intelligence Service Officer at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His last assignment was as the Deputy Director, Office of Public Affairs,

a position he held until his retirement from federal civil service in 2018.

General Hoover graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1983, and holds Masters degrees in Public and Private Management from Birmingham Southern College, and Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. He received his law degree from The Catholic University of America in 1997.

General Hoover holds several military awards and decorations, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal and the Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge. He serves on the board of The Old Soldiers Home Foundation and is member of The Florida Bar and the District of Columbia Bar. General Hoover’s interests include mountaineering, scuba diving, flying and reading.

Randy Manner, a retired Army Infantry Major General, is a passionate supporter of the EOD community. While serving on the Army Staff in the Pentagon, he was the Army’s General Officer representative to the Joint EOD Board, responsible for EOD policy and investment recommendations. He successfully advocated for the expansion of Army EOD force structure and counter IED tools. While at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Randy supported EOD special operations capabilities related to nuclear, chemical, and biological threats. That research and development directly benefited conventional EOD forces. Since his retirement from the Army in December of 2012, he volunteers in support of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and their families as well as environmental initiatives. He consults with commercial companies on techniques to significantly improve their bottom line. Randy earned a BS in Computer Science from the Pennsylvania State University, a MBA in Decision Sciences from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a post graduate Certificate in International Security Policy from the Fletcher School of International Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Major General Gordon C. Nash retired from the United States Marine Corps on

June 1, 2006 with nearly thirty–five years of active service.

After graduating from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, he completed Officer Candidates School in Quantico, Virginia and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in December 1971. He has commanded Marine Corps Operating Forces around the world from the Infantry Platoon to Marine Corps Division. He has served tours outside Marine Corps at various Service and Joint Headquarters that included with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Southern Lebanon, a tour with the United States Army Special Forces, as commander of a Joint Task Force in Tbilisi, Georgia in support of the Department of Energy, as the Director of Operations and Chief of Staff for the Joint Special Operations Command, and as the Commander, Joint Warfighting Center, Joint Forces Command.

Major General Nash’s father and brother were retired Navy Captains, his father-in-law a retired Marine Colonel, and both his son and son-in-law are or have served as Marine Corps Officers, one a major and the other a lieutenant colonel. After living in many locations around the world, he and his wife Susan

are proud to call Beaufort County, North Carolina home.

Upon retirement from the Marine Corps Major General Nash worked as a Senior Executive for the Sierra Nevada Corporation. In addition to supporting many nonprofit organizations

he served on the Hampden-Sydney College Board of Trustees.

Archer “Arch” Macy is a 39 year veteran of the Navy where he served as a surface warfare officer, combat systems engineer and acquisition professional. He has a B.S. and M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering, and a M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies. He has commanded at sea and ashore, and as a flag officer served as the director of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology and Training for the Department of Defense, established the Joint Counter-IED Electronic Warfare (CREW) program, and commanded the Naval Surface Warfare Center, responsible for research, technical and engineering support for the Navy’s surface ships and aircraft carriers. In his last assignment RADM Macy was the Deputy Director (J-8) for Force Protection on the Joint Staff. He is now an independent consultant in defense matters in Arlington, VA.

Linda Cox, a retired Air Force EOD Technician, was the military’s first female to get into and graduate from Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal. She is credited with breaking several ‘glass ceilings’ in the EOD field. She was the first woman to lead her own unit, first woman to go to war, first EOD woman to be awarded the Bronze Star, and the first woman to hold E-9 Chief Master Sergeant in EOD. Cox’s career in the Air Force was over 25 years, stationed in California, Washington State, Canada, New Mexico, England, Germany, and finally completing her career in Texas. Her Texas assignment began as shop chief for Air Training Command, Lackland AFB where she was promoted to HQ AETC, Randolph AFB.

After retirement in early 1997 with EOD still fresh, UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) work came calling. Cox finally retired for good in 2022, after 47 years of continuous bomb disposal work. Linda was named Woman of the Year for the city of San Antonio in 1991. In March of 2023 Cox was a panelist for the Women’s Air and Space Power Symposium put on by the USAF.

Linda’s trailblazing career has been featured and spotlighted in a multitude of ways. She has been featured in BuzzFeed article, “Blowing up the Glass Ceiling”, written by retired EOD officer Brian Castner. She also had a movie role in How Plastic Safety Gear Protects Our Heroes A ‘Plastics make it possible’ production, as a Bomb Disposal Technician.

Linda has been featured on the EOD Warrior Foundation’s very own Behind The Warrior podcast. She has a military patch that was created in her likeness and is presented to all women in EOD, upon graduating EOD school, as part of an ongoing EOD women’s mentoring program governed by SMSgt Giselle Irr and TSgt Ashley Banta. And currently her uniform is hanging on a wall at the Senior NCO Academy, Gunther AFB, honoring women in the Air Force.