Cohen Group

Cohen Group

Marc Grossman Is Vice Chairman of the Cohen Group and we may well see him perform at the next big public theatre of the creulty and absurdity of U.S. politics: the Valerie Plame affair.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (2001-2005), Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (1997-2000) and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey (1994-1997) in 2005 Grossman completed 29 years of public service when he retired from the State Department as the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Grossman served as the Department’s third-ranking official, supporting U.S. diplomacy worldwide. Following the September 11th attacks, he helped ‘marshal international diplomatic support’ for the Global war on Terrorism and for the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Previously the Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources from 2000 to 2001. As Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from 1997 to 2000, 'Ambassador' Grossman was responsible for over 4,000 State Department employees posted in 50 sites abroad with a program budget of $1.2 billion. He played a lead role in orchestrating NATO's 50th anniversary Summit in Washington in 1999 and helped direct U.S. participation in NATO’s military campaign in Kosovo that same year. [1]

Grossman was U.S. Ambassador to Turkey 1994-1997. The Cohen Group's biography of his states that: "In Turkey, he promoted security cooperation, human rights and democracy and a vibrant U.S.-Turkish economic relationship. Ambassador Grossman had previously served as the embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission from 1989 to 1992.” [2]

The U.S. likes to keep its involvement in Kurdish politics quiet [3] [4]

"The Kurdish situation precisely fits into the category of more rather than less freedom. For many years, the Turks faced a very serious threat from the PKK, a terrorist group claiming to represent the Kurds. Turkey has every right to defend itself against terrorism but there is no purely military solution to that problem. Turkey's capture of PKK head Abdullah Öcalan provided Ankara a great opportunity to make progress with the Kurds. Öcalan's capture created two big opportunities: to show that the Turkish justice system is transparent and works; and to show Turks that the vast majority of Kurdish people are not interested in terrorism and separatism." [5]

As the Executive Secretary of the State Department and Special Assistant to the Secretary of State from 1993 to 1994, Grossman managed operations for the senior State Department leadership. He served as the Deputy Director of the Private Office of Lord Carrington, the NATO Secretary-General, from 1983 to 1986 and at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan from 1976 to 1983. He attained the Foreign Service’s highest rank in 2004 when he was accorded the title Career Ambassador; he received the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award the following year. Grossman is a member of the Board of Directors of DynCorp International.

Joseph W. Ralston is Vice Chairman, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (2000-2003), Commander, U.S. European Command (2000-2003), Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (1996-2000). In 2003, Ralston completed a 37-year Air Force career as Commander, U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO. As NATO commander, “General Ralston contributed to preserving the peace, security and territorial integrity of the NATO member nations while commanding approximately 65,000 troops from 39 NATO and other nations participating in ongoing operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.” He also led the efforts to integrate the three nations that were admitted to NATO in 1999 and oversaw the process to invite seven nations to join NATO in 2002.

Ralston was the senior U.S. military officer and commander of all US forces in an area of responsibility that covers more than 21 million square miles and includes 93 nations. This territory extends from Norway, the Baltic and Mediterranean seas, most of Europe, parts of the Middle East, to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He deepened the command's role in Central Asia and the Caucasus through military training assistance for Operation Enduring Freedom. He led the command in daily missions in the war in the streets of Bosnia and oversaw air operations in the no-fly zone over Northern Iraq during the 'peace'.

Ralston was the U.S.'s second highest-ranking military officer, chairing the powerful Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC), which validated the requirements for nearly every program of the Department of Defense.

He was commander of the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia and served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force for Plans and Operations, Tactical Programs, Acquisition, and Operational Requirements. As a pilot he flew 147 combat missions over Laos and North Vietnam.

Paul J. Kern Senior Counselor, Commanding General, Army Materiel Command (AMC) (2001-2004) Senior Advisor for Army Research, Development, and Acquisition (1997-2001) Commander, 4th Infantry Division (1996-1997).

Kern had a 40-year career in the Army and left his impact on its future as he led a drive to digitize and transform its warfighting capabilities. With a staff of over 50,000 civilians and active military members, he directed supply chain improvements, maintain field readiness, and modernize weapons systems throughout the Army while still controlling costs. Some of his efforts included consolidating major munitions production operations, employing radio frequency identification, and managing the supply of rebuilt equipment for the front lines, a shift critical to ongoing operations in Iraq.

In 2004 Donald Rumsfeld 'tapped' Kern to lead the military's internal investigation into the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Suitable culprits were found from the lower ranks.

Acquisition, Logistics and Technology were his fields together with research, development, and acquisition programs and related issues. He supervised the Program Executive Officer system. Kern's career has also had stops in the Secretary of Defense office in Washington and several field units. As the Senior Military Assistant to Secretary of Defense William Perry, Kern was instrumental in ensuring that the Secretary's guidance was implemented throughout the Department and in handling 'the most sensitive decisions' for the Secretary. During that tenure he traveled with Secretary Perry to more than 70 countries, meeting numerous heads of state, foreign ministers and international defense leaders. He participated in U.S. operations in Haiti, Rwanda, Zaire and the Balkans, and helped to promote military relations in Central and Eastern Europe, South America, China, and the Middle East.

Kern had three combat tours in Vietnam as a platoon leader and troop commander, and he commanded the Second Brigade of the 24th Infantry in Desert Shield/Desert Storm. After West Point in 1967, he was a Senior Security Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University. Kern has lectured in England as the Kermit Roosevelt Lecturer, and at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and the United States Military Academy, as well as in numerous public forums on technical and military matters.

James M. Loy Senior Counselor, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (2003-2005), Administrator, Transportation Security Administration (2002-2003), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard (1998-2002)

In 2005, Admiral Loy completed a 45-year career, retiring as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. In this capacity, he was involved in consolidating 22 separate agencies into one unified Cabinet department. Prior to this Loy served in the Department of Transportation as Deputy Under Secretary for Security and Chief Operating Officer of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and later as Under Secretary for Security. In these roles, he served as the first administrator of the newly created TSA, which is responsible for protecting the U.S.'s transportation systems.

From 1994 to 1996, he was Commander of the Coast Guard's Atlantic Area, supervising U.S. forces during the mass Haitian and Cuban migrations of 1994, and leading Coast Guard forces participating in Operation Restore Democracy.

Harry D. Raduege, Jr. Senior Counselor to The Cohen Group and Chairman, Deloitte Center for Network Innovation a Washington-based Center which focuses on developing solutions for clients grappling with the need for increasingly interdependent information networks, spanning both the public and private sectors, with the goal of providing answers for secure, interoperable information systems to those who need it - whether in business, government, or on the battlefield.

Raduege retired after serving 35 years in the U.S. military working in the areas of technology, including telecommunications, space, information, and network operations. He served more than 17 years in joint duty assignments. In his last position, he led Department of Defense net-centric operations as the Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency. In that role, he directed planning, engineering, and implementation of interoperable communications and intelligence systems serving the needs of the President, Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, combatant commanders, and the military Services. He led efforts to restore communications to the Pentagon following the September 11th terrorist attacks; upgraded Presidential communications; and led the successful expansion of the Department's Global Information Grid through a $1 billion transformational communications program.

Raduege was also appointed by the Secretary of Defense as the Commander of the Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations, and Deputy Commander for Global Network Operations and Defense for the U.S. Strategic Command. In these roles, he was the first commander assigned responsibility for directing the operation and defense of the Global Information Grid to assure timely and secure net-centric capabilities across the entire Department. He also served as the Manager of the National Communications System and led the U.S.'s efforts to prioritize the restoration of telecommunications throughout New York City and the Pentagon following 9/11.

Raduege directed command and control systems for North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Space Command, and Air Force Space Command. He also served as the Chief Information Officer for all three commands, was the architect for computer network defense and attack capabilities established within the Department of Defense. Raduege directed command and control communications at the U.S. Central Command for 3 years, including the relocation efforts required after the Khobar Towers bombing. Earlier, he served as the first commander of the Air Force C4 Agency and was the Joint Chiefs of Staff architect for all satellite communications supporting over 500,000 deployed military members during the Gulf War in 1991.

Raduege recently was elected as the Executive Vice Chair of the Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium, comprised of more than 80 leading U.S. and international member companies. He serves on the Defense Science Board and is serving on the Board of Trustees and chairs the Technology Committee for Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

George Robertson Senior Counselor, Secretary General, NATO (1999-2003), Minister of Defense, UK (1997-1999), Member, House of Commons, UK (1978-1999).

In 2003, the Right Honorable Lord Robertson of Port Ellen completed a career culminating at the highest levels of the Government of the United Kingdom and NATO. Robertson began his career as an official of the General, Municipal and Boilermakers' Union, responsible for the Scottish Whisky industry in 1968. After a decade of service, he was elected as a Labor Party representative to the House of Commons for Hamilton at the age of 32 - to be reelected a total of five times.

Robertson advanced quickly to increasingly responsible positions. In 1993, Scotland on Sunday newspaper editorialized that "Robertson is meant for higher things." After the 1997 general election, Tony Blair named Lord Robertson as his Minister of Defense. During his service at in that position, he led the UK's active and crucial military role in the Kosovo conflict. He also pushed through a widely heralded series of reforms and modernizations of British forces during his tenure, and managing the UK participation in East Timor and in the 1998 air strikes in Iraq.

In 1999, he became the tenth Secretary General of NATO and Chairman of the North Atlantic Council, succeeding Dr. Javier Solana. In the four turbulent years that followed, he presided over the dramatic restructuring and enlargement of the alliance, becoming the first leader of NATO to invoke the Article V mutual defense provision after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., and prodding NATO to deal more effectively with new US line. He oversaw the involvement of NATO in Afghanistan, deftly managed the crisis over whether to provide Turkey with defense assets as the war in Iraq approached, and helped broker an end to a prospective civil war within Macedonia in 2001 through the use of NATO peacekeepers.

In 2003, President George W. Bush presented him with the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor and only rarely given to foreign nationals. In the 2004 Queens New Years Honors he received one of Britain's highest awards, the GCMG (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George — but often refered to as 'God calls me God'). He has the highest national honors from Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands and many other countries. Since 1997, he became a member of Her Majesty's Privy Council.

In addition to his role with The Cohen Group, Robertson will serve as the Executive Deputy Chairman of London-based Cable and Wireless. He will also serve as a Strategic Advisor to The Royal Bank of Canada as well as on other boards of directors.

Lord Robertson was born in the village police station in Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, His father and grandfather were village policemen (as are his brother, son and nephew). Lord Robertson attended the University of Dundee and received a Masters Degree with honors in economics in 1968. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by the Universities of Dundee and Bradford, Cranfield University (Royal Military College of Science), Baku State University of Azerbaijan, and by the Romanian National School of Political and Administrative Studies in Bucharest. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Elder Brother of Trinity House.

The Cohen Group has a strategic alliance with Piper Rudnick, a full-service, U.S. law firm.