Travis Hyde – Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Mr. Hyde joined DGS in January 2016 after a 19-year career as a security professional and program manager for companies such as ManTech, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
His most recent achievement with a large company was the capture of the largest Air Force Security Services contract ever awarded of this type with a total value of over $400M. He acquired his leadership skills in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) as an Infantry Squad Leader and served as a member of the USMC Silent Drill Platoon.
Mr. Hyde has over 23 years of experience in clandestine program protection for strategic, tactical, and national assets as well as acquisition and operations experience in SCI and SAP programs for customers in the DoD and IC.
Steve Smith - Director, National Security Division
Mr. Smith leads DGS's National Security business areas including Law Enforcement (LE), Counterintelligence (CI) , Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP), CI in Cyberspace, Security, and Risk/Threat Management. He provides direct support to the Defense Security Service, and has significant recent National Industrial Security Program experience.
Mr. Smith joined DGS after a distinguished 27 year career with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), retiring as Executive Assistant Director (EAD) for National Security; where he led NCIS's worldwide CI, Counter Terrorism, AT/FP, Security, Cyber and Special programs. Mr. Smith's career included multiple foreign tours-of-duty, including Special Agent-in-Charge assignments in the Middle East and Southeast Asia where he led NCIS regional operations. As Special Agent in Charge, Mr. Smith was a permanent member of U.S. Embassy Country Teams and also NCIS's senior representative to foreign counterpart Law Enforcement, Security, Military and Intelligence Agencies in multiple countries.
Mr. Smith possesses a Master of Arts Degree in Policy Management from Georgetown University, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration of Law from the University of Lowell. He has attended extensive career professional schools earning LE and IC certifications
Joel Griffin – Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)
As the co-founder and co-owner of Dependable Global Solutions (DGS), Mr. Griffin serves as the CSO creating, communicating, executing, and sustaining strategic initiatives.
His 20+ years of professional experience – including over ten years in the cyber-security, information assurance, infrastructure protection, intelligence, and consulting industry – provides for broad experience involving all Security related initiatives. Mr. Griffin is a former Marine and has worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, and Unisys.
Mr. Griffin is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, is a Certified PMP, and holds Certifications in FEMA Incident Command System (ICS) and Emergency Operations Command (EOC).
Mark Elliott - Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Mr. Elliott joined DGS in 2011 after serving for 34 years with the Army and Army National Guard. During his time with the National Guard, Mr. Elliott had multiple roles working full-time for the Guard and as a drilling Guardsman, ultimately as a Chief Warrant Officer 4, MOS 251A, vulnerability assessment team lead. In this capacity he led several assessments and mentored many junior soldiers. After joining DGS, he led the Army Operations Center (AOC) task as the Lead Security Engineer. He worked hands-on security, leading the team of engineers and analysts in defending several of the premier Army applications which directly support the warfighter.
Mr. Elliott has since been promoted to DGS' Chief Technical Officer (CTO). While he continues to manage the AOC program, he has also assumed additional technical roles on DGS contracts including supporting the DHS Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program, a classified forensics effort with the Army, and the Pentagon Joint Service Provider. Mr. Elliott serves as the lead technical SME for DGS proposals and client RFI's. Additionally he serves as an instructor for penetration testing, incident handling, and advanced security essentials for the SANS Institute. He possesses a degree from The Evergreen State College and is aCertified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and a Project Management Professional (PMP)