Board of Directors
Trevor Romain,
Co-Founder, Past Chairman
Trevor began donating his time to help kids
during his required military training as a young
man in the South African Army in 1975. His
assignment was to set up medical tents for
injured children...
Against the warnings of his superiors, Trevor
befriended the children he met there and
discovered that he had a natural talent to
make children laugh. It was then that he
earned the nickname Doctor of Mischief.
In 1982, Trevor moved to the U.S. where he
made his home with his wife, Amiel, in Austin,
Texas. He still visits his family in South
Africa regularly. Over the past 25 years,
Trevor has written and/or illustrated dozens
of children's books, including "Chemo,
Craziness and Comfort" that is given to
children diagnosed with cancer through the
American Childhood Cancer Organization. Trevor
has been involved with the American Childhood
Cancer Organization since 1993 and is now
President of their Board.
Trevor is currently President of the Trevor
Romain Company, a children's educational
publishing company.
Jim Kozlowski,
Chairman
Jim is a co-founder of TGF Management, and
previously a Managing Director at Fortis Private
Capital in New York. Other prior positions
include Vice President at Merrill Lynch Venture
Capital in New York, and Director of New
Business at Tenneco Ventures in Houston...
He has worked in the Corporate Finance Group
at Credit Suisse First Boston and the
Commercial Lending Division of Chemical Bank
in New York. Also, Jim is also the Chairman of
the Children's Medical Center Foundation of
Central Texas and is an alumnus of both the
Texas Lyceum and the Texas Business Hall of
Fame.
He is actively involved in the Young
Presidents' Organization, Association for
Corporate Growth, and the World Presidents'
Organization. Jim received his B.A. degree in
Economics from Harvard College and his M.B.A.
from the Harvard Business School.
Major General (R)
Aycock, Director
MG(R) Al Aycock is the Managing Partner of the
Ramparts Group, a company dedicated to aligning
business and industry with defense needs and
opportunities in the areas of military base
management, energy, and the Department of
Defense Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
process...
Biography--Major General (Retired) Al Aycock
MG(R) Al Aycock is the Managing Partner of the
Ramparts Group, a company dedicated to
aligning business and industry with defense
needs and opportunities in the areas of
military base management, energy, and the
Department of Defense Base Realignment and
Closure (BRAC) process.
Before departing military service after 38
years in 2016, MG(R) Aycock was the Director
of Operations, Assistant Chief of Staff for
Installation Management on the Army Staff
serving over 4 years in this position. He was
responsible for the Army's $5 billion military
construction program, facility standards,
energy programs, and the management of the
Army's BRAC program. During this time, his
team established the Army's first Facility
Investment Program to refocus leader
decision-making during a time of reduced
funding and all future Army facilities were
set with a standard design. Army facility
accountability to fiscal standards went from
the worst in DoD to the best. Army energy
programs were noted by the White House as the
best in the Federal Government.
He previously served as Deputy Commanding
General and Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army
Installation Management Command from February
2009-May 2011 where his team moved the command
to Fort Sam Houston under BRAC while also
supporting all other Army Commands with BRAC
moves. MG(R) Aycock was responsible to the
Commander for overseeing command and staff
planning and execution processes in support of
over 160 Installations around the world.
He deployed in support of the wartime
operations of Army Central Command (ARCENT)
from February-April 2011 as Special Assistant
to the ARCENT CG. He supported the effort to
improve base camp management and to set the
plan for the transition of existing bases back
to Iraqi control.
MG(R) Aycock served as the Commanding General,
Special Operations, Korea, from July 2008 to
February 2009, with collateral duty as the
Commanding General of United Nations Special
Operations Forces. During this time, the
command expanded training opportunities
between US and Korean Special Operations
Forces.
From August 2006 to July 2008, he served as
Commanding General, Installation Management
Command, Korea, where three of five garrisons
received Army Community of Excellence (ACOE)
awards within two years. These Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Awards specifically
noted excellence in the areas of Soldier,
Family, and Child wellness. During this time,
MG(R) Aycock also served as US Forces Korea,
J8, responsible for initiating the
transformation from a combined US-Korea
command to separate Headquarters. His team set
the initial planning for the move from Yongsan
to Camp Humphreys—the largest move since the
Korean War ended.
From 2003 to 2006, MG(R) Aycock served as
Garrison Commander of Fort Bragg, NC. During
his tenure there, the post earned ACOE honors
twice and earned the Army's Garrison
Antiterrorism Award for three consecutive
years.
The post earned best-in-the-Army awards for
Child and Youth Services, a Military Child
Education Coalition award for partnership with
local schools, and was named as one of the 100
best places for children by America's Promise.
Previously, MG(R) Aycock served from 2000-2003
in US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC)
as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations,
G3, ensuring the training and readiness of
Army SOF during the highest period of
deployment and mobilization in command
history. In this role, he was also the lead
for a command-wide reorganization that largely
remains in effect. He reset the command
validation of wartime needs so troops deployed
with needed equipment.
As a student at the Army War College from
1999-2000, MG(R) Aycock was selected for the
first Advanced Strategic Art Program and was
certified as a Strategist. Additionally, he
was selected to serve on a Chief of Staff of
the Army-directed study on Personnel
Turbulence that was 1 of 3 studies leading to
an Army Superior Unit Award for the Army War
College. Before attending the Army War
College, MG(R) Aycock served as the Assistant
Chief of Staff and the Commanding General's
Speechwriter in USASOC.
From 1996-1998, he served as Commander, 2nd
Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group
(SWTG) (Airborne) responsible for Special
Forces Advanced Skills Training in military
freefall at Yuma AZ, underwater operations at
Key West FL, urban combat and sniper training
at Range 37 on Fort Bragg NC, and the
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape
(SERE) Course at Camp Mackall NC. His team ran
high risk training noted as the safest and
most realistic in the Army.
MG(R) Aycock served as Inspector General for
the Special Warfare Center having previously
served as Executive Officer, 1st Battalion,
1st SWTG (Airborne) responsible for all
Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC)
support.
He was selected as Aide-de-Camp for the
Commanding General of USASOC following an
assignment as Commander, Company F, 1st
Battalion, 1st SWTG (Airborne) responsible for
SFQC field training and the culmination
exercise, Robin Sage. During his tenure at Co
F, his team reset the unconventional warfare
nature of the exercise and standardized
instructor training to enhance student
learning and preparation for transition to
operational units.
Following graduation from the Armed Forces
Staff College, he was assigned to the Pentagon
as a Joint Service Officer where he served on
the Joint Staff, J3, first in
Counter-narcotics Operations Division, then as
a briefer on the Crisis Action Team for
Operation Desert Shield/Storm, and later in
Special Operations Division of the Joint Staff
J3 on a classified project.
After graduation from the SFQC as honor
graduate and transferring to the newly created
Special Forces Branch, MG Aycock was
Detachment Commander, ODA 584 (Military
Freefall), 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
deploying his unit to Tunisia. He was later
Battalion S3 for 3rd Battalion deploying the
unit on a major Army Training Exercise Program
(ARTEP) evaluation.
Before transitioning to Special Forces, MG
Aycock was selected as the Executive Officer
to the XVIII Airborne Corps G3 after having
been a founding member of the Army's 1st
Battlefield Coordination Detachment working
with the Air Force on multiple deployments.
MG(R) Aycock served as Commander, Company E
(Anti-armor), 504th Airborne Infantry
Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division where the
unit earned best separate company honors. He
previously served as a Force Structure Officer
and later Chief of Force Structure, XVIII
Airborne Corps, during the Army of Excellence
transformation at Fort Bragg, NC.
MG(R) Aycock's first assignment was to Fort
Stewart, GA, where he served as a Rifle
Platoon Leader, Support Platoon Leader, Scout
Platoon Leader and Company Executive Officer
in 2nd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 24th Infantry
Division (Mechanized) as part of the Rapid
Deployment Joint Task Force. His unit was the
test Brigade for the National Training Center
concept and also deployed to Exercise Bright
Star in Egypt after the assassination of Anwar
Sadat.
MG(R) was commissioned as an infantry officer
in 1978 after graduating from the U.S.
Military Academy where he was Captain of the
USMA Parachute Team.
He holds a Bachelor of Science from the U.S.
Military Academy, a Master of Education from
Fayetteville State University with induction
in the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society, and a
Master of Strategic Studies from the Army War
College and a certificate in Advanced
Strategic Art. He earned a Certificate in
Non-Profit Management from Duke University.
His military education includes the Armed
Forces Staff College and Army Management Staff
College.
MG(R) Aycock's awards include the
Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf
Cluster(OLC), Defense Superior Service Medal,
Legion of Merit with two OLCs, Defense
Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious
Service Medal with five OLCs, Korea Defense
Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism
Expeditionary Medal. He earned the Joint Staff
Identification Badge, Army Staff
Identification Badge, Military Freefall
Parachutist Badge, Master Parachutist Badge,
and Special Forces Tab.
Charlie Hooker,
Director
Charlie and his wife, Lisa, fell in love with
the mission of the Comfort Crew on many
different levels. Charlie is an Army brat whose
father was a decorated Command Sergeant Major
and lived through many deployments. Lisa’s
father served as a Navy Corpsman in the Marines.
After graduating from West Point, Charlie
commanded units in the Airborne Infantry and
Special Operations where he planned, implemented
and led numerous direct and covert operations
worldwide...
Charlie and his family recently moved to
Austin from New Jersey/New York City where he
was the President and Managing Member of High
Rise Capital, a real estate hedge fund. Prior
to High Rise, Charlie served on the faculty of
the United States Military Academy in the
Department of Behavioral Sciences and
Leadership as the Visiting Professor of
Management.
Before his sabbatical, Charlie was the
President and CEO of ORIX USA Merchant
Banking. Previously Charlie served as an
investment banker in the Merchant Banking
Group at Merrill Lynch. He attended the Fuqua
School of Business at Duke University for his
MBA after his service in the US Army.
Charlie has recently served on the West Point
Board of Trustees and the Board of Baltusrol
Golf Club as the Chairman of the Admissions
Committee, Executive Committee, Long Range
Planning Committee and Security Committee.
He has also served on Boards of several
private companies. Charlie was the Co-Founder
and Chairman of the TRIBUTE at Baltusrol, an
annual golf outing for active duty veterans of
all military services that have served in
combat operations. In over eight years,
approximately 800 military veterans enjoyed a
special day of thanks and the proceeds from
the event provided Bonds of Courage, a
military family charity, with its greatest
annual revenue event.
Mike Mackey,
Director
Mike is a Partner/Managing Director for the
Baker Group. He is registered as an investment
advisor, principal, and representative with
FINRA. Mike serves on the Baker Executive
Committee and manages the Baker Group Texas
office...
The son of a military veteran, Mike grew up in
Oklahoma City before moving to Austin with his
wife, Wendy. Mike studied at Oklahoma State
University before graduating from Central
State University in Oklahoma.
An avid outdoorsman and sports fan, Mike
enjoys golf, hunting, and fishing with his
daughter and introducing children to all
things outdoors. He has donated time to the
Gladney Center for Adoption, Habitat for
Humanity, Cattle Baron’s Ball, and the Rise
School of Austin. He is also a Lifetime Member
of the Oklahoma State Alumni Association and a
University of Texas Foundation Member.
Bryan Schneider,
Director
As a father of three young children and an Army
veteran, Bryan is passionate about the mission
of the Comfort Crew. Having connected with
mothers and fathers while stationed abroad first
hand, he understands the toll that it takes on
the entire family unit when parents are
deployed. Bryan is honored to be able to help
improve the experience of children while their
parents support our country abroad....
Bryan was a member of the 1st Ranger Battalion
and spent 4 tours abroad in Iraq and
Afghanistan in US Special Operations.
Nowadays, Bryan is a real estate executive and
private investor in Austin and enjoys spending
time with his family, hunting, and golfing in
his free time. He graduated Summa Cum Laude
from St Edwards University.
Travis is currently attending the University
of Texas at Austin as a dual master’s degree
candidate – Master of Business Administration
and Master of Global Policy Studies. As a
Texas McCombs Board Fellow member, he was
selected and assigned to Comfort Crew for
Military Kids as the 2019 Board Fellow.
Travis has an innate calling to serve, and as
a Naval Officer with a family, knows
personally the challenges of balancing service
with family. The assignment to Comfort Crew
allows him to give back to the military
community and the sacrifices these families
make by supporting Comfort Crew on their
mission to enhance resiliency within military
families.
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