Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Stephen (Steve) M. Roark is Deputy Director of Tactical Systems for American Business Development Group. Steve retired in February of 2000 after 28 years of service in the Army and Air Force with a career enhancing assignment with the US Coast Guard. Steve brings a background in Flight Operations, Command & Control, Emergency Management, Program Management, and Experimentation and Interoperability for aviation related areas. Steve's last active duty assignment was at Langley AFB, VA where he served as the Director of the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and Director of the Air Force Element of the US National Search and Rescue School. In those assignments Steve served as an aviation search and rescue subject matter expert for the United States to the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization Joint Search and Rescue Working Group. Additionally, Steve was responsible for the coordination of all federal level search and rescue in the continental United States. Since his retirement Steve has provided support as a Senior Analyst for search and rescue, combat search and rescue, and personnel recovery to the Air Force Experimentation Office at Langley AFB, VA; Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, FL; and the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency at Fort Belvoir, VA.
Steve began his military career with the US Army in 1970 as a helicopter pilot and completed one tour in South Vietnam flying the AH-1G Cobra helicopter. Steve transitioned to the US Air Force in 1976 where he flew special operations helicopters in Florida and combat search and rescue helicopters in the Philippines, and New Mexico. Steve's career included a tour flying maritime search and rescue helicopters with the US Coast Guard in San Diego, CA. Steve's aviation duties ended in 1988 as a Command Pilot with over 3,600 flight hours including 555 hours of combat time. From 1988 until he retired Steve's career focused on command and control duties. These duties included assignments as the Director of the Korean Combined Rescue Coordination Center, Director of Plans and Director of Operations for the Department of Defense Manned Space Flight Support Office (DDMS), and Director of the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Steve received a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Aviation Management degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and attended the Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, AL and the Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, VA.
Steve is married to the former Sun Hui (Sunny) Kim of Seoul, Korea who is an LPGA teaching professional.
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