The Veterans and First Responders Memorial at Fairfield Glade, Tennessee

Founding Board of Directors

Executive Leadership

  

Philip C. Smith, President and Project Manager
 
An Iowa native, Phil earned his BA and MA degrees from the University of Northern Iowa located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and did additional graduate work in public administration at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.  During a thirty-plus-year career with the State of Iowa, he held several senior executive-level positions culminating with his thirteen-year tenure as the Director of the Iowa Office of State-Federal Relations in Washington, D.C. This was followed by his founding of a government affairs and public policy consulting practice where he was an advisor to a wide variety of healthcare and technology-related companies as well as educational institutions and national nonprofit organizations. He has lived in Fairfield Glade, TN since 2009 where he has served as a volunteer in various organizations including his past service as the Chair of the Fairfield Glade Community Club Strategic Planning Committee and as a current member of the FGCC Government Affairs Committee.  In 2022 he was elected to serve on the 17-county Volunteer Energy Cooperative Board of Directors as the Cumberland County East representative. 

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Everett L. Bolin, Jr., Vice-President

 

Everett is a native of Cumberland County Tennessee, having lived here most of his life except when serving in the United States Army for four years after enlisting in 1966 and for a brief period while working in Cookeville, TN.  When in the Army, Everett was assigned to the Army Security Agency where he began as a communications expert working on communications equipment repair, earning a top security crypto clearance. After leaving the Army in 1970, Everett started a 30-year career with General Telephone initialing using his technical skills in helping maintain equipment and then earning a variety of promotions to management positions.  He retired as the manager of Cumberland and Warren counties so he could care for his parents. He then was asked to take the position of General Manager of the Crab Orchard Utility District where he continues to serve in this capacity.  Everett has a long history of community involvement and volunteer service. He currently serves as the Chair of the Cumberland County 911 Board, the Vice-Chair of the Cumberland County Solid Waste Board, Treasurer of the Cumberland County Fair Board, various committees of the Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce. He also served as the Chair of the Cumberland County Republican Party for many years. 

 

Captain Dana Kendall, USAF (RET), Treasurer

 

Dana enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1975 and was trained as a Financial Specialist. While serving in several assignments he was promoted to Technical Sergeant and he attended college part-time while earning his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Franklin University. In 1987 he earned his Commission as a 2nd Lieutenant and was assigned to the Air Force Audit Agency Headquarters as an Audit Manager at Wright Patterson AFB Ohio. During this period, he traveled extensively throughout the world and managed to earn his MBA degree from Central Michigan University. In 1990, as a 1st Lieutenant, he was sent to Cairo, Egypt in support of Desert Storm. When he returned, he was promoted to Captain and assigned to the 123rd Airlift Wing in Louisville, KY where he served as the Assistant U.S, Property and Fiscal Officer until retiring from the military in 1997, Following his military service, he served as the Financial   Director for McCracken County Schools in Paducah, KY until 2007 while earning a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Kennedy Western University. He then served as Regional Supervisory Auditor for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Nashville, TN, and Cincinnati, OH until retiring to Fairfield Glade, TN in 2018.

 

Colleen Mall, Secretary (Primary)

 

A native of Kansas City, MO, she received her undergraduate degree in nursing from Avila College in Kansas City, Mo, and her graduate degree from the University of Kansas. She entered the United States Army Nurse Corps in the 1970s and served 29 years both in the Active and Reserve component, retiring in 2011 at the rank of Colonel.  COL Mall’s last assignment prior to retirement was as Chief Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer in charge of a Joint Military Services Team that managed Department of Defense disaster response resources for FEMA Region 3. 

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In the civilian sector, Colleen was a critical care nurse, nurse administrator, and educator.  Prior to and after 9/11, a significant part of her career was spent in the area of domestic preparedness primarily training medical personnel to respond to and treat chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) incidences commonly known as weapons of mass destruction. Prior to retiring in 2012 to Fairfield Glade, Colleen worked for the Department of Homeland Security.  She is a member of the FG Ladies Club, FG Rotary, and the Veterans First Responder Memorial Board of Directors.  In 2020, was appointed, and then elected in 2021 to serve as the 9th District Cumberland County Commissioner.

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Katelyn Self, Secretary (Alternate)

 

Fairfield Glade Police Chief, Kate Self, was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  She attended Appalachian State University graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and minors in Sociology and Psychology in 2011. After attending college, she began her law enforcement career with the Roane County Sheriff’s Office.  She served as a supervisor for the detention center until graduating from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy in December 2012. She served as a patrol deputy with supervisor responsibilities until 2014.

 

Lt. Self joined the Fairfield Glade Police Department in 2014 as a patrol officer. She was promoted to Sergeant in 2016 where she was the patrol supervisor.  In 2018 she was promoted to the rank of Administrative Lieutenant and serves as the Accreditation Manager and Patrol Commander for the Department. Since joining the Fairfield Glade Police Department she has assisted in the development and management of various community outreach programs, integration of modern law enforcement software programs takes a proactive leadership role for the patrol division, and revision of the departments' policies and procedures which granted the department an international recognized accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) which is internationally recognized as the gold standard in law enforcement accreditation. She takes an active role with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office by managing the department's grant campaign and assists in instructing traffic safety training to other law enforcement officers.

 

Lt. Self has been awarded the 2106 Leadership Cumberland Hometown Hero’s Award. The 2017 Service in Excellence Award from the Fairfield Glade Community Club, 2019 Certificate of Appreciation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, 2019 Jack Cole Award of Law Enforcement Excellence, and the second-highest honor in law enforcement, the Life Savers Award. She is a current member of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police (TACP), Law Enforcement Accreditation Coalition of Tennessee (LEACT), and National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executive (NAWLEE).

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​Oliver Dossmann

 

A native of Paris, France, Oliver Dossmann was naturalized as a US Citizen in 2002. He attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and later Union University in Jackson, Tennessee where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (1995) and a Masters in Business Administration - MBA (1997). Oliver owns Dossmann Tech, a technology company that focuses on IT support services and website designs. He is an active resident of Fairfield Glade, Tennessee having served on the Strategic Planning Committee for three years, two of those years as Chairperson. He is involved in a number of local non-profit organizations. He is the founder of Mission to Missionaries, a non-profit organization that operates a retreat center for missionaries.

 

Colonel Alan Joseph, USAF (RET)

 

Alan grew up and attended school in central Illinois.  He graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1971 with a B.S, in Math.  He entered the United States Air Force and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in April 1972.  He immediately went to Undergraduate Helicopter Pilot Training and received his wings in 1973.  He flew helicopters (H-53 Super Jolly Green Giant) in Southeast Asia and Hawaii.  He transitioned to fixed-wing aircraft and flew the C-5 Galaxy and C-9 Nightingale off and on for the next 20 years with assignments in Delaware, Oklahoma, Hawaii, and Illinois. During this time, he earned his Master's Degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He has commanded at the squadron and group level and retired from the Air Force as a vice wing commander with the rank of Colonel in 2000. During his 29 years in the Air Force, he accumulated 5400 flight hours, lived in 17 different assignments, and had visited 42 countries worldwide. He moved to Fairfield Glade in 2015. 

  

Eric Ritzman

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A native of Cumberland County who has been involved with Emergency Services here since 2000, starting with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and Cumberland County Rescue Squad. He has been the 911 Director since 2012.

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In 2018 the Tennessee Emergency Number Association presented him with the Clara Hitson Award in recognition of his vision and leadership of the local Emergency Communication District and his dedication to the emergency responders and citizens of Cumberland County.

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In 2023 Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton appointed him to the Tennessee Emergency Communications Board, which was created to establish emergency communications for citizens across the state. The board also assists emergency communications districts (ECDs) in the areas of management, operations, and accountability.

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He is a past president of the Crossville Rotary Club and supports local non-profit agencies.

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Sean Stephens

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Sean Stephens grew up in Crossville and graduated from Cumberland County High School in 1994. He then went on to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he graduated with a degree in Public Relations & Communications in 1999.

 

He started Stephens & Associates, LLC in January of 2000 in Crossville, TN. Stephens & Associates is a marketing & consulting firm specializing in business marketing, as well as land development and the marketing of land developments in the East and Middle Tennessee areas.

 

His clients have included but are not limited to, Dave Kirk Automotive, Cumberland County Playhouse, Eye Centers of Tennessee, Millard Vaughn Oakley, Millard Vaughn Oakley Trusts, Ladd Landing, Center Hill Lake Partners, Crown Harbor at Nickajack Lake, and ExacCare.

 

Sean is also the co-owner of a local advertising specialties company in Crossville, Promotions Plus. Additionally, he is the co-owner of the urgent care clinic, ExacCare with locations in Crossville, Kingston, and Loudon.

 

He is married to Caroline Knight, who is one of two circuit court judges for our judicial district. He also has a fourteen-year-old son, Grove Stephens, who attends Stone Elementary.

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Kirk A. McLaughlin

 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kirk enlisted in the U.S.A.F. in 1972. After 6 years of service, he returned home and attended college and worked at an automotive accessory plant. He relocated to Texas and spent the next 10 years as a dispatch supervisor for a manufacturing facility and then joined the Arlington, Texas Fire Dept. where he spent the next 27 years as a Firefighter. After his Fire service career, he and his wife retired to Fairfield Glade, where he currently has a software consulting business and serves as the Fire Chief of the Fairfield Glade Fire Dept. and as a volunteer with the Veterans and First Responders Memorial. He serves with Team Rubicon, a humanitarian disaster relief responder, serving veterans in Texas as a Planning and Operations Deputy, and then in Tennessee as the Wellness leader for Kentucky and Tennessee as well as responding to natural disasters and serving as a logistics commander.

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Ricky W. Leonard

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Ricky W. Leonard is a native of New York State. His small hometown, Moravia NY, is the birthplace of our 13th President Millard Fillmore.  Rick enlisted in the Marine Corps after High School in 1976. After completing formal education as an electronics technician and then TACAN technician he was sent to Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay Hawaii. He worked in the Air Traffic Control field as a radio and TACAN technician.  While completing a four year and three-month tour of duty Rick qualified as an Expert Rifleman, earned a First-Degree Black Belt in Taekwon Do, ran the Honolulu Marathon, completed a two-year Electronics Technician Degree from the Cleveland Institute of Technology and was promoted to Sergeant E5.

  Upon exiting the Marine Corps Rick returned to New York and began a career at IBM, in Poughkeepsie NY as an electronics technician and enrolled in college attending night classes in the computer science field. After nine years of working on some of the most advanced testing equipment in the world, Rick moved into a management position managing a department of technicians. He left management for a programming position for three years to develop software to automate a chemical manufacturing line in IBM. At the completion of the software project Rick graduated from the State University of New York New Paltz with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree.  Rick also earned certification from the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional. He went back into management as an Engineering manager in the IBM large systems (Main Frames) testing area. While in this position Rick shifted some of his technician and engineer resources to create a new department that provided testing compatibility for outside companies that needed to interact with IBM large systems.  This new department (Vendor Solutions Connectivity Lab) was the first IBM department to completely fund itself directly by billing the outside companies for testing their equipment for compatibility with IBM large systems known as System Z computers.  After several years a west coast IBM Open Systems Engineering Lab was added to Rick’s current two test departments increasing his scope of testing to include large systems, midrange systems, small systems, large storage systems and long-distance data communication systems.  Rick retired from IBM after 34 years (1981-2015) of service as a Senior Engineering Manager.

  Rick moved to Fairfield Glade, TN, in 2015 and started working a seasonal job at Heatherhurst Golf Course where he worked first in maintenance, then Starter/Ranger and then in the Pro Shop, where he works today.  Rick is the Facilities Manager at First Baptist Church Fairfield Glade and a member of the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief chainsaw team which has made many trips after tornado and flooding events in Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee over the last ten years.  In 2019, Rick along with 30 marine veterans, chartered Sgt. Morgan W. Strader Marine Corps League here in Crossville, TN. The league has grown to 95 members. Rick is the current Sr. Vice Commandant in the league. Rick is a founding member of the Veterans and First Responders Memorial project.  Initially volunteering on the design committee team, then design committee chairman and then elected to the Board of Directors.

 

Bryan Vaughn

 

Bryan Vaughn, originally from Rantoul, Illinois, dedicated 22 years to the United States Marine Corps, holding various leadership roles within the Reconnaissance community and retiring as a Sergeant Major in 2004. Following his military service, he spent 13 years as a civil servant, supporting active-duty Marine families on deployment. Bryan has been married to Karyn Vaughn for 25 years, and together they have raised three wonderful children and have three grandchildren. He continues to volunteer his time to support military, commercial, and faith-based communities, driven by his passion for helping people achieve their dreams. Since 2022, Bryan has been residing in Crossville, Tennessee.
 

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