Larry Cook is a member of the US Civil Service and manages the Sovereign Challenge Program on behalf of the Directorate of Strategy Policy and Plans at Headquarters United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), MacDill Air Force Base Florida. Mr. Cook directs one of USSOCOM’s longest active engagement outreach programs with annual events in multiple locations and an overall program budget of more than $2 million.

Mr. Cook has served in a variety of leadership, staff and technical positions in government and industry. He entered the U.S. Air Force in 1998 after graduating from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and served as an active duty commissioned officer until 2011. Mr. Cook also holds Master’s Degrees from Troy State University and the University of North Carolina.

Harry Thomas is a Senior Kissinger Fellow at Yale. He served as ambassador to Zimbabwe, the Philippines and Bangladesh. He retired in March 2018 with the rank of Career Minister after more than three decades in the Foreign Service. Ambassador Thomas also served as Executive Secretary and Special Assistant to Secretary Rice, Director General of the Foreign Service, and Director for South Asia at the National Security Council Staff.

Ambassador Thomas speaks Spanish, Hindi, Bangla and Tagalog. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and holds a master’s degree from Columbia University. He holds honorary doctorates from Holy Cross and Loyola University of Maryland. He is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, Holy Cross and Care4theHomeless Boards and Chairs the Winter4Kids Board. He is married and has three adult children.

Alex Morales-Hernandez is the Sovereign Challenge Senior Strategic Engagements Advisor – HQUSSOCOM.

He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he lived until he enlisted in the United States Army. He is a 2013 graduate of Central Michigan University with a Master of Science in Administration.

Alex enlisted in the United States Army on 18 April 1995 and retired as a Chief Warrant Officer Three after 21 years of military service. He served in the Special Operations Enterprise and lastly in the Defense Attache System as the Operations Coordinator, Assistant Army Attache, and Acting Defense Attache in countries such as Bolivia, Chad, El Salvador, Colombia, Malawi, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

Alex is a recipient of numerous military awards including the 3rd highest award in the Department of State “Award for Heroism”.

He speaks three foreign languages, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

His wife and three children reside with him in Florida.

Prior to joining the Sovereign Challenge team in November of 2019, Mr. Quiceno had a distinguished career with the Department of Defense as a Telecommunications Manger and Non-Commissioned Officer. Mr. Quiceno served with multiple organizations around the globe in combat, strategic, and diplomatic environments in a variety of leadership roles. He spent over three quarters of his military career serving overseas and has vast experience working with diverse cultural audiences. During his career, Mr. Quiceno received numerous awards for leadership and superior performance, including the prestigious Sergeant Audie Murphy Award. His latest assignment was Chief of Executive Communications for the United States Special Operations Command.

Luis has a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management and is fluent in Spanish in both written and oral communication.

Prior to joining the Sovereign Challenge team in June of 2019, Mr. Brill had a distinguished 26 year career in the U.S. Army as an Infantryman. Mr. Brill served and commanded with multiple organizations around the globe in Light, Airborne, Mechanized, and Training units. He has received numerous awards for leadership and superior performance during his multiple overseas assignments. Mr. Brill served in a variety of leadership and staff positions during his service.

Mr. Brill entered the U.S. Army in 1991 as a Reservist and an active duty officer after graduating from Central Missouri State University in 1993. Mr. Brill holds a Bachelor of Science degree and is JPME II qualified from the Joint and Combined Warfighting School.

Mr. Angel R. Davila Lopez retired from the United States Army with the rank of Colonel. He served in numerous training, humanitarian, peacekeeping and combat operations in Latin America, Europe, Indo-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Mr. Davila supported the Special Operations Forces (SOF) enterprise with assignments to the USSOCOM Headquarters, the United States Army Special Operations Command and three Theater Special Operations Commands where He assisted SOF partners in building their military capacity and fostered long-term diplomatic military relationships. He graduated from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Senior Officer Policy Course at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany.

Mr. Davila is proficient in Spanish, French, Brazilian-Portuguese, Italian and Lithuanian. Mr. Davila is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, Sorbonne University and holds a master’s degree from Troy University.

Edwin Herrera is originally from Panama City, Panama. Mr. Herrera enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1996 as a Security Forces member and has had a distinguished career in both, active duty and now as a Reservist assigned to the United States Southern Command Operations Directorate. Prior to joining the Sovereign Challenge team in November of 2020, Mr. Herrera served as the subject matter expert for the United States Central Command’s Customs and Border Preclearance Agent’s Program. His broad career also encompasses a vast working experience associated with the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security, to include, an extensive amount of official engagements with Foreign Dignitaries and their governmental entities. Mr. Herrera also represented the Foreign Service Institute, as an Adjunct Instructor, delivering the Leadership Supervisory Course at United States Embassies throughout the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. He has received numerous awards for his leadership and exceptional performance during his stateside and overseas assignments, including the Department of State Superior Honor Award.

Mr. Herrera holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Leadership from Amridge University; he is fluent in Spanish. The Sunshine State of Florida is his current place of residence, along with his wife and two young adult children.