Executive Staff

Colonel George W. Aldridge (USA, Ret), ViaGlobal President

George Aldridge develops and executes the company’s strategic plans, advances ViaGlobal’s mission and objectives, and enables the organization’s growth.  He provides ViaGlobal with leadership in the development and expansion of new enterprise business efforts, current program expansion, client relations, quality assurance, and market analysis in both domestic and international markets. 

Prior to joining ViaGlobal Group, George served for 30 years as a US Army Infantry officer serving in a number of command and senior staff assignments. These assignments included the command of Infantry and Armor Company, Battalion and Brigade organizations and senior staff positions to include Chief of the War Plans Division on the Chairman of the Joint Chief’s Staff and Chief of Staff of First US Army. 

Since retiring from the Army, George has been a senior business executive with the Coca-Cola Company and IMI Cornelius. In both companies, George was responsible for global strategic direction, corporate execution, and business growth.

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Major General Gary Harrell (USA, Ret.)

Gary Harrell, Director General, retired as a Major General and the Deputy Chief of Staff Operations / Commander, Allied Joint Force Command-Brunssum Deployable Joint Task Force, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Response Force, Brunssum, The Netherlands. He has served the U.S. Army for 34 years. During his distinguished career, General Harrell has served as Commander, Special Operations Command Central; Director, U.S. Central Command; Commander, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD); Deputy Commander, SFOD; Squadron Commander special operations officer and troop commander, SFOD; as well as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. General Harrell has distinguished himself in the military’s most elite and clandestine combat units.

Harrell helped rescue U.S. hostage Kurt Muse from a Panamanian jail in 1989, and hunted down Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. He searched for mobile Iraqi Scud missile launchers in the first Persian Gulf War in 1991, was a commander during the 1993 battle of Mogadishu immortalized in the book and movie “Black Hawk Down,” and led perhaps the largest special operations force in U.S. history into combat in Iraq. During his career he participated in several major operations, to include Operation Anaconda, Operation Urgent Fury, Operation Just Cause, Operations Desert Shield and Storm, Operation Continue Hope, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. General Harrell has served his nation with honor in the Middle East as well as around the world. His decorations include the Army Commendation Medal (Oak Leaf Clusters); Air Medal; Meritorious Service Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster); Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster); Bronze Star Medal (w/ “V” Device); Defense Superior Service Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster); and the Defense Distinguished Service Medal.

Command Experience:

• Special Forces Detachment Commander, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment -Delta (Delta Force) Troop and Squadron Commander
• Commander, Special Operations Command Central
• Deputy Chief of Staff Operations/Commander, Allied Joint Force Command

Service Experience:

• Director, Joint Security Directorate, United States Central Command

Combat Experience:

• Grenada, Panama, Desert Shield/Storm, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan

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Master Sergeant Norman Hooten (USA, Ret.)

Norman Hooten is a member of the ViaGlobal Group Executive Strategy Board and the Deputy Director of the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center in Amman, Jordan. In this position, he leads a global center of excellence for counter-terrorism training, specializing in the security, education, training, and employment of global security forces.

Prior to joining ViaGlobal Group, Norman served as the National Supervisory Training Coordinator for advance tactical teams of the Federal Air Marshal Service. With more than twenty years of experience in training Military Special Operations and Law Enforcement personnel, Norm has served as a training and tactics consultant for several other agencies and corporations.

Norm’s fourteen years of experience in Counter Terrorist Operations while assigned to the U.S. Army’s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta (1st SFOD-D) provide him with an extensive depth and breadth of experience. He served as 1st SFOD-D Troop Sergeant Major, Senior Marksmanship Instructor, Lead Martial Arts Instructor, Assault Team Leader, Military Freefall Jumpmaster, and Master Breacher. Norm also served as a team leader with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu Somalia in 1993 and was awarded the Bronze Star for valor. His expertise while employed by the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) was instrumental in the rapid expansion and transformation of the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He personally supervised training for more than 1500 Federal Air Marshals. His assistance led to the development of FAMS tactics for us on a wide variety of aircraft in various configurations for both domestic and international flight operations.

Command Experience:

• Troop Sergeant Major, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment- Delta (Delta Force)
• Training Coordinator Supervisor, Federal Air Marshal

Service Experience

• 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
• 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment- Delta (Delta Force)

School House:

• Trained Jordanian 71st CT; 25- country Op & Training Experience
• Senior Instructor, Federal Air Marshal
• Senior marksmanship and hand to hand instructor, Operator Training Course (1st SFOD-d)

Combat Experience:

• Operation Just Cause, Panama, Operation Restore Hope, Somalia, Lebanon, Bosnia

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