DIRECTOR

Devon was born in Creve Coeur, Missouri [“Show-Me”]. He spent his first career defending our Nation -- serving in the U.S. Army from 1985-2020. He spent most of that career overseas serving in Germany, Republic of Korea, Japan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Afghanistan, and the Philippines. Devon commanded the largest battalion in the U.S. Army. He is a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterrey, CA and won the Outstanding Thesis Award from the NPS Graduate School of Business and Public Policy. Devon joins the board in order to help the Executive and Legislative Branch of Government to see issues affecting our military and veterans from a fallacy-free perspective.

DIRECTOR

Theodore (Ted) Croy is an educator and physical therapist who retired as a Colonel from the Army in February 2022. His last position was as Dean of the Graduate School at the US Army Medical Center of Excellence at Fort Sam Houston, TX where he led 9 graduate programs of over 1000 students.

Ted enlisted in the Navy Reserve in 1988 and was trained as a Navy Seabee and later as a Hospital Corpsman prior to commissioning into the Army in 1996 where he attended the Army-Baylor University Graduate Program in Physical Therapy; a program he would later return to as a faculty member and program director. Ted cared for thousands of Soldiers and family members at Ft Bragg, Ft Irwin, and Hunter AAF by providing physical rehabilitation for orthopedic and sports injuries. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, where he was the Battalion Physical Therapist and completed 5 combat deployments. He earned a PhD in sports medicine from the University of Virginia and is currently an associate professor with Baylor University. He enjoys tutoring graduate students in allied health and seeking new ways to serve the nation. He has earned the combat medical badge, expert field medical badge, parachutist badge, two bronze stars and a legion of merit. He and his wife Julie are the parents of three grown daughters, and the grandparents to a grandson. They live near Waco, Texas.

DIRECTOR

Born and raised in Sonoma County, Chris Coulombe enlisted in the military at 18 as a private, and returned home 16 years later as a captain.

When Chris returned home to Sonoma County, he built a statewide logistics and distribution company serving the cannabis industry; co-founded a trade association that helped pass legislation critical to small businesses; and worked with the current and previous administrations in Sacramento on taxation, regulations, and rights of California’s cannabis businesses.

In 2018 the North Bay Business Journal recognized Chris in its Forty Under 40 issue; his company won the Small Transportation Business of the Year Award from the American Business Association, and a Zennie Award for HR Excellence. The following year Chris won The Irish Echo’s National Forty Under 40 award.

Chris lives in Sebastopol, where he spends time with his family. As an Eagle Scout, he serves as the past president and an advisory board member of Scouting’s Redwood Empire Council, assists his childhood scout troop, and hikes the beautiful wilderness of Northern California with his German Shepherd, Xorro. Chris is an avid runner and an aspiring gardener.

DIRECTOR

Wade Spann grew up in Northern Virginia and while still a junior in high school, he made the decision to join the Marine Corps. Wade officially enlisted in the Marines in August 2001. After graduating school, he went to Parris Island, South Carolina, to complete basic training. Spann was in the middle of basic training when the attacks on 9/11 occurred. Spann served with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment as infantryman, Wade served three combat tours in Iraq in Baghdad, Iraq, Fallujah, and Al-Ramadi. Since transitioning to civilian life Wade has been consistently involved in supporting the veteran community and looks forward to continuing this important work with AVP.

DIRECTOR

Kjersti started her path in the military when she followed in her Air Force flight surgeon Dad’s footsteps, joining the Air Force to pay for medical school. As a board certified Family Physician she has served in the Air Force stateside as well as in England and Japan. She took a 10 year break from the Air Force and served with the Coast Guard at the boot camp in Cape May and in her dream job as the flight surgeon at Air Station Sitka, Alaska. Upon re-joining the Air Force she returned to Japan, where she is currently stationed as a flight surgeon. She considers military people as the finest in the nation and has always considered it an honor to serve.