Rob Dooley has been privileged with an international career in service, diplomacy, and leadership — spanning the cockpit of an F-16, the halls of the Pentagon, the corridors of the U.S. Embassy in Paris, and the headquarters of one of the world’s most iconic defense companies.

Rob built a distinguished military career that took him from combat operations in the Middle East and the Balkans, to serving as deputy executive officer to the four-star Commander of NORAD/USNORTHCOM. From 2007 to 2010, he served as U.S. Air Attaché to France at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. It was in this role that Rob first crossed paths with ABMF, working alongside the U.S. government and the Foundation to build lasting support for the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial and bringing it under the care of the American Battle Monuments Commission. That effort ensured that the legacy of the American volunteer aviators who flew for France before the U.S. entered World War I would be honored and preserved for generations.

Following his military service, Rob joined Lockheed Martin, where he spent more than15 years leading international business development efforts for the F-35 program across the Americas, the Middle East, Southern Europe, Turkey, and Israel. Currently, Rob serves as the director of military operations for the U.S. Aviation Academy providing flight training for the next generation of USAF pilots. A multilingual communicator in French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian, he has represented U.S. interests in some of the most complex and sensitive international negotiations in the defense world.

Today, Rob continues to support the ABMF mission by being a judge for the Past is Prologue Essay Contest since 2024.

Thank you, Rob, for a lifetime of service to ensure that the bonds between America and its allies, forged in sacrifice, are never forgotten.

“I have a deep respect for the men and women who fight for us day after day,” says Harriette Owens Waldron. “Being involved with ABMF is one way that I can make sure their memory stays relevant, and I can express my gratitude for the freedoms they protect for me.”

Harriette Waldron, we appreciate you!

Harriette Waldron is an emeritus member of the Board of Directors of ABMF. She continues as a donor, a volunteer as a judge for the ABMF Past is Prologue Essay Contest, and chair of the ABMF Golf Classic. She has attended various in-person and online events and this year will participate in the Presence of Memories Tour in France.

Harriette brings both breadth of experience and depth of expertise to ABMF. Upon graduation from the University of Kentucky with a B.S. in Nursing, Harriette joined the U.S. Navy where she served for five years, first on the neuro-surgery floor and then as an operating room nurse at Bethesda Naval Hospital. She served another six years in the Navy Reserves as Chief Training Officer.

She recounts that an exceptional experience was reserve duty at 29 Palms, supporting Marines in Desert Warfare training.

“I was a young woman in my 20’s and had to exemplify what was expected of an officer, both professionally and personally. I give this advice to young people: the military is an exceptional environment to work in health care. You work with the best people; they’re all dedicated. You have the opportunity to move around with the military and to experience all the different aspects of nursing.”

Upon leaving the Navy with the rank of LCDR, she began a career in pharmaceutical marketing with McKesson.

Harriette saw a problem in the intersection of patients’ needs, pharmaceutical charges, and insurance payments. In short, the system was complicated and confusing. Harriette and her business partner left McKesson, which later bought her first multi-million-dollar company with 200 employees. She subsequently formed PSKW and pioneered the point-of-sale copay reimbursement program that has become the gold standard of the pharmaceutical industry.

“As I look back on my career in the Navy Nurse Corps, I certainly treasure all the technical and professional skills I learned there. But it had application for running my companies. As a military officer, knowing your code of conduct was in the forefront of the companies in which I was involved. I credit my military experience with giving me the tools to make those companies successful. And, I cherish the friendships I’ve made along the way. There’s a camaraderie in the military that transcends everything.”

Ms. Nicole Dobronski brings more than a decade of classroom experience and a genuine passion for history education to everything she does.

As the K-12 Education Specialist at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Nicole sits at the intersection of history, pedagogy, and civic education. Her work goes far beyond the classroom walls: she has designed lesson plans for PBS Learning Media in collaboration with the Ken Burns documentary team, and has facilitated teacher workshops for PBS, the Kansas State Department of Education, and the Museum and Memorial itself.

Her curriculum and grade-level coursework helped place her school district in the top 1% in the United States — a testament to the rigor, creativity, and care she brings to her craft. At the heart of her work is a commitment to teaching U.S. history through the lens of the Constitution’s founding ideals, always making space for the diverse perspectives that make that history whole.

It is that same dedication to thoughtful, inclusive, and rigorous education that she brings to ABMF as a judge for the Past is Prologue Essay Contest, a role she has held since 2024 : “I believe in the mission as well as what the essay contest is doing for kids and their connection to history. The contest builds a bridge from the past to the present, encouraging students to recognize the value of history. This intentionality and purpose align very deeply with my personal beliefs that every new generation needs to find value in what came before.”

Thank you, Nicole, for your tireless commitment to bringing history to life — and for helping young writers understand why the past still matters today.

Mr. Stephen Crockett’s life has been shaped by a deep commitment to military and public service — first in the British army, then in UK law enforcement, and now as an educator in WWII European military history.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Stephen served in the British Army from 1982 to 1996, in a military career that took him across the globe on deployments from North America to the South Atlantic. As part of the Allied Command Europe Mobile Force AMF(L), he undertook specialized Arctic Warfare training and deployed to the Gulf region during the later stages of Operation Desert Storm. From 1993 until 1996 Steve served with the UK’s 5th Airborne Brigade participating in deployments in Africa and Europe.

On leaving the Army, Stephen joined UK law enforcement where he served for 23 years in various detective and senior investigator roles. It was during this chapter that he met his wife, and together they made a life-changing decision: to settle in Normandy France, the land where so much of the history Stephen had dedicated himself to understanding had been written in blood and sacrifice.

Today, Stephen channels that lifetime of military experience & detective skillset into analytical research and assessment of WWII European military history. As the founder of D-Day Detective, he leads bespoke battlefield tours for several historical tour providers including the U.S. Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours, based in New Orleans. Stephen holds a master’s degree in military history from Birmingham University and is currently researching for his PhD proposal on the activities of the wartime Normandy French Resistance. He is an active member of several academic and research military history groups and serves as a senior committee member of the Royal British Legion Normandy branch.

Stephen shares his knowledge, passion, and presence to ABMF: “Living in Normandy, I am fortunate to see all the hard work that the ABMC does to ensure that the cemeteries and graves under its charge are maintained to the highest standards. Being a volunteer with the ABMF allows me the opportunity to be a very small part of that team in ensuring that we never forget those individuals who gave up their tomorrows for all our today!” He serves as a judge for the Past is Prologue Essay Contest, and he has represented ABMF and been a featured speaker at commemorative ceremonies throughout Normandy.

Mr. Pierre Oury is the kind of person who makes the word “accomplished” feel like an understatement. A retired senior U.S.A.F. military officer, seasoned combat and instructor pilot, international airline captain, entrepreneur, and trilingual diplomat (English, French, and Spanish) — his career has spanned continents, cockpits, and command rooms, always in service of something larger than himself.

As a foreign area officer, Pierre built deep expertise in international political-military affairs, developing the cross-cultural fluency that would define his career. He flew fighter aircraft in combat operations worldwide, and shaped the next generation of military aviators as an instructor pilot.

For the past 30 years, Pierre has had a distinguished career as an international airline pilot at United Airlines. He is also the founder of Artus Consulting LLC, a defense and security advisory firm with reach across the Americas, Europe, and Africa, specializing in foreign military sales, partnership strategy, and international business development. 09/11 changed his life forever as he flew over NYC for a few months in an F-16 on combat air patrol.

As a first generation American, Pierre’s ties to France and to the memory of both world wars run deep. He has been an ardent advocate for the ABMF mission within his vast international network. He played a meaningful role in supporting veterans traveling to attend the 80th anniversary ceremonies at American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries in both Normandy and Manila — ensuring that those who fought were present to be honored on the very ground they once defended. Pierre has also served as a judge for the Past is Prologue Essay Contest.