Executive Team
Mr. Robert W. Kocher, Jr.
President & CEO
As President and Founder of Ideal Innovations, Inc. (I3), Mr. Kocher is responsible for the daily and long-term oversight and management of his company's contracts. In this leadership role, Mr. Kocher has assisted in the formation of the DoD's Biometrics Management Office and in the evaluation and development of technologies for anti-terrorism, force protection and 21st century peacekeeping.
Mr. Kocher incorporated I3 in 1998 in response to the U.S. government's urgent need for specialized, responsive technology consulting in areas directly affecting the health and safety of deployed forces and U.S. citizens. Previously, in his role as Program Manager, he formed and institutionalized the Army's Quick Response Office to provide cutting-edge technologies in counter-terrorism and peace-keeping to soldiers and peacekeepers. As a Program Manager for the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA), he was responsible for the evaluation, selection and transitioning of high-concept technologies for military applications in peacekeeping and future combat operations.
Mr. Kocher is a 1976 graduate of the United States Military Academy and served the Army in a variety of management and leadership roles from 1976 through 1997. He holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University and is a Certified Level III Program Manager, Department of Defense and Program Management Institute (PMI). Additionally, he is a Certified Level III Systems Planning, Research, Development and Engineering.
Mr. Kocher is an inventor holding 9 patents. He has 7 patents pending.
Mr. Richard Syretz
Chief Financial Officer and Sr. Vice President, Internal Operations
Mr. Syretz is the Chief Financial Officer & Senior Vice President of Internal Operations of Ideal Innovations, Inc. He is responsible for directing the company's overall financial policies, as well as managing all financial functions including accounting, treasury, banking, and insurance. In addition, he is the Staff Director for the following corporate functions: Human Resources, Information Technology, Supply Chain Management, Security, Legal and Contracts. In April 2009, Mr. Syretz was honored as one of the top CFOs in Greater Washington by SmartCEO magazine and in December, he was recognized as a finalist for Washington Business Journal's CFO of the Year Award.
Prior to joining I3, Mr. Syretz was Director of Finance for the Defense Business Unit of URS Corporation (formerly Washington Group International and Raytheon Company). At URS he was responsible for accounting closings, financial reporting, and strategic financial planning.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Syretz held roles of increasing responsibility within Raytheon Company including serving as Sr. Business Manager for the Raytheon Demilitarization Company. He received the Excellence in Procurement Award from the Dept of the Army for implementing the first certified Earned Value Management System at a Chemical Demilitarization plant.
Mr. Syretz earned his bachelor's degree in Finance and Economics from Boston College and holds a MBA in Finance. He is also a candidate for the Certificate of Management from Wharton's School's Executive Education Program. Richard is a member of the Board of Directors of the 11q Research and Resource Group where he serves as Treasurer.
Mr. Michael Smith
Senior Vice President, Business Development
As the Senior Vice President of Business Development for Ideal Innovations, Inc., Mr. Smith is responsible for establishing, expanding and overseeing all operations within the I3 business development division and proposal team. Since joining I3 in 2008, Mr. Smith has been responsible for winning several major prime-contractor ID/IQ awards, task orders and other solicitations, including the Biometrics Operations and Support Services - Unrestricted (BOSS-U), Defense Forensics Enterprise System (DFES), Reactive Support Services (RSS) and SeaPort-e contracts.
Mr. Smith brings twenty-five years of acquisition experience to I3, previously serving as Director at the U.S. Army’s Armaments Technology Engineering Center. He led a workforce of nearly 2,000 Military and Civilian personnel at 7 different locations in support of armaments programs and was responsible for life cycle engineering support and research and development for munitions, associated weapons, manufacturing technologies and explosive ordnance disposal technical exploitation and technology development.
Mr. Smith completed a distinguished, twenty-eight year career with the U.S. Army in 2008, achieving the rank of Colonel. He earned his B.S. degree from Mississippi State University in Nuclear Engineering, an M.S. degree in Engineering Science from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Masters in Strategic Studies from the Army War College.
Mr. Charlie Mahon
Vice President & General Manager, Biometrics
As Vice President & General Manager of Biometrics, Mr. Mahon is responsible for operations and programs to develop, test, deploy, operate and support physical access systems to bases, ships, facilities and structures; both military and non military. Currently, Mr. Mahon oversees program management responsibilities at PM DoD Biometrics for the Biometrics Identification System for Access (BISA). BISA provides biometric enrollment, vetting of biometrics against extensive databases and physical access control using biometrics. Program activities include planning, contract personnel management, logistics management, operations, reporting, and training. Operations are occurring in West Virginia, Northern Virginia, and Iraq. Iraqi operations include base access at 35 U.S. Military installations.
Mr. Mahon holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering from the United States Naval Academy, a Masters Certificate in Applied Project Management from Villanova University, and completion of U.S. Naval Nuclear Power Propulsion qualification. He has also served the Department of Energy by providing program management support to the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Section and to the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration. Additionally, Mr. Mahon's career includes twenty-two years in commercial nuclear power that included refueling outage management, systems engineering, modification project management, emergency response operations and construction project management.
RJ Kolton
Senior Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development
Mr. Kolton is the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development for Ideal Innovations, Inc. He is responsible for planning and implementing corporate growth strategies out of the company's headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. In addition, Mr. Kolton supports the company's business unit managers and senior staff in expanding current business services and is responsible for identifying new market segments for expansion, and supporting development of new products and services.
Prior to joining I3, Mr. Kolton served as Senior Vice President of Business Development for L3Communications Service Group (LSG). Since 2005, he led and coordinated business development planning and operations worldwide for five LSG service sector divisions and associated subsidiaries. His responsibilities included management of LSG strategic business development, capture planning, and proposal development; mergers and acquisitions; development of new products and services; independent research and development; marketing and advertising; business development systems and operating procedures; and, business development professional development. From 1998-2009, Mr. Kolton was concurrently Senior Vice President of Business Development for MPRI, a subsidiary of L3Communications since 2000.
A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, Mr. Kolton served for over 22 years as an infantryman and military strategist in various command and staff positions in the White House, U.S. Central Command, Department of the Army, and the 82nd Airborne and 3rd Infantry Divisions. He received his BS from the U.S, Military Academy at West Point, MA in History from the University of Texas at Austin, and Masters of Military Arts and Sciences in Strategy from the School of Advanced Military Studies at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
Herb Richardson
Vice President & General Manager, Identity Management Operations
As the Vice President and General Manager of Identity Management Operations, Mr. Richardson provides a wealth of expertise in military operations, forensic science and biometric systems functions in support of Department of Defense endeavors. He assists the Government in providing biometrics liaison services to strategic, operational and tactical-level staff elements, Combatant Commanders, Joint Task Force Commanders and special purpose task forces to assist them in decision support for biometric and forensics techniques and procedures. He is responsible for managing, planning, developing, supervising and administering activities and advanced scientific work of forensic facilities and personnel worldwide. Previously, he was instrumental in assisting in the development of the US Special Operations Command Identity Dominance Architecture. In 2008 he received the US Citizenship and Immigration Services' Partnership Award from the Department of Homeland Security for establishing interagency biometric record sharing.
Mr. Richardson has served in the US Army with distinction as a Special Forces officer in a wide variety of command and staff positions from the detachment to group levels. His previous assignments include overseas deployments to Haiti, the Persian Gulf, the Balkans and two tours in Afghanistan. He has completed over twenty military courses and is currently a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves.
Mr. Richardson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Fairmont State University, a graduate certificate in Corporate Communications from West Virginia University, and is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College.
Rebecca Perlman
Senior Vice President, Forensics
As Senior Vice President of Forensics, Dr. Perlman oversees all forensic operation efforts for I3. Operations are currently in Afghanistan and West Virginia, where there are teams of latent print examiners, ten-print examiners, DNA analysts, forensic technicians, forensic photographers and firearm/tool mark examiners. Dr. Perlman also serves as the Program Manager of the Defense Forensic Enterprise System (DFES) ID/IQ contract, which will expand I3's forensics footprint across the Department of Defense. When Dr. Perlman first joined I3 in 2006, she served as a Technology Advisor to the US Army's Rapid Equipping Force (REF). While at the REF, she led research activities in areas of armor, explosives detection and explosives analysis.
Prior to joining I3, Dr. Perlman was a Research Chemist in the Counterterrorism and Forensic Science Research Unit and the Forensic Analysis Section at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). While at the FBI, she conducted research in the areas of fingerprint detection and development and managed other research programs in the areas of latent prints, questioned documents, explosives, chemical and biological warfare and surveillance.
Dr. Perlman received a BA in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry from Washington University in St. Louis; a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania; and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at JILA, a joint institute between the University of Colorado and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado.
President & CEO
As President and Founder of Ideal Innovations, Inc. (I3), Mr. Kocher is responsible for the daily and long-term oversight and management of his company's contracts. In this leadership role, Mr. Kocher has assisted in the formation of the DoD's Biometrics Management Office and in the evaluation and development of technologies for anti-terrorism, force protection and 21st century peacekeeping.
Chief Financial Officer and Sr. Vice President, Internal Operations
Mr. Syretz is CFO and Sr. Vice President of Internal Operations of Ideal Innovations, Inc. He is responsible for directing the company's overall financial policies, as well as managing all financial functions including accounting, treasury, credit, and insurance.
Senior Vice President, Business Development
As the Senior Vice President of Business Development for Ideal Innovations, Inc., Mr. Smith is responsible for establishing, expanding and overseeing all operations within the I3 business development division and proposal team.
Vice President & General Manager, Biometrics
As Vice President & General Manager of Biometrics, Mr. Mahon is responsible for operations and programs to develop, test, deploy, operate and support physical access systems to bases, ships, facilities and structures; both military and non military.
Senior Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development
As the Senior Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development, Mr. Kolton is responsible for planning and implementing corporate growth strategies out of the company's headquarters.
Vice President & General Manager, Identity Management Operations
As the Vice President and General Manager of Identity Management Operations, Mr. Richardson provides a wealth of expertise in military operations, forensic science and biometric systems functions in support of Department of Defense endeavors.
Senior Vice President, Forensics
As Senior Vice President of Forensics, Dr. Perlman oversees all forensic operation efforts for I3. Operations are currently in Afghanistan and West Virginia, where there are teams of latent print examiners, ten-print examiners, DNA analysts, forensic technicians, forensic photographers and firearm/tool mark examiners.
