Mark "Jag" Jagger, Chief Executive Officer

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A truly selfless and gifted executive leader, who epitomizes integrity, dedication, and expertise. Over the past 40 years, Mark Jagger has driven efficiency and improvement in every organization he has been associated with. His "lead from the front" leadership style has earned him a reputation for creating long lasting organizational change through personal action, fairness, and integrity.   

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Mark served the United States Government for over 35 years, as both a civilian and military member. Prior to his retirement from federal service in 2023, Mark served at the US Department of Treasury as the Learning and Employee Development Program Coordinator for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIA). As the Program Coordinator, Mark oversaw the Threat Finance and Advanced Threat Finance Courses, which was taught to federal law enforcement and the intelligence community. Additionally, Mark served as a Department of Treasury education representative, and guest lecturer at Loyola University in Baltimore, MD for the International Business and Senior Program for International Studies graduate programs. Prior to the Department of Treasury, Mark worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as a Senior Instructor/Curriculum Developer. 

 

While serving at DIA, Mark became a DoD certified Master Trainer, and developed, taught, and oversaw three of DIA's "Flagship courses", which were: Basic Threat Finance Course, Advanced Threat Finance Course, and Analysis of Armed Groups Course. Prior to his federal service, Mark served 22 years in the Army, where he served in numerous prestigious units, including the Presidential Honor Guard and Special Forces. The experience, and expertise, Mark gained throughout his extensive career as is apparent in the ACTUAL² curriculum. 

  

Mark, without a doubt, is one of the finest instructors and course developers in the world, which is attested by a history of consistently "sold-out" courses, positive student critiques, and volume of requests for personal instruction, not only by federal agencies, but private institutions. In addition, Mark has received countless awards and commendations for his performance, from both the military and the intelligence community. Over the past four decades, Mark has honed and perfected the art of leadership, and is truly unparalleled in his knowledge and expertise of training, which is why Mark is the Chief Executive Officer of ACTUAL².

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Andrew Jagger, Chief Operating Officer 

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A collaborative and dynamic leader with a proven track record of creating best-in-class programs and leading organizations to success. With decades of experience in the military, law enforcement, and the intelligence community, Andrew is passionate about building high-performing teams, fostering empathetic leadership, and driving organizational efficiency. Throughout his career, Andrew has developed a reputation for delivering "calm to the chaos" and effectively leading crisis management in high-risk environments.

 

Andrew has served over a decade in Law Enforcement; both as a Special Agent (1811) for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and police officer for the City of Charleston (SC) Police Department. During his time as a Special Agent, Andrew conducted hundreds of investigations/operations, encompassing financial crime (money laundering/fraud), violent crime, national security, espionage, counterterrorism, cyber-crime, and insider threats. While serving in NCIS, Andrew served on a global deployment unit, where he served as a counterintelligence agent/intelligence officer. In addition to his law enforcement career, Andrew retired from the United States Army, where he served as a Non- Commissioned Officer (NCO) in the infantry, and later, as an Intelligence Officer.   Throughout his professional career, Andrew has become an expert in operational planning resulting in his selection as the Chief Operations Officer at ACTUAL². 

 

Education

• Master of Science (M.S.) in Management - Intelligence Studies, University of Maryland

• Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History, The Citadel

• Numerous Law Enforcement, Military, and Intelligence Certifications

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Brian A. Smith, Chief Financial Officer

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Brian is a zealot for training organizations in the unique application of financial
information, processes, organizations and understanding as they apply to National
Security to achieve desired outcomes, effects and end states. He is an innovator with a
passion for pioneering, developing and applying Financial Levers in both conventional
and unconventional manners to safeguard resources and to understand adversarial
resourcing processes.

Brian’s financial and National Security perspectives were honed and informed by
multiple military operational tours serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Bosnia, two
tours in Germany and direct support to Irregular Warfare, Counter Terrorism and Special
Forces mission sets.

Brian is a retired Army Finance and Comptroller Colonel with over 28 years of
experience spanning Counter Threat Finance, Resource Management, Accounting,
Disbursing and Comptrollership. He spent over 12 years serving within the Special
Operations community with an Army Special Mission Unit (SMU), U.S. Special
Operations Command (USSOCOM), U.S. Army Special Operations Command
(USASOC) and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

As a Senior Financial Manager, Brian served within the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) as the Chief Financial Officer in Kabul, Afghanistan. This
mission set was responsible for funding, training, equipping, payroll and sustaining the
entire Afghan military and security forces.

Brian’s specific interest in Digital Assets (cryptocurrency), blockchain, Central Bank
Digital Currencies and understanding conventional and emerging value transfer systems
led to his final mission in the Army to pioneer, incubate, develop and employ financial
capabilities to achieve understanding and end states both offensively and defensively.

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Education

• Master of Science (M.S.) in National Security and Strategic Studies - U.S. Naval War College

• Masters of Administration- Business Administration (MBA) - University of Maryland

• Certified Defense Financial Manager (CDFM) 

• Department of Defense Financial Management Certified Comptroller (Level III)

• Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and possesses commercial

• Certifications in Cryptocurrency from Chainalysis.