Van Hipp

Van Hipp is Chairman of the Washington, DC-based American Defense International, Inc. A veteran of the U.S. Army, he served on active duty in both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Restore Democracy. In 1990, he was sworn in as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Reserve Forces and Mobilization), where he served as point man for the successful mobilization and demobilization of the Army’s reserve forces for Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Following that, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney named him Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Navy, the Navy’s number two lawyer, where he served until 1993. Van continues to speak on defense issues at public forums across the country, and his articles on defense and international policy have been widely read in the national print media. He has also appeared regularly as an expert commentator on national news networks. South Carolina born and bred, Van served as a member of the 1988 Presidential Electoral College and Chair of the SCGOP from 1986-89. In 2002, he was named by Governor Jim Hodges as SC Ambassador for Economic Development and has served on numerous boards, including the Board of Visitors of Charleston Southern University.