Leadership
Andrew Black, Managing Director
Prior to founding Black Watch Global, Andrew worked for a government contractor serving the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Naval Intelligence, and the Department of Energy as a senior counterterrorism analyst. In this capacity, Andrew supported Special Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan with intelligence collection and analysis, planned and executed various red team exercises against U.S. energy facilities, and wrote numerous strategic intelligence products on threats to the U.S. homeland.
Previously, he was the head terrorism analyst at a leading terrorism risk management consultancy which serviced U.S. federal, state, and local organizations. In this capacity, Andrew was a principal author on the Department of Homeland Security’s risk-based resource allocation metric. He also wrote analytical reports for various state and local authorities detailing actual and potential terrorist threats to their areas of responsibility. Prior to that, Andrew worked for the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV), where he conducted research and wrote analysis on terrorist groups throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
In addition to his publications for federal clients, Andrew has written numerous academic papers and journal articles on emerging trends in intelligence, warfare, and international terrorism. He is a regular contributor to the Jamestown Foundation’s Terrorism Monitor and Terrorism Focus as well as Jane’s Intelligence Review and West Point’s CTC Sentinel. He has spoken at the Jamestown Foundation on al-Qa’ida’s Resurgence in North Africa and the International Terrorism and Intelligence (ITI) Conference on terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa. He has recently appeared as a guest on the al-Jazeera English program Inside Story and France24 International News speaking about terrorism in Algeria. Andrew is a member of AFCEA International and the Terrorism Research Initiative. He holds an MA Honours in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) and an MA in International Security Studies from Georgetown University.
He can be reached at ablack@blackwatchglobal.com.
Dendy Young, Chairman of the Board
Dendy Young is the Managing Partner of McLean Capital, LLC, a private equity firm, based in McLean, VA, focused on government information technology.
From January 1996 to February 2006, Mr. Young was Chief Executive Officer of GTSI Corp. (NASDAQ: GTSI) an enterprise services and solutions provider. Additionally, he served as Chairman of the Board from 1998 until May 2007.
An award-winning executive with more than 30 years of experience in the IT industry, Mr. Young serves on the Executive Committee of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, as Chairman of the TechPAC (Political Action Committee), and on the Board of Directors of AFCEA International, the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. He is a member of the Board of the Chesapeake Crescent, a politically engaged regional initiative. He also serves on the Board of the National Capital Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is on the board of Omnilink Systems, Inc. and Liquid Computing Federal.
In recognition of his leadership and contributions, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from VARBusiness magazine at the 2003 VAR500 awards ceremony. He also received the Federal CIO Council's Azimuth award for 2000 which is bestowed upon one industry leader each year. He was named three times to the "Fed 100," a prestigious group nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to government and industry and won the coveted Eagle Industry Award. He received the Federation of Government Information Processing Council (FGIPC) President's Award for his efforts in widening communications between government and industry.
Prior to GTSI, Mr. Young served as Chief Executive Officer of Falcon Microsystems, Inc., the second of two companies he founded and sold between 1981 and 1994. In less than 10 years, Falcon Microsystems grew to be a nationally recognized, multi-platform federal reseller and integrator before being sold to GTSI in August 1994.
Mr. Young holds a S.B. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Aaron Patterson, Partner
Prior to founding Black Watch Global, Aaron worked as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where he focused on the strategic planning and development of a variety of risk-based infrastructure protection programs. These programs ranged from industry/sector-specific initiatives to generic modeling across all infrastructure types to detailed scenario development for worst-most-likely terrorism scenarios. Prior to his Homeland Security experience, he modeled an early warning approach for state conflict and political instability building on previous works by the Department of Defense and State Failure Task Force (SFTF). He holds an MA Honours in Economics and Management from the University of St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Scotland where he was named an Ernest Ransome Scholar. While at St. Andrews, Aaron worked as an analyst at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) where he was responsible for analysis on six Middle East terrorist groups including HAMAS, Hizballah, al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.
He can be reached at apatterson@blackwatchglobal.com.
