LEADERSHIP

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Mr. Benjamin is the CEO / Founder of C2Integrations LLC, providing Tactical and Strategic consulting and support to the Department of Defense (DoD), Inter-Agency (IA), and Law Enforcement (LE) agencies both foreign and domestic. 

Mr. Benjamin has over twenty years of experience as a Special Agent working on complex CWMD critical technology cases. While serving as Unit Chief for DoC National Security Division, Mr. Benjamin was responsible for facilitating investigative cases and joint operational initiatives between the DoD, Intelligence Community, Foreign Governments, and other Law Enforcement Agencies. Mr. Benjamin served as a Supervisory Special Agent responsible for overseeing Special Agents working at locations in nine countries; his duties included managing strategic outreach engagement and foreign engagement programs. Mr. Benjamin is the recipient of two Gold Medals; Department of Commerce's highest award for the "For Excellence in the Disruption of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorist Procurement Networks." 

From 2002-2003, Mr. Benjamin was deployed with the United States Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, where he was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as a Senior Interrogator. He was again deployed from 2003-2004 in support of Iraqi Freedom responsible for HUMINT teams, stationed throughout Iraq. Mr. Benjamin retired from military service after twenty-seven years.

Mr. Gortler is the Executive Vice President for Operations and Business Development of C2 Integrations and a senior executive with a 40-year record of transformative national security leadership in the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and private industry. 

Mr. Gortler has an extensive background in operations, strategy, and policy for intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance; cyber and space operations; and industrial security & critical technology protection for U.S. Government Agencies and commercial companies operating under the National Industrial Security Program (NISP) and

Committee on Foreign Investment in U.S.

Fred served on the senior leadership team that created the Defense Counterintelligence & Security

Agency. As Director, Industrial Security Integration and Applications, he oversaw the Foreign

Ownership, Control, and Influence (FOCI) program and facilitated agreements for 300+ companies and

500+ facilities and contracts valued at $140B. He federated the review process among acquisition, cyber, security, and intelligence stakeholders in the Pentagon with the goal of reducing the timeline for

processing facility clearances and FOCI mitigation. Fred transitioned from civil service to pursue

advanced data and analytics solutions for federal and commercial clients operating under the NISP.

KPMG, LLP, recruited him to articulate risk assessment needs in the federal interagency, and develop products/services to radically compress the risk management process.

He leverages a broad range of knowledge, skills, and experience to help corporations grow and achieve

their goals. Prior to KPMG and DCSA, Fred served in senior military and executive assignments in the

national security arena. He commanded the 70th Intelligence Wing—the U.S. Air Force component of the National Security Agency—leading 6,500 military and civilian personnel around the globe and sustaining

infrastructure valued at $10B. Transitioning to civilian service, he was appointed to the Senior National

Intelligence Service and served as Liaison Officer for the Director of National Intelligence and the

Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. Fred also served as a Defense Intelligence Senior Leader with

the U.S. Army; he was Senior Mission Advisor and directed intelligence analysis production at the

National Ground Intelligence Center.

Fred holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland and Master’s Degrees from Central

Michigan University, Marine Corps University, and National Defense University. His major civilian and

military awards include Meritorious Civilian Service Medals; National Intelligence Reform Medal;

Legions of Merit; Defense Superior Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medals; Air Medal; Marine

Corps Commendation Medal; and Air Force Commendation Medal. 

Mr. Blankenship is the Vice President of 

Department of Defense Engagement and

an experienced and cleared retired military professional. 

Mr. Blankenship is highly skilled in special operations, participating in multiple combat deployments. For decades, he has provided tactical and technical training guidance and professional support to numerous domestic and foreign military personnel. For his service, he has received awards, including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. 

Most recently, Mr. Blankenship worked as a government contractor liaison officer supporting partnership engagement and customer outreach from an Intelligence Command to MacDill AFB, Florida. He coordinated all FICA products/assessments to CENTCOM, SOCOM, and SOCCENT. In addition, Mr. Blankenship also provided operational and analytical support to the three NGIC FICA multi-functional teams assigned to the CENTCOM AOR and assisted in developing Structured Environment Studies (SES) for several customers, including Special Mission Units, COCOMS, and Interagency Partners. In this capacity, he collaborated daily with senior DoD officers, senior Interagency LNOs, intelligence analysts, and office chiefs to promote an understanding of program capabilities, output, and effects. 

Over the course of his career, Mr. Blankenship has coordinated data-sharing protocols, cross-organizational embedding arrangements, collaborative analysis, and negotiations among Law Enforcement and DoD partners to ensure program outputs met partners' requirements and had the desired effects of disrupting nefarious networks. Additionally, he has delivered decisional support products for inter-organizational awareness and decision-making based on program data fusion and network analysis. 

He is exceptionally competent in networking, customer engagement, attracting business, and continuing to grow customer bases for DoD programs. Mr. Blankenship retired from military service in 2006 and continues to support DoD with over 35 years of experience.