We’re excited to announce and welcome Robert L. Zackery III to SOAA’s Board of Advisors.
Robert (Zack) Zackery is the President of Primer Development Group (PrimerDG.net), a business and leadership solutions company serving a wide range of clients, from a Fortune 5 company to federal agencies, law enforcement, and public organizations. His firm specializes in leadership development, strategic thinking, operational problem-solving, and executive coaching. He has also served as a guest lecturer on Crisis Leadership at Yale University and Warrior Ethos at the U.S. Air Force Academy, bringing academic rigor and combat and operational insight to SOAA’s team.
Zack is a retired Air Force Special Warfare Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) and Command Chief Master Sergeant, with over 26 years of service and nine deployments, including the initial invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. For 21 years of his career, he was aligned with Army units serving alongside Ranger Reconnaissance Teams, Special Forces Detachments, and Special Mission Units. He also spent seven years in Europe and six years in the Pacific theater, building partnership capacity with allied and coalition nations. His operational leadership extended to the African continent and Southwest Asia (the Middle East), spanning 54 countries.
Beyond his military service, Zack is deeply engaged in public service and national security thought leadership. He serves as a Senior Fellow at The Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC), Treasurer at the BLK OPS Foundation, and Vice President of the Special Operations Memorial Foundation (SOMF). His leadership and passion for culture, people, and strategy are evident in both his professional and volunteer work, including high school mentorship programs and prison system outreach.
SOAA’s Founder and President, Daniel Elkins, expressed his excitement for Zack’s addition to the SOAA team, in particular, that, “Zack’s career reflects a lifelong commitment to strategic thinking, operational problem-solving, and servant leadership. His experience in combat, business, academia, and community service makes him a powerful addition to the SOAA Board of Advisors, and we are excited and honored to have him join the team.”
“The excitement is mutual,” stated Zack. “The men and women of the special operations community have bravely fulfilled a tremendous service for this Nation, and their desire to continue to give back to their communities expresses itself through the private and public sectors of industry and leadership. Their voices need to have a place everyone from the boardroom to the halls of Congress, and I am looking forward to working with SOAA to continue to advocate for the SOF community and their positive impact throughout all spheres of American excellence.”
