Armed Forces Initiative Staff

Trevor Hubbs, Armed Forces Initiative Program Coordinator

Trevor grew up in a small town in Southern Illinois. He enlisted in the Army after High-school and volunteered for the Airborne Infantry where he served for 6 years, before becoming an ROTC instructor at Eastern Illinois University.

After transitioning out of the military Trevor became a business consultant primarily in the construction industry working with 5-15 million dollar companies developing processes and procedures to standardize their business practices.  

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Armed Forces Initiative Program Assistant

DoD SkillBridge Intern

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Armed Forces Initiative National Board

Shawn McCarthy, Chair

Moving from Colorado to upstate New York to Arizona throughout the course of his childhood, joining the Navy to see the world just seemed to be the natural thing for Shawn to do.  He served as a Submarine Torpedoman, retiring in 2018 after a 24-year career.  Throughout that time, he deployed 14 times across the globe on "boats" that conducted anti-piracy operations, anti-terrorist missions, carrier strike group operations, Naval Special Warfare unit employment, and nuclear deterrent patrols.  In between his times at sea, he always managed to re-center himself in some wild place with gun, bow, or rod in hand.   

Vice Chair

LCDR Rafael Vargas, Secretary

Rafael was born and raised in North Central Florida.  He spent his summers on Florida's lakes fishing for largemouth bass or on the Gulf of Mexico chasing grouper and snapper.  After attending the United States Naval Academy and commissioning as a Naval Officer, he served as a Submarine Officer.  He has deployed to Europe and the Middle East to conduct anti-piracy operations, anti-terrorism missions, carrier strike group operations, anti-submarine operations and other missions vital to national security.  He most recently served as Chief Nuclear Engineer on a fast attack submarine in Connecticut.  He is the current DoD Skillbridge Intern and AFI Program Assistant as he will be separating from active duty in the summer of 2024.

Throughout his time on active duty, he always managed to make time to chase elk out West or whitetails in New England.  As a hunter, fisherman and trapper, the mission of BHA and AFI appealed to him since becoming a member in 2018.  Since 2022, he took a more active role serving as the Connecticut AFI Liaison and New England AFI Operations Manager.  He currently resides in Connecticut with his family and takes every opportunity to get outdoors on public land and mentor future hunters and anglers.

LTC Andrew Ruszkiewicz, Treasurer 

Andy was born and raised in Southeastern Wisconsin and spent most of his summers in the northern part of the state at a family cabin chasing smallmouth bass, walleye, crappie, and muskies. After attending college and commissioning as an Army Officer he served in numerous assignments with five years in the conventional Army and 13 in Army Special Operations.  Andy has completed 6 combat deployments in support of operations in Afghanistan, East and West Africa, Iraq, and served a year in Korea. He currently serves as the Professor of Military Science and Commander of the University of New Hampshire Wildcat BN ROTC.  Andy is married to his amazing wife Monica and they have three awesome kids, Tucker(10), Blair(7) and Luke(3). 

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Dalton Wayne, Communications Manager

Though a relatively new hunter, Dalton was born into a camping and fishing family and spent most of his childhood on the diverse waters of his home state of Louisiana. He joined the Army after high school where he was in the Infantry for two years before being medically retired for a severe back injury. Back at home, he took to the outdoors to keep the black dog of depression at bay, yet he still longed for purpose. After a chance meeting with D.J. Zor at a gas station in Idaho’s Clearwater National Forest, he learned about the Armed Forces Initiative. He immediately found a new mission in conservation and served as the Southeast AFI Liaison from 2022-2024. A professional musician and freelance writer, Dalton currently resides in Baton Rouge with his family, where he enjoys trapping, fly-fishing, and chasing his GSP around in search of quail and woodcock.

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Garrett Robinson, Eastern Region Manager

Garrett grew up in the rural farm country of southern Pennsylvania where he developed his deep passion for all things outdoors.  Whether it be hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, etc, he wanted to be involved.  After high school he joined the Marine Corps where he served 26 years as an enlisted Marine and retiring as a Master Gunnery Sergeant.  He currently lives in Northern Virginia and works as an operations analyst for Katmai Government Services.  The outdoors is his passion and enjoys hunting all over the country.  Getting into the backcountry is where he feels most at home and loves nothing more than introducing others to the amazing opportunities that await anyone willing to walk the trail into our wild public lands and waters.  

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  Stephanie Davidson, Western Region Manager    

Kyle Wheeler, Major Gifts and Donations Manager

After serving as an enlisted man in the 82nd Airborne division, Kyle attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and went on to serve as an Artillery Officer for 20 years.  Kyle is now a freelance business consultant in the Bozeman area as well as a fly fishing guide for Dan Bailey. 

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DJ Zor, Corporate Partnerships Manager

DJ Zor is a Lifetime member of BHA.  In the past, he has served with great effect on the Arizona Trout Unlimited Board and the BHA State Board.  DJ recently moved to Montana with his family and is a massive asset to the AFI Team in the Area. In December of 2021, DJ was asked to join the National Advisory Board in our Corporate partnerships position and he graciously accepted. DJ is a Navy Sub-Mariner and looks the part. 

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Joe Trottier, AFI Canada

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Hunter Owen, Eastern Region Conservation and Policy Representative

Hunter was a military brat born in North Carolina, who moved to and grew up in Tampa, Florida. He joined the Army in 2006, and spent the bulk of his career at Fort Liberty, NC. After being medically discharged and spending a short time living and working in Washington D.C., Hunter packed up his family, and moved back to the center of the universe, Fort Liberty, NC. He currently works as a civilian for a special operations command. Hunter did not grow up in a hunting family and faced many of the same barriers-to-entry of hunting found by many looking to get started. After reaching out to BHA AFI, Hunter quickly became an avid outdoorsman. In his free time Hunter enjoys hunting, fishing, and working to better the public lands we all love. 

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Dustin Spilman, Western Region Conservation and Policy Representative

Dustin was born into an upland bird hunting family in southeast Kansas. His lifelong passion for hunting and fishing was fueled by his Father and Grandfather from an early age. Enlisting in the Navy in 2000, he trained as a Submariner, and served on boats stationed at Naval Submarine Base Bangor in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Through random chance, he was introduced to some long-time elk hunters who took a liking to him and ignited an obsession.  This newfound hobby took him down the rabbit hole of archery hunting big game on large swaths of public land. After separating from Active-Duty, he moved into government contracting where he continued to support the fleet and train Sailors.  After hearing a speech about what the Armed Forces Initiative is and what they do, he knew that is where he wanted to be.  He found himself a place where he can have the opportunity to pass on his love for public lands and conservation to the next generation as they were passed on to him. Dustin currently resides in northeast Oklahoma with his family and two retrievers and takes every opportunity to chase big game and upland birds on public land.

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Armed Forces Initiative Regional & State/Provincial Liaisons

Armed Forces Initiative Installation Clubs

We are seeking volunteer leaders in multiple states and installations.  Please fill out the information at the link below to start the application process. 

AFI Volunteer Leader Application