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.
A mentor by nature, Shawn was drawn by AFI's mission, where he served as Washington's AFI Liaison from 2022 to 2024. He currently lives in Western Washington with his wife, 2 daughters, and their 3 Labrador Retrievers (Sage, Hank, & Boone). In his time off, he can be found off the beaten path making up for lost time by camping, hiking, backpacking, fishing, hunting, or volunteering with his family and friends.
Rafael Vargas, Vice Chair
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 prior to completing his active duty time in the 2024. He continues to serve in the Navy Reserves.
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, leading him to become a member in 2018. In 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.
Dustin McKenna, Secretary
Dustin was born and raised in eastern Nebraska and resides there still today. He grew up going to the lakes in Minnesota chasing walleye, pike, and ‘sunnies’ with his family. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and commissioned as a Cavalry Officer into the Nebraska National Guard. He has deployed to the Horn of Africa and conducted training missions in Germany, South Korea, and the Czech Republic.
Dustin spends his free time chasing upland game, waterfowl, and deer in Nebraska on the weekends and taking trips to Western States to go after elk and trout. Dustin is married to his wife Megan (also a Nebraska National Guard Soldier), and they have two kids Keavy (6) and Forrest (3).
Dave Spess, Treasurer
Dave was born and raised in Vienna, a small town in Northeast Ohio. Always outside as a boy, Dave enjoyed fishing for bass and panfish in farm ponds. Lucky to have the occasional big trip to Lake Erie for Walleye and the ability to go out the back door and walk in the woods hunting for small game and a few times for deer. Enlisting in 1992 and Commissioned in 1995, Dave has served in positions of leadership and operations in peace and at war, across the country, and around the world.
Currently an active-duty Army Colonel serving at Fort Knox, Kentucky where he is also the Chair and founding member of the Fort Knox AFI Installation Club. Living in 15 states and on three continents, hunting and fishing in every one of those places, has given him an enduring love for wild places, spaces, and things. He is passionate about increasing access to public land and the freedoms that go with it. He is a staunch advocate for educating, understanding, and gaining acceptance for the responsibilities inherent to those freedoms. Dave is married to the former Emily Pasch of Dewitt, MI. They have one teenager, August, and one wannabe teenager, Connor.
Cody Fongemie, Eastern Region Manager
Born and raised in New England, he was surrounded by history and quickly developed a love for reading about our nation's past and extraordinary adventures. These stories naturally led him to become an avid outdoorsman. After completing his education in South Carolina and wanting to serve, he enlisted in the Air National Guard. Since enlisting, he has participated in Domestic, NATO, and Base Defense operations and has been a key training team member. He is currently assigned as an AGR Flight Sergeant in the Security Forces Squadron.
In his free time, he passionately pursues his interests in hunting, fly fishing, and writing about the outdoors and history. These passions led him to join BHA in 2019. Since 2022, he has been actively serving as the New England and New York Region AFI Liaison, helping to organize events in these states. In this role, he has found the mission of introducing the military community to the outdoors to be of the utmost importance. He eagerly seizes any opportunity to mentor new hunters or anglers. Cody currently resides in Connecticut with his wife and dog.
Dustin Spilman, Western Region Manager
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.
Hunter Owen, Policy Manager
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 Bragg, 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 Bragg, NC. He currently works as a civilian for the Army. 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.
Alena Billingsley, Marketing Manager
While completing her undergraduate degree in Western North Carolina, Alena developed an interest in the outdoors and enjoyed spending her time exploring the Appalachian mountains. After she finished her education, she enlisted in the Air Force, serving six years on active duty and is currently in the reserves. During her time on active duty she sought out new ways to explore the outdoors which started off with camping and quickly led her to becoming interested in learning how to hunt and fish. Although she’s still relatively new to these activities, she enjoys waterfowl hunting, and spending time on the water. Once her Skillbridge internship for the Armed Forces Initiative program was completed, Alena decided to continue to volunteer her time to support AFI's mission. You can usually find her somewhere in the mountains and exploring the outdoors every chance she gets.
Garrett Robinson, Corporate Partnerships 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.
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.
Armed Forces Initiative Program Assistants
DoD SkillBridge Intern