Meet the Team

David Berke is a retired Marine Corps officer and combat veteran. As an F/A-18 pilot he deployed twice from the USS John C Stennis in support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He spent three years as an Instructor Pilot at TOPGUN where he was dual qualified in the F-16 Fighting Falcon and served as the Training Officer, the senior staff pilot responsible for conduct of the TOPGUN course.

 

He then served as an ANGLICO Forward Air Controller supporting the Army’s 1st Armored Division during extensive urban combat operations in Ramadi, Iraq in 2006.

 

He was the only Marine selected to fly the F-22 Raptor and became the first operational pilot ever to fly and be qualified in the F-35B, serving as the Commanding Officer of the Marine Corps’ first F-35 squadron from 2012-2014.

 

He is currently the Director of Leadership Development at Echelon Front. 

Dr. Morys, as a Higher Education Consultant and Military Prior Learning Assessment SME, brings a wealth of experience in the administration of non-traditional higher education, academic affairs, prior learning assessment, and student-veteran services.

 

Amy served as Director of Academic Student Services and Director of the Evening Division at Fontbonne University, in St. Louis and continues to serve as adjunct faculty, teaching leadership and business ethics at National Louis University, in Chicago.

 

Amy is also a Master Sergeant in the IL Air National Guard, where she has served for over twenty years and has deployed twice in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

 

She also enjoys serving as a Military Faculty Evaluator for the American Council on Education (ACE) and as a member of the Veterans Higher Education Task Force for the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Dr. Randy Plunkett is the founder and principal of MilVets Advantage Consulting. Randy has extensive experience as an associate vice president, dean, program director, faculty member, course developer, national team leader and lifelong learner in both the public and private sector.

 

Dr. Plunkett’s research interest is veteran and military-connected transition to education and employment. 

 

Randy has served as an advisor to the Governor of Illinois and the Canadian Ministers of Defense and Veteran Affairs on these matters. He also served as the Chief Ombudsman of the Illinois Committee of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

 

Prior to retiring from the US Air Force as a Senior Master Sergeant (E-8), Randy earned a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership and Innovation from Wilmington University in New Castle, Delaware. 

Brian Eck is a Strategic Marketing Manager at the University of Cincinnati and he specializes in digital marketing tactics across multiple platforms.  Brian has been working in the marketing world for over ten years and has spent the last four in the higher education space. 

 

Brian started his career at UC with a focus on the military community, identifying opportunities for veterans, active duty, national guard, and their dependents.  Brian worked closely with the CollegeRecon team to make sure that UC’s vast catalog of online degree programs were made available to the members of the armed services.

 

Brian has worked closely with the university’s department of veterans programs and services, the VA, and a number of former service members to better understand the unique obstacles that the military community faces when choosing to go back to school.  This knowledge and his experience within the digital marketing space, puts him in a unique position to provide insight and guidance on military marketing matters.