OUR HISTORY
Lukos, founded in 2008, is a small business headquartered in Tampa, Florida. We deliver professional services to the Department of Defense. Lukos has been one of the most successful and most diversified support companies for US Special Operations Command and its components since 2010. Since our founding, we have grown to support all five services and federal civilian agencies. Lukos is operating in 25 states and several foreign countries and continues to grow into new markets.
About Our Name:
Lukos is ancient greek for “wolf”. The characteristics of the wolf match our approach to national security. The wolf is known for cunning, aggression, patience, and teamwork. An individual wolf is a smart, strong, resilient animal, but the true strength of wolves is their ability to work together as a wolfpack. Kipling said it best in The Law of the Jungle.
“For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”
OUR TEAM
Garth Arevalo - CEO
Garth served 20 years in the Air Force as a Contracting Officer and other roles. Throughout his career, he supported Special Operations Command, special operations component commands, and special operations units in the US and abroad. His extensive experience in Government procurement includes writing, awarding, and administering almost every type of contract through all phases of the acquisition lifecycle. He is DAWIA Level III certified in Contracting and is a Certified Federal Contracts Manager. He has a BS-Business Administration from Georgetown University and an MS in Entrepreneurship from the University of South Florida.
Ed Haywood - President
Ed is a retired Army officer with 20 years of service in Special Forces and Infantry. His final assignment was as Chief of Special Actions for Special Operations Command – Central (SOCCENT). He has wide expertise in clandestine operations and unconventional warfare. He has a BS from USMA at West Point and an MPA from JFK School of Government at Harvard University.
Robert Rodriguez - CFO
Robert has worked nearly exclusively in US Govt contracts since 1978,
except for 10 years as a partner in Certified Public Accounting
Practice. Robert has multiple degrees and professional certifications including:
Graduate of University of Florida – Bachelor of Science in
Business Administration – 1978
University of Tampa - Masters of Business Administration –
1981
Certified by Florida Board of Accountancy as Certified Public
Accountant – 1986
Michael Weigart - VP of Growth
Michael served over 34 years in the military, with over 20 years on active duty in the US Army and US Air Force and over fourteen years in the USAF Reserves, most recently at SOCCENT. He served in Panama, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Iraq. Michael earned Air Force Command Pilot, Army Senior Aviator, and Austrian pilot wings. He has worked in the defense industry since 2006. He has a BS-Professional Aeronautics and MAS-Aeronautical Science degrees from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and an Executive MBA from the University of Alabama.
Brian Heaps - VP of Contracts
Brian is a retired Air Force Lt Col with 27 years of contracts experience in various roles. His assignments included numerous bases in the US and overseas to include deployments to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. His military career culminated in two squadron command tours in Japan and Mississippi. He has a BS in Business Administration from Western New England University and a MS in Acquisition Management from the AF Institute of Technology.
Brian McKibben - Director of Operations
Brian is a retired Army Command Sergeant Major (CSM) with 31 years of service including over 26 years in a Special Mission Unit stationed on Fort Liberty, NC. His final assignment was as a Saber Squadron CSM. Brian deployed operationally to Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia, Bosnia, multiple times to Afghanistan and Iraq, and finally Syria. He is PMP certified and has an MBA from UNC’s Kenan Flagler Business School
Tim Williams - Director of Business Development
Tim is a retired Army Special Forces Officer with over thirty years of active duty service. He is a combat wounded veteran, and earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB) with Star. Tim has extensive service throughout Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Central Asia States. He holds master’s degrees from Louisiana State University, the University of Canberra in Australia, and the United States Army War College. Tim is an inductee of the Arkansas Military Veterans Hall of Fame and the Arkansas State University Hall of Heroes.
Jennifer Carter - Director of Human Resources
Jennifer is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and served 5 years in the Air Force as a personnel officer. She served as the 78th Mission Support Section Commander, Chief of Relocations and Employment, and 17th Training Wing Equal Opportunity Officer. She has 15 years in secondary education where she served as Department Chair and Lead English Teacher, to include Writing Project Consultant. She has her BS in English from USAFA and a MEd in English Education from Georgia Southern University.
Sarah Lain - Director of Proposals
Ms. Lain has led development efforts in support of DoD and academia for the past 15 years. At Lukos, she directs the proposal development team in support of new business. Industry experience includes being a liaison among MacDill AFB (USSOCOM, USCENTCOM, and the USAF 6th Air Refueling Wing), faculty researchers, and industry partners to drive applied research and prototype development. Additionally, managing global defense industry development efforts for flight simulation training systems. In academia, she managed federal research development across molecular engineering, computational sciences, chemistry, radiology, mathematics, geophysical sciences, linguistics, social sciences, and the National Labs.
Lee Sullivan - Subcontracts Administrator
Lee has worked in the government contracts sector since 2004. In that time, Lee has leveraged her experience across contracts, subcontracts, program management, and project controller roles, including direct work with USSOCOM and CENTCOM. Her varied work experience and attention to detail are vital components to her work as a subcontract administrator. Lee has her BS in Physical Science from Troy University in Dothan and is very involved as a volunteer in her community.
Ted Cox - Program Manager
Ted is a retired U.S. Army Green Beret and Infantry Soldier with 29 years of exemplary active-duty service. His career included 20 years with 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and he has conducted the full gambit of SF missions throughout the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Southeastern Europe, and the Caribbean. He leveraged his SF background, language skills and Command Language Program Management (CLPM) experience into managing the USSOCOM LREC Analytics program for the last 4 years with Lukos. He also assists with Lukos recruiting efforts.
Andy Fortmann - Program Manager
Andy is a retired Navy Seal Officer with more than 20 years of service. Andy served at every level of Command Leadership of SEAL units including Commanding Officer. His operational experience includes direct on the ground leadership of combat operations in support of every Global Combatant Commander and operational tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Upon transitioning from active duty, Andy led multiple rocket part engineering and manufacturing teams at SpaceX in Hawthorne California. Andy holds degrees from Harvard and the US Naval Academy. He is a committed father and husband.
Work for Lukos
We are always looking for high quality people with many different skill sets. Check out our job page to review our current job opportunities or send us your resume for future openings.
VA Verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
Partnership Opportunities
We have many small and large company partners but are always looking to build new connections. We regularly lead large teams of teammates on our multiple indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contracts. Further, we provide valuable insight, effort, and capabilities when teaming to support other prime contractors. Contact us to discuss how we can work together.