John Novalis
Position: Managing Director
Location: Texas
John spent 32 years in leadership and executive level roles in the United States Army retiring as a Brigadier General. He currently resides in Keller, Texas and works for Bell Helicopter as Director, Advanced Programs and Weapon Systems Integration, leading sustainment, logistics, and digital enterprise initiatives for Bell’s Future Vertical Lift programs.
A native of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, John joined the military after his graduation in 1987 from West Point with a degree in Economics. While in the military John served in key roles including Operations Officer, Multinational Corps Northeast (NATO) located in Szczecin, Poland where he directed Joint Operations and maintained U.S. strategic imperatives across North-Eastern Europe, and as Deputy Commander for Sustainment of the famed 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) his portfolio included the logistical planning, sustainment, and equipment readiness of Fort Campbell, Kentucky’s 21,000+ Soldiers and units. His role also included training and leadership development initiatives across a broad level of basic and advanced programs.
One of his key strategic positions was being selected as Executive Assistant to the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff where he assisted the Chairman in articulating independent military advice on strategic policies to the President of the United States and Secretary of Defense for over two years, traveling the world supporting the United States State Department diplomatic efforts.
John spent several contingency deployments to include tours of duty to Haiti for humanitarian support; three years of combat operations in Iraq and one year in Afghanistan, providing him a unique perspective on crisis management and strategic planning.
Before joining Bell, John served as a Highly Qualified Expert for the Department of Defense where he coached and taught senior leaders in the art and science of mission command and leadership fundamentals.
He is a combat aviator with over 500 combat hours and holds Master’s degrees from Webster University in Human Resources, and in National Security Strategy from the United States National War College.
John is happily married for over 32 years and blessed to be a grandfather. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for Free Form Fibers and gives his time between his family, church, and job, finding life balance and fulfilling his passions in aviation, leadership coaching, and the outdoors.