Fortra establishes defense and intelligence advisory board

On September 1, Fortra announced the formation of an advisory board for its Defense and Intelligence Unit. The board will help guide Fortra’s ongoing expansion into defense, intelligence, and national security missions, ensuring the company continues to align its technology investments with the evolving needs of U.S. and allied governments.

Launched in April 2026, Fortra’s Defense and Intelligence Unit is focused on helping defense, intelligence, and national security organizations securely classify, protect, share, and govern mission-critical information. The new advisory board brings together leaders from U.S. and allied government and military organizations with frontline command, capability-development, and cyber leadership experience. Fortra plans to expand the board over time.

The formation of the advisory board follows growing demand from defense and intelligence customers across Five Eyes, NATO, and allied markets for capabilities supporting trusted information sharing, data security and coalition operations.

“Building national security capabilities that work in the real world means learning from the people who have successfully operated in the most demanding environments on earth,” said John Grancarich, EVP, head of defense and intelligence at Fortra. “This advisory board gives us direct access to that hard-won perspective. Their collective experience across U.S. and allied commands, national budgets, and complex cyber programs helps us make better decisions about what we build and how we bring those capabilities to customers. We are grateful to have such accomplished leaders helping us build capabilities that allow defense and intelligence organizations to securely share, govern, and act on information in increasingly complex mission environments.”

Inaugural Advisory Board Members  

Adm. Stuart Munsch (Ret.) has more than four decades of senior leadership experience across the U.S. Navy, Joint Staff, and allied coalition environments, most recently serving as commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa and commander of NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Naples.

Gregory Try has more than two decades of senior leadership in homeland security and intelligence. He most recently served as the executive director for programming and strategic insights, where he led long-range financial planning for the Department of Homeland Security, shaping enterprise budgets exceeding $60B annually, and previously served as chief strategy officer and chief data officer at the U.S. Secret Service.

Rear Admiral (Ret.) James Parkin CB CBE is a strategic and operational leader with nearly three decades of senior command experience across the UK Royal Navy, NATO, and allied environments. As director and controller of the Navy, he shaped the future of the Royal Navy and established a dedicated office to speed the adoption of AI, cyber, and advanced technologies into active service.

Dr. Laurence Fowkes CEng FIET FBCS CITP is a defense digital and cyber leader with more than 25 years of experience delivering mission-critical IT, cyber, cryptographic, and communications programs across the UK Ministry of Defence, NATO, and allied environments. He served as program director for defensive cyber operations and the Cyber Resilience Program, overseeing a £3.5B cyber and ICT portfolio, and now serves as the UK principal cyber advisor to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense.

Capt. Matthew Littleton, USNR (Ret.), CISSP has more than three decades of cybersecurity and intelligence leadership experience spanning military operations, government cyber missions, and support for defense and intelligence organizations in the private sector. During his 18-year career at Microsoft, he led teams supporting defense and intelligence customers and helped guide security product development with a focus on data security and privacy.

Source: Fortra

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