LED BY an MBA-seeking former U.S. Marine named Pete Witte, on Sept. 26 the Armed Forces Club at the Owen Graduate School of Management convened roughly 150 Veteran and non-veteran Owen students who seek to begin or extend careers in a range of corporate, entrepreneurial and other sectors.

Witte, who is current Armed Forces Club president, told VNC he conceived the event in February and soon won backing not only from fellow members of the Owen Armed Forces Club, but also from Vanderbilt University's Bass Military Scholars Program, which is led by its director, Retired U.S. Army Brig. General Scott Brower.

The event successfully completed, Witte told VNC he views the next challenge as "ensuring it lives on" -- and possibly adjusting main and breakout sessions for expanded capacity for a likely replay in Fall 2026. He acknowledged that Owen GSM and other VU staff had oars-in helping with essential functions.

Last week's sessions included a plenary panel of CEOs and founders, as well as four large breakout sessions addressing finance, investing and entrepreneurship; healthcare, strategy and operations; wealth management and corporate banking; and, legal services and the real estate sector.

Speakers and panelists Sept. 26 included (alpha-ordered by surname):

• Michael Bass, Founder-CEO, Backcast Advisory
• Chris Baxley, president, VitalEngine
• Brian Bergfeld, managing director, BRG
• Dustin Brooks, co-founder, ZeroEyes
• Josh Buckley, CEO, The Nations Brewing Company
• Josh Burch, director of people, The Honor Foundation
• John Corrigan, chief business officer, UG Solutions
• Brian Ferguson, founder-CEO, Arena Labs
• Seth Griffith, deputy chief special operations, Aerial Recovery
• Blake Hall, cofounder-CEO, ID.me
• John Hamilton, senior managing director, Ankura
• Ryan Harbour, chief of staff, Nashville SC
• Harlan Hickerson, Assoc. VP, Morgan Stanley
• Bill Hirschman, Head of Office, Brown Advisory
• EB Jackson, president, Vanderbilt Imaging Services
• Rob Kiesel, CEO, Mercatus Finance
• Craig Kuphall, founder, Axon Defense Systems
• Ryan Leadbeater, chief of staff, DaVita Kidney Care
• Doug Lynch, VP, Bank of America
• Walker Mathews Jr., president, R.C. Mathews Contractor
• Ryan McCarthy, managing director, BRG
• Chris Modelewski, CEO, Black Rifle
• Paul Myers, SVP, Charles Hawkins
• Jameson Norton, COO, Newport Health
• Jonathan Price, partner, Brown Advisory
• Jon Snider, director-military affairs, workplace, HCA Healthcare
• Tony Schweiss, managing partner, The Gunter Group
• Aaron Silberman, managing consultant, BRG
• Dakota Simpson, VP, Nashville Entrepreneur Center
• Bill Southwick, CEO, Machina Medical
• Joe Starnes, CEO, Ombre
• Eric Strobeck, VP, Bank of America
• Josh Thurman, co-founder-CEO, AngelQ
• Todd Tressler, founder-CEO, Tressler Assoc.
• Keith Walawender, CEO, Tomahawk Strategic Solutions
• Troy Zeidman, programs director, L3Harris|ForceX

The Bass Military Scholars Program awards $30K scholarships annually to highly talented veterans pursuing graduate and professional degrees via one of five schools within the university.

Witte, 31, is, himself, a Bass Scholar and aims to complete his Owen MBA in 2026. Asked by VNC about his plans, he said he is exploring opportunities to secure a challenging management opportunity to help ensure success in pursuit of priority objectives established by the C-suite.

He grew up in the Pine Bush, N.Y., area, about 75 miles from New York City. He and his wife reside in Davidson County. During his college years, he worked in several athletic and aquatic jobs, and, coincidentally, worked several seasons in the Tampa area with Chattanooga-based Bellhop (fka Bellhops).

By 2015, he completed both his undergraduate degree at the University of South Florida and the U.S. Marine Corps's officer candidate school (OCS).

In 2016, he was commissioned as a USMC officer and completed The Basic School at Quantico, Va. More details on his assignments in his LinkedIn profile here.

Witte's eight-plus years of active military duty ended in 2024 when he completed his tour as a USMC company commander. VNC

. last edited 1643 30 September 2025