LEONARDTOWN, Md. – October 22, 2021: Leadership Southern Maryland (LSM) welcomes Phil Fickes to its board of directors.  Fickes is a graduate of LSM’s Executive Program, Class of 2020 and will serve as the recruitment committee chairman for the organization. 

Fickes is a Bell senior manager for Global Military Sales and Strategy and oversees Bell’s foreign military sales (FMS) business development with the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Maryland, and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and Navy International Programs Office in Washington, D.C. He is responsible for providing strategic insight and direct coordination with U.S. government agencies in meeting Bell’s FMS performance goals and managing Bell’s brand in Southern Maryland.

Prior to joining industry, Fickes served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) for over 25 years. During his service, he accumulated over 3500 flight hours as a pilot in both fixed and rotary wing aircraft to include the CH-46E, VH-3D, and VH-60N aircraft. His assignments included service as the Department of Navy’s aircraft survivability requirements and resources officer where he managed seven acquisition programs including the FMS development of a second supply source of key Joint Strike Fighter components. Fickes later served with the Navy International Programs Office as director of USMC strategic plans responsible for FMS development of the V-22, AH-1Z, UH-1Y, AN/TPS-80 radar, amphibious vehicles, and CH-53K portfolios. 

Fickes has a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland University College in Baltimore, Maryland, and is a graduate of George Washington University’s National Security Studies Management Program.