Cordell Bennigson

Cordell Bennigson is a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, pilot, and forward air controller. He is currently the CEO of a privately-held defense contracting company, and is now a leadership instructor with Echelon Front. In the Marine Corps, Cordell flew the AV-8B Harrier and achieved the rank of Major. During Operation Iraqi Freedom he was an Air Officer and Forward-Air Controller with the First Marine Division and Task Force Tripoli during the fight to Baghdad and into Tikrit.

After leaving the Marine Corps, Cordell led business teams in a publicly traded fortune 50 technology company before transitioning to leadership roles in numerous Private Equity owned businesses. Within these companies his leadership style, which embraced and implemented Extreme Ownership, enabled him to excel and deliver results as he progressed from General Manager, to Vice President of Operations, and ultimately to the role of CEO of two businesses. In his current and prior role as CEO, he led companies through multiple successful Private Equity transactions and led organizations through the challenges of rapid growth, recession, market shifts, business integration, cultural transformation, global operations, and the wide range of challenges and opportunities encountered by teams in today’s market.

Cordell earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley, holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, and completed the Developing a Leading-Edge Operations Strategy Executive Program at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Business.

Cordell brings the blend of Marine Corps, combat, and extensive private-industry leadership to the Echelon Front team. He continues to provide leadership within private companies today, and has first-hand experience with the power, effectiveness, and challenges of implementing a culture of Extreme Ownership within business teams.