Board of Directors

Enlisted into the Navy November 1988; assigned to Ship Replacement Unit 104 Oliver Hazard Perry FFG7

Attended Advanced Pay Grade School, New Orleans, LA 1990

Assigned to PERSMOBTEAM 1991 and mobilized for Desert Shield/Desert Storm reporting to COMSC HQ Washington, DC

Assigned to USS Bowen FFT 1079 1992 Norfolk, VA later changed to home port Staten Island, NY. Received Sailor of the Quarter award for REDCOM IV for Superior Performance while underway

Navy Regional Contracting Center, Naples, IT (2 tours) and Bahrain, UAE as a Contract Specialist in 1994

Supply Support Battalion 2, Newport, RI Det Ft supported: Special Operations Command Stuttgart, Germany; participated in ELLISPE Bravo 2000; Operation TANDUM THRUST 01 Rockhampton, Australia; NAS Rota Spain (4 tours); Fleet Mail Center Guantanomo Bay Cuba

Cargo Handling Battalion 8, Ft Dix NJ 2002; completed various ammo handling and basic cargo courses then assigned as Marshalling Yard Supervisor

Defense Logistics Agency Supply Center Philadelphia, supporting Command and Control Center 2004. While assigned there advanced to Battle Captain and supported the following: Hurricanes Katrina/Rita 2005; Ardent Sentry 07 and Positive Force 07 2007; Vigilant Shield 08, Positive Response 08, Global Lightening, NLE 08, Ardent Sentry 08, Hurricanes Ike/Gustave 2008; Operation Unified Response Haiti Relief 2010; Chairman, Commissioning Committees: USS Somerset (LPD-25) and the USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26).

Board member of The Navy League of the United States Philadelphia Council since 2004.
Positions held:
Director
Vice President
President

Organizations Memberships :
NAVY LEAGUE of the UNITED STATES – Life Member
VFW – Life Member
NERA- Life Member
FLEET RESERVE ASSOCIATION – Life Member

Christine joined The Navy League – Philadelphia Council team on November 20! Her background brings with her a wealth of Executive leadership skills that will be beneficial for the Council both locally and ultimately Nationally. Christine was recently Executive Director for The Chapel of Four Chaplains at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and has a strong background in Non-Profit Executive Management.

Christine has a BS in Management/Administration from Peirce College. With over 30+years in administrative/leadership roles, Christine has focused on building relationships within her organizations to allow team members to focus on their strengths while building an environment that is open and team based.

Christine also uses her non-profit and organizational management skills to help organizations and individuals with getting their businesses on track to meet their budget goals. This includes Event Planning to stay on or under budget. She also enjoys spending her time with Veteran groups, events and engaging youth groups to get involved. This is one reason, amongst many others, that we believe Christine will be a true asset to us as we focus on growth and the future.

Please feel free to say hello to Christine at 267.258.8232 or ExecDir.pcnlus@gmail.com.

John Pilat was born and raised in the diverse community of Montclair, NJ where he
joined the Navy after High School and served aboard the aircraft carrier USS
Independence CV-62 working in the boiler and main engine spaces for 4 years. Forever a “Snipe” John raised a family of 5 outstanding, productive Americans while continuing to work and supervise boiler operators and HVAC mechanics in varying capacities over the years. John currently works for US Facilities as the Chief Engineer at a large industrial steam Boiler and chiller plant and is on the Board of Directors with the Philadelphia Council of the US Navy League. Over his adult life, John has always been a proponent of diversity and inclusion and has served on DEI committees in Companies he has worked for. Throughout the years John has always been most comfortable when he is out among nature. Through his early childhood days camping with his family, attending Army reserve events with his father or participating in Boy Scout and Girl Scout activities, gardening, nature, and being among “The Standing People” have always been his happy place. John is also on the Board of Directors with Heroic Gardens – an organization dedicated to supporting Veterans utilizing the healing powers of nature with plant based
activities right in their own homes.

Bill served as an officer in the United States Navy, United States Navy Reserve and United States Army Reserve for more than 22 years. He is currently the Associate General Counsel at American Regent Inc., a pharmaceutical company headquartered in New York. In addition to being the President of the Philadelphia Council of the Navy League of the United States, Bill is the Officer-In-Charge of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Mason Division (Philadelphia).
Bill joined the military in 1983 as part of the NROTC program at the University of Pennsylvania while attending Drexel University. He graduated from Drexel in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree (Chemical Engineering), was commissioned as an Ensign and attended the Navy’s Nuclear Power School, Surface Warfare Officer School and other schools before being assigned to the USS Aylwin (FF-1081) in Newport, RI on which he completed his Surface Warfare qualifications and a UNITAS deployment around South America. After decommissioning the USS Aylwin, he was assigned to the USS Constellation (CV-64) where he served as a Lieutenant in the Engineering Department.
After completing his active duty commitment, Bill entered the U.S. Navy Reserve and spent several years working as a chemical engineer and attending Temple University Law School in the evening. After graduating from Temple Law, Bill spent approximately ten years practicing law at three private law firms in Philadelphia during which he transferred services to become a Judge Advocate General (JAG) in the U.S. Army Reserve. Bill was mobilized twice in the JAG Corps during which he provided legal counsel to the Army and its soldiers during the conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2010, Bill left law firm practice to become Patent Counsel at Johnson Matthey, an international chemical and pharmaceutical company. In 2016, he accepted the role of Assistant General Counsel at Mylan Inc., a multinational pharmaceutical company, where he worked primarily on intellectual property matters. In 2019, Bill retired from the Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel and returned to Philadelphia full-time to work at American Regent.
Bill lives in center city Philadelphia and has two children, ages 15 and 12.

Adam Kaufer is a Partner at Prism Financial, a Philadelphia-based financial planning practice. Recipient of the Penn Mutual Center for Veterans Affairs Scholarship through The American College of Financial Services. He completed the General Securities Representative (Series 7), General Securities Principal (Series 24), and Uniform Combined State Law (Series 66) registrations and passed the licensure examination for insurance in November 2017. He became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER TM professional in 2020.

Prior to merging with Prism Financial, Adam was the founder and president of Kaufer Financial. Adam has
also worked at Merrill Lynch and Epicor Software Corporation, a leading software company specializing in business management software.

He has served 4.5 years of active duty with the United States Army. Tenure included a 16-month deployment to
Southwest Asia, where Adam held numerous leadership positions, to include platoon leader and senior
logistics officer.
Adam completed an MBA concentrating in Entrepreneurship while serving on active duty.
He joined Pennsylvania Army National Guard as a Captain in October 2010.

Adam is a 2006 graduate from Lafayette College in Easton, PA with a dual major in Engineering and Economics/Business.

He participated in the Reserve Officer Training Corps and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S.
Army Air Defense Artillery branch upon graduation.

He participated in Engineers Without Borders at Lafayette College to develop a system of drinking water structures in the rural areas of Honduras. Team was awarded an EPA grant for research and
implementation of the design.

Adam earned a Master’s certificate from Villanova University in Lean Six Sigma and holds the professional
designation as a Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, concentrating on process improvement,
reduction of variability, elimination of waste, and creation of flow.

Adam serves on the board of Fort Mifflin on the Delaware.

Adam lives in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood in Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Originally from
Kingston, Pennsylvania

Please feel free to say hello to 570-466-5868; adam.j.kaufer@gmail.com

Christopher L. Baker, Jr. is a Retired Colonel USMCR. He was stationed with the 1st Bn 7th Marines, 1 Bn 5th Marines, 7th Engineers, and Special Mission Central America. He was the Executive Officer of USS Little Rock CG-4, OIC 6th Fleet Military Police, (OSO) Recruiting Dep Commander, 4th MC Director of the Southwest Asia Training Group (Desert Shield/Storm), trained 18,000 Marines, Sailors, & Civilians. He was Acting Director of II Marine Expeditionary Force War Game Center, Exercise Director of “Cooperative Osprey” a NATO exercise involving 13 former Eastern Bloc Countries & 3 NATO Countries, Staff of Gen. Peter Pace’s Staff, Marine Forces Atlantic G-3 Operations & G-8 Business Reform, many selection & promotion boards, Staff Member of Reserve Component Naval War College & National Defense University, part of Special Operations Training Group II MEF training troops in Cold Weather, Arctic & Desert.

He received both a BS & BA from Boston College and his MBA from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. His Military Education includes the Amphibious Warfare School, Command & Staff, Naval Warfare Courses, Jungle Warfare School, Airborne School: Combat Dive Course, and other courses pertaining to the billets and duties performed.He has a daughter: Madison Victoria Baker

Lynne Edwards has served the Philadelphia hospitality industry for decades. She was the Director of Sales for the historic and elegant Warwick Hotel for 25 years. Currently she works for Korman Communities and has held management positions at numerous Korman properties. Her current role is the Business Development Manager at The Franklin Residences (formerly The Benjamin Franklin Hotel). Lynne and her husband, retired Navy Commander Michael Seider reside in the East Falls section of Philadelphia. Her daughter Caroline is a Naval Officer serving on active duty.

His formal naval affiliation goes back to 1963 when he enlisted in the Navy. After a short time, he was offered an appointment by the Secretary of the Navy to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. In 1970, he was commissioned an Ensign, and in 1972, was designated a Naval Aviator. Primarily flying helicopters, he performed Search & Rescue and Anti-Submarine missions. He left active duty in 1977.
He Continued To Support The
Navy By:
-Past National Director of the Navy League –
Past President and Director Emeritus of the
Philadelphia Chapter of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association –
Life Member of the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association –
Served as a Blue & Gold Officer for the U.S. Naval Academy Admissions Office –
Served as a member of Senator Arlen Specter’s Service Academy Selection Board –
Current Vice Chair of the Veterans Table at the Union League of Philadelphia –
Life Member of the Independence Seaport Museum –
Past Director of the Cruiser Olympia Association