OUR TEAM IS READY TO HELP.
American Warrior Enterprises is led by a team of experienced industry veterans with a genuine commitment to teamwork and quality.
Terry Graves
President and CEO
Bud Reitnouer
Chief Financial Officer
Tim Stetler
General Manager
Nishat Azam
Outreach & Compliance
COL. John Shanklin, Jr., U.S. Army (Ret)
Defense Industry Consultant
Terence J. “Terry” Graves is president of American Warrior Enterprises, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business.
Mr. Graves combines deep manufacturing experience, strong project management skills, insightful marketing acumen and professional sales success – cross-functional leadership skills that build strong, direct customer relationships with Fortune 500 companies and profitability for his organizations.
Mr. Graves’ proven abilities in meeting customer requirements, producing high quality products and achieving ambitious timelines have led to unprecedented company success and long-term business relationships. Currently, Mr. Graves serves as President of American Warrior Enterprises, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOB) serving military and non-military government clients. He is highly skilled in achieving ambitious targets, solving often complicated design, manufacturing and delivery challenges.
Mr. Graves’ leadership success is a direct result of his philosophy of, and commitment to, building business and customer relationships through trust, credibility and partnership – with a focus on high-quality, value, service and timely delivery of products. The result: an industry-wide reputation for excellence.
He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Bellevue University and a Master’s in Business Leadership and Executive Coaching at Bellevue University.
Miles “Bud” Reitnouer is very well known as an engineering innovator and a manufacturing expert. In 1982, Bud founded Reitnouer, Inc. and has since built the company into the leading manufacturer of aluminum flatbed trailers in North America, employing a workforce of approximately 300 people. Reitnouer, Inc. also includes a state-of-the-art metal fabrication and machining facility with contract fabrication and manufacturing contracts throughout the United States.
Although Bud was only 24 years old when he started Reitnouer, Inc., he had an idea. His research showed that an aluminum flatbed trailer would be superior if it could be manufactured without welding. Bud knew that, because aluminum is a heat-treated metal, welding aluminum would create a structurally weakened material at the point of the weld and that bolting an aluminum trailer in the manufacturing process would eliminate this problem.
Bud engineered what became the Reitnouer Aluminum Flatbed Trailer, and subsequently, revolutionized an entire industry. Today, his company, Reitnouer, Inc., is the design of choice for drivers everywhere and the standard by which all other trailers are measured.
Bud’s goal was and is to design and build a trailer he could be proud of — a trailer that would deliver the weight savings promised by aluminum, with the strength, reliability and ease of repair that owners needed for a very demanding work environment. As a result, Reitnouer trailers are engineered for long life and easy maintenance, with a rock-solid design proven over millions and millions of miles.
From the beginning, Bud committed himself and his company to the needs of his customers. While “customer service” is a part of any business, Bud and his team have rewritten the book on customer focus, too; just as the Reitnouer Aluminum Flatbed Trailer rewrote the book for an entire industry: by leading, never following. In fact, design innovation, efficient manufacturing, exceptional quality and customer-focus have guided Reitnouer since 1982.
And every day since 1982, there is one guiding object standing behind every Reitnouer product and project, behind every innovation, behind every hero story, behind a trailer that not only revolutionized an entire industry, but one that has become the standard by which all others are measured. And that’s Bud Reitnouer.
Bud earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics/Secondary Education from Bloomsburg University.
Tim Stetler has over forty years’ experience in the design and manufacturing of Automotive, Aerospace, Appliance, HVAC, Overhead crane equipment, and Waste to Energy Incineration Systems. He leads the design and manufacturing capability for American Warrior Enterprises.
Tim started his career as a draftsman at Reading Crane and Engineering, and later transferred to Pollock Research and Design, where he served as a senior draftsman detailing various automated machinery components. He then was hired as a designer for Crouse Combustion Engineering Company, the engineers and designers of trash-to-steam waste incineration systems.
In 1984, he joined Dana Corporation’s Parish Division as designer for the Product and Tool Engineering Group. Later, he was promoted to Chief Engineer / Engineering Manager supporting automotive customers globally both domestic and international. During this time, he received three patents for various manufacturing technologies and was instrumental in Plant Manufacturing Support, Customer relations, Sales, Quality, and New Plant Start-up.
After the acquisition of Dana Corporation by MetalSA, Mexico, and twenty-six years of service, he decided on a career change and joined Dor-Mae Industries in 2010, managing Engineering Support, Sales, Estimating, Purchasing and Customer Service.
Tim was instrumental in the start-up of American Warrior Enterprises, providing metal fabrication services for applications like military and defense, aerospace, transportation, agribusiness, construction equipment, marine, industrial machinery, materials handling and more.
Nishat Azam, Esq., is an experienced project and contract manager with the ability to concurrently launch, manage, coordinate, oversee, strategize and organize projects ranging from 20- 350 personnel. She has substantial knowledge of, and experience with, contracting vehicles, certifications and compliance relative to Department of Defense, Department of State, GSA, Department of Transportation, among others. Her experience extends to contract and license negotiations, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Cost Principles, Cost Accounting Standards, and the policies, procedures and practices that go with them.
Much of Ms. Azam’s work has involved government contracting, both as an attorney and as a consultant helping clients prepare for and comply with government regulations, certifications, policies, procedures and performance. She has in-depth expertise and experience with FAR, DFAR, NIST 800-171 and ITAR regulations for Federal government contractors.
Ms. Azam is also an experienced attorney and litigator, with extensive international trade experience and case experience, in the Virginia general district and circuit civil courts, the DC Superior Court and Court of Appeals and in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Middle and Northern Districts of Florida, and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She holds bar admissions privileges in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the District of Columbia and the State of Florida and is accepted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. She has served as in-house and outside counsel to a wide variety of manufacturing and consulting firms.
Ms. Azam earned her LL.M in International Law with concentration on International Trade from the Stetson University College of Law and her Juris Doctor at the Barry University School of Law. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Political Science from the University of South Florida.
COL. John Shanklin, Jr. (U.S. Army – Retired) is recognized leader and expert on acquisition and program management within the Defense community. He has over 30 years’ experience in military and Defense programs and is a special consultant to American Warrior Enterprises, providing leadership and support relative to Defense, government and private-sector acquisition programs, project management, contracting procedures and resource management.
Prior to his retirement from the military, COL. Shanklin served as Director of Land Supplier Operations, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Land and Maritime, where he directed and led an organization of over 450 people with a budget of $2.3 billion, in eight locations. Primarily, he served as the principal advisor to the Commander and managed supplier and supply support operations, contracting and production support for Joint Land-Based Weapon Systems at the strategic national level.
Before that posting, COL. Shanklin served as Deputy Director / Chief of Staff to the Director of the United States Army Research Laboratory (ARL), where he was directly responsible for facilitating the rapid development, deployment, and integration of emerging technologies from the laboratory to the Warfighter, engaging and focusing the efforts of the military, the Defense community and the entire scientific and technology community in support of the U.S. Army.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Agricultural Economics from Mississippi State University and a Masters in Procurement and Acquisition Management from Webster University.
