About Us
The Security Training Collaborative (STC): A unique partnership between Security Management International (SMI) and the University of South Florida Office of Corporate Training and Professional Education
The STC is a one-of-a-kind public/private partnership that strives to promote the highest levels of executive education in the fields of security, intelligence, and homeland defense. Its most popular offers includes the curriculum surrounding the CIA’s CARVER Target Analysis and Vulnerability Assessment Methodology. These courses are housed under a special office known as the CARVER Training Institute.
How the CARVER Training Institute Came to be…
The CARVER Training Institute's motto is SEMPER OPPORTUNA, which in Latin translates to ALWAYS STRATEGIC.
The SMI CARVER story goes back to September 11th, 2001. The day after the horrific terrorist attacks against the United States, Luke Bencie received a phone call from CIA legend, Arthur “Mick” Donahue, a recipient of the Trailblazer Award, which recognized the 50 most influential officers of the first 50 years of the CIA. Mick had been called out of retirement from his company, Security Management International (SMI), and was building a team to work with the new Counterterrorism Center. Because Luke had applied a year earlier to CIA and his background check and polygraph test were already in process, he would be paired with former CIA bomb-tech Leo Labaj to conduct vulnerability assessments of critical infrastructure, such as the US power grid and water supply system, to mitigate against potential future attacks. Leo, who would later be known as “The Godfather of CARVER,” was with Mick and his team at the Special Activities Division in the early 1970s when they created the CARVER process (which was previously known as CARVE during the World War II Office of Strategic Services days). With Leo as his mentor, Luke was taught the CARVER Methodology, and subsequently traveled the world with Leo – and then various CIA offices – to become an instructor and recognized expert in the methodology.
Today, SMI is leading provider of CARVER training to the US Government, foreign governments, as well as dozens of Fortune 500 companies.
In 2020, SMI partnered with the University of South Florida’s Office of Corporate Training and Professional Education to create the Security Training Collaborative to provide certifications for all things CARVER. Eventually, this collaboration led to a CARVER specific training offering known as the CARVER Training Institute.
The CARVER Training Institute is housed at the University of South Florida on the Sarasota-Manatee campus.
Our Leadership
Sarah Bencie, Managing Partner, SMI
Sarah Bencie is the majority owner and Managing Partner of Security Management International, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based security consulting and defense contracting firm. Since taking leadership, Bencie has refocused the company on maximizing government contracting opportunities and rebranded it as a comprehensive security and intelligence training resource. Additionally, Bencie spearheaded a public-private-academic partnership with the University of South Florida, leading to the creation of the Global Security Operations Collaborative (GSOC) and the Security Training Collaborative (STC).
Bencie is a contributor to Harvard Business Review and The Journal of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security International. In 2024, she was a Finalist for Success Magazine’s Women of Influence Award. In 2022, she received Consulting Magazine’s Global Leaders in Consulting Excellence in Influence Award. Bencie is a member of ASIS International and the U.S. Department of State Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC).
Sarah Bencie completed graduate studies at Cornell University’s Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship and at New York University’s International Relations and Affairs Program at the School of Professional Studies. She also holds a graduate degree from Parsons School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Haverford College.
Mark Koulianos, Asst. VP of University-Community Partnerships
MARK KOULIANOS is assistant vice president of university-community partnerships, part of the team shaping the University of South Florida’s future cohesive and intentional strategy to engage community partners and facilitate business with USF. Koulianos is also the executive director of USF Corporate Training and Professional Education, a unit within Innovative Education that has grown exponentially during his tenure. It provides dozens of continuing education opportunities, certificates, corporate training, or short courses to help participants gain credentials. He is also the leader for workforce USF’s Lifelong Learning Operations, which offers training and certificate programs in numerous fields, operates testing services, and includes the Osher Lifelong Learning program.
Leo “The Godfather of CARVER” Labaj, Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection
LEO LABAJ is the Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection of Security Management International (SMI) and honorary mentor of the CARVER Training Institute. Mr. Labaj is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, the Air National Guard and the Central Intelligence Agency and has over 40 years of government and commercial experience. He has managed research and development programs and applied science projects for the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Intelligence Community as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. As part of the CIA’s Special Activities Division, Mr. Labaj developed and implemented the CARVER Defense Against Terrorism Survey, a vulnerability assessment methodology used to assess security at borders, high threat residences and facilities, along with over 100 international airports. Mr. Labaj also served on the Federal Aviation Administration's Blue-Ribbon Panel on Airport Security and Vulnerability Assessment, and implemented and managed the FAA's National Safe Skies Team Security Screening Test Bed. He has also served as a member of the Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) Access Working Group and participated in a number of professional and technical organizations, including the Defense Department Technical Support Working Group, the American Defense Preparedness Association, the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators, and the Joint Service Small Arms Program. Following his career in government, Mr. Labaj worked for Raytheon in the Intelligence Information Division, as well as Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Jay Riley, Senior Director, USF Security Training Collaborative
Jay Riley serves as Senior Director Special Projects and External Affairs for the University of South Florida’s Office of Corporate Training and Professional Education. In this capacity his is the liaison representative between USF and Security Management International for all things related to the USF Security Training Collaborative (STC) and the CARVER Training Institute. Additionally, Mr. Riley was appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to the Sarasota County Charter Review Board. Active in his community, he is a member of the Nathan Benderson Park Board of Directors, the Payton Wright Foundation Board of Directors, and the Manatee Chamber of Commerce Education and Workforce Committee. Mr. Riley earned his bachelor’s degree in mass communications and public relations from Mansfield University.
CARVER Instructor Staff
Luke Bencie, Managing Director SMI
LUKE BENCIE is the Managing Director of Security Management International (SMI) and the author of seven books on security, including “The CARVER Mindset: How to Think Like a Spy.” Mr. Bencie has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Defense, Fortune 500 companies, as well as foreign governments. He has worked in over 100 countries and has trained thousands of police, intelligence and military officers in the U.S. and abroad in the fields of counterterrorism, counterintelligence and strategic intelligence. Prior to establishing SMI, Mr. Bencie was a senior security consultant for Raytheon Company in the Intelligence and Information Systems Division. Mr. Bencie previously served as a representative from the CIA’s Office of Special Activities to the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Emergency Support Team. In this capacity, he was responsible for immediately responding to terrorist attacks carried out against U.S. targets overseas; subsequently serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and other global hotspots.
Col Jennifer Hesterman, Phd., USAF (Retired)
JENNI HESTERMAN retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Her last assignment was Vice Commander at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, where she led installation security, including security for Air Force One, base support, and the 1st Helicopter Squadron. She regularly escorted POTUS and other heads of state on the ramp. After retiring in 2007, she began working as a cleared contractor, studying international and domestic terrorist organizations, transnational threats, organized crime and the terrorist and criminal exploitation of the Internet. She advises the Homeland Security Training Institute at the College of DuPage in Chicago and the Crisis Response Journal. She holds a doctoral degree from Benedictine University, master of science degrees from both Johns Hopkins University and Air University, and a bachelor of science from Penn State University. She was a National Defense Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. where she studied the terror-crime nexus, and was a senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. She is an alumnus of the Harvard Senior Executive Fellows program. An award-winning author, her book Soft Target Hardening: Protecting People from Attack, was the ASIS Security Industry Book of the Year in 2015.
Bob Delaney, Senior Instructor
BOB DELANEY’s riveting life story has been told by HBO’s Real Sports, ESPN and ABC, in dozens of newspaper and magazine articles throughout the United States and Europe and now in his critically acclaimed book, Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob.
Delaney has risen to the top of two elite organizations – in law enforcement as a highly decorated Trooper with the New Jersey State Police, and as one of the National Basketball Association’s most respected referees and most recently as NBA Vice President Director of Officials. His NBA referee career began his career in 1987 ( more than 1,700 regular season games, 200 playoff contests and nine Finals. Delaney worked the 1998 and 2011 All-Star Games, and the 1994 Opening NBA Games in Yokohama, Japan and the 2010 NBA China games. He received the prestigious Gold Whistle Award from the National Association of Sports Officials in 2003.
Delaney has made a major contribution away from the game as well. He testified before the United States Senate on Organized Crime in 1981 detailing his perilous 3year undercover for the Jersey State Police – putting his life on the line for nearly three years infiltrating the Genovese and Bruno Crime Families.
Nicholas Waugh, CPP, PSP, Senior Instructor
NICK WAUGH has over 25 years' experience with conducting intelligence activities, performing law enforcement/security/anti-terrorism operations and leading surveillance efforts. Nick’s prior assignments within the intelligence/security field include serving as the Director of Security for the Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) Program Office, Director of Security for the Army Fixed Wing Project Office, Deputy Director of Security for the Joint Attack Munitions System (JAMS) Project Office, and Anti-Terrorism Officer for the U.S. Army 59th Ordnance Brigade. Prior to federal service, Nick served as a sworn police officer and was responsible for leading undercover operations, conducting criminal investigations, field training new officers and conducting monthly crime watch meetings to collect/share intelligence. He is co-owner of Spartan Solutions International, the technology company behind the CARVER+ Security Assessment Software. He has conducted numerous threat and vulnerability assessments as an ASIS-International Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and Physical Security Professional (PSP).
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