Edmonds Strategic Consulting is the medium to provide strategic leadership services to organizations dedicated to mission accomplishment, understanding leadership matters in all endeavors, and having a growth mindset. Bob Edmonds connects the dots from a successful career in the A&D industry, from public service in the USAF to private sector corporate leadership, in operations, policy, legislative, strategy, and business domains.
Edmonds led growth for Elbit America as the Senior Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, from 2015-2024. During this period, the company had consecutive record years for orders, consistently achieving at least 1.1 book-to-bill. His responsibilities included integrating and aligning business development, government relations, strategy, corporate development, and strategic communications. As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, he reported to the President and CEO of Elbit America, a diversified, global aerospace and defense provider of high-performance, innovative solutions for the defense, homeland security, commercial aviation, and medical instrumentation markets.
As part of the ELT, he helped manage the business as part of the global, publicly traded parent company, Elbit Systems, headquartered in Israel. Elbit America uses a governance model with the DoD Special Security Agreement and Proxy boards, which Edmonds leveraged for the growth of the company. He initiated and led the International / FMS business and managed the early-stage business of commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) digital agriculture. During his eight years at Elbit America, the company has implemented a global growth strategy, seeing yearly revenues rise from approximately $650M to the current $1.6B.
Edmonds is also a Senior Advisory Director in the Lincoln International Investment Bank’s Aerospace and Defense practice, where he has been providing key insights and information on M&A deals since 2008. Before joining Elbit Systems of America, he was a Vice President at Exelis, Inc. where he led the business development and government relations efforts as well as the Air Force programs for this $5B aerospace and defense company before its acquisition by Harris.
He served a career in the United States Air Force, retiring with the rank of Brigadier General. He is a command pilot with over 2500 flight hours and 300 combat hours, having led 42 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. During his career, Edmonds commanded at the F-15 flight, squadron, and wing level and also served in multiple senior operations and policy positions in the Pentagon. In addition, he has worked in the White House as a White House Fellow and on Capitol Hill as the lead for Air Force congressional affairs for both the House and the Senate as the Deputy Director for Legislative Liaison.
Edmonds was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. After graduating from the USAF Academy as a Distinguished Graduate with a BSCE, he earned a MSCE summa cum laude as a Guggenheim Fellow from Columbia University. He also received a Masters in National Security Strategy from National War College, and completed an executive education program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Edmonds is on several boards at the USAF Academy, and a past president and board member of the White House Fellows Foundation and Association.
