Liberty & "human RIGHTS" exist ONLY in nations that value and Defend humanity
Our mission is to convey the true "Cost" of Defending Freedom and human rights, and honor those who gave the precious miracle of their lives to ensure them for current and future generations
Ray Vickery, Jr.
Contributor
Jim Dicus
In 2015 the process efficiency capture toolset Jim Dicus created for the USN's E2D Advanced Hawkeye Program documented over $500M in savings and was leveraged across NAVAIR to improve the affordability of multiple Navy and Marine Corp programs; An accomplishment recognized by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter with the National 'Excellence in Acquisition, Should Cost & Innovation Award.
Recruited by PMA-275's Pamela Wilson to stand up a CV-22 USSOCOM TF/TA radar program deemed 10 years behind schedule, Dicus set 2 historic program milestones when he secured Technical Data Rights over the OEM and successfully competed the radar RFP; The result broke the 30-year OEM vendor-lock exerted over the V-22 JPO saving millions in pass-through costs and 2 years on radar integration. More importantly it established precedent for competing contracts on all V-22 variants saving hundreds of millions over the next several years. His relief from MIL-STD-2161 at the request of AFSOC saved CV-22 program millions in logistics while ensuring mission readiness. His collaboration with USSOCOM's Jim Simon proving ethernet requirement for SKR over 1553B served as the model for V-22 Avionics expansion and modernization.
Dicus' solution to a radar signal vs. cockpit display incompatibility issue revealed at PDR avoided a $12 - $15M cost overrun and 16-month delay to Flight Test utilizing an in-house Hi-Def Ruggedized Monitor (HDRM) and APSD-fabricated cable via the Test Instrumentation Pallet solved the problem for $0 earning him a "Technical Excellence" Award personally presented by 3 Star General Robert McMurray, Jr.
When progressively tasked with 15 additional V-22 Sensor programs Dicus successfully streamlined all of them being recognized in July 2024 with the PMA's "Owning the Osprey" Award for saving $11.5M & 14 months schedule on VSLED parlaying the precedent he established with SKR.
Tasked with ensuring contractual OEM compliance of the 2000 Congressional Military Cockpit Voice Recorder Mandate that originated by the April 8th 2000 MV-22 Disaster at Marana, AZ , Dicus dedicated "The best work of his career" in honor of USMC Lt Col John Brow, his widow Trisha and their two sons.
Since 2015 Dicus has saved the U.S. Government and American taxpayer over $1 Billion USD. His career highlights include mentoring 3 consecutive USSOCOM Officers of the Year, promoting military co-worker Justin Wilson to rank of Major, hosting military teammates for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. Super Bowls. He has hosted fishing outings for teammates returning from OCONUS assignments and a ypung military officer recently discharged from cancer treatment at Walter Reed Military Hospital. In 2020 he was invited to address a veterans group that included the oldest living veterans of America's service academies.
On the 25th Anniversary of the Defenders Cup Dicus made the decision to leave his job and to create a documentary on his community's KIA/MIA veterans.
On July 28, 2026 the longtime hospice volunteer was presented a Proclamation from the Commissioners of St. Mary's County honoring his "Extraordinary Leadership and volunteer service" benefitting the residents of St. Mary's County.
He wrote the Foreword to artist Christina Allen's recently published Autobiography "Christina L. Allen; Artist; Gardener; Mentor" available at www.corncribstudio.com and Amazon.
Upon seeing American War photographer Joe Rosenthal’s photo of the flag raising on Iwo Jima cross the AP wire from his duty office aboard Patuxent River Naval Air Station, a 35-year-old Painter Second Class would immediately request permission to stop working on his current project and request to cancel his approved and long-anticipated weekend leave plans. For the next 72 hours, Felix de Weldon a Jewish immigrant who fled Europe to escape fascist persecution as an "Enemy of the State" by the Nazi Party would work non-stop as if possessed - his mind, heart and soul impassioned with great and grateful admiration as his impassioned hands gave shape and form to the will, determination, and Spirit incarnate of every man and woman who ever wore the uniform of the United States military. With the only material he could find aboard Station that Friday in 1943 - a mix of common floor and sealing wax discovered in a maintenance closet - he crafted a legendary model symbolizing the American unwavering dedication to defending freedom. It became a national memorial to the US Marine Corps, sparked a bond drive raising $7 billion for the war effort, and a revelation a naive 16 year old high school boy that forever changed how I saw his life, his country and the world.
THE DAY I UNDERSTOOD "DISCOVERED" AMERICA I candidly recount the following for a reason. As a typical American teenager growing up in the 80's and early 90's my adolescent world revolved around music, friends and hoping to lose my virginity. (I don't say "Trying" because there was no The last one was NOT going to be easy for an awkward, unfortunate-looking kid sporting glasses, braces/headgear, large nose, hand-me down clothes etc). Why confess this? Because that naturally naive, unaware teenage understanding and perception of 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' mentality changed in a startling revelation - one that profoundly changed my understanding of the world. (Of course I still wanna get laid...). As co-editor of the school newspaper I went to interview a transfer student from Czechoslovakia for a story. That would be an easy assignment grade. At 16 I thought I knew EVERYTHING. That day I realized I didn't know a DAMN THING. Except the kid in front of me wasn't a kid but someone or something very different from me; he seemed like an old man; extremely serious, jaded, skeptical, analytical, matter of fact, old, and devoid of youthful exuberance. He had a grave view of the world and humanity.
Someone who as a child and young teenager lived in a place where daily atrocities of beatings, disappearances, and murder comprised existence in a country where a place called "The United States of America" was a fabled utopian fantasy. the "transfer student" was a refugee who risked his life fleeing Communist oppression. HE had had left teenage friends behind who would die - some at their own hands as a result of the reality of their existence. They would do anything; drink anything to escape... As he talked, my naive, American-privileged mind strained to comprehend the reality of the world outside of the United States he was describing. Just as I struggled to understand his words, Karel struggled to find words to help me understand. "The dogs in this country - even the ones euthanized have had better lives than humans in my country. At times his frustration was obvious as I sat silently looking at him TRYING to COMPREHEND. THough we were both teenagers it was as if he was an old man in a teenage body attempting to explain something horrific to a simple, naive child who was incapable of comprehending. There were times, instances when he would get frustrated, exasperated at my inability to comprehend. However, I DID understand when he explained as simply as he could; ..."Fairness"... "Equality"... "Justice"... are AMERICAN CONCEPTS. AMERICAN things. They DO NOT EXIST where I come from... shaking his head side to side he emphasized they do not exist in Czechoslovakia. relaying several examples that I understood. It was of the few times in my life I could truly not speak. Then he managed to articulate words I will never forget; "We... do NOT have... an IWO JIMA memorial. We have NO ONE who will stand up for us... We have No one to DEFEND US from the ". We looked at eachother for several moments without words. I said "You know about the Iwo Jima Memorial? His response; "Yes... Everyone knows. Everyone knows American's will FIGHT for justice..." Finally I understood. I understood... and I have never been the same.
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Our logo is tribute to the original Iwo Jima sculpture created aboard Patuxent River Air Station in St. Mary's County, Maryland by Felix de Weldon Friday Feb -- through Sunday using the only material he could find aboard station - floor wax. . Upon seeing the iconic Joel Rosenthal photo cross the AP wire, USN PTR2 de Weldon - an immigrant who joined the US Navy following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, requested permission to pause painting The Battle of the Coral Sea to search for a suitable material he could use to sculpt the model that would inspire a $7 BILLION war bond drive, and the greatest war monument to the defense of democracy in the history of the world. image. He found it in floor and sealing wax and request to cancel his weekend leave to create a 3' maqauette of what he would call his most important work. mbodying the courage, resolve, and sacrifice of EVERY AMERICAN who gave their life defending freedom and democracy. The 3' Pax sculpture (shown here in the background and accompanying photos would inspire a $7 Billion War bond drive and the greatest symbol to the defense of freedom monument to freedom in the world. It would also be a life-changing epiphany for a 16-year-old high school student in "discovering, understanding, appreciating the incredible affect the United States of America would have liberating the people of the World".
Liberty and "Human Rights" exist ONLY in nations that value and defend the sanctity of humanity
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