Leading Points Founder Announces Army Retirement
Centennial, CO – July 16, 2008 – Lieutenant Colonel Kevin T. K. Sullivan, founder of Leading Points Corporation, the leader in securing distribution through the military’s worldwide retail store system, today announced his retirement from the United States Army.
Col. Sullivan has served in the most demanding of aviation and operation leadership positions culminating in appointment to Director of Aviation for the United States Army Pacific.
With the permission of his commanders, he founded Leading Points in 2004. His mission, as he describes it, was to enable military personnel and their families a wide variety of quality American consumer goods no matter where in the world they are assigned.
“Don’t misunderstand,” said Sullivan, “I think AAFES (the Defense Department organization that runs the military exchange store system) is doing a great job. The problem, as I saw it, was that not enough of our country’s manufacturers and distributors understood the great opportunities in selling to our military services. It’s a huge and often overlooked market. That leads to some items that Americans have come to depend on being nearly unavailable at any price.”
Sullivan tells the story of a Special Forces Staff Sergeant who was flown on short notice to a camp in Anbar province in the middle of July 2004. He expected he could pick up some personal items, including socks, at the local BX. Unfortunately the only socks in his size were double‐heavy woolen knee‐highs meant for sub‐freezing temperatures. In the 130° degree heat of the Iraqi summer, that’s not a joke, it can be a tragedy.
“It really started out of selfish motivations,” relates Sullivan. “I would call makers of the products I wanted in my own BX and asked them why they couldn’t sell here. Red tape and confusing regulations were the typical answer. Obviously, my next question to them was ‘How can I help?’ and the ball started rolling from there.”
Of his coming retirement and transition from the Army, Sullivan says, “It was a hard choice, but it came down to where I could do the most good. By going full time with Leading Points, I know that I’m doing good for our troops. As a side benefit, I’m helping companies build on success by opening up an entirely new market for them. It’s one of those rare win‐win deals.”
Leading Points was established in 2004 to act as agents and sales representatives for companies desiring to sell to the powerful military market whose market reach exceeds 30 million persons. The company is located in Centennial, Colorado.
For further information and press inquiries, please contact Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Sullivan at 303‐975‐ 6731.