Civitas enters consultants arena

A who's who of national security experts has formed a consulting company to advise businesses and government agencies on homeland security.

Civitas Group LLC, based in Washington, is a venture between Stonebridge International LLC and BKSH & Associates. Samuel Berger, former national security adviser in the Clinton administration and now chairman of Stonebridge, and Charlie Black, the chairman of government relations firm Black Kelly Scruggs & Healey and a GOP lobbyist, are serving as co-chairmen.

The board of advisers includes business leaders and former government officials who have served five administrations. Former Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., who led the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century and served as chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, is board chairman.

Other board members include Dick Clarke, former presidential adviser on counterterrorism and cybersecurity; Joe Allbaugh, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and Kenneth Minihan, former director of the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency.