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Portrait of Rick Willis, Founder and Managing Member

Rick Willis Founder & Managing Member

Senior Master Sergeant, U.S. Air Force (Retired)

20 Years · U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering

Enterprise Infrastructure Leadership · Walmart · Sam's Club · Amazon

Bronze Star · Purple Heart · Air Force Combat Action Medal · Air Force Commendation Medal with Valor

Our Story

Built from Responsibility: To the Mission, the Investment, and the People Depending on Both.

Freedom Infrastructure Partners grew from a career spent on the owner's side of infrastructure, where completing the work was never enough. The standard was whether the mission was stronger, the asset performed, and the investment produced the value it was supposed to produce.

Experience Behind the Method

20 Years
United States Air Force
Enterprise Scale
Walmart · Sam's Club · Amazon
Military + Commercial
Infrastructure leadership across both operating environments
Owner-Side Perspective
Capital, assets, contractors, operations, and execution

Founder experience described above reflects Rick Willis's prior military and enterprise roles, not corporate past performance of Freedom Infrastructure Partners, LLC. Organizations named are former employers, not FIP clients.

Our Story

Built from Responsibility

Freedom Infrastructure Partners grew from a career spent on the owner's side of infrastructure, where completing the work was never enough. The standard was whether the mission was stronger, the asset performed, and the investment produced the value it was supposed to produce.

Rick Willis served 20 years in the United States Air Force, retiring as a Senior Master Sergeant after a career in Civil Engineering. His military service included infrastructure operations, contingency execution, and leadership responsibility for facilities and mission-support programs where readiness, accountability, and performance were never abstract concepts.

After retiring from the Air Force, Rick moved into senior facilities and infrastructure leadership roles with Walmart, Sam's Club, and Amazon. Across military installations and large enterprise portfolios, he repeatedly encountered the same challenge at very different scales: organizations rarely lack effort, funding, or good intentions. Value is lost when asset information is incomplete, priorities are fragmented, scopes are inconsistent, accountability is weak, and lessons learned never become repeatable systems.

Freedom Infrastructure Partners was created to put those lessons into one operating model. FIP combines owner-side infrastructure stewardship, capital-program discipline, federal acquisition and capture management, and a network of qualified Strategic Execution Partners. We define the requirement, use evidence to make decisions, put the right capabilities around the work, and remain accountable for the outcome.

That philosophy also explains the name Freedom Infrastructure Partners. Strong organizations do not succeed alone. Clients make partners better. Partners make FIP better. And the right team should leave the mission, the asset, and every organization involved stronger than it found them.

We believe Partners Make Each Other Better!

Our Story

Service Came First.

Ricky L. Willis in U.S. Air Force service dress before the American and Air Force flags

Rick Willis served 20 years in the United States Air Force, retiring as a Senior Master Sergeant after a career in Civil Engineering. His military service included infrastructure operations, contingency execution, and leadership responsibility for facilities and mission-support programs where readiness, accountability, and performance were never abstract concepts.

Rick Willis in Air Force uniform wearing the Purple Heart
Damaged armored Humvee
How we think

FIP Leadership Principles

  1. 01
    Mission FirstEvery decision begins with the mission and the people the asset exists to serve.
  2. 02
    Serve Those We Are Responsible ToKnow who we are accountable to, and make decisions in their interest: the owner, the agency, the taxpayer, the veteran, the citizen, and the mission.
  3. 03
    Prioritize, Simplify, ExecuteMake the plan clear enough to act on. Ideas create no value until they are executed.
  4. 04
    Extreme OwnershipOwn the outcome, not just the tasks!
  5. 05
    Evidence Over OpinionCodes, standards, data, and documented facts outrank title, preference, and assumption.
  6. 06
    Root Cause Before RemedyDo not treat the symptom as the problem. Understand the root cause before recommending the solution.
  7. 07
    Engineer in ValueEngineer value into the solution, not cost out of the scope!
  8. 08
    The Last Dollar TestIf this were the owner's last dollar, is this where it should be invested across the portfolio and asset lifecycle?
Contact

Start the Conversation

Tell us about the requirement, portfolio, pursuit, or partnership. We'll start with the problem you are trying to solve.

Rick Willis, Founder & Managing Member · [email protected] · 505-433-0911 · Northwest Arkansas · Nationwide Delivery

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Freedom Infrastructure Partners

Who We Serve

Federal Government

  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Department of Defense
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  • General Services Administration
  • Federal real property and facility organizations
  • Other civilian agencies

Public & Institutional Owners

  • State and municipal governments
  • Public works organizations
  • Healthcare systems
  • Universities and institutional owners

Private & Industry

  • Prime contractors
  • Specialty contractors
  • Infrastructure service providers
  • Engineering and technical firms
  • Commercial real estate and facility owners
  • Companies pursuing federal growth