Stephen L. Norris President Of Carlyle Group Joins Global Digital Solutions Board of Directors, Is Named Chairman And CEO

Global Digital Solutions,Inc. (OTCQB: GDSI), a company that is positioning itself as a leader inproviding cyber arms manufacturing and complementary security and technologysolutions, today announced that Stephen L. Norris has joined the Company'sBoard of Directors and has been named Chairman and CEO of GDSIInternational. Currently serving as Chairman of Stephen Norris Capital Partners, LLC, Mr.Norris has substantial expertise in structuring, negotiating andimplementing leveraged buy-outs, cash-flow-based investments and financingstrategies in the public and private capital markets. Mr. Norris is one of five co-founders of the Carlyle Group, a major merchantbank based in Washington, D.C. From 1988-1997, Mr. Norris served asCarlyle's President. He was a principal participant and key advisor inCarlyle's numerous investments in various public and private companies.While at Carlyle, Mr. Norris, along with other senior members of the Carlyleteam, participated in the acquisition, disposition, strategic focusing andfinancing (in public and private markets) of numerous companies involvingseveral billion dollars of equity capital. Carlyle invested in leveragedbuyouts (LBOs), venture capital (particularly telecommunications andwireless companies in the pre-Internet days), and real estate. Today,Carlyle is one of the largest and most successful private equity firms inthe world. "The entire GDSI team is thrilled that Steve Norris has joined our board ofdirectors and that he will serve as chairman and CEO of GDSI International,"said Richard J. Sullivan, GDSI's President and CEO. "Steve's record ofsuccess in negotiating and implementing large-scale investments andfinancing strategies is truly world-class. The fact that Steve has developedsenior-level working relationships with essentially all of the majorinvestment banks in the United States and in the international arena willprove to be highly beneficial as GDSI implements our global growth strategy. I welcome Steve Norris to the GDSI senior leadership team and look forwardto working closely with him and benefiting from his incomparable experiencein seizing profitable opportunities in U.S. and global capital markets." "I'm honored to join the GDSI board and to begin serving as Chairman and CEOof GDSI International," said Stephen Norris. "Dick Sullivan and the entireGDSI leadership team have a remarkable record of acquiring and growingleading-edge technology companies. I see enormous growth opportunity forGDSI in both the U.S. and the international arenas and I certainly lookforward to working with the GDSI team to leverage these opportunities in themonths and years ahead." More About Stephen L. Norris, JD, LLM The Honorable Stephen L. Norris served on the Board of Directors of eachmajor Carlyle Group portfolio company and played a major role in strategicdecisions. During his tenure, Carlyle's investments produced very successfulreturns for the investors, averaging approximately a realized 40% internalrate of return (IRR). Most notably, Mr. Norris had direct responsibilityfor well over $1 billion in investments, in addition to directing andmanaging a prominent investor's investment in the recapitalization ofCitibank now Citigroup. Mr. Norris' business relationships also madepossible this investor's subsequent investments in Euro Disney and FourSeasons Hotels. By the end of 1998, these three investments had producedwell over $10 billion in profits. In 1992, Mr. Norris was appointed by President George Bush, and confirmed bythe U.S. Senate, as one of the five board members of the approximately (atthe time) $68 billion Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. During histenure (1992-1995), Mr. Norris successfully advocated for the right ofFederal employees to allocate a greater portion of their savings into publicequities. Until late 1996, Mr. Norris served on the Advisory Committee ofSEAG, Inc. which advises the Saudi Government on economic development anddiversification within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Prior to co-founding Carlyle, Mr. Norris was a Corporate Vice President ofMarriott Corporation in Washington, D.C. He was a principal strategist andadvisor for Marriott's substantial public and private financings, limitedpartnerships, acquisitions and divestitures from 1981 to mid-1987. Mr. Norris was a Fellow at Yale Law School (1977) and received a B.S. andJ.D. (1972, 1975) with honors from the University of Alabama, and an L.L.M.from New York University (1976).