Ask A Cop
Ask A Cop is live and unscripted. Each episode gives other officers and the community a window into a police officer's world and provides authentic community engagement with law enforcement professionals.Listeners can relate by asking questions, hearing some of their own struggles, and finding solutions. Despite preconceived notions, these men and women, who serve and protect, are approachable and eager to answer questions. This resource provides meaningful engagement for officers, their families, and the community. As chaplains, we have witnessed the immeasurable rewards of simply sitting down and having these positive conversations. Produced in partnership with Gods Way Radio.
Ask A Cop
What lessons can be learned from military, law enforcement and other life transitions?
What drives a high school athlete to enlist in the Marine Corps at 17? Join us for an inspiring conversation with Officer Chris from the Miami-Dade Police Department, as he shares his remarkable journey from the football field to the battlefields of Iraq. From a pivotal discussion with a school resource officer to the transformative trials of Marine boot camp, Chris's story is one of resilience, honor, and unwavering commitment. We also explore the evolving landscape of youth willingness to serve and Chris’s efforts to bridge the gap through his Tactical Training Operations Group.
Chris opens up about his military experiences in Japan, the Philippines, and Iraq, shedding light on the profound life lessons learned and the sacrifices made along the way. His reflections on the transition from military to civilian life offer invaluable insights for anyone contemplating such a move. We delve into his decision-making process as he faced a crossroads between a sniper role with the State Department and a full-time SWAT position, highlighting the importance of logical thinking over emotional impulses in career choices.
Finally, our discussion turns to the essence of character and accountability, emphasizing the importance of continuous personal growth and responsible firearm training. Chris shares his experiences as a drill instructor and the transformative impact of law enforcement training on recruits. We wrap up with powerful insights on living in the moment and the journey from emotional decision-making to a committed, action-oriented approach to life and duty. This episode is packed with wisdom, personal anecdotes, and practical advice for anyone considering a career in the military or law enforcement.
you're listening to ask a cop podcast, a time where communities and cops connect. These conversations are recorded live, so stay tuned after the podcast so you can learn where to submit your own questions and to learn how you can support us. For now, though, get ready to ask a cop.
Speaker 2:ASCA Cop has expanded. We have first responders from all walks of life that join us. But today we're back to our bread and butter. A police officer from right here in Miami, right here in Miami-Dade County, currently working for the largest municipality in the state of Florida. Did I get that right, Chris?
Speaker 3:The largest municipal police department in the state of Florida. Did I get that right, Chris?
Speaker 2:The largest municipal police department in the state of Florida, the largest municipal police department, which happens to be in Dade County, which happens to be in Dade County. So, chris Officer, chris, thank you for being here. Just want to give you an opportunity to say hello and introduce yourself.
Speaker 3:Listeners. Hi, how are you, christian Gulls, excited to be here with you guys.
Speaker 2:Awesome. So we've been talking, preparing. You know, right off the bat, you want to tell us just a little bit about where people can find you online, in case, as they're listening, they're already pulling their phones out and wanting to connect, sure.
Speaker 3:So the Instagram tag is TTOG underscore LLC. We also have a YouTube page under Tactical Training Operations Group, as well as a TikTok account same name.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome. So we're going to get into that. We're going to learn a little bit more about what Tactical Training Operations Group is, but for now, you know we want to go way back and, chris, you actually told me yesterday when we were preparing, you enlisted in the military at 17? Correct, that is awesome. What brought you to that decision? 17 years old, joining up?
Speaker 3:So growing up I was an athlete, didn't really hit the books very hard, I was more focused on distractions, and my brother played Division III college football. He did well academically as well as on the football field, so he had invited me to come up there and watch one of his big games. I went up there, got with one of their counselors and ended up getting approved for a 50% scholarship and I remember very, very, very what's the word. Like if it just happened right now.
Speaker 2:Very clearly like it happened yesterday.
Speaker 3:Vivid, very vividly, when my dad looked at me and he said I don't know where you're going to get the rest of the money from, because you're going to come up here and you're going to party and you're going to fail. And I said you're probably right. He probably was right. So that week when we got back from that tour, that vacation, I got with the school resource officer who pointed me in the right direction towards the Marine recruiter that was at the high school, had a conversation and enlisted that week Wow.
Speaker 2:What were?
Speaker 3:your sports. I was a football player, weightlifting team, wrestling.
Speaker 2:Awesome, that was it Awesome. So 17 went into the Marine Corps. How was that? What do you remember from bootcamp? From joining at 17 into the Marine Corps? Nothing, nothing.
Speaker 3:It was so painful you blocked it out. It was quite the experience for a young man to just completely be thrown into another realm. Yeah, and you see things where you know. The military is one of these environments that you have to acclimate very quickly to whatever conditions are there. And that's not just environmentals, that's the industrial complex of what the military actually is. The mission set the mindset.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, absolutely, you know right, I think the understanding. So my dad was in the Navy for 21 years. Did you have any military in your family? At all. No, you're the first one. Wow.
Speaker 2:So that's, that's a big culture change. So my understanding is break down the boot camp. They break you down to build you back up, right, I mean, that's a goal. Yeah, so 17 in the military. Let me ask you this now, at the risk of going on a tangent here Do you think that most 17 year olds today are ready for boot camp? I mean, do we have the same stock of people? I mean I wonder, I wonder, back then that was not super uncommon for a kid out of high school to want to enlist, and I don't hear that much of that anymore. I don't see that much of that anymore. I wonder.
Speaker 3:I do too. I don't think, ultimately, what you're doing is you're deciding to serve, so that means that you have to put something ahead of yourself, and I think that these days, people have a difficult time maybe doing that.
Speaker 5:That that might be it, right there there's something also where I think I hear a lot of kids. Um, I have, you know, young kids when I did the youth group that they enlisted in the marines. They were actually fortunate to um be on very small deployments, but they were looking for an educational kind of edge or something to help them go forward in life and they decided to go the military route, actually in the Marine. And so there's different reasons even, I think, back then, as we talk about back then it depends on how old we are right, back then, for me I'm, I'm 40, so I would say even before my time, there were different reasons. People were joining. It was a different mindset. I mean, they were joining out of honor, out of, you know, their family, protecting and serving others, and and so maybe that has changed, I think, through time I agree.
Speaker 3:going back to you, know, and I just said it if you have a purpose where it's not for a transactional purpose meaning there's a benefit of it for me, college, va benefits, whatever it is and it is truly to serve, then you're not looking for anything in return. You're truly doing it because you feel that that's your calling at that time. Rather, this is what I'm going to do because there's nothing else for me to do. Yeah, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think that that's a key takeaway for anyone listening right, maybe you've been thinking about next steps in life, but the fact of serving and not you know, I love that word you use transactional. So, chris, tell us a little bit more. You joined up at 17 and when was your first deployment?
Speaker 3:I believe that was 2002, february. Okay, and that would have been.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, that was.
Speaker 3:June of 2002. Okay, deployed, we came back December of 02 and that was to Japan. We did a Eastpac Came back December of 2002, and that was to Japan. We did an East Pack, pretty heavy into training, so we would train, we trained in Japan, we trained in the Philippines with the Philmars, the Filipino Marines, nice, and then we just did an Eastern Pacific tour where we literally went to South Korea, we went to Guam, we went to Guam, we went to Russia and then we worked our way back home.
Speaker 2:Were you on a carrier or you flew to all those places? No, we were on carriers.
Speaker 3:Nice, my dad did a Back then. Whidbey Island is the one that was with us.
Speaker 2:Okay, my dad was on the USS Saratoga in the 80s and he did a Mediterranean tour. He always jokes about it. He's like I just went on a cruise. That's awesome. They did a lot of training. So that is awesome man, marines and Navy working together. So Okinawa you mentioned that you had two more deployments in the Middle East, correct. I think maybe more people might be familiar with that. I mean, we were in Afghanistan. What? 20 years?
Speaker 3:I believe so, and so I did iraq, I did two iraqs. Yeah, back to back. I never made it out to afghanistan, but I heard that it was quite the climate change yeah, yeah, I mean iraq again.
Speaker 2:We had talked about this. Right, I have family members that were there. You were there in 05, yep, oh, five, um. So you know things that stick out to you from your deployment in Iraq and you know being a marine and what you learned and what you did. You know again we mentioned it before right where you know anybody listening, you're going oh, we're getting to the juicy stuff. We're not here for that, we're looking at life lessons. You know experience and, yeah, what sticks out to you from your deployments in Iraq.
Speaker 3:Looking back as a 40-year-old man versus when I was a 22-year-old young man. After that first deployment you go into it with a sort of invincibility status. These are my guys, we're coming back no matter what because we're the finest fighting force in the world. And the reality is that when you don't that next deployment you realize a lot's changed. So I guess the juicy stuff is the stuff that changes your life. So you did lose guys from your unit.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely, tell us a little bit about where you were at. I know we have veterans that listen. What areas were you at in Iraq? 05?
Speaker 3:was Huseba. We stayed at Camp Ganon Proper, and that was in the Al-Qaim province. It was a pretty hot spot back in 05. So they called it the Wild West. We were right on the syrian border wow.
Speaker 2:And then the second deployment, say habanilla, habanilla. Okay, so you did four years, total eight years. Uh, just under eight, just under eight. Two, two re-enlistments, two enlistments, two enlistments is what it'll be called. Two enlistments, um, any, you know, as we, as we're gonna kind of go to the next phase of your life, any, any uh counsel, any, any input for anybody thinking about going into the military before we leave, that uh chapter of chris's life.
Speaker 3:I guess, looking back at it, if it's the only option that you have understand the consequences that come with it, if it's the only option that you have understand the consequences that come with it, if it's an option that you choose to make understand the consequences of it, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. And again, I would go back to what you said right, are you doing it? Why right? So so often in preparing for today, we you talked about the why right, some of the things we'll talk about later, the why, sure, and so why, you know, is it to serve? Is it to serve? So awesome. So you got back and you decided to make a career change correct.
Speaker 3:Tell us about that got back was kind of a little bit lost in translation, didn't know what I really wanted to do. I knew I wanted to do something within the confines of being a first responder, whether that was fire or police, and the big difference in that was SWAT. So I knew that I was good within small units and I was looking for that. You know, when you get out another life experience, another drastic change, you had purposed yourself to do something. Now that that's ended, you got to repurpose and you got to figure it out. So put in for the police world, got accepted into the police world and then went through the academy.
Speaker 2:How is the academy comparable to the bootcamp?
Speaker 3:I got to be honest, it wasn't. I did the police academy in Key West Florida.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:I had actually moved down to the Keys to attend the academy down there, I was hired by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. I spent just a little over four and a half years over there and it was fantastic, but I was missing something. And it was fantastic, but I just I was missing something. You know, at that point, once you start repurposing, you start, you know, checking off goals that you have, and one of my goals was being a full-time SWAT guy yeah you know.
Speaker 3:so at that time I did an either or and I had put in with my department. But I had also put in for a sniper position with the department of state overseas to do embassy private security details. That was in Afghanistan and it's really weird because once my itinerary came in from that my secret clearance came in, was approved I got a call from the department that said you're hired and you start Tuesday. Wow, so it was cool and I feel everything happens for a reason. So once that happened I promptly contacted the agency that I was getting picked up with for the State Department work and I notified them that I wouldn't be there. And Tuesday I was there, resigned that day from the department and that was it.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you more about that, because you know this is the cool part. Right, we prepared a little bit, but I didn't have that story. That's very interesting and I would imagine you know. Maybe you're listening, maybe you just tuned in to Ask a Cop. Remember to check us out anywhere you get podcasts. Remember to reach out to God's Way Radio so we can connect you with the information that you need. I would imagine that some people would have chosen the sniper state department detail over a police department, but it sounded like you had a very clear goal and maybe your mindset back then was different. You're even a different person that you are now. But thinking where you were at back then, why did you stay so firm on police when you had this really cool other opportunity?
Speaker 3:because, when it boils down to it, I I did what I believe most people are challenged to do. I set the emotional side of the house down and I thought logically and I said this is a career, this is a contract for security contracting, which sounds high speed, but you work seven days a week, 12 to 15 hour days. At the height of it it was close to a thousand a day. Now you're talking about 400. So, if you do the math, 16 days a month with the department. You work off duties, you work overtime same amount of money. The difference is you may not find the sand still gritting in your teeth anymore once you get back here. So that's what I did. I thought logically and I put that side of the house to bed.
Speaker 2:You know, I so appreciate that because I know, at least myself, I've interacted with young people that you know, especially young Christian guys. You know they want to know what God's plan is. They want to know what God's plan is and sometimes they're so afraid to take a step. You know, to do anything, and sometimes you just got to think logically. You know what's a decent job, what's going to pay the bills.
Speaker 2:You know, and I think of of people that might even be great fits for police work or for fire and and oh, but I'm not sure, I'm not sure, and, uh, I love that, uh, moment of clarity that you had and were able to share with us, that you, you thought logically you know this is a career, right, the hours, the. You know there's no shame in thinking what, what's a better, what's a better situation. You know what's a better pay, what's a better schedule. So, man, really, really good stuff. And it could apply to anyone, right? You know? You know we have Adrian here in the, in the background, and and I wonder, I wonder if, if that applies to um, I mean, it could apply to anyone students, moms, older people, younger people right, they're so emotionally tied up with this or or this new and exciting thing comes up correct and they throw away the logic, the hard work for this new and exciting thing and and that a lot of times that's that's the wrong choice.
Speaker 5:I don't know, adrian any any quick comment on that there's definitely, um, I think there's definitely wasted opportunities that come around us all the time and for one reason or another, we decide, um, not to do something or to do something, and and even in waiting you know, maybe we're talking about students a lot and just kind of the conversation went there where we're talking about students going from high school to the military or maybe even a law enforcement career or whatever it might be I think that the waiting time is so important. Right, I've talked about often that active waiting like a waiter. You know a waiter in a restaurant who's sitting around. You got to call him every time, see where he is and he's looking at his phone. That's not the waiter I want. I want the waiter who's on top fill up my water, bring me the thing I mean. That's the kind of guy that I want to tip. I mean whatever. I want to help this guy.
Speaker 5:And in life we do that, we're waiting, but we're like standing still, doing nothing.
Speaker 5:You know here, you know, as an example, it's I, there's a career already in in in a certain law enforcement department, there's several reaching out for other opportunities, and then sometimes what happens is I think there's a proverb right you cast your bread over many waters, right see? So you, you're putting out for these different opportunities and now you have a choice, even to make a choice of two and I'm sure they could have both been good choices, depending on the circumstance but the fact that you are doing something while waiting for something else, then you come to a decision point and you choose between one or another. The thing that I take from it again is there's just a constant activity. You're not just sitting doing nothing, waiting for this thing to happen. No, you're constantly acting on the opportunities right in front of you, not waiting for that one that you hope one day and that's how the careers, that's how the opportunities come is. You take advantage of the moments right in front of you and don't let those go.
Speaker 3:Well, I think that's just like life, that's living in the present, because the past brings sadness, the future brings anxiety. So if you have the opportunity in front of you right then and there to seize it, then take it. What do they say? Carpe diem, seize the day the day correct awesome.
Speaker 2:We talked about this before, chris. What were some of those things that were transferable right right From military life to policing, from soldier to officer? What were some things that were transferable skills or mindsets?
Speaker 5:I'm sorry, Joey. Oh sure, I'm going to interrupt it.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 5:Just for a question, it just came to my mind. Do you have a favorite meal? You never ate, but after going overseas you're like man. There's this thing that I had. I would have never had.
Speaker 2:From Japan, middle East, anything that Like something he ate while overseas?
Speaker 5:Yeah, because again I'm talking to young kids who only eat chicken nuggets every day. Sometimes, man, you got to take an adventure. When you eat, there's something before you. You don't even realize how good it is Seize the meal.
Speaker 5:For me it was my first medium filet mignon. Growing up in a cuban house is that straight plancha, hard, you know super well done steak. And I thought I was gonna die when I had my first medium you know, red in the middle filet mignon. And then I had that bite. I I undid everything in my mind just to thinking I'm gonna die. And I took that bite and I realized, oh, my goodness, what am I missing out on? And that changed. I mean, I'm not even kidding that literally changed my life when it comes to food. So I don't know, was there something that just a meal? Is there something that really got you out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I remember being a really young dude and having yakisoba in Japan. It's noodles, noodles, noodles, but they were real thick. Yeah, japanese noodles, and they were phenomenal I want some of that.
Speaker 2:Yakisoba, yakisoba, that's awesome there you go now everybody's hungry all right, sorry, so cool, so that's transferable now you're in miami, get some good yakisoba Right. You know what's good on the menu. That's awesome, man. Yeah, if you're listening, just tuned in, this is Ask a Cop, and we're here with Officer Christian Hall Galls. Sorry, I don't know why I keep saying Hall Christian Galls, and we're so appreciative. And if you want more information, if you just tuned in, if you missed another conversation, remember to reach out to us here at God's Way Radio. We will get you that information and stay tuned. We got more stuff coming. So, yeah, we are excited to learn all about you, chris, and all about what you've learned.
Speaker 3:So, going back to the transferable skills and mindsets, sure, I guess the skill sets that would be most transferable would just be attention to detail, tactfulness. You reach a certain level of understanding, rank and structure and as far as mindset, I would say, the most transferable thing that's relatable to everything in life because it translates to everything is your character.
Speaker 2:Can you elaborate on that? Your character, Sure, yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, I have conversations with people that are in the process of becoming police officers and I tell them you are going to be the type of police officer that you are Mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother. That is who you will be and that is what will follow you through your career.
Speaker 2:So you know I love that. It's almost like the badge, the uniform amplifies what's there. You know it can't hide it, it reveals it and amplifies it. I wonder do you think that happens with all authority, right? You give somebody authority and it kind of amplifies what's inside.
Speaker 3:I could go pretty deep with that question.
Speaker 2:Yeah, go a little bit. Yeah, what do you think on authority that bringing out of people?
Speaker 3:what's in there. I don't think it brings it out. I think it's a falsehood that people have certain expectations of other people, that suddenly, perhaps they feel disappointed by them because something happens. I think a badge just gives you the ability to do things in good faith. If that is your purpose and why you chose to serve. It's no different than the military. I do believe that everyone in life will present themselves to be something that they are not, and it's not that they are not that they'll present themselves as the best version of themselves, because there's a possible fear of presenting things to people that could be looked upon with shame. So what is shame? It's just beliefs from society that conforms people to say that things are not acceptable. So people feel like they have to hide it. Well, it's the same thing as winning the jackpot If you don't have good character, well, now you're just gonna be really rich with bad character. Yeah, you know what I mean, and that's the thing. People have a misconception Reputation is not your character, but your character is your reputation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and that is awesome. I'm so glad you elaborated for us.
Speaker 5:I was looking at the definition of character and I really disliked some of the dictionary definitions. Right A feeling, what you think about yourself and character is not Character is every decision you make and the sum of those decisions you know.
Speaker 3:Whether they're popular or not.
Speaker 5:Correct. And so character is not about anything of feeling or perception. It's a reality and you get to choose your character. You're a good character man, I think. In the Bible it talks about man out of the abundance of the heart is where these things come, and so um. So that character doesn't just start from some kind of feeling that I'm trying to perceive or make people think.
Speaker 3:No, it actually comes from your choices, and that is what will, uh, establish your character I think, not only your choices, but your ability to take accountability for whatever your choices were, whatever, whatever, regardless of outcome, so good, bad or indifferent, there's no fingers to point because it was your choice. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Ownership Absolutely so important. And, again, it applies across life, right? Like you were saying, parenting, sisterhood, brotherhood, job, first responder or not. You know, again, thinking of so many people that listen, that are civilians, you know, they're listening, that they want, they want to know about policing, they want to know about what it's like. You said something else that really caught my attention. You talked about being a soldier, talking about being a law enforcement officer, and you said the thing that is the same in both of them is that it's not personal, correct. You know, I think that when people see police officers doing their job and they start to form opinions, you know, again, there's no secret, right? We're all living in the United States, we've been alive for the last five, six, seven, eight years, and they have all these opinions and talk about how that impacts your work, how that affects policing, the fact that it's not personal uh, your work, how that affects policing, the fact that it's not personal.
Speaker 3:So you can act in good faith out of exactly what that means, because the moment that you take something personal, something else is going to take over, and that's your ego. Because if you take something personal, you feel that something happened that was perhaps slighted at you and you will then act accordingly to provide a response in whatever fashion that side of you says to take care of. And I believe that that's where people, not only within law enforcement and military society, are getting lost as a whole, because there's a very opinionated world and people have a very difficult time just being indifferent and saying it is what it is, because, at the end of the day, that's all that it is, that's it yeah how can someone be better at not taking things personal?
Speaker 3:find out who they are themselves. That's it. There's no other way that people cannot. People cannot fix you.
Speaker 3:No, I don't mean hard work, I mean actually ask yourself who am I, why am I here and what is my purpose. And when you do that that's step one your life will start changing, because then you'll understand direction for what it truly is, your distractions will go away and you'll have much more clarity in life, because the fog that runs through your mind every day of either anxiety from the future or sadness from the past you become very clear very clear.
Speaker 2:You know that makes so much sense, right? Because if you know, if someone calls me a nasty name or says something about me, but I know who I am, no biggie. God bless them, right?
Speaker 3:Like, whatever you don't know me, I know me.
Speaker 2:You know, God knows me, my wife knows me, my kids know me and even when they don't right because life's not perfect, correct your wife might not be connecting the dots, your husband, your kids, but you could really know what's going on.
Speaker 5:And thank you. That that is. That's awesome. And I think, joey, I mean even even in that self-examination, I think at times I don't think at times. I think all the time when you truly face God, when you truly look up to God, he'll point that out to you. God doesn't cover over those things. I mean his sacrifice, his love covers over a multitude of sins, but it doesn't mean that they don't get pointed out for us to address or deal with the consequence of the choices and the things we made and not say, man, why me? No, I made that choice, I did it. So I think I think god gives us a very clear picture of who we are if we looked at him. But sometimes we we don't want to like even make eye contact. You know how you avoid eye contact. You know we do that with god sometimes because you know that when you go to him he's gonna go. I need to show you who you really are, right here and and from there he can begin to work. If not, man, we're, we're resisting that work.
Speaker 3:He wants to show us who we are and and our need really for him right in that you know how much resistance isn't is there in the world to that idea though, that concept, that belief, that something that you can't see is actually what's running the show, and people won't even look for him because they're so lost already that it is my belief and I don't know how you guys would feel about it that he's always there. But you actually got to open your eyes and wake up, and when you do that, before you face God, you got to face yourself and come to terms with the fact that perhaps in certain times you've been victimized out of circumstance, sure, but perhaps certain times you've victimized people and when people realize, oh wow, I did do that, then you can look for God to forgive you for what you've done, and then you can forgive yourself once he takes that shame from you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. And again, that's something else you talked about we always portray ourselves as the victim in the story, right. But like you just said, sometimes I think what you're saying is all of us, at some point we've been the Everyone, yeah, we've been the person on the other side. So again, guys, if you're listening, I mean this is good stuff, this is real stuff. You know, this is a life of lessons learned. You know we're here with Chris and he's currently a drill instructor. We're going to talk about that now. I hope you didn't bring your hat, because then you're going to start yelling and I'm going to have to change the microphones. I didn't bring it, okay, but so. But he's learned a lot through a military career, through his initial hiring at the department, changing departments, giving up one opportunity for another opportunity, doing that hard work, looking in and seeing what's going on. I mean just awesome stuff.
Speaker 2:On God's Way Radio, whether it's on 104.7 FM or godswayradiocom or through the apps, make sure you reach out to us and let us know how we can serve you, how we can help you and connect you. The phone number to the studio is 786-313-3115. If you're listening on the podcast, thank you so much. Continue to listen. Make sure you share so other people can get subscribed and that phone number works for you as well. Call or text us at the studio. Chris, talking about your current position as a drill instructor just real basic, high level overview. What's that like? What do drill instructors do?
Speaker 3:So you're basically there to take a day one recruit, who the day before was a civilian, that decided to take the brunt of serving and protecting on their shoulders and go through a program where they learn certain customs within a new culture to become basically trained police officers.
Speaker 2:You know that's very interesting. The part that stuck out to me was basically trained correct police officers. Now if you could just elaborate on that a little bit for people listening, officers go through a lot of training in-service training, specialized training, sure.
Speaker 3:So the program is outfitted to provide the recruits with curriculum that is mandated that they cover, where they will have certain blocks and then be tested on each of those blocks. For example, you have a legal block, you have blocks that are consistent more with the management of laws, understanding crimes, elements of them, and then you have the high liability portions, which would be like vehicle driving, your medical and your firearms range, along with defensive tactics. So they're getting the book work, they're getting physical fitness training and they're getting tactical training to a level that is simple for them to understand at the very lowest level.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know I got to go back because I missed something. Sure, we didn't talk about your career in SWAT. Okay, that's what you wanted to do the whole time. That was going from the military to a small unit in police world in policing. Tell us about your time at SWAT. That was how long ago now.
Speaker 3:That was 2021 September that I finished my career with SWAT and that was also a life-altering experience, because you're purposed, you're purposed, you're conditioned. This is what I do and, leaving that, I went back to patrol, spent maybe six, seven months on patrol and then I left to the police academy yeah so what does you know?
Speaker 2:we're gonna we're kind of jumping here because I can't believe we missed it, we can't miss it. We're gonna jump back to training, but again kind of jumping here because I can't believe we missed it, we can't miss it. We're going to jump back to training, but again kind of high-level overview. What does SWAT do? We've all seen the movie, but what do you actually do on a day-to-day? I'm guessing the training is different, the schedule might be different. What does a full-time SWAT officer look like their day-to-day?
Speaker 3:You're going to get there, You'll work out as a unit and once that's done, you'll get a brief and you're either operational or you're training a lot of camaraderie, it's a lot of family and within that you have all brothers. That's awesome. So everything that happens with brothers in real life happens with brothers in that life. Nice, and I tell people you know, I spent 12 years as a SWAT team member and I say, hey, what was the experience? Like you know? And I always tell them I say you will get absolutely everything you want out of it, and that means the good and the bad.
Speaker 2:Any memorable experience, memorable moment, I mean hopefully, I mean I know there was right, you said 12 years. Sure, there's got to be some awesome saves, some extractions that went well, just a memorable mission.
Speaker 3:Sure, yeah, yeah. The thing that stands out the most to me was the first SWAT school. I failed. Wow, okay, tell us what I attended.
Speaker 3:You know you, you can't go anywhere in life If all you do is celebrate your victories. I think, most importantly, what should stand out is the failures, and when I failed that SWAT school, I failed pistol. This is 2010,. I believe that was a moment where I stopped. I was driving home and a light switch went on, just went on and I'm licking my wounds, playing victim, and all of a sudden I said that will never happen again and that's where I took my life and training to the next level as a shooter.
Speaker 2:And I was, you know, to paint the picture here and again. Correct me if I'm wrong. I imagine that one of the reasons that was so dramatic. You're a soldier, you. How does a infantry, marine corps infantryman fail pistol, right? I mean that's, that's something going through your head, right?
Speaker 3:one of the things sure, but outside that scope, uh, infantrymen in the marine corps don't generally tend to carry pistols. Okay, designated MOSs within an infantry line company will. Mos is military occupational specialty. So, whatever your job is, and honestly, I failed it because I was arrogant and that was a lesson. Yeah, and that was a lesson. In fact, that was a lesson that had to be taught several times over the span of my life to finally figure that out.
Speaker 5:What an interesting concept and I love conversations I've either heard or been involved in with Chris. But more training, less training, but more training, less training. You know, we think of all these things as affecting our shooting, affecting our aim, and really a lot of times it could be an issue that was going on inside of us, you know, in this case, I failed it because of my arrogance, and that might be the failure for a lot of people and they don't realize it.
Speaker 5:They think it's because I didn't do it hard enough. If I scream louder, if I do this more and sometimes it's like man it's because of your arrogance that the failure continues to come at your door. If you don't realize that it's going to keep coming, like you said, it's not the first time it came and it'll keep coming, so that we'd address it.
Speaker 3:We just spoke about that. If you don't learn your lesson, you're going to repeat it. And I'll ask the both of you what is man's downfall? Pride, ego, pride? Yeah, absolutely, and it will forever be that way until they can actually figure out how to set it aside.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And again, I think of how this is so applicable to any area of life. You know, you think, somebody that's going job to job to job. Why can't you hold a job? You're probably the problem, bro, it's very difficult.
Speaker 5:It's probably you or broette dudette, Right.
Speaker 3:It's very difficult for people to actually admit that they are the problem. It's almost like having an addiction. Yeah, what's the first thing you got to admit?
Speaker 2:You got to have a problem.
Speaker 5:There's a problem.
Speaker 3:People will run away from problems, only to find more problems until you take that problem head on. Yeah, you know, and that's that cycle.
Speaker 2:Again, chris, so thankful. I mean, if you're listening, we're learning about police work. We're learning about philosophy. We're learning about life. We're learning about philosophy, we're learning about life, theology, theology, mindset.
Speaker 5:I mean, can I make a suggestion for a new slogan, a TTOG? Let's hear it. It's a TTOG. Failed my SWAT school the first time.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 5:I mean, if someone's really listening and they really want to know, they'll go wait a minute. What?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Why did? I sign up?
Speaker 5:No, because those are the people in a sense you want to go to Sure, because it's like you just said, it's the people who look like they've only had victories are not either showing you everything, but the ones we see and we're like, wow, we know that there's a struggle, we know that there's a struggle there, we know that there's a story there, and so, to me, those things are what push us to the next level of things that you know. Our failures, our struggles, uh, really reveal to us things that we need to take to god that we would overcome, because if we don't, we won't, we won't, uh, we won't keep, continue on and grow well, I think, uh, people mirror social media and vice versa.
Speaker 3:for exactly what it is, they'll only present the best version for everyone to see. It's not often people will go up and post failures and say come shoot with me, and here's why. And there's a lesson within that statement alone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, it's funny that you mentioned that because I don't have a lot, I don't I have some accounts and mentioned that because I don't have a lot, I don't, I have some accounts. And the point is I caught something online on social media and it was a guy, it was a shooter, and he posted the final cut and then he said and this is how many tries it took to get it and he posted the original footage. I thought that was so cool, that's awesome and it's funny because he's still like, he's still a bad dude, like he was like sub one second draw, but he was like oh man, I, I dropped, I dropped my magger, oh, I dropped okay let's go.
Speaker 2:He was like but it wasn't perfect. It took a lot of times to get that perfect shot, absolutely so that was pretty cool.
Speaker 3:And now that you mentioned videos like that actually bring back the perspective of what the process is, because what you'll see is that sub one second draw presentation, six rounds, 1.6, 1.7 seconds, and people are like I want to do that and they just show up to the range and that's immediately what they want to get to, rather than saying how do I get to that? And then learn to enjoy getting to that, because when you're doing that, that you're immersed in the moment. You know, and everything that I've said, perhaps on a philosophical level, it's one of these things where, if you can understand how to make yourself more trainable, you'll learn how to make yourself a better person. Because what ends up happening in training? You take a subconscious action that you're not really understanding things you're doing. You consciously train that to exploit it and then build an awareness of what you did before and you train that to become a subconscious response.
Speaker 3:Well, you can do that with anything in life and once you start doing that, the clarity that you get in your mind for processing things, it changes because you don't have distractions anymore. If you're truly immersed in the moment, you're not thinking about anything except for what needs to get done. No different than a law enforcement shooting no different than being a Marine overseas. If you're doing something consciously and deliberately, you better be present.
Speaker 5:I think I heard recently God is not concerned so much about the end and the outcome, but he's actually more in the process. That's where God really is present and concerned about, and we want the end and the outcomes but we don't realize where God really is. The most is right in the middle of the process.
Speaker 3:What is it? May your will be done yeah, absolutely people have a problem doing that because at first they want to control the narrative of how their life is going to go and they can't truly just say, all right, drive, drive the car, you got it.
Speaker 2:It is what it is what it is, yeah we, we're at training, we jump back to SWAT. Let let's go back to training, let's do it. Just so much to share, so much that you have to offer is the phrase I was thinking of. You know, again, I'm thinking of who might be listening, I'm thinking about this topic and we've talked about this. The quote unquote militarization of police. Right, as soon as I brought it up, you go what does that mean? What does that even mean? Right? And I think for some people, what it means is, oh, police have too many big trucks or they're acting like military. And you, again, I think life experience, but especially as a training instructor, you're up to date on the threats that police officers are facing. There's a reason for what we're seeing. Could you give some information on that?
Speaker 3:Well, obviously, as the days go by and time passes, equipment and threats are substantially increasing, with functionality and ability for not only use but availability to the public, meaning your everyday bad guy. He can probably arm himself pretty heavily, and when you need someone to respond to certain critical incidents, well, in order to face that opposing threat, you're gonna have to dispatch them with some equipment that is better than that, meaning better armored. You know, most of this militarization stuff comes from armored personnel carriers, apcs, bearcats, vehicles that people just don't like seeing driving through their town because they don't like to realize that the world is not perfect because, they don't like to realize that the world is not perfect.
Speaker 3:There is crime and you have a certain caliber of individuals that are willing to take that weight on their shoulders with better equipment and better training than a regular patrol officer is equipped with. I'm not going to say that a SWAT guy is better than a patrol officer. They just have better equipment and they have more training.
Speaker 2:Yeah, better equipment, more training, and again, I appreciate the clarity right. That's why it's a simple answer. Right the quote-unquote bad guys, the offenders, have bigger guns, so we need bigger guns.
Speaker 3:right what's available to them too, they can go on YouTube and look up all police tactics for free. Your guns, right. What's available to them too? Yeah, they can go on youtube and look up all police tactics for free. So the source of information that is now available worldwide for anything is available to people that choose to be good or bad. Yeah, wow, that's a good point we spoke about.
Speaker 5:Tools are tools. Sure, you know, tools are tools. So just because tools look a certain way, it's still a different entity when you're talking about the military, compared to patrol officer and an officer. Yeah, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:You know, chris, I told you, I told you the time would fly. Yeah, we got a little bit left, about 10, 15 minutes left. I want to end talking about TTOG and specifically how that relates to personal firearm ownership, civilians gaining training. You know laws are changing, florida laws are developing. Let's talk about that. So again back to TTOG you mentioned at the beginning. What is that? Tell us a little bit about it.
Speaker 3:TTOG is a tactical training company where we provide firearms training, training, along with tactical training, to your everyday responsible citizen, as well as law enforcement officers on an individual level and entities for departments, and that's basically it awesome. You know, we travel, often, put on courses and have a good time.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome so, getting to the need for training, right, there's people where we've all known this person. Oh, you know I can, so I will. I'll just going to you know, throw a gun on my belt and I'm. I can do what I got to do. I'm awesome and here I am. Send me yeah, yeah. So, um, uh, why is that not a good idea? I mean, tell us about the need for training.
Speaker 3:Well, I guess that's part of the process, right? You know, when it comes to training, people will show up and you ask them same question. You got to delve in, right, what is my purpose, why do I want to buy a firearm and why do I need training? And when you can figure out what your purpose is, you can figure out the mission set for yourself daily and then figure out how to get the training for it. And if you could actually run it that way, you would gain clarity because you're no longer having anxiety about well, I got this gun, what do I do next? And if you could just stop and breathe and prioritize, that'll give you a good map to read out, lay out on the direction that you want to go, because you know the reason why you would like to carry a gun.
Speaker 2:That's so important. You know, you did mention that, the why, the why, right, and you did mention one of the right answers. I like how you phrased it when we were preparing what would be one of the right answers. I like how you phrased it when we were preparing what would be one of the right answers. If somebody's listening, I'm conflicted. I think this, I think this, I thought this what's one of those right answers if somebody's thinking about carrying a firearm and preparing themselves First?
Speaker 3:would be to defend yourself or have the capacity to be able to preserve life around you, where, if you develop that skill set and you have the confidence to deploy that weapon in good faith, then I think that that's a pretty solid reason to carry.
Speaker 2:You know. Thank you, because there was a lot that you didn't say right, and I don't want to put words in your mouth. You can comment if you want, but I think I'm going to go ahead and say it here. This is Joey here. Don't hold this to anyone else's account. I think one of the wrong answers is I want to be a superhero, I want to be a vigilante.
Speaker 3:I'm a wannabe cop, I mean, I don't know, having something that I know could take somebody's life in an instant and that makes somebody feel power or powerful, and that is not only the downfall of man but more than likely that individual that's carrying that gun, in that capacity's downfall in the future as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you mentioned the fact that if you're not doing it for the right reason, if you don't have the right training, you're actually more of a liability Correct. So it's good to think about. And again, you know I'm thinking about, I'm constantly thinking of our listeners. Who's listening right there? It might be that dad, you know. You know, for example, for me my story very, very brief was I had a totally different view on firearms, weapons, carrying a weapon, until I had kids, sure, and then I go oh, wait a second. Now, that little thing that can't barely walk is my responsibility. They can't protect themselves. So that was, that was a wake-up call for me and through a process of asking questions, prayer preparing, I now have my view and stance and preparation.
Speaker 3:You know, what's awesome is that more than likely, that happened to you subconsciously, because man at his finest or origin is primal and your instinct, once you have a child, is to be the protector that you should be. All you needed was confirmation to say, absolutely, this is the way for you to go. So I think that's pretty awesome that that happened to you, man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was good.
Speaker 3:It happened to me too.
Speaker 2:I have two kids. That's awesome. That's awesome, chris. Any closing thoughts? We're here here near the end, you, chris, any closing thoughts? We're here here near the end. You know we're again. We talked about it. You talk to a lot of people. You train police officers. You train elite people, civilian people. This is our God's Way. Radio listening family. We have students that listen, moms, dads, christians, nonbelievers there's all kinds of people listening. Any closing thoughts or words from you?
Speaker 3:Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is never promised. Enjoy where you're at right now, this very moment, that is awesome, Adrian.
Speaker 2:Any closing thought. Just a couple minutes left.
Speaker 5:Well, I was thinking back on the academy and I'm thinking of students and young men. You know I'm 40 and so now I'm starting to feel older and see younger people and I love to see those. That, that moment where I see that change, like oh, they got it. Is there any moments like that? Is there any part of the academy, as a drill instructor, that that it's just? It's that rewarding moment when you're like that person. I see that. Is there any any? Maybe a specific piece or part of it, or maybe an instance of a certain individual you remember and it just brought that moment where you see that changed man, this person where they really became a police officer.
Speaker 5:Yeah, or just a mindset, you know.
Speaker 3:just someone grasped something, so I think that happens twice right, or at least two times that I'm able to observe it, and it is that on an individual basis, more than likely, that shift comes from them reaching a breaking point during some type of physical exertion, some type of PT, where they push beyond the limit that they thought was the limit and they walk different the next day from that point on, and collectively as a group, the day they graduate, because everybody will have that coming to Jesus moment during certain times of that academy and when you have an acceptance of this is the lifestyle, this is how it's going to be. You don't have to conform, you just have to say it is what it is and let's get it done, and that's all. Because at that point you're no longer trying to control your own life's narrative, because you're no longer making emotional decisions. I can't do that. That's an emotional decision from a feeling that you had a long time ago where you failed something versus let's go, versus let's go.
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