Transition Drill

Graham Little transitioned from the military after serving 10 years with the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force. Graham, graduated from the University of Edinburgh and was selected as a pilot. After a couple years it was determined his skills were better served elsewhere and Graham was re-selected as an Intelligence Officer. Graham had deployments to Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, and Iraq. His last...

Dr. Shante Destiny transitioned from the military in March 2022, retiring after 20 years in the Navy. She retired at the rank of LN1, First Class. Shante has a strong connection to the military with many generational members of her family serving. After graduating high school, she started attending college but the desire to serve was always there. After the attacks of 9/11, Shante left before grad...

Manny Vega has experienced transitions from the military and law enforcement. Unfortunately he has experienced significant trauma in his life from the time he was a child and being abused by a Catholic priest. To get out of the environment he grew up in he enlisted in the Marine Corps when he was 17 years old while he was still in high school. In the Marine Corps he became a scout sniper and had a...

Kyle Wilder has not transitioned yet from his law enforcment career, but through his love of car racing he is giving back to ALS research to honor his best friend and former police officer. As a kid Kyle wanted to go in the Air Force and be a pilot after high school, but a medical condition changed those plans. While still considering joining the Marine Corps, he began working as a Police Cadet in...

Tami Sharp grew up in very small town in Washington State and her dad was the town's only Deputy Sheriff. Her dad operated from their house, so she grew up listening to the radio, having people coming to her house, and going on ride-a-longs as early as she can remember. From her father’s experiences and the stories he shared with her confirmed she did want to be a cop, but she was drawn to help po...

Riyadh Al Ahmady is better known by his nickname “Johnny Walker.” Having served in the Iraqi Army during the Gulf War, in 2003 with his country in turmoil and struggling to find work to provide for his family he began working as an interpreter with the U.S. Army. After showing himself to be someone who got after it, he was recommended to work with the Navy SEALs. Going out on hundreds, if not thou...

Butch Hildebrand transitioned from the Marine Corps but took the skills he learned to further his entrepreneurship. After graduating college, Butch enlisted and served almost 10 years in the Marine Corps. When he got out he did not have clear plans for his future. He followed job opportunities that came along, which lead him to being his own boss. Today he is self employed broker of services and a...

Eric Barrera did not have the best transition from the military. Eric served in the Marine Corps for 4 years after high school. Addiction issues lead to him being homeless. He eventually went to rehab, where he not only turned his life around, he was offered the ability to help others better their lives. Today he is a lead peer navigator with Healthcare in Action, a team of medical professionals o...

Wallace “Wally” Fanene made the transition from active military to living with disabilities. Wally served 8 years in the Army with 2nd Battalion 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. He had two combat deployments; Afghanistan 2003 to 2004 and Iraq from 2006 to 2007. During his deployment in Iraq, Wally knelt on an IED which detonated taking large po...

Mark Garrett made a transition from a law enforcement career to the private sector. Mark spent 30 years with the California Highway Patrol and retired as a Chief in 2020. During his career he worked various patrol duties, investigative and administrative assignments throughout the CHP’s Southern Division Today he is the director of security for a large financial institution. Prior to and during hi...

Jason Tuschen enlisted in the Navy in 1990. In 1992, he successfully completed Basic Underwater Demolition / SEAL (BUD/S) training and was assigned to SEAL Team THREE. After multiple deployments, he was selected for assignment to Naval Special Warfare Development Group, where he served as an operator and later a leader of an assault force. In December of 2001, he took an assignment as an instructo...

Chris Zamora was a gang member and lived on the streets growing up, but oddly enough he knew he wanted to be a police officer. After a significant struggle he was hired as a police officer by the city of Gilbert, AZ. Chris retired in 2021 after serving 23 years. In his time as a police officer he worked narcotics, robbery, and homicide. Chris was also a SWAT Team Crisis and Hostage Negotiator. Thr...

Mario Amaral served 4 years in the Coast Guard as a fireman aboard a drug interdiction ship out of Florida. While still active in the Coast Guard he met a professional chef in 2005, which made him realize he wanted to be a chef himself. He got out of the military and attended Le Cordon Bleu Culinary College in Las Vegas. Since graduating from culinary school, he has helped open restaurants across...

Jeff McGreevy served 4 years in the Marine Corps served assigned to a helicopter unit and deployed during Operation Desert Storm. After leaving the military, Jeff, became a police officer and retired as a Sergeant in 2020 after 29 years. During his time as a police officer he was assigned as a K9 handler, a SWAT Team member, and a detective investigating gang and robbery cases. As a sergeant he su...

Rob Sweetman served 8 years as Navy SEAL with multiple deployments as a member of Team 7. A back injury forced his medical separation in 2018. In addition to his own sleep related issues and his mental health, the suicide of Ryan Larkin, a friend and fellow SEAL, caused Rob to immerse himself in the science of sleep and the effects of sleep deprivation on mental health. Rob has since founded the n...

A police officer who transitioned to owning her own business doing RBS training. Stephanie Kiesow went from being a woman in law enforcment to being a woman in business. Stephanie worked in law enforcement for 16 years in various assignments, including being a Cadet, a Dispatcher, and a Police Officer. A tragic event during her time in law enforcement pushed her towards peer counseling and officer...

A Marine Corps Veteran who transitioned to the corporate world and today is a COO Ryan Borders served 12 years in the Marine Corps in the Field Artillery division and achieved the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. Since leaving the military in 2001, Ryan has had several different professional iterations, along with completing his Bachelors degree in Business Management. Today he is the Chief Operating Off...

Odie Gallop served 4 years in the Navy. He then became a cop with the San Diego Police Department and served 28 years, retiring in 2018. During his time with San Diego PD he was a detective, a member of their SWAT team, and a member of their dignitary protection team. Today he is the technical advisor and occasional actor on the TV series SWAT.   DIRECT LINK FOR PODCAST EPISODE 66: https://transit...

Long before it became a TV series, the Lioness Program was real—and USMC Chief Warrant Officer Halima Blanton lived it. Escaping a war-torn country as a child, Halima found refuge and purpose in the United States Marine Corps. She served 22 years, deployed multiple times to Kuwait and Afghanistan, and became part of the real-life Lioness Program Female Engagement Team (FET)—one of the earliest eff...

Marlon Marrache is a Navy veteran. When he discharged from the Navy, he joined LAPD. He retired in 2022 after serving 24 years and achieving the rank of Sergeant. Today, Marlon is a law school graduate, owns BLU Consulting where he provides training on and representation regarding internal affairs investigations, and he is developing his own public information podcast D-Tails The Breakdown. PODCAS...

Christopher Cendana served 4 years in the Marine Corps from 2004 to 2008, with two deployments to Iraq. After getting out of the military, he went to back to college but that did not work out for him. Following his heart, he decided to become an actor and has since had roles in the TV shows Lucifer, How to Get Away With Murder, and Criminal Minds to name a few. In addition to acting Chris also doe...

Andrew Gonzalez served 8 years in the Marine Corps with two deployments. He received the Naval Achievement Medal and achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant. Andrew was then hired as a police officer by the LAPD and retired in 2020 after 21 years. During his time as a police officer he was the 2008 Officer of the Year and the 2009 Gang Officer of the Year. Today he is the director of asset protection...

Melani Harding joined the Navy after graduating from nursing school in 2005. She has deployments to Italy, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay and is currently in the reserves working towards 20 years. Today she is also the owner and winemaker of Bon Niche Cellars in San Miguel, California. Melani’s love of wine started during her first duty station in Italy. but she kept studying wine and winemaking....

Roger Owen knew he wanted to be a police officer, so after high school he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served 4 years as an MP. When he discharged from the Marine Corps he chose to stay in Southern California and in 1995 he started his law enforcement career with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. After 10 years in L.A., Roger transferred to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department,...

Michael Brown was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He knew as a young man he wanted to serve in the military, so he joined the United States Navy while still in high school. Mike served 14 years with Special Operations as an Intelligence Analyst. He had five combat deployments, including Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). After discharging from the milit...