Transition Drill

Matt Pech served in the Army for 15 years, 12 of which were on a Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA). His specialties were advanced demolitions, breaching, sniper, and technical intelligence specialist. He had 4 combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and 9 rotations in total. Because of the strain these rotations put on Matt, he chose to leave the military early to be home for hi...

Fred Heim is a Navy veteran, having served 5 years as an aircrew member aboard an SH60 helicopter conducting anti-submarine warfare (AW) and search and rescue (SAR). As a SAR rescue swimmer Fred was part of the special operations community. Fred deployed to the middle east during Operation Desert Storm. Fred discharged from the military in 1994 and today is the co-founder of VERT Fitness Product A...

Rob Blanton’s journey from high school underachiever to decorated Force Recon Marine is raw, real, and unforgettable. In this episode of the Transition Drill Podcast, Rob opens up about his 21-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps, surviving a suicide bomber attack, grappling with PTSD and TBI, and his near-suicide after retiring in 2014. Rob doesn’t hold back. He shares: How he joined the Marine C...

In this episode I'm giving you more detailed information about me and my law enforcement career, the factors that pushed me to start this podcast and what I hope to give each of you through this podcast. PODCAST - LISTEN, WATCH, AND SUBSCRIBE https://linktr.ee/TransitionDrillPodcast  

Derek Stephens served almost 26 years between the Air Force and law enforcement, before a medical retirement in 2019. While he was still an active police officer he started Rally Point Training & Consulting in 2012. Through his company he trains his OODA Loop based officer survival seminars in addition to emergency casualty care. Derek’s teaching philosophy is officer survival through preparation,...

Benjie Manibog served 15 years in the Marine Corps as a Raider and a member of MARSOC. He had deployments to the Middle East, Africa, and SouthEast Asia. Benjie’s road to the military was not an easy one. Growing up, Benjie came from a broken home and was addicted to alcohol and methamphetamine at an early age. Benjie chose to end his military career early because his wife was diagnosed with stage...

James Espinoz served 6 years in the Army and has been a police officer for the last 18 years. In 2018 James lost his brother, a retired Army Lt. Colonel, who took his own life after a several year struggle with transitioning to the civilian world. Through the loss of his older brother, who James calls his hero, James was inspired to the start The Veteran Mentor Project Inc., a nonprofit organizati...

Rob Garnett served 23 years as a Navy SEAL. He deployed 10 times; 6 were to Iraq and Afghanistan. While active duty he developed TBI from a ship boarding fall and blast concussions. He went through treatment at NICoE and was able to retire non-medically in 2015. Following his retirement, Rob did consulting work for some government contracting firms, but realized that was not what he wanted for him...

Jose Gasca served in the Marine Corps with 2 nd FAST Co and deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Today he’s a police officer with LAPD. Jose has also trained and competed in Jiu Jitsu since 2008. Through his own loss of brother Marines, he started the nonprofit Fighting Hole Jiu Jitsu and gives back to the veteran and first responder communities by offering free jiu jitsu classes. Jose...

Eddie Hernandez served 12 years in the Army, first with the 1 st Cavalry Division and then 10 th Special Forces Group. Struggling with inuries and PTS, he was medically retired in 2014. After leaving the military he went to culinary school, graduating in 2016 from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School. In 2020 he started his own BBQ catering company – Stars & Stripes BBQ. He is also involved with three n...

Fred Reynolds spent 6 years in the Marine Corps. After the Marines he spent 32 years in law enforcement. Starting with the Compton Police Department in the 1980s and transitioning to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department when the City of Compton relinquished their police department in 2000. Fred worked gangs and homicide investigations and retired as a sergeant. Always interested in writing,...

Tom Byrnes served 13 years in the Army. Today he is the owner and CEO of ThreatStop. His business model is the use of network threat intelligence at maximum effectiveness, providing cybersecurity solutions to small companies on the same scale of Fortune 1000 companies. Early investors in his company were also initial investors of Google. Tom holds three (3) patents in network security. ThreatStop’...

Nick Wilson spent 13 years in law enforcement before medically retiring due to work related injuries. Additionally, due to the exposure to trauma Nick had to address his own Post Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI) and mental health, initially trying to deal with it through self-medication. This eventually led to his own DUI and a stay in rehab. From this experience Nick founded the Resiliency Project...

A transition from the military to fitness challeges and media content creation. Austen Alexander served 7 years in the Navy as a Master-at-Arms (MA) with Naval Security Forces, the police force of the Navy. He began creating videos chronicling life aboard a ship and his life as a sailor. The numbers of videos grew as did his popularity on YouTube, to the point that he began encountering opposition...

Leon Tackitt served 27 years in the Navy. During his first 5 years, he was an anti-submarine warfare specialist, search and rescue crewman, radar and sonar operator in H2 Helicopters. He transitioned to Explosive Ordinance Disposal and completed his career, retiring as a Lieutenant in 2007. As a retirement career change, he and his wife, Cindy, started Tackitt Family Vineyards in Paso Robles, CA....

Clint Wansa was a cop for 12.5 years with San Diego PD. While he was a police officer, he and a friend designed a computer app to aid police officers. A job offer from the company that purchased the app prompted a career change to the corporate world in computer program development. FOLLOW, SUBSCRIBE, LISTEN, AND WATCH THE PODCAST: https://linktr.ee/TransitionDrillPodcast CONNECT WITH CLINT: Linke...

Adrian Robles served in the Marine Corps for 8 years with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, along with an assignment to First Marine Division at their Division Schools as an instructor cadre for Personal Security Detail. Seeing the need for mitigating suicides in the Military, Adrian discharged in 2012 and went to school to become a registered nurse. Currently he is working in psychiatric asses...

Jeff Urso grew up wanting to be a police officer and at 21 he was hired as a cop in his home state of South Carolina. He spent 6 years working a variety of assignments, but quickly realized that his heart was not in it and the profession was not for him. This prompted his first career change and began working in real estate. When the market collapsed in the mid-2000s he moved to Las Vegas. In Vega...

Episode 15 - Chad McFarlane is an Army veteran with two deployments to Iraq in the Armored Division as a gunner on an Abrams tank. Originally intending to make a career of the military he was forced to separate before his third deployment due to a knee injury from a vehicle collision. Chad struggled with PTS upon his separation from the Army. Without a solid career transition plan, he worked for t...

Episode 14 - Rob Long has been a police officer for 27 years. Growing up in Orange County, California, he always knew he wanted to be a Police Officer. But, unlike some of the other podcast guests, he’s not made his transition from his law enforcement career yet. In the interim, he has established a successful real estate business, which will be his career change upon retirement from law enforceme...

Episode 13 - Jeudy “Jody” Martinez is a Marine Corps veteran achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. During his enlistments he deployed to Iraq Afghanistan. Additionally, while assigned to Camp Lejeune he was a base MP, a patrol supervisor, and a commander of SRT - the Marine Corps SWAT. Jody was forced to leave the Marine Corps in 2017 due to a medical injury. This unplanned career change allowed h...

Episode 12 - Wilson “Willie” James grew up playing baseball and went to Purdue on a scholarship. The Atlanta Braves drafted Willie in 2002, but they released him in 2006; he played another three years in the independent leagues. In 2009 he made a career change; becoming a police officer because caring for his family is a greater priority. During his time as a police officer, Willie continued coach...

Episode 11 - Anthony Paolino served 12 years in the Air Force. After leaving the Air Force, he founded two nonprofit organizations, the Rhode Island Student Veterans Organization, and the Rhode Island Military Organization. Both organizations focusing on current and former military members and their families. Additionally, he ran for State Representative of Rhode Island, he was the Military & Vete...

Ashley Cummins has been a police officer for over 10 years, starting in Missouri then transferring to California. For the past 14 years she has trained and competed in MMA and Jiu Jitsu; she was recently promoted to brown belt. She is a professional MMA fighter with Invicta FC, the world’s largest all women’s MMA organization.  Equally important to Ashley is giving back. She volunteers as a coach...

Episode 9 - Terrence Hanou spent 21 years in law enforcement, medically retiring in 2019 due to back and heart issues. In 2018, while on medical leave, he started Blue Line Roasting Co. His desire was to create a coffee company that provided a quality product, but he also wanted to be able to give back to the police community and honor fallen officers. During our conversation we talked about his m...