Transition Drill

John Domingo grew up in Huntington Beach, CA. He began his law enforcement career with LAPD in 1989. In 1992 he lateraled to Huntington Beach PD where he retired in 2019 as a Lieutenant. Through his time as a cop, he served on CRASH and SWAT and was a member of the crisis negotiation team. John was also an Arrest & Control Instructor for over 20 years. He is recognized as an expert on Use of Force...

Jordan Ohara went to the University of Oregon, initially thinking he wanted to work in finance, but at the same time he also held a desire to serve in the military. So, after graduating from college he enlisted in the Navy. A training injury sustained between schools brought an abrupt end to his military career in 2017. After medically discharging, Jordan battled depression, significant physical p...

Jose Rodriguez grew up knowing he was going to be a cop. He graduated high school early and began working as a volunteer with the local fire department. At that time the police officers were also firefighters and Jose saw this as a way to get his foot in the door. After almost 2 years as a volunteer and eventually a reserve officer, he was hired as a full-time police officer in 1998 – he was 19 ye...

Noah Oliver comes from a lineage of Navy Sailors (both his father and grandfather served). While he was in high school, he decided he wanted to join the military. He planned to join the Naval Reserves after high school while he went to college. Noah then learned of the ROTC program and was accepted to the program at Florida State University. After a couple years he was not happy with the ROTC prog...

Brian Carrington was born in Reykjavik Iceland in a military family, his father did a career in the Air Force. Growing up he was forced to move repeatedly, but he always knew he also wanted to go in the military. In 1998, after graduating from high school he enlisted in the Army. His plan was to be a Ranger and do a career like his father. Brian was accepted into the Ranger Indoc Program, but a me...

Julia Ling’s parents escaped Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia and came to the United States. Julia grew up in a very strict household. From a young age Julia knew she wanted to serve in the military but knew there was no way her parents would support it. After graduating high school, she enrolled in college to be an engineer. With no interest, at that time, in acting she accompanied a frie...

Chris Tomaino spent 26 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; retired in 2020 at the rank of Captain. Chris was the SWAT Commander when the Route 91 Harvest Festival Concert mass shooting occurred in October 2017. His previous command level assignments include the Special Weapons and Tactics Bureau, Convention Center Area Command, the Homicide & Sex Crimes Bureau, and the Northwe...

Toshiro “Tosh” Carrington is a disabled veteran (left hand amputee) with 25 years of Naval Special Warfare (NSW) SEAL Team experience; he retired in 2015. Tosh began his military career as a Marine, but a chance encounter with a Frogman caused him to transfer to the Navy. In his time in the SEAL Teams he was a point man, lead sniper, a corpsman, and a Platoon Chief. He has 5 combat deployments, an...

In this episode I’m welcoming back a guest from Episode 8. After an 8-year enlistment in the Marine Corps with 3 deployments to Iraq, John was a Deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department from 2007 to 2019. He spent the last nine years as assistant team leader on their SWAT team but was medically retired after two neck injuries. Today he is a director of security for a private company (a c...

From Machine Gun to Sewing Machine…Trinidad Garcia was already an accomplished clothing business entrepreneur, but he had always wanted to be a U.S. Marine. In 2008, at age 31 he enlisted in the Marine Corps. He deployed twice with 2/7, serving aboard Marine Expeditionary Units in the Pacific. Through two enlistments his dream of becoming a denim designer started burning inside of him again. While...

Ashton Packe served 23 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, retiring in 2021 as a Detective Sergeant. He was a team leader during the Route 91 Concert mass shooting on October 1, 2017. During his tenure, he worked and supervised assignments including uniformed patrol, field training, criminal investigations, undercover operations, dignitary protection and counter-terrorism oper...

Please forgive the sound quality in the first half of this eposide - there were techinical difficulties. Raul Ramos grew up in South Central Los Angeles and was immersed in the gang culture right outside his door. By the fourth grade Raul was dressing and acting like a gang member. He was jumped in and started getting gang tattoos at the age of 11. By 20 he had a few instances that could have land...

Chuck Rylant was a cop for 15 years. In that time, he was a detective, a member of SWAT, and firearms and arrest and control trainer. An on-duty injury forced his retirement in 2012. Today he has earned a doctorate degree, he is a court-recognized expert in use-of-force and self-defense, he is a bestselling author of 5 books, including Shots Fired: The Psychology Behind Officer-Involved Shootings...

Guy Smith, former Navy SWCC, in Episode 45 of the Transition Drill Podcast, shares what it really looks like for transition and identity shift for veterans and first responders navigating the cliff-edge moment when the uniform comes off, and the wheels don’t stop spinning. You’ll hear Guy on what it feels like to hit that wall, and what it takes to rebuild discipline, purpose, and trust in yoursel...

Marshall Spring joined the Marine Corps after the attacks on 9/11. He served 4 years as an explosive detection dog handler. After returning from Iraq, Marshall continued working with dogs as a contractor for the National Nuclear Security Administration. In 2010 Marshall became a police officer in Colorado but gave up the profession a year later after the suicide of his training officer, who he was...

Angel Cortes grew up in Orange County, California. He struggled in school and eventually found his way into gang life. Not what you would assume of someone in the gang life, Angel chose to enlist in the Army but didn’t stop there and succeeded in becoming a Ranger. He went on to serve 8 years and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Angel is motivated to give back, especially to his family. It was be...

Jim Clemente is a retired FBI profiler internationally recognized as an expert in Child Sexual Victimization, Sexual Homicide, and Child Abduction. He’s the basis of Jason Gideon’s character on the TV show Criminal Minds, played by Mandy Patinkin. Jim grew up in New York City and initially entered college, studying chemistry. He changed his major, went to law school, and eventually became a prosec...

Jason Goyanko came to the military later in life. Several friends had joined the Navy and were SEALs. Jason was invited to Lt. Michael Murphy’s MOH ceremony in 2007, then in 2008, at 31 and needing an age waver, he enlisted in the Navy on a SEAL contract. Jason ultimately rang the bell, but went on to serve 11 years, eventually working in the Special Operations Community in their drone program. Af...

Cristina Coria was born and raised in Santa Monica, California. She comes from a family in law enforcement. Both her uncle and father were Santa Monica Police Officers. Her father was murdered after he retired from the job. He was shot and killed after helping escort two drunk men out of a bar. This is what made Cristina want to become a police officer. She was determined to follow her father’s le...

Thom Tran enlisted in the Army after graduating high school and spent 6 years as a Communications Sergeant as well as a Civil Affairs Sergeant within the Special Operations Community. In 2003, Thom was wounded during a firefight when a sniper’s bullet found its way to the back of his skull. He bandaged himself up and finished his 12-month tour in Iraq. His wounds eventually brought an end to his m...

Jeff Takeda served in the Marine Corps as a member of Security Force Regiment. After ending his enlistment, he was hired as a police officer in California in 1998. His assignments have included patrol officer, field training officer, SWAT team member, major crimes detective, and task force officer with a federal counter terrorism task force. While assigned to JTTF, Jeff’s Commander encouraged him...

Matthew Tarutis served 4 years in the Navy. He enlisted with a special forces contract but suffered a collapsed lung during Hell Week and was dropped from the training. Matthew served the remainder of his enlistment onboard the John C. Stennis as an Aviation Boatswain's Mate - Fuels, which included two deployments to the Persian Gulf. Upon getting out of the military, Matthew, who has been writing...

Marc Hildebrand has been a police officer with LAPD for 19 years and is currently a Sergeant.  He is a husband, father, and international best-selling author of the book Mastering Your Life Through Self Coaching. Marc struggled through self-sabotage for decades, but after discovering what was truly holding him back, he was able to take his life back by navigating a 100-pound weight loss journey, c...

Philip McGinty served in the Marine Corps as a Force Reconnaissance Marine. He had deployments to Afghanistan and Southeast Asia. After discharging from active duty in 2017, Phil received his degree in Economics from UC Davis and took a job with a Consulting firm focusing on the Public Safety industry. However, his post-military path was full of ups and downs. He experienced many of the challenges...

Rick Massa was a police officer with LAPD for 35 years, 25 of those were as a member of SWAT, in addition to a short stint in their mounted unit. As a member of SWAT a noteworthy incident Rick responded to was the North Hollywood bank robbery shootout in 1997. Rick was one of the 3 SWAT members who rolled up and engaged one of the suspects in a car-to-car gun battle. Also, he regularly provided se...