Recon Shares Stories of Conspicuous Courage

By David Mays
Special to American Forces Press Service

April 12, 2007 – It was supposed to be a routine security patrol in Mosul, Iraq, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, 2005. Army Pfc. Stephen Sanford and his fellow soldiers of the Company C, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, from Fort Wainwright, Alaska, planned to arrest suspected insurgents, take them back to the detention center and "relax, stretch out a bit." Instead, squad members would find themselves in an intense firefight.

"There was just this massive explosion," Sanford said. "You could see flashes and automatic weapons fire. It was sensory overload. It was incredibly loud. You could smell the gunpowder and the blood and the dust and dirt. My weapon started getting warm because I was firing so much. I mean, I still didn't know what was going on."

Meanwhile, nine members of a lead team that had gone inside a home ahead of Sanford were pinned down by enemy fire and trapped inside the kitchen. Sanford's team evacuated the first unit, but the last soldier out of the house had been shot and lay helpless on the exposed street.

"I tried to stop his bleeding," Sanford said. "I didn't notice at the time I had run into a perfect line of sight for one of their snipers, and I was taking hits, and there were rounds bouncing off the pavement. I got hit, and I started bleeding out pretty bad."

Nonetheless, Sanford continued trying to revive his fellow soldier, returned fire, shooting and killing an enemy, and continued CPR until he passed out from his own blood loss. "I was just so focused on my chance to duke it out with a bunch of bad guys that I didn't notice," he said.

For his actions under fire, Sanford was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who traveled to Alaska to perform the ceremony. "As he was pinning the medal on, his hands kinda shook a little bit, and he said 'Sorry, this is the first time I've given one of these out.' I said, 'Don't worry General, it's my first one too.'"

Sanford's incredible firsthand story and those of other servicemembers who have been awarded some of the country's highest military honors are told in a brand new edition of the Pentagon Channel documentary "Recon."

"They all say they're not really heroes, they were just doing their jobs," said Air Force Master Sgt. Daniela Marchus, the show's host, "but they all faced the intensity of combat and performed with conspicuous courage."

Army Sgt. Tommy Rieman's path to demonstrating conspicuous courage began as part of a small Army reconnaissance team that traveled hundreds of miles behind enemy lines before Operation Iraqi Freedom even began. The unit's task was to scout positions of Saddam Hussein's loyalists and pinpoint locations for close air strikes. Rieman and his team survived that extraordinarily dangerous mission unscathed. It was months later, after fighting seemed to have ended, that the calm was suddenly shattered.

"It was Dec. 3, 2003," Rieman said. "Enroute we got hit with three (rocket-propelled grenades), three (improvised explosive devices), and a hail of small-arms fire. While we were being fired upon, we returned fire, and I used my body as a shield to protect my gunner. He was on the .50-caliber machine gun, we had to keep the gun going, so I just knew he needed to be the most protected."

Rieman was shot in his arm and chest and suffered 11 shrapnel wounds. But the harrowing experience was far from over.

"We reacted, fought through the first ambush, told my guys to get out. We made a left turn to the next road. We pulled up. We basically put ourselves in another ambush with a smaller enemy force," Rieman said. "We returned fire. I lobbed two or three rounds down range. In total, myself was wounded, my gunner was shot in the buttocks, and Sergeant Bruce Robinson was in the rear vehicle. He lost his right leg to an RPG."

Rieman was awarded a Silver Star for his actions. He is also featured in a downloadable interactive video game called "America's Army: Real Heroes," which is based on Army values and training and gives citizens an opportunity to learn more about the role of today's soldiers.

"And later on they said, 'how about we make you an action figure?' Who's going to object to that, you know? So here I am, immortalized forever virtually and in plastic," Rieman said.

"Conspicuous Courage" also recounts in vivid detail the furious and now famous 40-minute firefight that ensued when a Kentucky National Guard military police company convoy came under massive enemy attack March 20, 2005, in Iraq.

"I can still see rounds just kicking up all around me," said Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, who was in the lead vehicle that day. "I throw a grenade up onto the berm. It explodes. I take a couple steps back, begin to run. It's almost a vertical face. As I'm crawling up, I think the guy's either gonna shoot me in the face or I'm gonna get hit in the back by rounds, cause I can see them kicking up all around me."

For his actions, Nein would eventually receive the Distinguished Service Cross, the first to be awarded to a National Guard member since World War II.

Army Sgt. Leigh Anne Hester would be the first woman since World War II to be awarded the Silver Star for her actions defending the embattled convoy from enemy attackers.

"It was just instinct to get in there and eliminate them by any means we could," she said. "Firing my M4, firing my M203 grenade launcher or throwing hand grenades."

When the fight ended, 27 insurgents were dead. Everyone in the 617th Military Police Company survived. The squad member also received a medal of valor for their role in defending the convoy that day.

Army Lt. Gen. John Vines presented those awards during a ceremony at Camp Liberty, Iraqm on June 16, 2005. His comments that day sum up the qualities found in each servicemember featured in this latest "Recon" documentary. "My heroes don't play in the NBA or in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst," Vines said. "They're standing in front of me here today. These are American heroes."

"Conspicuous Courage" debuts Friday, April 13th, at noon EDT and will encore over the next four weeks. It also will be available via podcast and video on demand at www.pentagonchannel.mil.

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Top Enlisted Servicemember Shares Outlook Learned From Naval Hero

By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service

April 12, 2007 – The philosophy that has guided and shaped the life of the U.S. military's top enlisted member grew from advice he received from the most decorated enlisted sailor in Navy history -- a war hero who earned the Medal of Honor and also happened to be his first cousin. Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shared the philosophy he learned from James Elliott Williams with the Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 here today.

"He told me, 'Always prioritize your life. Put your God first, put your family second, and put your job third,'" Gainey said. "I was so lucky growing up in South Carolina with him in my life."

Gainey told the sailors on Okinawa, an island about 400 miles south of mainland Japan, that as a boy he was unaware of his cousin's heroic exploits.

"I didn't know about all that," he said. "He never talked about it. It was later in life that I found that all out, and now I carry his story forward."

Williams joined the Navy at age 16 in 1947 and served in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts before retiring in 1967. In addition to the Medal of Honor, he earned the Navy Cross, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit with valor device, two Navy and Marine Corps Medals and three Bronze Star Medals, among others.

In Vietnam, Williams was a petty officer first class assigned to the River Patrol Force. His mission was to intercept Viet Cong arms shipments on the Mekong River delta.

On Oct. 31, 1966, Williams was patrol commander aboard River Patrol Boat 105, searching along with another patrol boat for Viet Cong guerrillas. Suddenly, guerrillas manning two small boats opened fire on the American patrol boats. When Williams and his men killed the attackers on one of the enemy boats, the other escaped into a canal.

Giving chase, the American patrol boat sailors came under rocket-propelled-grenade and small-arms fire from enemy fighters on the river bank.

Several times, Williams led his boats against concentrations of enemy vessels. He also called for support from UH-1B Huey helicopters. When the Hueys arrived, he began another attack as night fell, illuminating enemy forces and positions with his boat's searchlights.

In the three-hour battle, the American naval force killed numerous Viet Cong guerrillas, destroyed more than 50 vessels and disrupted a major enemy logistic operation.

Williams received the Medal of Honor for his actions that day from President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. He died in 1999. In 2004, the Navy commissioned the Aegis guided missile destroyer USS James E. Williams.

Gainey awarded his personal coin to several of the sailors, and noted to them that one side contains the inscription "Pride is contagious."

"Remember James E. Williams?" he asked. "If you have pride in your God, in your family and in your service, everything else will come out right," he told the Seabees. "I believe that with all my heart."

Later, after a breakfast meeting here with Navy enlisted leaders based on Okinawa, Gainey traveled to White Beach Naval Facility, where he spoke with sailors assigned there and crewmembers of the USS Tortuga, a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship that's in the port preparing to transport Okinawa-based Marines.

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Colorado Citizens Support Troops With Vehicle Plate

By Carmen L. Gleason
American Forces Press Service

April 12, 2007 – After two years of pushing for new state legislation, a Colorado troop-support group has been told to hit the road -- literally. With the support of 33 state congress members, American Military Family today announced its successful efforts in getting a license plate dedicated to the troops for residents of the Centennial State.

According to the new law, 93 percent of the proceeds from the $25 vehicle tag will go to directly support Colorado military members and their families. This will include active-duty members, National Guard and reserve soldiers as well as veterans and non-profit organizations working to support the military.

With the help of their 12 corporate sponsorships, the group hopes to take care of overhead costs so 100 percent of the tag proceeds eventually can go back to Colorado troops, Debbie Quackenbush, the organization's founder, said. She said this is part of their "Support the Troops 100%" program.

"We are just a bunch of average people supporting our military," Quackenbush said. "We believe we are going to do great things for our troops through this program."

Although the plate is set for release July 1, the organization has already collected more than 150 advance orders for the tag emblazoned with a yellow ribbon and American flag.

"I think people in the state and the nation want to tangibly support our troops," she said. "This is a great way to do it. We are so proud that years of work have come to fruition."

American Military Family is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with members of the military and their families at home and abroad. All monies donated above the cost of the license plate will be distributed to servicemembers throughout the nation.

By working closely with the state's Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, the organization will review requests for monetary assistance on a quarterly basis for distribution throughout the state for those who qualify. Quackenbush said this includes family emergencies for military families in addition to other troop-support groups.

Quakenbush, whose brother is a Vietnam veteran, said she believes no one who has sacrificed for America's freedom should go unrecognized.

"This is going to be a huge message going down the highways to our troops and their families," she said.

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Independent Medical Review Group Presents Preliminary Conclusions

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

April 12, 2007 – The problems wounded servicemembers and their families experienced at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here are systemic, members of the Independent Review Group said here yesterday. The group met with members of the Defense Health Board and presented preliminary conclusions at a meeting at the hospital.

"There has always been an American ethic and that ethic is that America always takes care of its wounded," said John O. Marsh, co-chairman of the group and former Army secretary. "We've got be certain that we always emphasize that ethic."

The group is looking exclusively at conditions Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md. Yet the group's finding indicate problems beyond the two flagship military medical centers.

"We have reason to think that the observations we make are systemic," Marsh said. "We did encounter indications that some of the problems ... do exist in other medical facilities of our armed forces."

Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo West, co-chairman of the group, said there were failures of leadership at Walter Reed. Army Secretary Francis Harvey, Army Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, and Walter Reed Commander Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman were fired for those failures.

West said there was a "virtually incomprehensible inattention to non-medical facilities," and an "almost palpable disdain" for the long-term treatment that outpatients need.

Marsh said the circumstances at Walter Reed created a "perfect storm." The Army did not expect the number of injured from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army officials did not invest in the Walter Reed facility once it was placed on the base realignment and closure list, and they tried to fill the void by hiring contractors to provide critical outpatient services. Medical personnel did not understand how to cope or treat servicemembers affected by traumatic brain injuries from improvised explosive devices and post-traumatic stress disorder. Finally, there is a systemic breakdown of the disability review process.

The group will recommend speeding up closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, West said. Under the base realignment and closure commission, Walter Reed and Bethesda are to be consolidated in Bethesda and the whole complex named the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The group recommends speeding up construction at Bethesda and ensuring that there is no "dying on the vine" for the facilities at Walter Reed until the complex is open. This will require funding improvements at a facility that is due to close, group officials said.

The group will recommend more money to research traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical personnel need to know the best diagnostic tools and treatments for these conditions.

The group will recommend more case workers for out-patient servicemembers, and better training for the case workers. The group will also study what part contracting-out played in the hospital's "perfect storm."

Finally, the group is unanimous regarding the disability review process, West said. "The horrors that are inflicted on our wounded servicemembers and their families in the name of physical disability review, simply must be fixed," he said.

All servicemembers go through three separate board proceedings to determine disability. In the Army it is four proceedings. There are different stands and results from these boards and they appear "wildly incomprehensible" to wounded servicemembers and their families, West said.

The system needs to be combined and consolidated into a reasonable process from the servicemembers point of view, West said.

"To be sure it was the degradation of the physical facilities that caught the eye of the media," West said. "Important as that is, we believe there is far more important things to be dealt with here than applying paint or crawling around basements to deal with electrical problems.

"This is our bottom line: We are the United States of America," he continued. "These are our sons and daughters and sisters, uncle and aunt, maybe even a grandparent or two. ... Their families are our families. We are their neighbors. Their anguish is ours. We can and must do better."

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Interservice Cooperation on Okinawa Impresses Top NCO

By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service

April 12, 2007 – On the second day of a visit to Okinawa, the U.S. military's top enlisted servicemember today expressed his pleasure that the services seem to be working together better than he could have imagined a decade ago. Having spent the morning with Navy sailors and yesterday with Air Force and Army personnel on the island, Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited an example while here for briefings on Army operations on Okinawa.

The Army's 58th Signal Battalion manages the Joint Warfighter Interbase Telecommunications Network on Okinawa, providing connectivity among 18 locations for all U.S. military services on the island, as well as providing communications for Japanese SelfDefense Forces.

Discussion during the briefing turned to a tsunami-related disruption of communication from Navy ships to Navy aircraft. The problem was overcome thanks to an effort attributed by enlisted leaders in the meeting to a sense of partnership in a close inter-service working relationship. The same spirit came through during a briefing about the Army's 505th Quartermaster Battalion, which provides bulk fuel to all Defense Department activities on Okinawa.

"Let me tell you something. Fifteen years ago, that would not have happened," Gainey said. "You would not have a Navy master chief taking about an Army sergeant major as a partner in the mission. It would have been 'us' and 'them,'" he said.

Throughout the visit, servicemembers have asked Gainey whether the trend toward joint training and operations will continue. He answers the question by having the servicemembers put a hand over the name of their service embroidered on a fabric tape above the shirt pocket.

"When you cover the name of your service, what's left?" he asks the servicemembers. "U.S. -- that's us. That's what it needs to be about now."

Servicemembers need to "care enough to care" and take time to learn other services' cultures and standards, he said here today. He added that he's encouraged by discussions during his visit that "are about how we serve each other, not how we serve ourselves."

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Medical Evaluation Process Getting Fresh Look

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

April 12, 2007 – Less than two months after a roadside bomb took both his legs during a reconnaissance patrol near Iraq's Syrian border, Marine Corps Cpl. Dylan Gray is preparing for his first encounter with the Defense Department's medical evaluation process. Recently transferred from the National Naval Medical Center, where he underwent a long string of surgeries, 23-year-old Gray is undergoing rehabilitation here at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He hopes to get transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, closer to his native Utah, to finish his treatment.

For now, Gray said he's focusing solely on his medical treatment, not to what's down the road for him, or whether he'll be able to continue his military career. "It's just too soon to worry about that," he said. "Right now, all I am going to think about is healing."

Air Force Staff Sgt. Eric Ezell has had a little more time to contemplate the medical board he expects to review his records during the next several weeks. He's hoping beyond hope that it will give him the green light to continue his five-plus-year Air Force career.

Ezell, an aerial gunner with the 20th Special Operations Squadron, was participating in a mission to infiltrate a hostile landing zone in Iraq when he got shot in the back of his head in late December. The bullet exited through his right eye, destroying the eye and fracturing the bones of his eye socket.

Ezell went through complicated surgery that involved taking bone from his leg to repair the structural area around his eye socket so he can eventually receive a prosthetic eye. He reached a major milestone earlier this months when he was discharged from Walter Reed to rejoin his unit at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

But what he most looks forward to, he said, is getting back to full duty and resuming his career.

The one hurtle that stands in the way is the DoD Disability Evaluation System -- the system used to determine if sick or wounded troops are fit for duty and, if not, how to compensate them for their disabilities.

The concept dates back to the Civil War, when Congress established the first disability retirement system for wounded officers. Nearly 150 years later, some 25,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines-officer and enlisted, active-duty and reserve-component-are included in the system, officials in DoD's manpower policy office told American Forces Press Service.

In fiscal 2006, those numbers broke down to more than 13,100 soldiers, about 5,700 sailors and Marines and more than 4,100 airmen.

Despite common assumption, only 15 to 20 percent of those in the system were wounded in combat. The vast majority of the cases stem from non-combat accidents, illnesses and other medical conditions, officials explained.

The Disability Evaluation System is actually a two-step process. It begins with a medical evaluation board that decides if a servicemember is fit enough to remain on duty. If not, the board passes the case to a physical evaluation board, which determines the extent of the disability.

That finding determines if the servicemember qualifies for retired pay and military benefits such as health care and base privileges for life, or a one-time severance payment with no additional benefits.

If the rating is less than 30 percent, the servicemember may be discharged with severance pay. Those rated 30 percent or higher are medically retired. In some cases, troops are put on a temporary disability retired list for up to five years.

Not all troops -- especially those rated at less than 30 percent disability -- are happy with the findings, a defense official said. "It's understandable, when you have so much at stake, that not everyone is happy," he said.

They can appeal their cases, but once they finish those appeals, the case is closed, he said.

A complicating factor is that several federal agencies, particularly DoD and the VA, have totally different gauges for their disability findings, he said. After DoD declares a servicemember unfit and assigns a disability rating of 20 percent, for example, VA may give a far higher disability rating, sometimes as high as 70 percent.

"That's because VA looks at disability differently than we do in DoD," the official said. "We look at it in terms of a soldier being fit or unfit, based on their ability to do the job. VA has a much wider scope. They are looking at disability in terms of a lifetime of earnings.

"We compensate for a career cut short. VA is looking at a lifetime of earnings," he said. "But a lot of servicemembers don't understand the different perspectives."

Differences like this create a lot of confusion and may signal the need for a national review of disability programs, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said during testimony today before the Senate Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees. "It may be time to cast a wider net and look at this whole area of disability," he said.

England joined other defense and Department of Veterans Affairs leaders briefing the senators about how ongoing reviews of the medical and disability systems are progressing.

No fewer than seven different task forces, both within DoD and independently run, are examining the Disability Evaluation System to make it as expeditious, easy to understand and, most of all, fair, for servicemembers like Gray and Ezell, officials noted.

President Bush appointed a Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, which is conducting a comprehensive review of this and all other aspects of care being provided to wounded warriors.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates appointed an Independent Review Group to examine issues throughout the military medical system, as well as the way it processes troops through the Disability Evaluation System.

David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, has also directed a group to assess the Disability Evaluation System process and recommend ways to ensure "a dignified, equitable and seamless transition to civilian society for our wounded warriors unable to return to duty," he noted in a recent letter to U.S. Sen. Jim Webb.

Acting DoD Inspector General Thomas F. Gimble and his staff also began reviewing DoD's Wounded Warrior Transition Program earlier this year, at Chu's request, and are expected to report their findings to him soon, Chu reported.

Meanwhile, each of the military departments has initiated internal reviews of their processes to come up with ways to make them smoother, less bureaucratic and more responsive to the people they affect, Chu said.

Another goal is to ensure disability cases move quickly, but not so quickly that they're rushed, a defense official explained. Most cases are processed within 70 days, he said, but particularly complicated ones take longer.

England told the senators DoD is committed to improving its systems to serve wounded troops, including those involved in the medical evaluation process. "The very top priority of the Department of Defense is taking care of our men and women in uniforms and their families, and in particular, those who have made the greatest sacrifices for our nation," he said.

Those words are reassuring to Ezell, who, with two or more surgeries still ahead, is preparing for the medical evaluation process to determine if he can remain in the Air Force.

"My case is pretty cut and dried, and it's pretty much a given that my eye is not coming back," he said. "But I've got good vision in my left eye, so there's still a lot that I can do. I can't do a flying job, but I can cross-train into a whole lot of other jobs."

Ezell said he hopes the board will allow him to explore those new possibilities.

"The military has offered me a lot and given me a lot of opportunities, and I've already established a foundation that I can continue to build on," he said. "I'm hoping they'll give me the chance to do that."

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Deputy Defense Secretary Calls for Immediate Fix to Disability Process

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

April 12, 2007 – Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England today called for a new policy that moves wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan to the front of the line in the disability rating process while system-wide fixes to the disability and health care systems are put in place. England recommended an immediate measure to speed combat-wounded troops through the DoD disability system and smooth their transition to the Department of Veterans Affairs system. The goal, he said, is "an uninterrupted, seamless continuum of care and support" that ensures nobody falls through the cracks or gets mired down in bureaucratic red tape.

Wounded troops represent about 11 percent of the 25,000 servicemembers being processed through DoD's disability system. The problem, England told the senators today, is that this 11 percent is funneled through the system just as the other 89 percent, many of them career servicemembers preparing to retire.

This "one-size-fits-all rating process" bogs down the processing of combat-wounded troops cases, England said.

Instead, he recommended that DoD expedite its cases to smooth their transition into VA care. Many of the wounded troops' cases are relatively clear-cut and can be moved through the system quickly, he said.

England acknowledged that this immediate fix is just one step toward improving the way wounded troops are cared for and, when appropriate, processed through the disability system. He said he's looking forward to hearing what the many studies, reviews, commissions and panels have to say about the matter when they report their findings before the year's end.

What's needed, he said, is a broad-based system that ensures combat-wounded troops get the care and treatment they deserve. "In my judgment, it is time to step back and take a holistic look at the system instead of just applying fixes to the system," England told the committees. "We need an integrated, systemic solution with the right mechanisms in place ... that makes sense from the soldier's perspective."

That requires thinking about what the best system would look like if it were being built from scratch and what steps would have to be taken to get it, he said.

England said it also may require looking to other national systems associated with disability determination and compensation: the Social Security Administration's disability payments, the Department of Labor's workmen's compensation program and the Department of Veterans Affairs and DoD disability systems, among them.

"They are all carried out in different ways, against different systems to achieve different ends," he said.

The differences between these complex programs can be confusing to benefit recipients, England said, suggesting the need for a new national approach for compensating disabled workers. "It may be time to cast a wider net and look at this whole area of disability," he said.

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Texas Police Authors

Editor's Note: One of the authors if former Airborne.

Police-Writers.com is a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books. Three Texas law enforcement officials were added to the growing list of state and local police officers who have authored books. Two of the newly added authors represent Texas county and municipal law enforcement while the third is a retired federal law enforcement official from the State of Texas.

John Matthews, Executive Director of Community Safety Institute, is an Assistant Chief Constable for Dallas County and a former small-town Chief of Police. Earlier in his law enforcement career, he served as a member of the Dallas Police Department. John Matthews has a BA and Masters in Administrative Management. He has served as a facilitator and instructor for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Police Foundation, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the National League of Cities, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation Main Street program. He is the author of two books.

His first book, The Eyeball Killer, is a true crime thriller. According to the book description, “Death was an occupational hazard for every hooker who worked Dallas's depressed south side. That's why police weren't surprised to find the body of prostitute Mary Lou Pratt shot to death in December of 1990...until the discovery that sickened even the seasoned coroner: the young woman's eyes had been cut out.” The book details the murders committed by Charles Albright. John Matthews’ second book is Creating a Safer School.

Brent Walker serves with the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office in the Marine Division, which includes marine patrol, dive team and emergency response duties. Previously, Brent served as a SWAT officer on a multi-agency tactical team, detective and US Marine in a reserve Scout Sniper platoon. As a marine enforcement officer, Brent has taken advantage of his military and tactical backgrounds. He developed a curriculum and trained SWAT units in tactical maritime methods by merging existing SWAT strategy with marine patrol and dive team options. The end result is a “win-win” solution for all involved. Additional details on this can be found in Brent’s first book, Waterborne T.E.A.M.S. Marine Patrol and Dive Team Support of SWAT.

He is also responsible for having adapted USCG and USN port security tactics for use by civilian law enforcement when patrolling maritime security zones and guarding/escorting high value vessels and cargo. Brent Walker is a certified boating safety and police instructor in Texas. Brent has also authored several marine theft and boating safety articles in various publications.

Claude Thormalen was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1940 and grew up in Alice, Texas. Claude has a masters degree in education with a minor in criminal justice. He has worked as a police officer, criminal investigator for Customs Agency Service in the Treasury Department and as a special agent with the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in the Justice Department. After leaving the Justice Department, he taught law enforcement at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, where he also served as department chairman, Dean of Men and Dean of Students. Thormalen also worked as a middle school counselor in San Antonio. Claude also volunteered for 3 years in the 82nd Airborne Division and was discharged a Sgt. E-5

His book is The Right Side of the Law. According to the book description, “This fictionalized, realistic look at the life of a federal narcotics agent follows Alton Haymon, former special agent still suffering from post traumatic stress resulting from work with both the Treasury and Justice Departments as drug agencies were merged to form the DEA. The conflict between his honest desire to enforce his country’s laws and his need to protect his brother agents with whom he feels bonded is the major struggle of the book. Thefts of drugs and drug money and use of illegal wiretaps become common and agents’ drugs use is wide spread. This struggle between good and evil and Haymon’s continued risk taking causes his final collapse. Haymon, a broken 31-year-old man, resigns from what was up until then the most important thing in his life and finds himself living in the mountains of Western Colorado where, in a last desperate attempt at sanity, he writes his story.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 467 police officers (representing 197 police departments) and their 973 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.