Pacific West Academy Graduation - Class 62 April/June 2024

Go ahead and get started for the graduation of Pacific West Academy Certified Executive Security Specialist course number 62. First, give yourselves a round of applause for 10 weeks. I know this is a small and personal event. We’re not doing the big grandiose type things, but that’s how this profession kind of is. It’s a thankless profession when it comes to it and the only people that really you get the thanks from are the ones that are sitting right next to you and the ones you’re going to be working with when you’re out there doing the job. So first I’d like to talk about what we do or what we’re trying to accomplish here as part of our mission at Pacific West Academy. We try to train technically and tactically proficient personnel to become security professionals in their lives regardless of the type of security that they’re going to. We want to put the best in the field in all aspects of security.

Now we do touch on executive protection a little bit more than the others, but all of that can still be boiled down to being great security professionals in every aspect of the industry. So what you did, right? 10 weeks. 10 weeks is a long time to be a lot of places. 10 weeks is a long time to live with somebody that you have not known ever in your entire life when it comes to that. So over your 10 weeks, first couple weeks, a lot of law, regulation, a lot of stuff, just understanding some legalities of doing this profession. And then the latter half of the course is where we all kind of get the things that we like and that we want to take part in. And that is the driving portion. So hopefully with the driving portion, learn a little bit about cars. You’re able to bend some stuff around a little bit more than your own cars. And if you do decide to go do that in your own cars, have some money to back up breaking everything on the car.

And I think you guys learned that firsthand, basically burning up tires, going around doing that stuff. The TECC portion, it is the most fast paced portion of the program, throwing medical at you. If you do not have a good foundation of medical, it is a difficult task to pass, right? This class had 100% gos, and I know some of those goes were some struggling difficult ones, but you know who you are when it, now you know what to brush up. Some of you pass straight up through and maybe this is something that’s part of your profession and regular that you can take to the job out there. So great job on that. The range. Everybody loves to come and shoot and I understand that it is probably the funnest thing when you see it from the outside when it comes to it.

But shooting and learning as a professional, yes, it can be fun, but yes, it’s long days out in the range and I appreciate everybody coming out and putting in the effort every single day at the range, especially because you guys are on that hot streak when it comes to it. I think the weather for you was all pretty decent. So obviously this next course that’s going to be coming up, that’s filling in right after you, they’re going to be in the dog days of summer when it comes to it. So tough when it comes to it. Hopefully you all learn something about that. The field training exercises we do, we’ve expanded them over the course. We started with one, now we’re at three and possibly going on even more. It’ll be depending on critiques and things like that. Hopefully you got something out of the field training exercises, at least some notes that you can take on to your next positions. A lot of you guys did really well when it came to that.

And finally, the combatives, right? No program does the amount of combatives hand to hand that we do here, right? At the minimum, you get 32 hours on some extra ones. We get 40 hours when it comes to if there’s some extra time. So hopefully you were able to learn something from that as well. Some of you came in with some great experience already and some of you had some really good improvements. And I think everyone took some shots on the combatives final day, which is good because you don’t know your worst sometimes until you take a hit, right? And everybody here did that, and so you can be proud of that. So to kind of get into us giving out each plaque, I usually like to say a little something that’s come up between myself and the instructors about what we’ve learned about you while you’re here. Okay? And it’s nothing crazy.

I just like to say a little something and what I’ll do is I’ll say it and you’ll come up and then take your plaque. I’ll go ahead, we’ll stand off to the side, we’ll do a quick picture, and then that microphone is for you guys. If there’s anything that you would like to say as parting words going out, we’d love to hear it. Now, it doesn’t have to be about us. Usually the best words that are said are usually the ones that are about the people that you did this 10 weeks with. All right? We do our best to put you in a motivating situations, but it’s each one of you that have helped each other learn just as much as any of the stuff that we’ve put on the board or done outside when it comes to that. So these are in alphabetical order and then we’ll go from there. So to start off, we’ll go with the first student that we got here, all right? Big personality, big guy, pushes people to either do better or crumble.

And that’s what I like about it, right? Has all the tangible assets necessary to do this job at the highest level when it comes to it. I know he’ll do exactly that. And when he becomes a leader of teams out there, he will do that. He’ll either push people to be the best on the team or they won’t be for his team. Mr. Nicholas Alexander. Yeah. I appreciate it. Oh, did we do… Yeah. No?. I never… No, you’re good, you’re good. Usually it’s back there.

You’re Good. We’re good. All right. So if… That’s all you, if you want to say anything. This Thing working?

Yeah. – Can everybody hear me? It’s been a long 10 weeks. Congratulations to everybody that’s sitting down. I want to say thank you to all the instructors that pushed us all through this. There were some tough times and I just want to end on one note. Wakanda Forever and no one understands me.

You know, thankfully, I thought you were going to have, when you said one note, like a musical note. I was like, “Please don’t. Please don’t.” You know? Now, the next student is not here, but I just still want to acknowledge knowledgeable guy with an eye for catching things outside of the norm. He’s aggressive on the mats, fights hard through when he gets stung and is hurt. When given the mission, he’ll complete it. Had the second overall TECC score, Mr. Avery Carr. This next student pushed through adversity through and through the course. All right? Dealt with some things and he needed to take care of, but he still made it to the course, made the things that he needed to finish and did it all the way to the end, including the combatives. When he finds the direction he wants to go, he’s going to make it happen. And I have nothing but faith that he will do so in that. And he’s entering around our area.

We’re going to keep in touch Mr. Manuel Chinchilla.

Go ahead. All right. All you. All right. Well, for one, I’m going to dress compared to everybody else. Came right on the bike today and I realized halfway down, I was like, “Damn, I should have actually dressed up.” So a little jealous right now, I’m not going to lie. But honestly, man, these past 10 weeks were actually pretty cool. Being able to actually get to know some of you guys a little more than others. Just being able to actually do everything that we did was a pretty good experience and hopefully we can keep in touch, definitely trade notes and just kind of see where everybody else, where everybody’s life leads to. But thank you.

This next student, quiet but performs well when asked. He keeps things loose. He has great character, improved at every aspect of the course from start to finish. Specifically the mats and at the range, we saw nothing but improvement all the way through and we think that if he keeps that mindset, he’ll carry it in improvement on teams and anywhere he goes. Mr. Jonathan Cifuentes.

All right. First of all, I want to thank the instructors. Great course. Great group of guys to go with this course. I mean, it was one of the best groups that I’ve worked with and it was really fun. So thank you. I appreciate you guys.

Next up, one of the most attentive students, always asking the right questions to clarify the task. You can feel him working to constantly understand the mission and the purpose. He had great all around scores, quiet professional, and I believe not only can do the job of being right there next to somebody, but would be a really good asset during covert security, especially if he ended up trimming up his big old, you know, facial hair and stuff like that. Mr. Tanner Combs. Good. Appreciate it.

All right. Many words. All right. So next up, a very smart individual with a knack of figuring out the why. Young, but has great aspirations, funny, but locks it up when necessary. A very resourceful person and agent, definitely good for somebody on a team that needs to gather information and get everything necessary to put a detail together and have it perform well. Mr. Justin DeClue. Make sure y’all get to the wall. 6’2″.

So next person, when it comes to it, in my opinion, as underestimatable a person as I’ve come across, top written exam scores, comes in with good combatist foundation and by the end of the course, really showed grit with an injury to get through the final and show massive improvements on the range. It’d be an asset to any team that he goes out there and finds himself on. And I hope to see great things from this particular student, Mr. Randy Flaig.

I don’t got much to say. It was an awesome time being here with you guys. Learned a lot. Everyone pushed each other. It was an awesome group. We had our tough times and everything, but we pushed through and I think we all stuck together and made us strong. So thank you all. Thank you all, instructors. Thank you, Don. Appreciate it. That’s all.

Next student was very quiet, very capable, willing to learn any subject older. But still keeps up with everybody in the class. Pushed through some painful days, a real professional, already has work going on, and he can be on any team anywhere, Mr. Wayne Lee. Thank you, sir. Yeah, come this way.

I just want to thank the academy instructors and fellow students without you. This wouldn’t be possible, so thank you.

The next student, again, had to leave a little bit early because of weather when coming in his area. Well-rounded protector has the ability to sit back, figure out problems. The young Winslow, apparently, is what I was told. Mr. James Little. Next student is soft-spoken gentleman. Had a really good range. Has a great disposition for the jobs and can do close protection, covert or overt, we believe in this. He ended up with the top total firearm score, Mr. Alex Ramirez. One, two, perfect.

Awesome. I just wanted to say thank you to all the instructors and thank you to all you guys. You guys made it a lot easier these 10 weeks. Yeah. Thank you guys.

I don’t know how you had the top score with them sweaty old hands, man. Gonna just be spitting water everywhere. Next student had some ups and downs through the course, pushed through it regardless of the surrounding noise. Pushed through combatives even though he was gassed out, so showed heart in that. Showed up every single day so that he could try and learn this and take this to the next stages of his life. Great character, Mr. Daniel Rice. One, two, good.

Well, fellas, well, first let me thank the academy, Don, all the instructors, my guys, team. It was a great, great 10 weeks. I learned a lot. I hope we stay in touch, network. We all can help each other out. I wanted to say something funny, but it’s just not coming to my mind. So I’m going to leave it there, man. I appreciate everybody. Thank you.

This next student, very athletic, very capable, has the tangibles to work in the field, can hustle to get the business side done as well, and may be on his way to starting his own security business as I hear, which we have nothing but love for him and respect for him doing that stuff. And hopefully if that happens, then we’ll be able to have some graduates here move on in that direction. All right? The worst thing, loves his joggers. All right? Well, going to be a great agent, Mr. Malcolm Rogers. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, the next student, professional attitude, always learning, ready to be or see him reading books during the level with a calm demeanor and attended all available training as well, knows what he gets out or that he gets out, what he puts in. Ended up with top DECC score and has tremendous upside in this industry. Standing steadily.

DMD right there. Hold it one more time. DMD at 8:00. Every time I look at my phone.

Yeah. Well, you know. All right guys, thanks so much to the academy. Thanks so much to the instructors. I appreciate all the hard work you guys put into this. Thanks so much to the fellow students. I wish you guys nothing but luck and success in your future endeavors. And if you ever want to play D&D with me, open invite.

Next student did very well on the FTX. Had high marks from the instructors in that respect. Maintained his ability to adapt and adjust in diverse situations. Another very smart guy maybe should look into investigations and can be a great advanced asset agent that can go on a team and tell him what they need to know to get the job done the first time. Mr. Saul Vargas.

Instructors, thank you guys. You guys did a lot. I learned a lot from you guys, so I really do appreciate it. And gentlemen, it’s been a great time meeting you guys, spending time in the house that I did go, you know? But other than that, God bless and get home safe.

This next student, great attitude, great sense of humor, really good athlete, another big guy, learns fast, looks the part and has the good disposition for this work. Has a great future ahead of him, improved quite a bit on the range while he was out here, but I know he’s going to land on his feet and plus up any team that he’s on teaching the right things. Mr. Charlie Washington. Yeah.

One, two, smile. Perfect. First, I want to give a thank you to the instructors. I appreciate you guys for real. I learned a whole lot. Thank you, Dawn. To the class, I appreciate y’all, man. I ain’t know I was going to get through these 10 weeks, but y’all helped me get through it, man. So I appreciate y’all.

And the next student made great strives in all aspects of the course, had tough sparring match with Benji on the final, or is constantly trying to figure out the right direction to move forward in life and in this field. I love the questions that he asked, came to visit me personally to ask about questions. It doesn’t happen often, and I revere that when it comes to it. Good presence and can be on a team and look the part, act the part, do the part. Mr. Charles Wright. Ready one, two…

I want to thank my fellow students. I appreciate you guys having your patience with me. I know it wasn’t always getting me to talk to you guys. I want to thank the students… I mean, I want to thank the staff. I want to thank Benji, Matt, Jonathan, Jordan, Jason. I want to thank you guys for your patience with me, expertise, Christina, Don, of course. And that’s it. Congratulations for you guys and good luck on everything.

Now, after we get done here, we like to personally call you guys up one at a time, and I’ll just show you one of the things you’re going to get. This is going to be all of the certificates that you earned throughout this institution, all right? So everything that you earned on the left side and then the main one on the right side, okay? We’ll talk to each one of you individually up there when we call you up. So obviously these scores are in when it comes to these. Not only is this a course where you have to perform and do, even when we’re taught, this industry, you’re kind of a sink or swim industry. And although we teach you guys and you do have to learn while you’re here, you have to perform immediately, and that’s part of going through this particular program. So the scores aren’t always a tell-all of someone’s potential or anything like that, all right?

But 10 weeks, we were able to see what everybody had and put together some of these things. Now, you may not always write reports and you may not always pull your gun, right? But we score it, we put it all together. So what we like to give is just each of these bags is going to have some stuff in them. What we got in them, these signed guys? All Kinds of stuff. Holsters, elevates, glasses.

Glasses, some other stuff. And you guys received one of these when you came in, but we’re just giving another one to throw in with you and then with some extra stuff that we got on the inside, all right? So the overall scores, even before I even start that, this class was actually, in my opinion, was awesome, right? All the instructors enjoyed being around you guys, and I know being 10 weeks in the house is tough and you get into it with things and stuff like that, but I almost didn’t hear a peep out of what was going on in the house, and that shows the professionalism that you guys have, is making sure things get done without making a big deal about it, and I can appreciate that. But otherwise, when I was going over some of the stuff and thinking about each one of you, I mean, the word professional came up in everybody’s thing here. And that’s not the case in some of the courses that we have, right?

Every single one of you here showed professionalism at some point, if not through the entirety of the, the course. And all of us as instructors and staff were like, “Hey, this, this is one of those, those few courses that everybody here is going to, going to do something.” You know what I mean? So to, to go ahead and, and talk a little bit about the, the scores here, like I said they aren’t all the end all be all, but you got to put a number to some stuff. So third overall score in the CESS 62. Give this little bag here, Mr. Tanner Combs. All right. Second overall, pretty much would have had a third overall, would have been a little bit flipped on here, but he ended up with the top TECC or excuse me, the top written exam score for the course and ended up number two overall, Mr. Randy Flaig.

So the top award for this, not only do we like it to be the high score, but we hope that it embodies our principles quiet, assertive, and in control. You know this type of person does everything well and does it with this particular attitude. Just so happens that the scores lined up up top when it came to it, did well in everything that we asked across the board, high scores ended up with the total overall score, not crazy outside of everybody, but noticeably outside. All right. So number one the TEC, or excuse me, the top gun for CESS 62, Mr. Sandy Steidley. It’s a SUNTO core watch. I’ve had a couple of those along the way, so congratulations on that. Thank you so much. Yeah. Now for, you know you particularly Sandy and stuff like that taking this, you know, top gun award, you know what you’re worth when it comes to these things. If you haven’t already, my thing for you is mentorship.

The next thing for you is you, you have the ability to start mentoring those younger below you as well. So taking on that additional task and making sure that that happens and I think that you’ll be a part of great teams and you’ll foster great teams underneath you. All right? So to, to finish this out, I, sometimes I hate giving like awards based on scores because there’s so much to every single one of you more than a conglomeration of numbers that we put together, right? And I would work with a ton of you regardless of some score when it comes to that. So the next thing is, is hitting the ground running. Some of you already have things already in the works. Some of you already are going to go back to things. Some of you do not. It’s not enough to sit and say, “Hey, I accomplished something one time.” Right?

And you see it all the time, you sit on a throne of experience where you’ve got some things, some bullet points that you have to put down on the resume and you never do them again. Can’t let that happen because we know that everything we learn is perishable when it comes to that. So hopefully we’ve taught a lot of the tangible things that you need to go on in this particular job. You do need to go even further with those intangibles and with more knowledge. This is such a broad industry that you can pick up things from everybody. Everyone from somebody who does the EP. I’m also a member of a hospital security organization so that I see things on the outside as the way hospitals do it, right? And that’s just a, an example, right? To, to know everything you can about this industry. So hopefully you guys do that, hit the ground running wherever you’re going. Stay in contact with us.

We’re going to be developing a new alumni page and a new alumni resource center when it comes to that. And hopefully you’ll all be a part of that. So other than that, CESS 62. I’ll see you guys out in the field. Let’s let’s get all the chair, you guys can put your stuff down right here. Let’s get some chairs back here and we’re going to take a group photo.