Pacific West Academy Graduation Class 63 May-July 2024

Everybody know to drop when I’m in it. Oh, We’re Good. Okay. All right. First, you know, those families that are watching online, I do apologize. Want to make sure that everybody was here looking good and sharp, and so it might have taken a little bit extra time. But we are here for the graduating class for the Certified Executive Security Specialist course for Pacific West Academy, number 63. So everybody here, just give ourselves a round of applause. This is a smaller class than normal. However, it ends up usually making a tighter unit, right? We get a little bit more reps onto certain things and everybody gets to spend a little bit more time one-on-one with each other to figure out how everybody does business in and around the security industry. So what I do like to talk about is what you’ve done here, what we try to do, and then where you’re going with it.

First, none of us can do anything if we don’t have the support, like the family members that you have here behind you, so let’s give them a round of applause for even. So what we do here at Pacific West Academy, right? So our goal is to train and make technically and tactically proficient executive protection officers and overall security professionals in this, because not everybody will want to go in the executive protection field, even though we’ve kind of talked more about that in this program than others, but we want you to be security professionals no matter where you go, whether that is in contracting, private security, or general security management, okay? So the course, while you’ve been here, long 10 weeks, right? So we start out first couple of weeks is law and regulation and going through everything that is going to make it so you understand how not to get yourself in trouble when it comes to protection.

Then we break it off into some of the more course, or some of the courses that are a little bit more specialized. We went through the taser course late. We went through CPR and the general classes to get you your certifications that are just base level for doing any kind of security job. Then you go on to the heavier stuff, right? So the TECC program. Hopefully everybody learns something medically about that. I literally just watched a video with the guys upstairs of somebody treating someone improperly in a way that could end up hurting the patient. And you learned through this course on ways not to do that, right? To be able to help somebody when they’re out there. So it’s a lot of information really fast. Every single person in this pa – or in this class passed. That’s not always the case. Sometimes people don’t pass that particular section.

So good job on, on getting through the medical and making yourself able to help someone, whether beyond the job or off the job. The driving portion, hopefully you had fun been in the car around for a little bit out there. I know everybody always wants another day, another day out there and everything. If you want to go do that and beat up your own cars, just, it’s going to be expensive. So get used to burn up tires and parts and then everything like that. The firearms portion, long hot days for this crew. So when we’re in the spring and when we’re in the fall and sometimes the winter, it’s a lot easier to be out on that range than it is when you were out there. So I commend each one of you for putting in the time and trying to get as many hours out there, as many reps as you can, and improve as a shooter, whether that be in line drills or general fundamentals or trying out something new with us that you maybe didn’t try before.

Hopefully everybody learned something and got a little bit better in one aspect or another. The combatives that you finished up late yesterday, and I heard it was actually a really good session between everybody. It is kind of cool when you have a smaller class and the instructors are able to spar with everybody even more than they normally would. Okay? I did hear that some people took some shots and and got back up from them, so that’s good to see. So again, hopefully we learned something while we were on the mats. This course has more mat time than any course out there, period. So before we get into hopefully where you’re going, I like to go down and I present each one of you with a plaque.

We’ve written down something very small, you know, about each of you that we’ve learned over the time and some of the things that you’ve done here, but it is very short and I just want to keep it short because I know that this is just a step and then the real step is getting involved in the work. Okay? So first up, this particular student, good shape, good attitude toward getting the job done, and that’s what I liked about him. Focused. He has a focused personality. Ended up doing a really good low profile exercise at the beach, and maybe that is where his knack is being the covert security. Really good questions to help problem solve. Keep that up in any job and they’re going to know that you want to be there and do the right things. And I know he’ll do great things. Mr. Vincent. Yeah. Thank you. Great job. Good. Awesome. Floor is yours, Vinny. Thank you.

I didn’t think I was going to be up here speaking this fast, but it’s going to take some time for preparable. I know you guys are going, but okay. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys. This 10 weeks was not that long with you guys. I wish it was longer. Made some lifelong friends here and it made me feel like I was back in the military. And if you guys ever need anything, let me know. As for the instructors, you guys did a fricking awesome job. You made us feel like a part of the team. You guys are super knowledgeable. Thank you all. Thank you very much.

This next student, young, but always ready to go. Great overall student. Writes everything down. I know that he has the information in his pocket to apply to most any situations, which shows that he wants to be ready at any given moment. Ended up with the top overall TECC score and the top overall advanced firearms score. So had some good scores on the big things. All right? I think he’s ready for the job, especially if he gets himself in an entry level executive protection position, it’s only up from there. Mr. Edson Guerrero. One, Two, Three. One, two, three.

Well, I can’t say it better than Vinny, but thank you to the instructors. Honestly, I couldn’t get to pretty much where I am, especially with this cert and obviously with the information I have and with the top shooter without you guys. Also with the classmates, you are the best group of guys that I’ve ever met. Same thing like Vincent said, it’s just that it kind of reminds me of the military. So yeah, you know, I’m going to miss you guys. It was great networking. We can continue to network and also pretty much go from here with any jobs potentially in Texas or here. And then also lastly, thank God as well. So yeah, other than that, thank you everyone. Appreciate it.

The next student has a great demeanor for the job, always puts the pieces together to get the right answer. Very professional, very capable, and we think that he can be plugged into any position on a team and make them a better team instantly. Mr. Kelsey Madsen.

First of all, if I want to thank my wife and my son for showing up, i.e. Like I told y’all when y’all first get here, find a partner that’s going to support you no matter what you do. That is the biggest thing in life. And then obviously finding the friends and classmates that are here today, I think we’re tight. We had some ups and downs, but I think we, we push each other no matter what and we wanted to push. We wanted to do that, right? To the instructors, thank y’all very much. I really appreciate y’all, each and every one of you. I know I told Matt, you know, when you go through high school, you always have that one or two teachers. They’re like, “Man, this is hard.” They’re like, “No, you got this. You got it.” None of y’a made us feel bad. None of you made us feel uneducated or whatever level we were on. You’re like, “You got this. You kept pushing us to do more and better.”

And I know with this specific West Academy, y’all were just… Yeah. I don’t know how else to say it, but y’all were amazing. Thank you. And thank everybody else.

You know, I, I do wonder with each class, there usually is some kind of a papa bear, and I didn’t really know with this group, but obviously it’s this gentleman right here who takes care of that stuff. It’s good to have. It’s good to have in the house as a, as a dynamic. So the next student, great attitude and great overall teammate. Ended up with the highest final written exam score. Big guy, physical, had some injuries through the course and pushed through at every class. Don’t sit down and eat lunch with the client. And that’s one thing that we had for that one. Okay? Figured that out. He’s got it all else figured out. He has what it takes to be part of or manage a team. Mr. Wesly Mathews Rodriguez.

Oh, everybody. Oh yeah, never done that. Never doing that again. Oh, by the way, I wanted to say you guys all are great. You know, this 10 weeks passed quick, you know, even though I miss my wife very much, I had you guys and you guys pushed me through it and I had great times with all of you and have long life friends, lifelong friends is how you say it. Also, the instructors are great. I, I have nothing but great things to say about you guys. I already talked about, you know, maybe flying some instructors and instruct some friends back in over at Tampa. So you guys are great and then this was an amazing experience. Thank you very much. Thank you.

This next student came in with some experience of being around this type of business already. And when I talk with him and I look at him you know, was as professional a student as we’ve had come in here with everyday tasks, accomplish the mission, intelligent, attentive, detailed, and willing to learn. I think that’s the best place that you can be, especially when you’re starting to try and really get your, your feet wet in this business. I’m sure that his connections and his professionalism are going to carry him far in this game. Mr. Robert Miller Jr. Mr. Sway.

Great job. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. One, two, three. Ah. Well, didn’t know we had to speak, but really appreciate the staff, the faculty. I learned a lot of information, a lot of information. You guys were great, kept us focused, kept us all motivated. I want to thank my family for supporting me, holding me down. My girl, appreciate you, love you. She held me down, and thank you guys. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I don’t know if you can be any more chilled down.

Even when he asked questions, He was smooth. Yeah. Yeah. The next student, quiet but composed, had the highest scores on the case studies and written assignments. Maybe ready for a GSOC position, possibly finding that intel to get to the group and move it through the executive protection team. Really tough guy, ended up also with the top combative score. So kind of a both and when it comes to it. Keeps coming at you even when hurt. He will be able to use that and push through obstacles in this particular career, Mr. Lucio Perez. Thank you.

It’s been a ride. Oh, man. I’d like to thank you guys. You guys are awesome. I learned a lot from making espressos, learning jobs, finance stuff, and just learning a little bit about y’all. And hopefully I gave something back to y’all guys. And don’t be afraid to reach out for me for anything, especially with nutrition assessments because I can always hook you guys up for free. So don’t be alarmed. You go ahead. Reach out to me. The instructors, you guys are awesome. It was, it was tight just going to class, hearing stories learning more tactics and just the stories. They they really hit me hard and I’ll remember them. I really will. But I’ll just keep it short. Thank y’all. Thank you.

Well, I know why you didn’t have the top shooting scores because your palms are as sweaty as they can be.

I’m a right Headed shooter. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. We’d be remiss not to mention somebody who had to leave a little early. You know, a great attitude person and he had to go do his duty for his state and country, Mr. Nathan Ramson. His next student, also very quiet but attentive, had a great combat his final. He ended up making great improvements on the range. And that’s what we found out about him, is his ability to make improvements quickly and quicker than normal ends up he picks up the concepts faster than most people. If he does that with wherever he goes, whatever he job, or job he decides to be in, he’s going to end up on top very quickly. Mr. Giovanni signs. Yeah. Great job.

Thank You. All right guys. All right. First of all, thank you guys. I miss this kind of environment. We haven’t had it for a long time, me for five years since I got out. I learned a lot from every single one of you and that’s no BS. I really have. I got to hang out with you guys a little bit closer and I made long life friends here. So I appreciate that. The staff, I’ve never been to an academy or a school like this and for sure you guys have set the, the level high for me. So anytime I go anywhere else and I learn anything else, I’m always going to compare them to you guys because you guys set the bar so high. And thank you everybody.

This next student came in with a good military background. He has the skills to manage people on and off the ground. I’m sure he helped fellow students on the days off get even better even though he was living outside the house, educated, well-read, can communicate with stakeholders from the ground up. And I think that that’s going to be his tool to get where he wants to go, Mr. Sean Sohn. Ready? One, two, three. One, two, three.

Awesome. Thank y’all. This was great coming here. I’m really glad I did. It was kind of a last minute deal for me to get here. I’m really, I’m really excited to finish this. I think y’all are very professional. I had a good time with y’all in class and I just want to, you know, I feel more confident going out in the world with the threat being as real as it is to have guys like you out there. So I want to thank you for that, putting in the time. Looking forward to see where everybody goes and what we get accomplished. So thank y’all very much. I want to measure one thing. I always do a lot of education and stuff, so I want to measure the quality of the institution as its people. And I think this place has really, really done a good job with who they have here and I hope you keep that going. You can have all the fanciest stuff here and there, but without the proper people and the good instructors, you don’t have, you don’t have anything.

So thank you all very much.

All right. Last, what was supposed to be first? All right. This person has a lot of personality and he tries to keep it light. Always shows up ready to learn when he’s here. Has a lot of potential and we see it every single day. If he keeps his professionalism tight, the longer he is in this, the better he is going to be. Some people plateau. I don’t believe that this particular young man has that. He can jump through those plateaus. Really had a good time being around him and hopefully he finds his way in this particular industry and we’ll help him do that. And you can absolutely bring up whoever you got with you, Mr. Daylan Battles. Yay. That’s okay. That’s okay. Yeah. You’re good. It’s okay. No, no, go ahead. What you call it? Pick them, pick them up. Okay. That’s okay. It’s all good. I know. Oh, not another dude, huh? Go Ahead. You’re good. All right.

Okay. So yeah, I just want to say, I want to, I want to thank God for bringing me here. It, it, it seems crazy that I just ended up in California and I’m in here with some of the best of the best instructors, guys, and it’s so amazing and I learned so much from you all. I feel like I got more dads, you know, big brothers and, you know, these instructors, man, they’re, they’re so crucial and they’re so informative and this is such a great team. And this experience has really elevated me and I learned a lot. And like I’m, I’m so like shocked at how great this opportunity was and how great you guys were. And like I said, I know this is lifelong. Like I know I can call any of you guys for anything and that really means a lot to me. And one more thing before I go. I did drop a few of the guys in the combatives finals with the body shots, you know. But thank you guys. Thank you guys.

I really enjoyed it and you all mean a lot to me and I’ll never forget any of you guys ever. So thank you.

All right. So like before we kind of, kind of slow this thing down or, or get to the end, scores are scores, right? People end up having things that they do here and it sets them or sets them aside from the other people. Now it’s not the end all be all, right? We still like for our top people to exude our personal motto and that’s quiet, assertive, and in control. Okay? Every single one of you I though was professional when it came to it. I really enjoyed this class’s overall understanding of how to kind of act around when the time is right. Okay? And so I think every single one of you showed this. So number three overall, and really when I put the scores all in and everything, some of them were very close and it comes down to the big three. It came down to TCC, advanced firearms and combatives final. All right? It’s all, the combatives final isn’t what the grade is. It’s the complete and total combatives when it comes to it.

And so it’s all put together. So number three overall for CESS 63. And number two, we’re just going to give you an extra bag. These guys put a bunch of stuff in on little holsters and belts and things like that for you to have. I know you already have one. This will be maybe your other go one. So number three overall, CESS 63 is Mr. Kelsey Madsen. Well deserved.

All right. Number two overall. This person ended up, like I said, had highest scores on the case studies and they ended up with the highest combative score, Mr. Lucio Perez. So our top gun award for CESS 63 ends up with a suitocore watch that we have. I’ve had one for years. It works out great for me and I know some of the other guys have had it as well. So once again, this particular person we thought exuded quiet, assertive, in control, had a great overall course and didn’t do badly on anything. Ended up with the, the final top grade and set himself apart from his peers. So Top Gun CESS number 63, Mr. Edson Guerrero. Take that and he’s going to grab a picture with just him holding the stuff. Get the socks. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, that we can’t teach you. All right. And if you got anything else for being Top Gun?

Yeah. Once again, thank you to the instructors. Honestly, it was, it was you. It was you guys. So I mean, this is not me, this is you guys. So direct product of you guys is training me, so yeah. Thank you.

So not a shot at any single one of you, you know what I mean? Sometimes we know when we didn’t get this done here or didn’t do this here and there’s things, extenuating circumstances in life, whatever, every single one of you will get a letter of recommendation from me for wherever you go. Okay? Every single one. And that’s not always the case sometimes. You all put in the effort and I really appreciate this particular class. So we were kind of talking about it up in the office with some others. This can’t be one of those sit on a throne of experience type classes. I did this class one time and now for the rest of time, I don’t need to train anymore. You learn that specifically on the maths with Benji, and we learn that at the range when we don’t keep it up. It’s the same way in concepts and principles when it comes to security. We’re just getting more technical.

So that means that whatever we learn here, we’ve got to get even more technical as the years progress in this particular industry. So hit the ground running, like I said, get out there, immediately start looking for those positions that you want to be a part of. There are thousands, there are tens of thousands of security companies in the United States, right? I can contact somebody if I know who you’re looking at and looking for, right? We will try and help you and give you the direction based on the states that you go back to, but I need your help as well. So stay on the LinkedIn, stay on Indeed and, and help me make some contacts for you in this job. Now, hopefully some of you will work together at some point. And that, that’s really cool when students do work together after they get out of this program.

But the biggest thing for me is making sure you understand that this isn’t where we just kind of hang it up and say, “Hey, we did something once.” We got to continue on and continue to train and continue to try and get those positions. So outside of that, again, thank the families for being here today. I know this is a, a small space and you guys stunk it up yesterday and here with the combatives and I had to air this thing out. Also, you know, we want to say thanks to the instructors and stuff like that because without them, you know, I would just be kind of writing down things in air. They come up with all the stuff. Matt had a great white light class that he put on this first one for, I think for this particular class. So hopefully you learn on that and we’ll continue with that. But give them a round of applause.

Finally the admin, I mean from everything from getting your information in to John and Marty all the way through to Christina who plays mama bear to some of you guys all throughout the program. And then Andrea, who puts in all the information, make sure that we’re in compliance with everything that we need to do. Let’s give them a round of applause as well. Finally, I hope to you know, see good things from you. Don’t post everything you do on social media and be that way about it. But when you get positions and stuff like that, you know, you earned it. You can say on there that, “Hey, I’m now working in this and I’m now doing that.” All right? And, and that’s totally fine when it comes to this profession. We do want to be quiet professionals about it, but we love to see you all do well.

And whether that’s sending me an email that says you got something or seeing you on LinkedIn doing it, that’s, that’s our goal here and that’s what we want to see. So CESS 63, graduated, let’s go home. So let’s get some chairs together up here and let’s take a clap.