John Kolman’s lifelong record of service began shortly after high school when in 1957, he enlisted in the United States Army, serving as a soldier in the 101^st Airborne Division.  After completing his enlistment, John joined the Whittier (CA) Police Department, and then in 1963 he transferred to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, where he would spend the next 26 years changing the course of history in law enforcement tactical operations.  John ultimately retired from the Sheriff’s Department at the rank of captain.

The Los Angeles Police and Sheriff’s Departments were among the first agencies in the nation to organize full-time SWAT teams, and John was soon assigned to the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Enforcement Bureau or SEB as a SWAT team leader.

John quickly recognized the advantages of sharing information and one day, he paid an unannounced visit to LAPD SWAT to propose that the two units train together. During that first visit, John met Mike Hillmann and Ron McCarthy; two young SWAT officers who would also become legendary contributors to our discipline. The three men formed lifelong friendships and began to establish the close relationship between LAPD SWAT and L.A. Sheriff’s SEB that exists to this day.

By the 1980’s John had been promoted to lieutenant and was an SEB team commander. It was a watershed period in the history of SWAT, as the teams in Los Angeles focused on hostage rescue in preparation for the 1984 Olympic Games.  In 1982, John authored and published the very first textbook on SWAT, “A Guide to the Development of Special Weapons Teams.”  He would go on to write additional articles and books on SWAT command, as well as two beautifully crafted volumes entitled “Rulers of the Night”, a detailed history of LASD SEB.

John was a visionary who recognized the need for agencies to network and share lessons-learned on a nationwide basis. He designed his own survey to determine if other agencies had an interest in joining a SWAT training association. Before any of us had ever heard of email, John and his wife Janice hand-typed and mailed over 400 survey letters to agencies across the country. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and in 1983, John founded the National Tactical Officers Association.

The NTOA has grown to national prominence, raised the bar for tactical excellence, and saved countless lives through training and education. John Kolman remains an iconic figure in our work, and a beloved leader among all who served with him.