Testimonials

The NTOA’s SWAT Team Leader Development course was some of the best training and direction I have received in my 16-year career. The tactical competency of both instructors, Matt Hardesty and Pat Hilliker, rang true when instructing aspects of SWAT operations. As an operator for 13 years, I can really appreciate their points of view and will take a lot of great ideas and tactics back to our team.  Listening to their experiences was humbling and rejuvenating. I aspire to be the warrior or at least one of the nine fighters that make the battle. As I get older, my mind is still sharp and my drive increasing, but sometimes my body doesn’t want to cooperate. I will share with the young blood on our team and in turn we will all benefit. Thank you for keeping us sharp.  We will not let you down.

This course was the best training I have attended in a very long time! I have never attended a training in which I felt completely challenged to re-evaluate my position in my career or how my department/team operates. The personal touch of Sgt. A.J. DeAndrea’s presentation hardened my dedication to doing my job the right way and to motivating those around me to be held to the same high standard.

This course far exceeded my expectations. I was excited to attend an NTOA course given the reputation of the NTOA, but this was awesome! No BS when I say this was an outstanding course. I am excited to apply the principles I learned to my team.

SWAT Team Leader Development

The course shed light on some deficiencies we have in the administrative side of the team especially. We have been working to improve this and gained some valuable insight into what we should be doing regarding record keeping, etc. The discussions around liability and the role of the tactical commander vs incident commander were also very beneficial.

The debriefs and breakdowns from the instructors were fantastic and got our minds thinking even more about the “what if” possibilities.

The instructors did an excellent job presenting and were able to keep me engaged and wanting to hear more throughout the entire week. Their experience and competency showed through, both as tactical leaders and presenters. I am walking away from this course feeling much more equipped as a team leader. Thank you!

SWAT Team Leader Development

I am very pleased with the entire NTOA training experience. Starting with the NTOA staff and ending with the instructors, you all made this an uncomplicated process for me. Instructors Fred Myer and Rob Morris are top-notch, very personable, and provided all of us with a wealth of knowledge throughout the week.

This was the best 40-hour class I have attended in my 16-year career in law enforcement! I would recommend it to anyone and am going to try to send my whole team through it.

Thanks to NTOA for offering this level of training. The training was very emotional and deep. The instructors (A.J. DeAndrea and Dan Murphy) were true professionals and they have shared true stories with the class which needed to be shared. Some of us have taken this job for granted because we have not been through what those guys been through. For these reasons, I applaud NTOA for allowing the true heroes to shared real SWAT stories with us.