Episode 11 with Thomas Benge SFG (17 years in Law Enforcement)

1. Tell me a little about yourself and how long have you been a
police officer for?   Well, I am 47 years old. I have been
married to my beautiful wife Nicole for 18 years. We have
twowonderful daughters (Junior and Senior in H.S) We own a Strength
and Conditioning facility in CentralOregon and have been doing that
for ten yrs. I was in LE for 17 years. One year in corrections and
one year inProbation/Parole and then I spent 15 yrs. As a Police
officer where I retired at the rank of Sergeant. Inaddition to
working in the fitness space, I am still actively involved in
training Law enforcement andMilitary in skill domains like
combatives, tactics and shooting as well as constitutional Force
response.When not doing all of the that, I serve as the Co-teaching
Pastor of a local church.   2. What was the hardest time of
your life? What tools did you use to get through it? I would say
probably in my late 20’s. Just a series of poor decisions, carried
a lot of anger, I seemedgood on the outside, but on the inside, I
was pretty empty, and I remembered a day when I was justtrying to
find the courage to end it. My faith or better yet, being called
back to my faith in God was thegame changer.   3. What are
your greatest successes? This is always a tough one. I would
definitely say finding an amazing wife has been a gigantic success.
Ibelieve that having the support of someone who sees you at your
worst, but still believes in your best ishuge. The years I spent
active in law enforcement was some of the best times of my life.
Opening ourStrength and Conditioning Facility. Earning my SFG Level
I and some of the people that I have met as aresult. Serving the
Law Enforcement and Military communities as a Trainer has been a
massive success inmy life. I have coached athletes who have done
well at the local, national and International level(amateur) of
strength sport. Helping others attain there SFG’s. Published Author
(Articles). Those are afew 4. Now that you have experienced life a
little, what would you tell your 20-year- old self? I would say to
20 years old me…Everything matters. I sometimes think when we are
younger that webelieve that we have two lives. One that is our
young, wild, foolish life and then our older life, and neverthe
twain shall meet. I would say to younger me that they are
inextricably connected and thateverything has a ripple. Think about
the man you want to be in 27 years and start mentoring him now. 5.
Who is your greatest role model and why? Another Great question. I
have two if that is okay. Professionally I would say, George
Williams. He is oneof my closest friends and the Director of
Training for the law enforcement training company that I havebeen
with for almost 20 years. He is the consummate professional and one
of the five most brilliantpeople I personally know. He saw
something in me as a 30-year-old guy and has been a tremendous
Mentor about what it means to be a professional. Personally – I
would say my grandmother Maxine.She passed away when I was 22 (my
mom’s mom), and she was the complete embodiment of love
andcommitment. If she never told you she loved you, there would
still have been no doubt she didbecause her life was love. 6. Any
particular stories that stand out? I am not sure if you mean from
when I was a police officer or in general. But there was one
incidentwhen I was an officer that myself and another officer were
nominated for a National Award. I Thinkwhat stood out for me was
remembering how nervous and unsure I was, but the Assistant chief
and thefirst guy I went through the door with, said of all the guys
I was the one they wanted going through first.And people who say
that in critical incidents that time seems to slow down…It really
does. 7. If you had a chance for a do-over in life, what would you
do differently? Or would you keepeverything the same? You know this
is another one of those interesting questions to consider. On the
outside I think our initialresponse is sure, but if we sit w