OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SGT. Jon Vaala
Chairman of the Board / Co-Founder
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Jon also attended the University of Denver's Public Safety Leadership Development School. He has been on the Bomb Squad since 1999 and is currently a Team Leader. In addition to being the Senior Technician on the Bomb Squad, a Tactical Bomb Technician, formerly a SWAT explosive breacher for 16 years and a firearms instructor, Jon is passionate about the EOD and his Public Safety Bomb Technician (PSBT) community. Being involved in multiple high-profile incidents and events over his career has driven his mission to promote cooperation and collaboration amongst the bomb technician community. His goals are to continue to promote SWAT/PSBT integration, professional cooperation between EOD and PSBT, promote health and wellness through foundational partnerships, continuously earn industry partnerships, as well as to bring awareness to the community by highlighting the mostly anonymous work EOD and Public Safety Bomb Technicians do worldwide and here in the U.S. Jon's gift, as a co-founder of the USBTA, is bringing the right people together and firmly believes in the philosophy, "If service is below you, leadership is beyond you."
Sean Dennis
President & CEO / Co-Founder
Board Member / Treasurer
Other then supervising the Bomb Squad and HAZ-MAT Teams Sean was the Assistant Emergency Manager for one of the largest counties in Colorado and a state certified HAZ-MAT Technician. He has been involved in the Bomb Technician/Explosive community for over 20 years (26 Years Law Enforcement) and has been involved in many critical incidents which has formed his belief system and support for Military and Public Safety Bomb Technicians. Sean feels strongly in supporting this great community and has reached out to those with in the military and public safety ranks to listen and learn on what they are hoping to see in an organization like the USBTA. Sean has spent much of his time helping other organizations who have supported other Bomb Technicians who were in need of help and supported training events between Military and Public Safety Bomb Technicians. He has formed great partnerships with many from the military and public safety communities and hopes to bring these two groups together in a strong viable partnership.
Robert vonLoewenfeldt
Executive Vice President
Board Member / Board Secretary
In 2002 he joined the Chatham County Police Bomb Squad, which later became the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Bomb Squad.He took command of the squad in 2006 and shortly after became the Southern Technician representative to NBSCAB. Rob left SCMPD in 2013 for a job with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Bomb Squad. His duties with SLED include functioning as a SWAT operator, a K-9 handler, and a diver for the Maritime Response Unit. In addition to over 14 years as a FBI certified bomb technician, Rob is also a lead instructor for the FBI's Maritime Bomb Technician Program, a member of the DHS's First Responder Response Group, the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office's IDD/EOD-LIC subgroup, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's ASTM Robotics group. He has published several FBI Special Technician bulletins and, developed the national testing standards for underwater robots.
Rob is passionate about bomb squad integration with tactical teams, public safety dive teams, and US Military partners. Rob also
consistently works with industry to develop innovated tools, tactics and techniques to assist in closing operational gaps in bomb
squad capabilities.
LT. Chris Hall
Board Member
Along with his commander duties he is a certified tactical breacher along with underwater post blast investigator and underwater renders safe techniques. Archilochos once said "We don't rise to our level of expectations; we fall to the level of our training." Chris believes that training is one of the most important things that a team can do to perform at a high level in any situation. Chris and his team were involved in the Pulse Night Club terror attack and it was because of his team's high level of training that they performed so well that night. When an event like this occurs you may need the assistance of other members of the EOD community. That is why he believes that it is important to bring members of the EOD community together to train and learn from each other's experiences, both military and public safety.
CSM Scott Weimer
Board Member
For the last 21 years, he has served in every leadership position from Team Leader to Command Sergeant Major including Joint Staff positions, Special Operations, and direct support to Other Government Agencies. Scott has multiple combat deployments to both Iraq (2) and Afghanistan (2), as well as numerous operational deployments to Egypt, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Qatar.
During his more than 21 years of EOD experience, Scott has worked closely with our Local, State, and Federal LEOs in matters ranging from routine off-post recovery of military ordnance, Counter-IED, Counter-WMD, Education, Counter-Narcotics, and VIP Protection. He hopes to bring these experiences to the table and strengthen the bonds between Public Safety Bomb Technicians and Military EOD while working to raise awareness of our community; its complexity, its hazards, and the sacrifices that are made in service to our communities, at every opportunity.
He is currently a full time Nursing student at the University of Colorado/Colorado Springs working towards his MSN to become a Nurse Practitioner. He is married to his wife of 25 years, Luann who is an executive account for a home school education.
SGT. Brian Knudsen
Senior Vice President / Board Member
It is these experiences and the tight knit
community of Bomb Technicians that inspire him to want to provide support and training to Bomb Squads around the country. Brian recognizes the many obstacles Bomb Squads across the nation encounter such as costly training and constrained department budgets. His goal is to raise awareness to private entities about these obstacles in order to build financial partnerships which support USBTA's training mission and contribute to the safety of their communities.
1SG David A. Grotkin
Special Board Member
He conducted multiple combat operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq while supporting both conventional and special operation's counter IED missions. While not deployed, David supported state and local public safety on numerous EOD incidents throughout the United States.
David's goal is to bring both public safety and military bomb technicians together to learn from each other. He feels strongly about training and equipment and, understands that his community can only benefit from excellent training and great equipment. He believes that the joint experience from these two communities can only make them stronger and lead to a lasting partnership.
OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Sean Dennis
President & CEO / Co-Founder / Board Member
Other then supervising the Bomb Squad and HAZ-MAT Teams Sean was the Assistant Emergency Manager for one of the largest counties in Colorado and a state certified HAZ-MAT Technician. He has been involved in the Bomb Technician/Explosive community for over 20 years (26 Years Law Enforcement) and has been involved in many critical incidents which has formed his belief system and support for Military and Public Safety Bomb Technicians. Sean feels strongly in supporting this great community and has reached out to those with in the military and public safety ranks to listen and learn on what they are hoping to see in an organization like the USBTA. Sean has spent much of his time helping other organizations who have supported other Bomb Technicians who were in need of help and supported training events between Military and Public Safety Bomb Technicians. He has formed great partnerships with many from the military and public safety communities and hopes to bring these two groups together in a strong viable partnership.
Robert vonLoewenfeldt
Executive Vice President / Board Member
In 2002 he joined the Chatham County Police Bomb Squad, which later became the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Bomb Squad.He took command of the squad in 2006 and shortly after became the Southern Technician representative to NBSCAB. Rob left SCMPD in 2013 for a job with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Bomb Squad. His duties with SLED include functioning as a SWAT operator, a K-9 handler, and a diver for the Maritime Response Unit. In addition to over 14 years as a FBI certified bomb technician, Rob is also a lead instructor for the FBI's Maritime Bomb Technician Program, a member of the DHS's First Responder Response Group, the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office's IDD/EOD-LIC subgroup, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's ASTM Robotics group. He has published several FBI Special Technician bulletins and, developed the national testing standards for underwater robots.
Rob is passionate about bomb squad integration with tactical teams, public safety dive teams, and US Military partners. Rob also
consistently works with industry to develop innovated tools, tactics and techniques to assist in closing operational gaps in bomb
squad capabilities.
Peter Nagel, P.C.
Chief Counsel
..including board and officer governance responsibilities, mergers and corporate restructurings, participation in tax-exempt financings, unrelated business taxable income issues, and the implementation of endowments and planned giving programs.
His diverse client base includes -
- community foundations, supporting organizations, and corporate and private foundations
- organizations that own and operate affordable housing nationwide
- state, national, and international trade associations
- religious organizations of all denominations
- organizations engaged in political and legislative advocacy, and
- a wide variety of charities engaged in education at all levels, the prevention, treatment, and cure of diseases, arts and culture, amateur sports, environmental protection, scientific research, and services to the elderly, the needy, and the underprivileged
Edward J. Durica, III, CFA
Chief Financial Officer CFO
Ed leads the investment management team, spearheading portfolio strategy, security selection and trading. He also engages with client relationship management, including providing consulting services for ultra-high net worth clients, and oversees reporting and compliance. Ed is a CFA Charter holder. The Chartered Financial Analyst designation is considered the most difficult accreditation to achieve in the financial industry and includes adhering to the highest ethical standards in the industry. Ed has volunteered for many years with the CFA Society of Colorado, including holding the office of President, and currently serving as Vice President. Ed graduated from the University of Denver with an M.B.A. with a specialization in Finance.
Eric J. Gahagan
Senior Vice President
Eric has a vast amount of experience relative to explosive detection canine training and operations, homemade explosives, SWAT interoperability, and counter IED response with more than 3,000 calls to service as a bomb technician.Eric has lectured hundreds of times to both public and private sector and shared the operational lessons learned responding to the Boston Marathon Attack while providing training relative to a progressive dismounted approach to counter IED operations, Homemade Explosives, Robot Operations and Explosive Breaching.
In 2015, Eric formed the OPS15 LLC, which connects some of the most experienced and progressive operators internationally for the purposes of training, consulting and preparing others and serves as consulting partner and advisor to many technology partners in the areas of explosives detection and mitigation, robotics, diagnostics, and dismounted operations.
In January 2016, OPS15 Field Operations Group began providing security to clients in need of a progressive solution to emerging hazardous threats providing innovative techniques to our clients to ensure a safe environment for large venues exceeding 60,000 people as well as small high-level meetings and personal protection of executives. Eric became a founding partner at 6 WATCH Inc. in August of 2017 and brought his public safety expertise to develop a first of its kind lidar assisted 360 threat detection and alert system for public safety vehicles. In 2019, Eric took a position as Senior Direct of Business Development with EPE North America focusing on putting cutting edge technology into the hands of first responders with the customer service and support that the market deserves and desires.
Col (Ret) Gerardo Meneses
Senior Vice President
He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps and branch-detailed to Armor branch. He graduated from West Point with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering Psychology and later completed Masters of Education Degree at Long Island University. His military education includes Armor Officer's Basic Course, the Combined Logistics Officer Advanced Course, the Basic Explosive Ordnance Disposal Course, the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) and the Joint Forces Staff College. COL Meneses most recently completed a Senior Service College Fellowship at the University of Denver's Korbel School of International Studies.
Colonel Meneses' assignments include the 1-66 Armor Battalion, Fort Hood, TX serving as a tank platoon leader, tank company
executive officer and BN assistant operations officer during their deployment to Operation Sea Signal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. At Fort Hood he also served as the Brigade Maintenance Officer in the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. He then served as a Company Commander of the 18th Ordnance Company (EOD), Fort Bragg, NC. Following that assignment, he returned to West Point to complete his master's degree and serve as a Tactical Officer overseeing cadet company E-1 at the USMA. Following
graduation from the CGSC, he was assigned as the Executive officer of the 184th Ordnance Battalion (EOD) and deployed with
them in support of Operation OIF III. To leverage his combat experience and technical expertise he was assigned to the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization in Washington, DC to oversee the rapid development, procurement and fielding of CREW (Counter Radio-controlled IED Electronic Warfare) and Force-Protection equipment. He was then assigned to Fort
Carson, Colorado where he served as the operations officer and then Commander of the 71st Ordnance Group (EOD) (PROV),
prior to assuming command of the 242d Ordnance Battalion (EOD). During command he established a model training program
with local, state & federal public safety bomb squads and TSA. He later deployed the BN to Afghanistan from July 2013 to July
2014 ISO OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, where he commanded JTF Paladin and all joint-service EOD units supporting conventional forces in Afghanistan. He was most recently assigned as the Director of the Asia Pacific C-IED Fusion Center, Fort
Shafter, HI.
SGT. Brian Knudsen
Senior Vice President / Board Member
It is these experiences and the tight knit
community of Bomb Technicians that inspire him to want to provide support and training to Bomb Squads around the country. Brian recognizes the many obstacles Bomb Squads across the nation encounter such as costly training and constrained department budgets. His goal is to raise awareness to private entities about these obstacles in order to build financial partnerships which support USBTA's training mission and contribute to the safety of their communities.
Brian Johnson
Senior Vice President
Brian Bio
Once a servant, always a servant. My heart is rooted in service to America and our community. For 8 Years I served in the U.S. Army as a Wrecker Operator and Public Affairs Officer. I served one combat tour in Iraq attached to the 101st and recorded 183 mounted missions across the country. I also served brief deployments in Germany, Kuwait, and El Salvador.
In addition to serving in the Army, I served 12 years as a Deputy Sheriff for the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office and was assigned to the jail, court services, traffic safety, and as an academy instructor. Training became a passion of mine and I was certified as a Firearms Instructor, Defensive Tactics Instructor, Use of Force Instructor, and a CPR/First Aid Instructor.
After leaving both the military and law enforcement, I dedicated my life to giving back to various nonprofits that include Special Olympics, The Honor Flag, the USBTA, and serving as a mentor for the Veterans Treatment Court. About a year ago, I co-founded WarriorNow.org as a way to serve our Veterans impacted by Mental Illness, PTSD, TBI, and Addiction and act as a spokesman for Veteran Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
Jennifer Hutcherson
Operations Manager
Christopher A. Rogers
Training Program Manager
Chris is also a contract instructor for the United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security Antiterrorism Assistance Program. In four years, he has authored ten training programs for partner nation bomb squads and delivered over twenty five workshops, consultations and mentorships in seven different nations. He is also an advisor/mentor to the Indonesian National Police Bomb Squad, Philippine EOD-K9 Branch and Royal Thai Police Bomb Squad.
Prior to these he served as the Pima County Sheriff's Department Bomb Squad Commander for the Pima Regional Bomb Squad in Tucson, Arizona. As a 25-year police veteran and 15-year bomb technician with extensive experience in operations including: counter IED, homemade explosives (HME), US-Mexico border, dismounted bomb squad tactics, tactical integration of bomb technicians, and patrol tactics. Chris' first supervisory assignment was as a patrol sergeant for a squad responsible for law enforcement operations in remote regions along the border. He was one of the first bomb technicians in the United States to become a nationally certified Tactical Bomb Technician by the FBI.
Chris received six weeks of advanced training from the Israeli National Police, which included a two-week imbed in Tel Aviv, providing a firsthand look into Israeli tactics and techniques.
He has testified as an expert witness in improvised explosive device (IED) and explosives cases in state and federal court and has received numerous awards and commendations for his work as a peace officer and bomb technician.
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