"Check in on each other."

Today’s episode will welcome on two true Texas servants in Gretchen and Aaron Grigsby as they will detail their lives of service and how they found each other to form this true partnership.

Both are homegrown true Texans and both, albeit via different routes, traveled a path that led them to the Lone Star State’s Capitol, Austin Texas.

Gretchen worked for the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, Texas Senate Committee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs and is currently the TCOLE (Texas Commission on Law Enforcement)   Director of Government Relations.

Aaron enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served as a combat engineer and was a member of the Pistol and Rifle Teams.  Afterwards he joined the Texas Department of Public Safety in January of 1997. He served several roles in his career with DPS, from 1997 to 2020, that included Highway Patrol, Narcotics, and the legendary Texas Rangers. He now is the Deputy Executive Director of Operations at the Texas Racing Commission.

However, before the TxRC,  Aaron took his talents to Round Rock Police Department in 2020 and this profession put that experience and talents to the test on June 7th, 2021, at a Round Rock Hotel. This incident will play a major role in today’s story as it put the Grigsby couple to the test as they both struggled through the fear, the anger, and uncertainty of surviving a law enforcement shooting in today’s world. They took this incident and the recovery head on like they have done personally and professionally their entire lives and careers.

We are also honored to welcome on a very special guest cohost in Round Rock PD Commander Melissa Grubbs as she stepped up in June of 2021, and led by example and displayed true leadership after she took care of the people that mattered most that day…….Her troops And his family.

Dallas Police Child Abuse Detective Kristen King sitting in to cohost.

When I first spoke to Gretchen about this episode, their primary goal was to introduce this story for first responder families out there that wrestle with the fear that when their loved ones leave to serve that they may never come home to know that THEY ARE NOT ALONE.

Both of these amazing Texans have offered to speak with or help other families out there that have endured critical incidents and are still recovering from loss, tragedy, or just guidance on how to process.  

P.S. I have to mention their sweet pups, Hope and Felicia. 

Critical Incident:

OIS July 2005

OIS June 2021 at the Home2 Suites Hotel in Round Rock Texas during an active shooter situation.

Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network | Texas Commission on Law Enforcement

www.Texaspoliceofficersmemorial.org 

“You can’t do this”

He treats undercover work as a form of artwork…. he uses his tools to gain to win the target’s admiration and trust, then betray them for the greater good.

The cat and mouse game of police undercover work, in the United States, goes back to the early 1800s when the New York City Police created the Italian Squad to combat the crime in the poor Italian neighborhoods.  Clandestine work has become a major tool against the war on drugs as this trade is global.  The narcotic trades breeds violence, corruption, theft, homicide, terrorism, and ruined families and lives.

Today’s guest joined the Dallas Police Department after the tech collapse after 9/11 and hit the Northeast Division, The other God’s Country, streets and quickly began chasing dope.

He ventured off to other Investigative Units but found his niche as a Narcotics Detective ten years ago.

His resume is as follows:

• Logged about 500 dynamic entries.

The ATO Family will get to know Steve Hodack up close and personal and even hear characteristics that most of his close friends do not know. Steve chose us to open up on his personal life, professional drive and how a psychological profile made his life and career make sense.

Detective Hodack the stage is yours………

Critical Incident:

November 24th, 2009, Officer involved shooting in the Northeast Division while Hodack was working in the Deployment Unit.

Welcome back ATO Family…..today we bring you a special Message from the Host.

And we want to introduce the Blue Goes Pink Initiative.

 Backing the Blue or showing the Thin Blue Line is a way of letting the community and police officers know that they have your admiration and respect. With that in mind, "Blue Goes Pink" is a way of showing that same admiration and respect to the individuals that have been affected by breast cancer

Our purpose is to help promote breast cancer awareness and highlight the importance of early detection. Breast cancer awareness promotes more funding directed to treatment and more importantly, to a potential cure.

Today we sit down with Sgt. Wanda West, retired Dallas PD Lacrondia Ellis, Dallas Officers Sean Moses, Melinda Gutierrez, and Sgt. Crystal Cortinez to discuss this great initiative as we would like to see the entire blue community go pink.

In memory of Carmen Ellen King, Cortney Benavides, and all of those who have lost loved ones to this awful disease.  

"Law enforcement had different plans for me"

ATO Family please welcome retired Dallas SWAT and current Texas Attorney General Fugitive Unit Chris Webb is back on the mic for another episode. He sat in his own episode to talk about his incredible career and also a vision that he had back in 2019 to continue to serve his brothers and sisters in the first responder community by creating a retreat that puts mental health and wellness on the forefront. Chris and his amazing wife, Judge Rainey Webb, put their amazing minds together and created a comprehensive approach to give back to the community.

However, the 2020 pandemic had different plans for this retreat and would shelve this program. Then life unfolded for Chris as he got back into law enforcement and began a journey with the Texas Attorney General’s office.  Chris became focused on his new career and mission but never fully gave up on his dream for his first responder retreat.

This is a different story of Chris Webb’s life journey. It isn’t the story of him applying and fighting to become a member of the Dallas SWAT team, or enduring critical incident after critical incident, or stepping away from a career to be there for his family.

This is the story of Chris and Rainey Webb’s dream coming to fruition as the idea of the Righteous Oaks Retreat became a reality. Here to help tell this story has the Great Misty Vancuren and the highly respected Mesquite PD Assistant Chief Doug Yates behind the mics to talk about taking this leap of faith in joining The Webbs and the Warrior Healer,  Dr. Tania Glenn, on this Righteous mission.

The Righteous Oaks Retreat is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. Every donation is tax deductible.

For more information or to donate to this incredible cause please go to the link below.

https://righteousoakretreat.com

"Always come home".

This is the story of a young Dallas Officer who had ambitions of fighting crime, serving the city and starting a new family. Mitchell Penton embraced the Northeast Patrol Division’s fast pace and settled in with several other young officers that became a blue family.  Mitchell loved being a cop….was a loyal son, a devoted father, and husband and everyone in his life looked to the future to travel with him on this journey.

But life being what it is - a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of anyone's control changed all of that on February 13th, 2021, on an icy morning in Dallas, Texas. Officer Penton was struck and killed by a drunk driver as he worked an accident scene on North Central Expressway and Walnut Hill.

He left behind an expectant wife, stepson, amazing parents and a brother and sister.

Today we are hearing from his parents, Tim and Kathy, as they give a peek into who Mitchell Penton was as a child, a soccer player, a goofy and fun-loving kid, to his decision to serve as an Officer.

They take us on their own journey from the night of February 13th, 2021, to the conclusion of a  trial in May of 2023.

 This story is a powerful reminder of the fleeting nature of life and of the importance of cherishing our moments.

It encourages us to live in the present, to appreciate the people and experiences around us, and to make the most of the time we have.

Please welcome the Penton family to the ATO stage.

Critical Incident:

February 13, 2021:

Police Officer Mitchell Penton was struck and killed by a vehicle operated by an intoxicated driver at about 1:45 am.

Welcome back to the show for our 80th episode and we will be taking you back in time to the age of hair bands, the cold war, and the rise of cocaine in the United States. Ground zero for cocaine distribution into the US was Florida and specifically the city of Miami as it rolled into our country from Columbia.  With all the cocaine that was pouring in brought not only the ungodly amount of cash but also extreme violence.

Movies and documentaries have been made about this era, specifically Cocaine Cowboys, as the beautiful city of Miami turned into a warzone and became known as the drug capital of the world.

Today’s guest was at the heart of this war as he hired on with Miami Metro-Dade Police Department, the drug capital of the world, and quickly formed a reputation as a hardworking and honest cop who quickly gained a knack for undercover work.

He joined the Police Department in 1981 and began undercover work in 1986. This man worked in various positions that include SWAT, Homicide Bureau, Robbery and Public Corruption and excelled in all of them.

With all the accolades and legendary lawman reputation he also managed to be an amazing father to his children as he mentored and raised some incredible kids. The listeners have heard his name before on the show as the Candelaria twins praised him and emulated their lives and career after him. One half of the twins, Bryan Candelaria, share the mic as a guest cohost to show some love to their pops.

He was their hero.

ATO family……Omar Coming.

Critical Incident:

June 1992, during a narcotics bust, Omar Carillo was involved in a officer involved shooting as the suspect attempted to rob him. The entire incident was captured on video.

The murder of Jimmy Ryce

On September 11, 1995, fifteen days before his 10th birthday, nine-year-old Ryce was riding the bus from school. He was dropped off, along with ten classmates, and had to walk less than a block to his home. According to his confession, Chavez blocked Ryce's path with his pickup truck and forced him at gunpoint into the truck. Chavez took Ryce to his trailer on a nearby ranch where he raped him. About four hours later, when he heard a helicopter hovering above, Ryce ran to the door and tried to open it only to be shot in the back by Chavez, who held the child until he took his last breath. Then, Chavez decapitated and dismembered him.

• Corporate Security Director @ Frito Lay

“Act Outside the Box”

Welcome back ATO Family

Today we welcome the Boss of Dallas PD back to the mic as we talk about the Dallas Police Department’s mission in making mental wellness a priority.  

Over the last couple of months Dallas has endured tragedies with officers taking their own life as well as losing officers to medical emergencies.

Chief Eddie Garcia is here to talk about making his employee’s health a priority and is dedicated to establishing a culture to come forward and get help more importantly, trust in the system.

The first responder’s world has long stigmas in Officers seeking help. We are very good at saving people but often do not make our own mental health a priority.

Our mission is daunting, and change is intimidating but with a leader like Chief Garcia at our helm we have HOPE in changing a culture for generations of Dallas Police Officers.

If you would like to see our policies for the Dallas Wellness unit, email us at ATOBridging@GMAIL.COM

Support the good, condemn the bad, honor the fallen.

Our next guest grew up in a very small town in NORTHERN Minnesota, which is why his accent is still so strong despite the fact he hasn’t lived there since 2005. He spent his childhood playing every sport possible, with a year-round focus on hockey. He played hockey in college at Hamline University where he graduated with a degree in criminal justice. Upon graduating college, he joined the Dallas Police Department in 2005. Admittedly, he chose southwest division (ch4) as his first choice but was luckily assigned to God’s country – southeast patrol division. 

In 12.5 years with the Dallas Police Department, he was fortunate enough to work in multiple capacities, SE patrol, NE Patrol, SC Patrol, NW Patrol, Operation Disruption, Auto Theft, Vice, Narcotics Street squad, Narcotics meth lab squad, and ended his career as a “SAFE” detective.

After the events of July 7th, 2016, he evaluated what he really wanted to do “for his next 30 years” and decided law enforcement was likely not it.  Despite an amazing career, he resigned from the Dallas Police Department in January 2018.

He moved with his eventual wife to Maui, Hawaii where he was the supervisor of the welfare fraud investigations for all of Maui County. While in Maui he started a website or “blog” where he wrote articles about his experiences in law enforcement and reactions to current events as they happened. This blog has evolved and changed over the years and now primarily exists as a “Facebook page”. He says the simple goal of the page is helping and supporting officers however possible.

Whether it’s via fundraising in times of financial hardship or just a voice of support when needed and appropriate.

The motto of the page is simple: Support the good, condemn the bad, honor the fallen.

After a move from Maui to San Diego, he was offered a job in finance which has ultimately proven to be his “second calling in life” after law enforcement. He is currently in the process of building Wood Financial Consulting, a comprehensive financial practice that will help people with everything from personal finance and budgeting to planning for their retirement. He is most excited to work with law enforcement clients to improve their financial situation so they can work less and spend time doing the things in life they enjoy – not working extra jobs!

ATO Family welcome badge #8672 to the stage.

https://guardianfinancialstrategies.com/

Critical Incident:

The case of Robert Sparks, who was convicted for fatally stabling his two stepsons and his wife in the Dallas home in 2007.

Sparks was executed by lethal injection on September 25, 2019.

July 7th, 2016, shooting in downtown Dallas, Texas that left 5 Officers dead and several wounded. Commonly referred to as 7/7.

" I do not recognize my own reflection staring back at me"

On September 11th, 2001, todays guest woke up to head to work to the World Trade Center to lead a meeting on an upcoming event.  Her stress began as she sat behind a wreck on the way to the twin towers. The life of a Secret Service Agent is calculated and the importance of being punctual is paramount as she parked and quickly entered the WTC to make her meeting.

The world watched as the North Tower was struck by an airliner at 8:46 am and the destruction and terror unfolded that day.

The South Tower was struck at 9:03 am and the city became aware that the first plane crash was no accident.

At 9:37 am Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon and then at 10:02 and Flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. In a little over an hour after the coordinated terror attacks started both Towers of the World Trade Center in New York had fallen.

America was under attack and today we sit down with a survivor who was in the North Tower as the first plane struck and she gives a detailed account of her day watching this terror unfold until she went home that night.

The story did not stop for this guest as she went home however the nightmare was just beginning as she began to see how PTSD is real and can create despair and loss of hope. This guest will walk us through the years of struggle that led her to her basement to take her own life to stop the pain.

This episode is just not an episode about the terrorist attacks on 9/11 but more importantly discusses the real battle, that so many people fight daily with PTSD.

Today’s guest not only survived the incident, not only survived the mental decline, not only survived the thoughts of suicide but now has a new “Why” in life. She fights for so many as she educates others in trauma management and tells her story in hopes that others can learn and survive and thrive themselves.

ATO Family please welcome Samantha Horwitz to the stage as she takes us back to September 11th 2001.

www.samanthahorwitz.com

www.abadgeofhonor.com

 Critical Incident:

 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11,[d] were four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions of the East Coast to California. The hijackers crashed the first two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, two of the world's five-tallest buildings at the time, and aimed the next two flights toward targets in or near Washington, D.C., in an attack on the nation's capital. The third team succeeded in crashing into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense in Arlington County, Virginia, while the fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania following a passenger revolt. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and instigated the multi-decade global war on terror.

Even today several survivors are still suffering from this day with PTSD and unique forms of cancer.

May We Never Forget!

“Struggle and pain, and fear and shame, are part of the human condition.”

 Welcome back ATO family!

 Today we give the stage to Lifeologie founder Melanie Wells (LPC-S, LMFT-S, RYT, PYT) as she educates us on the difficulties of navigating life and relationships.

The first responder world endures much trauma in the work life but even more in the homelife as marital issues, bad coping skills, bad communication skills, and divorce is prevalent in our profession. This is the topic we have not tackled yet but we couldn’t find a better guest to share her expertise on the topic.

Melanie specializes in couples and marital therapy – particularly last-ditch marriage counseling. She enjoys taking on the trickiest, stickiest relationship issues after couples have all but given up. She also works with a variety of other issues, including spousal abuse, women’s issues, codependency and divorce recovery.

This mean fiddle player grew up in the Texas panhandle and she and her family gravitated to the world of music. However, Melanie found a new passion in serving others and helping them have better qualities of life.

Her unique approach and insight, stemming from real life relationship trauma, has helped so many people of all walks of life and careers.

The sad truth is that no one is immune to relationship issues as it will find you if you are rich, poor, successful, member of SWAT or a firefighter donning a helmet to serve. We are all vulnerable to this epidemic.

Sit back and listen and learn from the Great Melanie Wells.

www.wefixbrains.com

www.thelispyschool.com

www.thedawgproject.org