Combat veteran and active threat expert - Jake Edwards, Lead Tactics: S.O.S. Podcast #39

I'm so excited to bring you the work of Jake Edwards who took what he saw on the battlefield and is now using that to help organizations combat an active shooter threat. He is the founder of Lead Tactics, a company that assists organizations in active threat response.

Jake started his professional career in 2003 as a Combat Engineer in the United States Marine Corps. He served in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and more specifically Operation Phantom Fury (Second Battle of Fallujah) in 2004 with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines. He served with the 3rd Battalion, and 4th Marines in 2005 during Iraq's first free election. He was honorably discharged as a Sergeant from the Marine Corps Reserves in 2009.

In 2010, Jake was hired as a Contingency Skills Instructor to help support requirements for military troops deploying to hostile/austere environments. In 2012, he transitioned to another training command and within one year rose to the ranks of Assistant Chief Instructor (filling an O-3 billet). There his training supported military advisors deploying to over 140 countries. The main course he supported was a rigorous six-week course that helped military advisors prepare for the challenges of language, region, culture, and field-craft skills needed to thrive in uncertain and hostile environments with limited support. Also, he was the lead instructor for active shooter/insider threat training for armed and unarmed deploying students. This was a vital position due to the green-on-blue threat with our host nation allies.

Since 2016, Jake has been employed by one of the largest public-school divisions on the east coast (US).  Originally, he filled the position of School Security Training Specialist. In 2019 he was promoted to the Administrative Coordinator of Crisis Readiness. He is a certified School Security Officer Trainer and is also the district instructor that conducts staff crisis management training, along with leadership development training for 100 schools and 13,000+ staff.

Jake planned and coordinated the 15-year, Second Battle of Fallujah reunion at the National Marine Corps Museum in 2019. He was able to fundraise over $60,000 with a large golf tournament, that allowed over 300 guests to attend the reunion at no charge. During his efforts he collaborated with four non-profits, Azalea Charites, Semper Fi/America’s Fund, Reunite The Fight, and The Marine Corps

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