Behind The Shield

Tyler Grey spent the better part of a decade operating in environments most people will never see. As a member of Delta Force, a US Tier 1 military unit, he deployed multiple times during the War on Terror. On a night raid in Sadr City, Iraq, an IED explosion left him approximately twenty seconds from bleeding out. He survived, by what came after the survival was harder. The recovery involved years of surgeries, chronic pain, and an addiction to the medication prescribed to manage it. Tyler has spoken about that period with the kind of honesty that is rare in any industry, and especially rare in his. He didn’t frame it as weakness. He framed it as data. Information about what happens when the environment that built you disappears and leaves a gap nothing else is designed to fill. That insight became the foundation of LTSD, Lack of Traumatic Stress Disorder, a theory Tyler developed to explain something that traditional PTSD frameworks consistently miss: that for many warriors, the struggle isn’t caused by a specific event. It’s caused by the absence of the environment they were neurologically shaped to operate inside. Calm feels wrong. Chaos feels like home.Today, Tyler is the founder and president of Saberdyne Systems, a Purple Heart recipient, a speaker on veterans’ mental health, and the author of Forged in Chaos: A Warrior’s Origin Story, co-written with Lauren Ungeldi and published by Knox Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.He has also spent years in Hollywood as a military technical advisor, producer, actor, and director, with seven seasons on the CBS and Paramount+ series SEAL Team and work on productions including The Gray Man and Suicide Squad.Tyler chose to be what he calls Patient Zero: someone who battles his own trauma publicly, so that fellow warriors can see it is possible to come through it. That same philosophy drives Saberdyne Systems. No pretense, no unnecessary steps. Build the thing that actually works.https://saberdynesystems.com/

John Nittolo has spent 31 years inside public education proving a thesis most of the field only theorizes about: that healthy bodies and disciplined minds aren’t enrichment — they’re the foundation everything else is built on. He has served at nearly every level of a school system along the way — classroom teacher; Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; Director of Personnel and Staff Development; Director of Early Childhood Education; Principal; and Superintendent — a breadth of vantage few in the field ever earn.As Superintendent-Principal of Oxford Central School District in Warren County, New Jersey, he led a small PreK–8 district to two distinctions unmatched anywhere in American public education — the nation’s first STSI (Systems Thinking Standards Institute)–certified public school, and the world’s first school-based MetFix affiliate. Under his leadership, systems thinking became not a program but the cognitive architecture of the school, and metabolic health became the precondition for learning rather than an afterthought.Working in close partnership with Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera and the Cabrera Research Lab on the systems-thinking side, and with Emily Kaplan and the MetFix / Broken Science Initiative team on the metabolic-health side, he built an innovation ecosystem years before the frameworks existed to name it — and his former school district became the only traditional public school featured in the award-winning RE:Thinking documentary. His influence now reaches well beyond his district: formal comment shaping New Jersey’s State Learning Standards, an election as Vice President of Education of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, and his forthcoming book, STOLEN FIRE: A Manifesto on Thinking, Thumos, Education, and the Future of the American Mind.A Professional Systems Thinker, CrossFit Level 1 coach, and Architect of MetFix School Programs, with a Master’s in Educational Leadership, John works from a single conviction: that the purpose of education is to create the best version of every child. As he steps beyond the superintendency, he carries that conviction outward — to every school, every family, and every community willing to build it.https://www.instagram.com/themetfixsuperintendent/

Tim Houweling and Angela Graham-Houweling are two firefighters with almost 40 years of experience combined in emergency services including Fire, EMS, and Search & Rescue. They have witnessed firsthand the growing mental health challenges faced by first responders. Over the years, they have lost several friends and family members to depression and PTSD. After navigating their own mental health journeys, they felt compelled to create a path to support others.Angela Graham. is the Co-Founder of The S.I.R.E.N. Project. IShe was a Firefighter/Engineer/HAZMAT Spec. for almost 20 years with Santa Clara County Fire Dept. in Silicon Valley. Prior to that she was a D1 & professional softball pitcher. She has a loving husband, who is a Fire Capt., and a 7-year-old son. For the first five years of her son's life she was a single mother. For years she struggled with mental health trying every modality available. A friend of hers, who happened to be a special forces operator, connected her to providers of Entheogenic Medicines. It completely changed her life. The change was so profound that Angela and her husband decided to start The S.I.R.E.N. Project to make these medicines available to all First Responders and their Spouses.Tim Houweling works as a Fire Captain, Paramedic, and Hazmat Technician on a Type 1 Heavy Rescue for a San Francisco Bay Area Fire Department. Tim has also been a professional dog trainer since 2004. Tim is also co-founder of the S.I.R.E.N Project which helps first responders access sacred medicine served by indigenous people.Tim began his career with search and rescue dogs in 2005 and has certified six dogs: Deuce, Tater, Georgie, Charley, Carl and Rory in various disciplines from wilderness area search to US&R live-find and human remains detection. He is the Canine Coordinator and a Canine Search Specialist with one of the 28 FEMA Urban Search & Rescue teams in the United States. In that role, he has deployed eighteen times to various US&R environments including post-fire searches, debris flows, floods, explosions, and hurricanes. He is also a member of the canine component of the Yosemite Search and Rescue team (“YODOGS”).In addition to being a Canine Search Specialist, Tim is qualified as a Search Team Manager, Technical Search Specialist, Rescue Specialist, and Finance Specialist. He is a FEMA Evaluator and FEMA instructor. He has served on the Board of Directors of the California Rescue Dog Association, which has the most search wilderness dogs in the United States. He founded a non-profit, HD Search Dog Fund, Inc., that provides training and gear to our nation’s search and rescue dogs. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Extension Studies/History from Harvard University with his thesis on “The Origin and Evolution of Search and Rescue Dogs in California.” He also serves on the Board of Directors of First Responder Therapy Dogs, Inc., and is on the Executive Board of his local IAFF Union.In addition, he is passionate about improving first responder mental health. With his wife Angela, he co-founded The S.I.R.E.N. Project to help first responders access sacred medicine served by indigenous people (www.thesirenproject.org). These medicines have proven more effective than western medicines in treating post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI.)https://www.thesirenproject.org/news-events/announcement-the-415-gala-september-2026

Charles R. Johnson is an entrepreneur, operator, and strategist with over two decades of experience spanning entertainment, technology, economic development, and consumer products. As the Founder and CEO of The Bump Serum, he leads the development and growth of a performance-driven skincare brand focused on solving pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), commonly known as razor bumps—a condition he spent years personally working to overcome before turning that experience into a scalable solution.Johnson’s career began in Hollywood as a Writers Guild of America member, working with studios including Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. He collaborated with industry leaders such as Frank Renzulli and contributed to projects across major networks including ABC, CBS, Starz, and The CW. This foundation in storytelling and production later informed his approach to brand building, marketing, and strategic communication.Transitioning from creative to operational leadership, Johnson expanded into film distribution and digital media, managing cross-functional teams spanning editing, marketing, public relations, and development. He went on to play a key role in raising $10 million in Series A funding for a streaming video platform, where he served as COO and helped shape business strategy, content acquisition, and monetization models in an evolving digital landscape.As a technology entrepreneur, Johnson is also a patent holder, having developed an advertising technology solution designed to generate incremental revenue for streaming platforms. As President of Pause Commercials, he built partnerships across OTT ecosystems, integrating solutions across mobile, web, and connected TV platforms. In parallel, Johnson has worked internationally as a business strategist and consultant, advising companies in Brazil, Sweden, and Canada on market entry, growth strategy, and operational turnaround. His work in economic development includes leading large-scale, multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the California Jobs First Program with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, where he helped coordinate over 150 stakeholders and contributed to securing $19 million in funding to support regional job creation and investment strategies.Johnson holds an MBA from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. He is also committed to mentorship and community impact, volunteering with organizations like Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship to support underserved youth in building entrepreneurial skills.Across every role, Johnson brings a systems-driven approach to execution—combining creative insight, technical understanding, and operational discipline to build, scale, and refine complex ventures. Whether developing a consumer brand, structuring a media platform, or leadingcross-sector initiatives, his work is defined by a focus on precision, adaptability, and long-term value creation.https://thebumpserum.com/

Dr. Stacy Cecchet, Ph.D., ABPP, is a forensic and operational psychologist with over a decade of experience supporting law enforcement, tactical teams, investigative units, and other high-demand professionals. Her work focuses on behavioral analysis, investigative strategy, offender typologies, interview strategy, human performance under stress, and functional wellness in operational environments. She consults on complex and high-risk investigations and provides training to investigators, undercover units, tactical teams, K9 handlers, peer support teams, and command staff. Her work helps agencies apply psychological science to improve operational decision-making, performance, stress management, and long-term readiness. Dr. Cecchet considers it a professional responsibility and an honor to support those who serve in these demanding roles.https://drstacycecchet.com/

Ryan Scalmanini is a U.S. Coast Guard Veteran and the Director of VA Disability Compliance and Analytics for Veteran Benefits Guide (VBG). In his role, Ryan manages the training and development for VBG’s VA disability claims manager team to ensure they are equipped with the information and resources they need to successfully support the company’s Veteran clients. He is also responsible for end-to-end quality control of the claims support process.Prior to joining VBG, Ryan was a Rating Veteran Service Representative, or Rater at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), where he became an expert on the VA’s Disability Compensation System. Ryan also served in the U.S. Coast Guard for four years, where he was an engineer and rescue swimmer while attached to a law enforcement and rescue unit.Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Phoenix. Outside of VBG, Ryan enjoys spending time with his wife, playing beach volleyball and assisting Veterans/first responders in finding their path of healing and purpose.

Kevin Grange is an award-winning freelance writer with an emphasis on the medical field, adventure and travel. He is a firefighter/paramedic with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS and Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We discuss his journey into Emergency Medicine, grizzly bear attacks, wilderness medicine, homelessness, addiction, mental health, flight medicine and so much more. His latest book, Grizzly Confidential: An Astounding Journey Into the Secret Life of North America’s Most Fearsome Predator is available for pre-order now, to be published in September 2024.Grange’s third book, Wild Rescues: A Paramedic’s Extreme Adventures in Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton was published by Chicago Review Press in March 2021, also winning the High Plains Book Award in the Medicine & Science category.In June 2015, Berkley Books, a division of Penguin Random House, published Kevin’s memoir Lights and Sirens: The Education of a Paramedic. Lights and Sirens is a true account of going through UCLA’s famed Daniel Freeman Paramedic Program—and practicing emergency medicine on the streets of Los Angeles.In 2011, The University of Nebraska Press published Grange’s travel memoir, his first book, Beneath Blossom Rain, about his 24-day trek through the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. The memoir has received wide press in the United States; is available on the Kindle and Nook, as an audiobook from Audible.com and has been translated and published in China, India and Latvia.