Dave Young

Dave is the founder and Director of ARMA Training. He graduated from his first law enforcement academy in 1985, and now has 30 years of combined professional and civilian training experience.

Dedication, vision, experience, and instructional skills are the criteria by which a physical-confrontation and personal -safety-awareness instructor should be judged and Dave excels in all of these attributes

Dave is recognized as one of the nation’s leading tactical instructors and is an expert in equipment testing and establishing protocols. He specializes in crowd management, non-lethal weaponry, chemical and specialty impact munitions, ground and water-based defensive tactics, and personal safety awareness.

Dave combines a unique blend of physical expertise, teaching know-how and a hands on approach to tactics training, using anatomically correct techniques. He leads the class from the front and is an instructor that demonstrates how to survive – rather than just talking about survival.

Dave uses a true integrated use-of-force training approach that allows officers and civilians to learn how to smoothly transition up and down through their force options.

His background includes being a corrections and law enforcement officer in the state of Florida, gate sentry, patrol officer, watch commander, investigator, Special Reaction Team (SRT) Team member and commander in the United States Marine Corps. He has participated as a control system designer for both military and civilian authorities.

Dave serves as a defensive tactics consultant for numerous police and correctional agencies throughout the United States in disturbance response strategies. His Ground Defense Program exemplifies how to apply known defensive tactics techniques to new applications while emphasizing Officer Safety. Dave’s Water Based Defensive Tactics Programs is on the cutting edge of specialized law enforcement training and the first of its kind.

His ability to create realistic training programs is unmatched in the industry.  Utilizing the most advanced duty and protective training equipment, his students are able to “test” the techniques they learn in their actual working environment.

Correctional officers respond to disturbances in cell blocks. Patrol Officers respond to bar fights, domestic disturbances and traffic stops. Tactical Officers deal with High Risk Entries. Disturbance Response Units respond to actual riots in progress. Civilians are exposed to real-life situations.

In addition to his presenting and teaching abilities, Dave is viewed as one of the foremost leaders in the research and testing of police equipment and non- lethal weaponry. He has personally conducted and supervised the evaluations for numerous manufacturers and correctional agencies and branches of the armed forces both domestically and internationally.

Dave Young brings reality to training in order to create a believable environment that allows the participants to experience the stress of real world confrontations in a safe learning format. This approach gives his students confidence in themselves, their tactics, and their equipment.

From 2005-2008 Dave hosted a special television series for National Geographic titled, “Crash Test Human.” This unique television show focused on Dave’s expertise with product testing and evaluation – and included Dave surviving a head-on car collision, being trapped in a submerged car, and spending time in a hyperbaric chamber.

In recent years Dave has taken his background and expertise and applied it to developing programs for civilians — including parents, students, educators, martial artists, and executives. In 2010, he formed Vistelar Training Group with two other nationally-recognized defense trainers in order to create more focus to these efforts.

These civilian programs focus on personal safety awareness and how to respond when things go bad. To learn more, go to: http://vistelar.com.