ABOUT
Tactical Sciences was founded with the intent of providing the highest quality training, exercise design, and execution of intent available. All of our team members are dedicated to ensuring that First Responders and Military Units receive the highest quality experiences available. We have all seen the outcomes of poor education and underwhelming training. We are dedicated to ensuring that every member of your team will be challenged!
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Combined, our team has centuries of experience in difficult response scenarios. We are committed to sharing, training, and challenging the next group stepping up to serve.
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Tactical Sciences is a veteran owned small business based out of Coeur d' Alene, ID. We have team members and training facility partners nationwide.
Accepting GPC and Government Contracts.
DUNS ID 107390053
CAGE 80QW4
Our logo is based on the ancient symbol for chaos. Constantly pulled in every direction on mission. Controlling and managing chaos is what we strive to do.
BIO'S
Mika Hakkarainen
Mika is the founder of Tactical Sciences. A retired Army Physician Assistant (PA-C) with a focus on pre-hospital care and Emergency Medicine. His last duty assignment was with the 91st Civil Support Team (WMD) in Arizona. He has been planning, coordinating, and executing complex, multi agency response exercises for 9 years. He is a HAZMAT Technician, Tox Medic Instructor, Technical Rescue Technician, and Tactical Combat Casualty Care instructor. He has also graduated from a AZ POST certified SWAT training program. Prior to becoming a PA-C he was a Senior Non Commissioned Airborne Infantryman.
Russ Payne
LTC(R) Russell Payne. Russ retired from the Army after almost 32 years of service in the Ordnance, Chemical, Intelligence and Infantry Branches. He is a Master EOD Technician who is Tech Escort, HAZMAT, and Technical Rescue certified, as well as a Nuclear and WMD Counter-Proliferation Officer (FA-52) graduate. He spent 9 years with the 91st CST as Survey Team Leader, Operations Officer, Deputy Commander and Commander. He was the Deputy Commander of Joint Task Force Troy (Counter IED and EOD), and Retired as The Director of Military Support (J33) for the State of Arizona. A grizzled ICS and NIMS veteran, he spent most of his career focused in the Anti-Terrorism and WMD fields.
Tony Schock
Tony served in the U.S. Army for 28 years in which he functioned in multiple fields to include Military Intelligence, Special Forces, and Health Care. His last 10 years of service was with the Colorado National Guard Civil Support Team as a Physician Assistant and Analytical Laboratory System Operator. He has extensive experience working with both military and civilian response agencies throughout the United States. Tony has a Master of Public Health with a concentration of Homeland Defense. He has a particular interest with enhancing individual and organizational preparedness at all levels.
Gary Tigges
Gary retired from the Phoenix Fire Department as a Captain and Certified Paramedic after 33 years of service. He is a Hazardous Materials Technician and Technical Rescue Technician. He was a special operations Safety Officer and program manager of the PFD Special Operations Technical Rescue Technician 200-hour course. As a member of AZTF1 he was deployed as a Rescue Team Manager, Rescue Squad officer and Rescue Specialist, and was a FEMA/USAR recognized lead instructor for structural collapse training.
Rob Seals
LTC (Ret) Rob "Skunk Ape" Seals is a emergency medicine physician assistant who spent 7 years on the 91st CST as both the PA and Deputy Commander. His last assignment was at National Guard Bureau in Washington D.C. as the Chief, Clinical Operations. He is a HAZMAT Technician, Tox Medic, TCCC certified PA who has an in-depth knowledge and understanding of ICS and NIMS. Prior to becoming a PA-C Rob was a Senior Non Commissioned Officer Medic.
Chris Newman
Chris retired from the Fire Service after 32 years of service. He is a Hazard Materials Technician and a Technical Rescue Technician. As a member of the Phoenix Fire Dept and AZ TF-1, Chris has extensive experience in teaching multiple disciplines within the Special Operations/FEMA-USAR field. As a FEMA/USAR recognized lead instructor, Chris has instructed in many disciplines including Structural Collapse, Technical Search, Logistics Specialist, Wide Area Search, and GPS operations.
Gil Velasquez
Gil Velasquez retired from the Mesa Fire & Medical Department just after 23 years of service as a Fire Captain. The latter decade of his career, he served in the Battalion Office as an Incident Safety Officer and a Training Officer at the Mesa Regional Public Safety Training Facility. In those positions, he has created, developed and implemented numerous live training exercises, departmentally and regionally, for the MFMD and the MFMD Regional Training Academy; maintaining safety, competency and accreditation for all members involved. He has mitigated and trained as a Tox Medic, Technical Rescue Technician, and Hazardous Materials Technician in many disciplines and operations regionally for over half of his career.
Jackie Lyle
Jackie is a retired military reservist with over 20 years of service split between the Army and the Air Force. He spent over nine years as a member of the National Guard Civil Support Team program on both the 64th CST (New Mexico) and the 92nd CST (Nevada) serving in the positions of Nuclear Medical Science Officer and Medical Operations Officer. Jackie is a Hazardous Materials Technician, Confined Space Technician, and Rope Rescue Technician. He has degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry and extensive experience in leading training covering the following topics: Laboratory Quality Management, HAZWOPER, HazMat Chemistry, and field analysis equipment. Jackie has served as an exercise planner and evaluator with PACOM, ARNORTH, National Guard Bureau, and clients in the intelligence community. He assists Tactical Sciences as a Senior Technical Advisor.
In his spare time he enjoys his extensive collection of music boxes and aquatic figurines.
Scot "Scooter" Havir
1SG(R) Scot "SCOOTER"Havir retired from the Arizona Army National Guard in 2017. 20 years of military experience including 8 years with the 91st Civil Support Team (WMD). Earned his Bachelors Degree in Public Safety and Emergency Management from Grand Canyon University in 2015 with ICS training up to MAG 400 level. Held positions with the 91st CST as a team member, team chief, Recon NCO and First Sergeant.
Dan Keenan
Dan Keenan has been a firefighter and Hazardous Materials Specialist/responder for the Oakland Fire Department, Oakland, CA since 1991. He is certified by CSTI (California Specialized Training Institute) as a Hazardous Materials Instructor for the entire Technician/Specialist curriculum. Dan felt a need to promote hazardous materials training with the use of live chemical demonstrations, and this interest fueled the development of his course called “Fun With Chemistry” http://www.efilmgroup.com/HazMat-Hazwoper/Fun-With-Chemistry-Video.html for which Dan received the James H. Meidl “Instructor of the Year” Award in 1999 – sponsored by CA State Fire Marshall. Dan’s expertise in chemical demonstrations has been featured in the Emergency Film Group’s video, “Introduction to Hazardous Chemicals” and the “Hazmat Operations” series of films. Dan Keenan is a member of the Emergency Film Group’s Technical Committee. Dan was a Faculty Member in the Fire Service Technology Department for Chabot Community College, Hayward, CA, where he taught the course “Fundamentals of Fire Protection Chemistry”
- Physical & Chemical characteristics of matter and fire. Dan received his formal Chemistry
education from the University of Rochester, New York.
Dan is a consultant to HazTech Systems Inc., manufacturer of the HazCat Kit ® . He has been teaching “Field Identification of Unknowns” classes for over twenty years and was featured in the American Chemical Society’s “What Chemists Do” Video series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CWy2R23qlI He has made use of his experience and expertise to teach Advanced Field Identification of Unknown Hazardous Substances to federal EPA On-Scene-Coordinators at their Nationwide Training conference, and is called upon to teach Field Identification of Unknowns during CSTI’s Technical Reference Specialist Course.
Dan was a consultant with Davis Defense Group where he taught response to Chemical Warfare Agent laboratories to the CST’s. He is also a consultant for the Industrial Emergency Council and has taught countless “Basic Chemistry” and “Applied Chemistry” courses, each a 40 hour curriculum, to responders throughout the State of California. In addition to teaching all the HazMat Tech/Spec modules, Dan teaches HAZWOPER and Haz Comm Standard to private & public sector employees. Dan is a Subject Matter Expert on the California Specialized Training Institute’s curriculum review committee for the rewrite of the Hazardous Materials Technician 1A – Basic Chemistry course.
Dan has been a member of the Environmental Crimes Investigator’s Association and has taught a course called “Practical Chemistry for Environmental Investigators & Field Officers” to several Environmental Crimes Task Forces including San Diego, Imperial County and has put on seminars at the annual CHMIA conference. In 2018 Dan was awarded the William J. Patterson Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to the individual who has dedicated a“lifetime” of commitment and sacrifice in creating and/or promoting innovations and achievements in hazardous materials response, management and/or leadership