Technical Sergeant John P. McIlwaine is the non-commissioned officer in charge of academics and examinations at his agency. A graduate of the University of South Carolina with a BA in Political Science, he also served in the United States Air Force as a Target Intelligence Analyst, supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

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John brings 25 years of law enforcement experience that spans some of the most demanding assignments of his generation, including the Woodstock '99 riot, post-9/11 operations in Manhattan, the Hurricane Katrina response, and the Ralph Phillips manhunt. He has worked as a School Resource Officer, a road patrol officer, and an Academy Training Officer before being promoted to his current rank in 2019. Since then, he has led major curriculum reforms, rewritten academy examinations, expanded reality-based training, and developed new proficiency training modules.

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His years of experience teaching Behavioral Observation and Suspicious Activity Recognition, combined with his background working with individuals in crisis, make John a natural fit as an instructor for the From Crisis to Calm® program.