Today we’d like to introduce you to Damon Ortega.
Hi Damon, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in poverty. I never knew if I would be sleeping in a home, outside, in a car, in a motel, or if I was going to be sent to live with my grandparents for a short time. My mother and most of my family is either addicted to drugs, addicted to alcohol, or addicted to prison. You could imagine the life this created and the level of violence I grew up around. My whole childhood was full of challenges, and it was up to no one but myself to get through them. The only thought that kept me moving was that I wanted to break the cycle. I was the first person to graduate high school in my family. From there I joined the United States Marine Corps. I spent 8 years serving my country where I served 4 tours overseas in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Asia as a 1371 Combat Engineer. This provided me with opportunities, training, and experiences both good and bad that most people won’t have their entire life. War is not black and white, it is a dark cloudy grey, and will provide you with teachings and life lessons you will not ever learn somewhere else.
Once I exited the military in 2016, I spent multiple years going to college and working hard to try and figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Struggled as most vets do trying to transition from military to civilian life. I felt alone. I struggled to the point that I was looking at and working towards working as a hired gun for the government as a contractor overseas because that’s all I knew and all I found joy in. It wasn’t until I met my wife Crystal Hankel and she introduced me to some of her clients that were firefighters, that I knew I wanted to help people. I now have been working full-time with the City of Coppell as a Firefighter/Paramedic. I recently hit my 3rd year at the department on September 11th, 2022. Yes, September 11th is my start date. Coincidence? I felt like there was more I could be doing with the knowledge and skillsets I have and that’s why I started DFW Tactical Defense & Survival which is where I spend most of my spare time running.
I started DFW TDS because I have a particular set of skills and life lessons that I have learned throughout my life that make me a, let’s say better prepared individual compared to most. It puts me in a place of comfort knowing that if something was to happen to me or my family, that I stand a reasonable chance of protecting myself or them and getting everyone to safety. The world can be a not nice place, and I want to be able to help everyday law-abiding individuals understand what it means to be a protector, and what it means to be dangerous, but under voluntary control.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not been smooth no. I’m sure most roads look the same for the ones that have walked it and came out on top. I had every opportunity to continue the cycle my family set in place. Growing up around the level of violence I did and saw, the drug and alcohol abuse, the physical abuse again I saw and was on the receiving end of. You could imagine how bumpy the road to get out of that was.
Along with everything that came with being a part of my family I struggled a lot with depression growing up. For multiple reasons. One of the main ones was my weight. I didn’t grow up a fat kid and it wasn’t until 4th grade where I started to put on a lot of my weight. In first grade, I was ran over by a truck while I was riding my bike to school without a helmet (mother was coming down from a high). Truck ran a red light ran me over going about 40-45mph. Took my shoes off and as I crawled out from under the truck, put my shoes on, and got back on my bike to go to school a woman took me off my bike and made me wait for an ambulance. This accident ended up causing a development of nocturnal seizures (seizures while I sleep). The medication I took for this had a side effect of weight gain and by 4th grade, I was back to living with my grandparents and was actually able to eat food on a regular basis. I got to a point by 8th grade where I found myself sitting in my room with a knife listening to my favorite music at the time, Nickel Back, wanting to just end it. End the pain of disappointment, being made fun of, the lifestyle, no one liking me. It wasn’t until I was holding the knife, crying, that I realized I wanted something different. I made the decision then that I would break the cycle.
I ended up reaching a weight around 250lbs by my sophomore year because I was finally in a position mentally to be able to change the path, I wanted my life to go on. So, for the entire summer, I spent all my time at the local YMCA working out and getting into shape. I came back for football the next year around 175lbs and it was the best feeling every. Not only being more healthy but the fact that no one recognized me. Everything started to get better from there.
I went through ups and downs while in the military as most vets do that have been to war. Both with PTSD and dealing with the loss of brothers. I found ways to cope with everything and have been able to deal with a majority of the PTSD issues I was having. I still deal with some of it but, anger was the worst part of it. I was a very angry person. My wife was the best thing that could have happened to me at the time. When I met her, she was such a bubbly, fun, happy, life-loving, just radiant person. I credit her for a lot of the healing I have done outside of the military when it comes to my anger and my outlook on life. I’m in a much better place now and a lot of time I’m seen as positive and optimistic.
All these ups and downs have been needed to end up where I am today.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about DFW Tactical Defense & Survival?
We all see the state of the world we are currently living in. It seems like every day there is a new video out about someone getting assaulted, robbed, kidnapped, or killed. The problem is, the vast majority of people do not know how to spot potentially dangerous situations or how to protect themselves. DFW Tactical Defense & Survival’s goal is to teach you how to do that. I 100% give credit to my wife, my handsome son, and son to be (Due Oct). It is because of them that I wanted to start this journey. They are the reason that I want to be the most dangerous person in the room. Every man and woman that I know wants to protect their family, but a lot of individuals if put in that situation can’t, or don’t know how. I want to provide the tools and knowledge necessary for people to have the best possible chance to protect and provide safety to themselves and their families. We specialize in preparedness and all that encompasses. We currently offer a Self Defense & Survival Course, Defensive Pistol I Course, and a Realtor Safety Solutions Course. On top of those live in-person courses, we have Online LTC, Constitutional Carry, and LTC Refresher Courses we offer. We plan on having a more advanced combative courses, firearms courses for both pistol and carbine, and trauma medical courses.
I started this company with a want to help educate people better prepare people. I work full-time as a Firefighter/Paramedic and am in a stable position in my life. With that fact I made it a priority that I don’t charge as much as most places you will see for the same types of education and training. I wanted to be able to provide training to anyone and everyone I could without the stress of needing the money. Meaning I can provide more cost-affordable services to more people. Which also means I also made it a priority to provide a significant discount to all of our Veterans/Active Military/First Responders/Teachers by giving them all 20% off of all our in-person training. That is what I think sets us apart from most. I’m not in it for the money or trying to charge a bunch because I know I can. I’m in it because I truly enjoy teaching and educating people and I believe that joy is expressed in every course I do.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking.
Any major risk, none that I can think of. I always taken small risk to get where I wanted to be but none where I felt like if this didn’t work out, I’m left without a paddle.
Contact Info:
- Website: dfwtds.com
- Instagram: @dfw.tds
- Facebook: @dfwtacticaldefenseandsurvival
- Youtube: DFW Tactical Defense & Survival
Image Credits
Azalea “Ozzy” Barrera
