President's Notes

TOC 2011 is part of history now, but it will go down as one of the most successful conferences that our Association has conducted. The conference ran smoothly and on schedule and all the training and competition events went off without a hitch or any major injuries. I can’t take credit for any of that. All of that praise goes to our brothers from Florence and Muscle Shoals. Many of you may not realize the time and dedication it requires to put on a week long event for 150+ type A personalities that will keep them motivated, challenged, and satisfied at the end of the week that their time was well spent. I think the guys from Florence and Muscle Shoals did just that, and my hat is off to them.

I went to a High School football game Friday night when I got home. There was of course a winner and a loser at the end of the game. At different times during the game, fans from both sides applauded or booed their respective teams or the opposing team. There were several times that they hackled the Officials and challenged their ancestry. As I watched the game, I thought back over the competition and the Teams that I watched compete in TOC 2011. I never heard a negative word. Every Team encouraged the others regardless of their standing. Every Team has the winning mindset that Agent King and Sgt Freeman spoke about on the first day. Everyone didn’t finish first, that’s just a fact of life, but everyone finished strong, with their head held high. To watch guys who are dirty and soaked in sweat, take off 40 pounds of gear and jog over to the other Teams to yell and encourage them to beat their own time tells me the caliber of warriors that make up the ATOA and reminds me of why I am so proud to be associated with you.

The instructors throughout the week had positive comments on your willingness to train and accept what they were passing on to you. Hopefully everyone’s tool box was just a little bit heavier when you left than when you came. Again, I am proud of the professionalism, the motivation, and the fellowship that each one of you demonstrated.

As always, I ask that you promote ATOA throughout the State. It’s your association, and I know that you want to see it continue to grow and continue to be best law enforcement organization in the State of Alabama.

Vice President, South

TOC 2011. Wow! What a great conference. My hats off to all the guys at Florence and Muscle Shoals who worked their butts off to make it great. From the opening ceremonies, throughout the week, to the closing everything was excellent.

The ATOA is all about training, and the level of training classes doesn’t get any better than those held at this year’s conference. The competition events had each team pushing each other with encouragement and support and win, lose, or draw every team left with a stronger team bond and unity. The level of camaraderie and professionalism by everyone attending made me proud to be part of the ATOA.

Again it’s a honor for me to serve as VP South, and a privilege to be part of the ATOA I encourage every member to actively promote the association to others so it will continue to grow and be the best law enforcement organization in the State of Alabama.

If I can help or assist you or your department in any way please do not hesitate to call.

Randy Courtney

Vice President- South, ATOA

Greenville P.D.

randall@cityofgville.com

334-437-1826

Vice President, North

From the outgoing VP North

ATOA Membership,

I want to wish you and your families a Happy New Year. I hope this holiday season has found you all well and I wish you success in 2012. This new year marks the end of my term as VP North and I wanted pass on a few words.

It has been a great pleasure to serve our membership for the past two years. I have been blessed to meet and become friends with some amazing people across this state. I want to thank you all for your hard work and enthusiasm in what we do. I believe it takes a special person to lead our lifestyle and the relationships I have formed over the years has validated that.

2012 is going to be a great year for the association, as several training events are already being planned. As usual, I recommend you attend as many ATOA events as possible and visit this site regularly. ATOA continues to offer a high level of training and 2012 will reflect that.

Craig Blasingame has taken over my duties as VP North and I know that he will undertake this responsibility like he does all others; with 110%. Again, thank for this incredible opportunity to serve. Train hard, and I look forward to seeing you at the next event.

God Bless,

Mike Holt

Vice President- North, ATOA

mholt@florenceal.org

From the incoming VP North

My name is Craig Blasingame I am your ATOA Vice President North. I hope to get to know everyone this year and look forward to seeing you at all our ATOA sponsored events and training. My phone number is 256.349.0722 and my email address is cblasingame@florencepd.org. If you need anything or are in Florence please feel free to call or email me.

Thanks,

Craig Blasingame

From the new ATOA Secretary

Greetings! I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Robert (Bobby) Newton and I’m a Patrol Sergeant with the Muscle Shoals PD. I was elected to serve as your Secretary for the next two years and I’m looking forward to every second of it! I’ve been an ATOA Member since 2005 when I joined our departments TAC Team and I take great pride in my career and love the Tactical side of Police work. So much so I’ve earned the nickname “Tackleberry” from my coworkers! I hope my love and passion for this job will help me and the other Executive Board Members to bring you the most up to date and realistic training we can get our hands on.

We have some exciting things planned for this year and hope to make it one of the best years yet, but we need your help. Please take the time to give us some feedback on this past years Conference or any ATOA Sponsored training that you have attended so we will know what worked and what didn’t because in the end, you are only as good as your training. Please email any of us with your ideas or suggestions to help us get organized. We are doing our best to continue to provide you with “Top Notch” free or low cost training that you can take back and serve your community with. I’m looking forward to serve you and don’t hesitate to contact me with any comments or questions! Thanks for your support!

SGT Robert (Bobby) Newton

Muscle Shoals PD

256.383.6746

newton@mspolice.org