Brian Kowalski

Brian was commissioned into the US Army after graduating from the Virginia Military Institute. There, he began his trek into “thinking like the bad guy” as a Military Intelligence officer. His assignments include time teaching what was then known as Low Intensity Conflict overseas, as an instructor and doctrine writer at the Intelligence Center and School and culminated as an instructor at the US Military Academy, West Point.

After leaving the Army as a Captain, Brian joined a large Police Department in Arizona. He spent 9 years as a patrol officer, lead officer and field training officer before promoting to Sergeant. As a Sergeant, he has had assignments in patrol, plainclothes street crime enforcement and investigations, though his love was patrol and the niche to which he returned was that of a patrol sergeant on the swing shift. Retiring after over 27 years’ service, he remains active as a Reserve Sergeant, instructing.

Brian is certified by the Arizona Peace Officer’s Standards and Training board (AZ POST) as a General Instructor, and as a Firearms, Less Lethal and Patrol Rifle Instructor. He is a member of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI). In addition to the mechanics and tactics of firearms use, Brian has taught 4th Amendment issues, including the legalities of force, in a regional police academy. He is a certified Force Science Analyst and has been the primary investigator on long series of police uses of force. He has qualified and testified as an expert witness on use of force issues in the Pima County (AZ) Superior Court system. Brian’s teaching audience has included civilian, military, and law enforcement students, both in the US and abroad.

Brian believes that a teacher must always be a student. He holds a BS from the Virginia Military Institute and an MS from the University of Arizona. He began training with Suarez International in 2003, including their Instructor Development series in close range gunfighting and force on force.