Rick Mackey is currently the president of CHL Protection Plan, based in Dallas. Rick has over 30 years of management experience in the consumer electronics and insurance industries. Rick is an avid hunter, outdoorsman and shooting enthusiast. He is married with three children and five grandchildren.

George Pena is a charter member of TCHA. He has been a CHL instructor since 1995, and an NRA instructor since 1980. Besides being a range officer at his local gun club, he and his wife Kathy run their own school, "South Texas Gunslinger," in Uvalde.

George has been on the board for a dozen years and has served in many capacities, including president.

Dean McCormick was born in California in 1949, but with a Texas connection. His dad had been a dust-bowler, leaving Amarillo/Canyon in the late 1930s. He first got gunpowder in his veins from following an older cousin around on a dove hunt, escaping from a boring family picnic. First formal training was in a police-sponsored rifle club, shooting bullseye with .22 target rifles. After a couple of years with the club, he tested and qualified as an NRA assistant instructor, that being the highest rating available to a shooter under eighteen.

After college in Michigan (don't ask why), and Air Force pilot school in Oklahoma, the Air Force eventually sent him to Bergstrom AFB near Austin. Upon separation from active duty in 1980, he and wife Patricia and two kids, Tony and Stephanie, now adults and on their own (although not quite all of their stuff is out of the garage yet), stayed in Bastrop County, near Austin.

Dean became a CHL instructor in 1995, as part of the initial cadre, and was in on the formation of the TCHIA in 1997. He wrote a proposed draft of the original bylaws, some elements of which are still incorporated in the current document. He's been active in small ways all through the history of the organization, but first ran and was elected to the BoD in 2007. He teaches in his living room and does the shooting at his own range, a pretty Spartan setup 300 yards from his front door. He teaches on weekends, having kept his day job, which is not shooting, police, or security-related.

He's an NRA and TSRA member, almost an "of course," but holds no leadership positions in either organization.

Mollie Clakley currently works for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection overseeing the training and testing of the fire service. She has been with the state agency for over twenty years. Mollie is also a certified fire fighter, fire officer, and instructor. Mollie holds the following IFSAC-accredited certifications: Fire Fighter I, Fire Fighter II, Hazardous Materials Awareness, Hazardous Materials Operations, Instructor I, Instructor II, and Fire Officer I. She also holds an Associate of Applied Science in Business Management degree and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

Mollie was appointed as the IFSAC representative for the State of Texas in August 2001, sat on the Certificate Assembly Board of Governors for nine years, and was recently appointed Parliamentarian for the IFSAC organization.

She first came to learn about the vision and importance of TCHA through her husband, Bobby Clakley and recently joined TCHA as a concerned citizen.

Bill Titus has been a hunting and shooting enthusiast for most of his life. In addition to teaching Texas Concealed Handgun classes, he also teaches Texas Hunter Education, and is frequently found leading canoe and kayak trips on the historic Brazos river. He lives at Ropesville, near Lubbock, and teaches CHL classes in the Lubbock area and in Brownfield at Outfitter's Supply. He is an endowment life member of the National Rifle Association, the Texas State Rifle Association, as well as the Texas Concealed Handgun Association.

He retired after more than 30 years with the United Methodist Church, where he continues to work in a part-time capacity. During this time he has been a local church pastor, manager of the denomination's area credit union, a church administrator, and an adjunct faculty member teaching Biblical literature. He holds degrees from Ottawa University (BA) and Saint Paul School of Theology (M.Th.) and has done post-graduate work in organizational administration at Emory University. He and his wife Beverly have five children, scattered from Tacoma, Washington to Clifton, Texas, as well as five grandchildren.

Bobby Clakley joined the United States Navy in September 1975 and served on three aircraft carriers, one amphibious assault ship and one amphibious transport dock ship as well as being attached to Fighter Squadron14 and Fighter Squadron 32. He was trained as an aviation ordnanceman and certified in the building of numerous types of bombs, rockets, missiles, mines as well as the twenty MM cannon.

Bobby earned several certifications that allowed him to work on the weapons systems of the F-14 Tomcat, S-3 Viking, P-3 Orion and the H2 Tomahawk aircraft. After serving in Desert Shield and Desert Storm as the weapons supervisor on board the USS Dubuque (LPD-8), Bobby was given his choice of orders and went to Millington, Tennessee.

While in Tennessee, Bobby earned his Department of Defense instructor certification and began teaching multi-platform weapons systems to new recruits at the aviation ordnance school.

After retirement in 1992, he worked at the Department of Labor’s Gary Job Corps program for seven years as a senior advisor to one hundred students guiding their educational and social skills development needs. Upon leaving Gary Job Corps, Bobby went to work for the Travis County Juvenile Probation Department and was certified as a juvenile detention officer working with the Intensive Supervision Probation unit. After seven years with the department, Bobby moved on to work for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection as a program specialist in the certification division where he reviews fire service training and issues certifications in specific disciplines to firefighters in Texas.

Bobby currently holds Instructor II certification through the Texas Commission on Fire Protection and is certified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as a Concealed Handgun Instructor. In addition, he is certified as a CPR-First Aid-AED instructor through the American Red Cross.

Ron Ryle was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1941. He spent the majority of his career in the oil and gas industry traveling extensively. From 1988 to 2008 he assisted his wife Mary, operating her restaurant and private club in North Dallas until they sold it in 2008. He also worked part time for his CPA from 1994 to 2008. He is a member of the NRA, TSRA and the TCHA.
He and Mary are now retired, enjoying their grand kids and all things "outdoors."

Larry Arnold has been shooting since he was a Boy Scout. In addition to being a Texas concealed carry instructor, he holds certification as a NRA Training Counselor, Texas Hunter Education Master Instructor and Becoming an Outdoors Woman Instructor. His military service includes four years active duty and sixteen years in the reserves as an infantry officer.

Larry's CHL PowerPoint won a first place award in a national communications contest in 1999, and his pro-gun novel, "The Mark of Abel" has been published by Zumaya Publications.

As a writer and desktop publisher he has won many state and national awards in writing and communications contests, including several for the TCHA website. He has also published a number of newsletters for a variety of organizations. He is married, and has two grown daughters, a grandson and a granddaughter. Visit him at http://www.talonsite.com.

Larry maintains websites for TCHA and the Buck and Bull Club.

Erwin M. Ballarta began his law enforcement career with the Big Spring Police Department in 1982. He moved up the ranks as a Patrol Sergeant, Narcotics Sergeant, and Criminal Investigator Sergeant. In 1987, he accepted a position as a recruit with the Texas Department of Public Safety and after graduation, he found duties in Highway Patrol, Safety Education, Governor's Protection Detail, and Training Academy. Before retirement in August 2008, he attained the rank of Lieutenant coordinating the In-Service Program, Defensive Tactics Program, and the Specialized School Program of the Texas Police Association.

He had instructed both the United States Army and Marines on pre-deployment training. He was recognized by Major General Box for instructing the Governor's Office of Homeland Security Infrastructure Security Teams. He served as a Committee Chair Person for developing the Texas Department of Public Safety's cultural diversity program, entitled "Valuing Relationships." The program focused on developing and teaching values, ethics, communication, conflict resolution, and leadership.

In 2001, he received the Wallace Beasley Association of Texas Law Enforcement Educator of the year award. He received the "Texas Professional Achievement Award" from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education for his contribution to Law Enforcement in the field of training. On November of 2001, he acted as Liaison between Phillippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and President George W. Bush on mutual alliance to combat world terrorism in Washington, D.C.

Erwin M. Ballarta is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and the 188th Session of the FBI National Academy.

Austin Davis has been a full time professional speaker, trainer and comedian for well over 25 years. As a comedian he played clubs and colleges all over the U.S. and opened for acts as diverse as Jay Leno and Wayne Newton.

As a professional speaker he has mixed laughter and learning in well over 3500 seminars to Law Enforcement, Corporations and every type of group imaginable through http://www.DavisSeminars.com and http://www.FitandFunny.net.

A former commissioned Texas Peace Officer, current Texas CHL Instructor and President of http://www.KangarooCarry.com (Best holster you will never see) his spare time is spent skydiving and wing-suit flying, solo sea kayaking along the Texas coast, and staying fit.

Larry has been a member of TCHA for five years. An eighth generation Texan, he was born and reared in San Antonio. He has served almost 30 years in law enforcement including 20 years in the Reserve Unit of the Dallas Police Department, with 12 years at the rank of Deputy Commander. While serving as a peace officer, he received more than 50 awards and commendations, including Reserve Officer of the Year, two Certificates of Merit, a Mayor's Commendation for Exemplary Service, seven marksmanship awards, and a 20-Year Safe Driving Award.

As a speaker, Larry has received many awards, including George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge. He is the Sales Developoment Manager with Multiview, Inc., a web publishing company based in Irving, The company was recently one of the "Best Places to Work in DFW" (fourth out of 100). Larry resides in Dallas.