David Reed: From Air Force One to Law Enforcement: A Journey of Service

David C. Reed

Chief, Force Protection Training Division

Directorate of Training & Education, US Army Military Police School

Mr. David ‘DC’ Reed served as the Chief of Force Protection Training Division (FPTD) having responsibilities for three USAMPS training branches; the Law Enforcement Operations Branch, the Antiterrorism Training Branch, and the Advanced Military Working Dog Training Branch. In all, FPTD trains in excess of 7800 US Army and other DoD personnel annually. Mr. Reed is a retired career law enforcement officer and started with USAMPS in 1996 as a Special Reaction Team instructor at Ft. McClellan, AL. He is a charter member of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), a past member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and past member of both the Missouri Sheriffs Association and the Missouri Police Chiefs Association.

Prior to his appointment as FPTD Chief Reed was Chief of the US Army LE Operations Branch since its inception in 2003. He led the development of courses for the Military Police Corps to include the US Army Civilian Police Academy, the LE Senior Leaders course, the Conservation LE Officer course, and a broad range of special projects, including analysis of Army operations world-wide. He was the principal training and operations advisor from 2003-2019 to the DoD Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, (later Intelligence and Security) Office of Policy and Support.

Before working as a senior Army civilian, Reed was the Chief Deputy and lead Criminal Investigator of Metropolitan Moore County, Tennessee. He also served as Commander for the 17th Judicial District Major Crimes Task Force from 1993-1996, working multi-jurisdictional violent crime, white collar crime, and attorney/ medical malpractice investigations. From 1991 to 1993 he was a homicide investigator for Bedford Co. and later Metro. He started his police career with Prince George’s County Police, Maryland in 1979 and served in a variety of roles to include patrol and SWAT.

Mr. Reed retired from the US Army Reserve having been assigned to special duties with the DoD, serving from 2003-2019. He is also a veteran of the US Air Force (‘79-85) where he served as Special Agent to Specially Designated Secure Air Mission (SDSAM) aircraft including Air Force One. Reed served worldwide from Andrews AFB under President Reagan as an airborne counter threat agent for four years. He is also a veteran of the Tennessee Army National Guard where he served as a Captain of the state NGB Service Rifle Competition team.

Mr. Reed is a 1980 graduate of Prince George’s County, Maryland Police Academy and a 1985 graduate of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy. He received his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Tennessee in 1986 and is a 1996 graduate of the Southeast Law Enforcement Conference, Leader’s Training Academy. He was a commissioned civilian police officer/deputy sheriff for 40 years in three states - Maryland, Tennessee, and Missouri.