George Diaz is a 6 year Army Veteran serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment with a total of 4 combat deployments. He then worked as a military contractor with the Department of Defense and Secretary of State. George Diaz is the founder of Sua Sponte Design a Graphic Design, Printing & Embroidery company out of Visalia California. George has been a volunteer with Ranger Road since 2015 and currently taking on an additional role as an assistant project manager for the Ranger Road Skydiving Team. "skydiving has been a huge help in dealing with my depression and has allowed me to continue to give back in a meaningful way to impact the lives of more veterans."
Ruben was born and raised in New Jersey and mostly in Ocean County. After enlisting in the Army at the age of 17, he went on to deploy 5 times and proudly served for 18 years until being medically discharged in 2015 due to injuries he sustained in Afghanistan. Since then, he has returned to boxing, jiu-jitsu, obtained his Mast Scuba Diver certification as well as his B-license in Skydiving where he has obtained over 170 jumps. He currently works at the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey.
Served 10 years in the Army as an infantry officer with two deployments to Afghanistan. Was able to earn my Ranger Tab, parachutist badge, jump master, and pathfinder badge during my time. Served as a platoon leader, executive officer, assistant operations office, training officer in charge, operations officer and chief operations officer. I was with the 82nd Airborne Division and the 74th Infantry Division out of Fort Dix.I was able to go on my first skydiving jump during the fall of 2020 and absolutely loved it. The thrill that skydiving gave me brought back the feeling of all my static line jumps. It gave me the adrenaline high I absolutely love and relieves the anxiety from PTSD. I truly do love it and want to get more jumps in.
Leland Hemgren grew up in the small town of Boonton Township, New Jersey to two immigrant parents. He attended Mountain Lakes High School where he became a varsity Track and Cross-Country runner. Outside of school, he volunteered with the local YMCA and the Boonton Kiwanis First Aid Squad as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Following high school, Leland worked for Atlantic Health Systems as an EMT before enlisting in the military in the October of 2015 with the goal of attending and graduating from the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program.
Leland Hemgren graduated from Basic Combat Training in January 2016 and was assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment in February of 2017. During his time in the military, Leland deployed twice to Afghanistan during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. During his first deployment, then Specialist Hemgren was injured when an enemy combatant stabbed him several times in the head, arms, and chest. Leland recovered from his injuries, was promoted to Sergeant, and deployed again to Afghanistan one year later. Leland left the military and the 75th Ranger Regiment in July of 2020 in order to pursue a civilian education at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
Since leaving the military Leland has sought out different activities to assist him in transitioning to civilian life. He is currently hiking portions of the Appalachian Trail, rock climbing, and tandem skydiving. He wishes to pursue skydiving as it allows him to experience the camaraderie of breaking through barriers with a group of like-minded people.
My name is Justin Reyes. I have four daughters and have been married to my wife Jennifer for almost 12 years. I was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA. I graduated from high school in 2004 and left for the military in 2005 when I was 19 years old. I enlisted into the U.S. Army as an airborne infantryman. Upon completion of basic training and airborne school, I was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. I got to my unit on a Monday and was in Iraq by Friday. This would be the first of my two deployments with the 82nd Airborne Division. After my second deployment, I decided to reenlist, and I went to Fort Lewis out in WA state. Here I was assigned to a LRS unit and conducted a tour to Iraq with them. After a few years there, I moved out to Fort Benning where I became an airborne instructor. I was medically retired from the military in 2014. When I got out of the military, I attended and graduated from culinary school. I worked for the railroad for a while after that as a conductor. While working that job, I decided that I wanted to go back to school. So now I am back in school with the goal of becoming a therapist so that I can work specifically with Veterans.
Vince is a dedicated leader that has committed his professional life to help others. He served as a paratrooper in the United States Army from 2002 to 2014 where he deployed to Iraq twice, Afghanistan, and North Africa. Currently, Vince works as a therapist where he practices at a community mental health center and private practice. Much of his continued volunteer work in the community has been on the board of Recalibrate focusing on social connection for veterans and first responders and as a Mentor with the Travis Manion Foundation where he shares the message, “Character Does Matter.”
Vince has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Wilmington University, a Master of Arts in Counseling from Kean University, and is currently enrolled at Stockton University pursuing a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. Vince completed the 2019 Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program at the George W. Bush Center in Dallas, Texas.
Vince loves spending time with his wife, Mary, and their daughter, Ava Lorraine, hiking, coaching CrossFit, and good coffee.
Dave retired from the Army after more than 21 years of service. The majority of his time was assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment and the US Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU). Following multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, his crowning assignment was when he was directed to stand up for the “Wounded Warrior Training Group” (now referred to as ITG) in the USASMU. The mission of ITG is to increase lethality and survivability across the force by combining solid marksmanship fundamentals and material advancements along with combat relevance.
During his time at USAMU Dave earned his distinguished marksmanship badge during his first year assigned to the Service Rifle Team and later became a certified FBI firearms instructor.
Currently, he lives in Phoenix, Az, and works in the firearms industry. When not traveling for work he teaches shooting courses ranging from introductory to advanced skills and specialized home defense.
I would like to thank Ranger Road for the opportunity to Skydive, one of the highlights of being in the Army was being Airborne and jumping out of planes . When I was no longer on Airborne status it felt as something was missing. When Ranger Road gave me a chance to skydive I was so excited. When I was in the plane and the door opened up I was nervous and had a lump in my throat. It’s been years since I’ve done this but once I left the plane it was the most thrilling feeling. It felt as if I was whole again and the rush of free fall I felt alive