Thomas V. Benge
“National Lead Instructor”
for CUTTING EDGE TRAINING

Biographical Information

Sgt. Thomas Benge (retired) is a certified "Master Trainer" for CUTTING EDGE TRAINING.  Sgt. Benge is only the fifth person of over 20,000 officers trained to ever be extended an invitation to train and serve as an Adjunct, and is the first who has shown himself qualified to serve our participants as a Master Trainer of Police.  He teaches exclusively for CUTTING EDGE TRAINING, LLC, in all Real-World Defense Countermeasures, Impact Weapons and Tactical Duty Knife seminars (including TRAIN-THE-TRAINER courses), seminars, both the Tactical Handgun seminars (including TRAIN-THE-TRAINER courses), Tactical Rifle Combative,  Building Entry, and all SWAT courses.

Sgt. Benge retired from the City of Meadville, Pennsylvania, Police Department, having honorably served the citizens of that City and State from May, 1993 through September, 2007.  His law enforcement experience includes:

• Uniformed Patrol.

• Bicycle Patrol.

• Primary Firearms Instructor.

• Primary Defensive Tactics Instructor.

     Sgt. Benge was responsible for researching and developing the City of Meadville Police Department's policies.  His efforts have been directly credited with bringing the Meadville Police Department's risk management practices into alignment with the current best practices.  Additionally, he was responsible for developing and delivering all training in physical skills and high liability topics to the officers of the Meadville Police Department.

He remains certified as a Pennsylvania MPOETC Application of Force Instructor, Physical Conditioning Instructor, and General Instructor for the following areas:

• Mechanics of Arrest, Custody, Handling of Violent and Dangerous People.

• Prisoner Transport.

He served for over 14 years as the primary instructor in these areas for one of Pennsylvania’s Municipal Police Academies, and instructs in several other academies.  Sgt. Benge was also a state certified Master Trainer in the Pennsylvania Constable Program.  Sgt. Benge is a sought after personal fitness trainer and presenter on health, fitness, and conditioning.  He is also a competitive body-builder in natural body-building competitions.   He holds a 1^st degree Black Sash, and has been a practitioner of the martial arts since 1988.  His areas of study are:

• Chinese kung-fu.

• Filipino and Indonesian arts.

• Brazilian jujitsu.

• Western boxing.

Sgt. Benge attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania from 1987-1991, graduating with a B.A. in Psychology.  After graduation, he spent time working as a county Probation/Parole Officer and county Corrections Officer.  While employed at the county level, Sgt. Benge conducted training for several other county law enforcement agencies.  He continues training those agencies to the present day.

Sgt. Benge is a published author, authoring numerous articles in leading law enforcement magazines and journals.  He has received training from the FBI, the United States Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspectors, Pennsylvania State Attorney General's Office, Pennsylvania State Police, and numerous private vendors.  He continues to conduct training nationwide as a certified Master Trainer for CUTTING EDGE TRAINING, LLC. 

• First-Light, USA Corporate Trainer. 
  First-Light, USA has revolutionized the flashlight world with the introduction of the "Liberator," the first "hands-free" (so you don't have to hold your flashlight to get the light you need), "hands-directed" (so you can easily direct light where you want it), and, most importantly, "hands-enabling" (so you can use your hands as you normally would in broad daylight) flashlight.  Yes, you can fight, manipulate your handgun, climb, open doors, handcuff, reload and clear malfunctions as you normally would, while simultaneously operating this flashlight!  Cutting Edge Training is proud to be in strategic alliance with First-Light, USA, as one of their Corporate Trainers.

• Benchmade Knife Company Corporate Trainer.  
  Benchmade is the manufacturer of the finest production knives in existence.  Their design, choice of premium materials, and dedication to the knife making art makes it a natural partner for Cutting Edge Training's premier knife training programs for law enforcement and the military.  

Tom can be contacted at  TBenge@cuttingedgetraining.org.