Meet The Trainers

Pete Leija was born and raised in Houston Texas. He entered the service in March 1988 and served for more than 13 years as an enlisted Aerospace Propulsion Technician before he earned his commission in 2001 from Officer Training School. He served in various maintenance officer positions at the squadron, group, and Advanced Maintenance & Ammunitions Officer School level.
Pete retired in November 2020 after nearly 33 total years of service and reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His last assignment in the Air Force gave him the privilege of being the Commander of the 317th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base (AFB), Texas. While traveling the world he had 19 assignments and a multitude of them being overseas to include 3 combat tours to Saudi Arabia, Baghdad Iraq, and a 1-year tour as a Commander in Kandahar Afghanistan. Pete maximized his time in the military earning his Bachelor of Science Degree in Professional Aeronautics in 1995. He also spent 13 years in the private security industry while off-duty as he had a passion for helping and protecting others. In 2008 he was hand-selected to attend the U.S. Air Force Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Officer School in Nevada where he earned his instructor’s certification. He later finished and earned two separate master’s degrees as well as was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal for his time in Afghanistan. Pete and his family decided to stay in Abilene, Texas after retiring from the military and continued to follow in his entrepreneur business mindset and is the owner two businesses. He partnered with another military veteran and opened a private security company called Lone Star Tactical Services. This company started in May 2022 and was designed to be a Tactical Training School as well as a security company providing services to Abilene and the West Texas area.