Meet the Team
Rick Ward
Rick Ward is a branch manager for Benchmark Mortgage out of Colorado Springs, CO with licensing in place to serve in all 50 states. Rick and his company like to use their mortgage platform to say thank you to the men and women who have serve as First Responders or the U.S. military. When others say no, Rick and Benchmark Mortgage often say yes. As a result of his passion to serve those who have served, Rick continuously ranks nationally in the top 1% of all mortgage loan officers. Giving back to those who sacrifice so much is always the right thing to do and helped to spur the push to create Code 3 Retreat with a great group of first responders. Rick is the son of a Washington, D.C. police officer. Rick also served 8 years on active duty in the U.S. Army with most of that service time overseas. Rick is married with two adult children. Rick is excited to see the first of many Code 3 Retreats come together to allow our First Responders to gather with like minded comrades from all over the country.
Dr. Nicole Navega
Dr. Navega has nearly three decades of clinical experience with individuals who have experienced acute stress, secondary trauma and post-traumatic stress injuries. She is an EMDR trained therapist. She completed her Master of Social Work from Boston University and her PhD from Barry University’s School of Social Work. Her dissertation is titled The Impact of Organizational Stressors: A Grounded Theory Approach to Exploring Stress Injuries in Police Workers’ Compensation Evaluations. While teaching research at a college in Boston, she and her colleague, conducted a study in 2016 on stress and coping in helping professionals (police, fire, EMS, acute care medical and mental health professionals). They published a peer-reviewed journal article in Best Practices in Mental Health titled, Pivotal Events: I’m Not a Normal Person Anymore. Understanding the Impact of Stress among Helping Professionals (Howard & Navega, 2018). She is currently employed full-time by Lee County Public Safety and spends most of her time focusing on trauma exposure in EMTs and Paramedics. She helped initiate and serves as the Clinical Lead for Lee County Public Safety’s Peer Support Team. Nicole is also embedded inside Fort Myers Fire Department and Fort Myers Police Department part-time. She has consulted with Islamorada Fire Rescue. She volunteers to serve as one of five Mental Health Professionals on the Southwest Florida Critical Incident Stress Management Team. Dr. Navega is also the daughter of a police officer.
Jennifer Browne
Jennifer Browne is a Realtor in Colorado Springs and has been for 12 years now. She is a retired police officer with the City of Colorado Springs where she served for 7 years before having to medically retire due to an injury. During her time on CSPD, Jennifer spent her time working on patrol and in Narcotics. Her husband is also retired from CSPD and he spent his time on patrol, SWAT and as a K-9 Handler. Jennifer is very passionate about helping her first responder community and continues to involve herself and support organizations that help out First Responders in their area and is excited to be able to do this retreat and help First Responders all over the country.
Peter Tarman
Pete started his career as a Police Officer with the Fort Myers, Florida Police Department (F.M.P.D.) in 1995. He held several positions with the F.M.P.D., including Patrol Officer, Community Policing Officer, K-9 Handler, Patrol Sergeant, Detective Sergeant for the Homicide and General Crimes Units, Honor Guard Commander, Watch Commander, District Commander, and the Staff Inspections Unit Commander. He was also an instructor in law enforcement high liability areas, he was a member of the F.M.P.D. Peer Support Team and a member of the Critical Incident Stress Management Team of Southwest Florida. Pete retired from the F.M.P.D. as a Lieutenant with nearly 29 years of service. Prior to becoming a Police Officer, Pete served in the United States Army for 6 1/2 years as an Aeroscout Observer, holding the rank of Sergeant upon completion of his service.
Pete is a dedicated husband with two adult children, one of which is also a United States Army Veteran and is currently a Law Enforcement Officer in Florida. Pete is dedicated to helping First Responders and Veterans, and is honored to give back to our First Responder community by being a member of the Code 3 Retreat Team.
Melissa Radke
Melissa Radke is a Colorado native, born and raised in Colorado Springs. She started her career in EMS in 2005 at 21 when she was thrown to the wolves on an ambulance with zero medical background working previously as a server at Red Robin. Melissa road that wild ride as an EMT-B for the next ten years full-time for AMR in Colorado Springs/El Paso County until she had her first child and went part-time. Melissa was part-time for the next five years. She got her real estate license in 2017, began falling off on her EMT continuing education, and fell in love with real estate; Melissa is now a full-time Realtor. It wasn't a big transition. She is always driving around like she's responding code 3, dealing with various interesting personalities, going into random strangers' homes, knowing many personal things about a person quickly, and holding their hand through a stressful life-changing event. Melissa has a passion for helping first responders, and although she may have moved on, her love continues, and she is dedicated to our mission. Melissa have seen many of my friends struggle with the stress of being a first responder, past and present. She is devoted to offering a fun, relaxing place to decompress for those who dedicate their lives to helping others before themselves.