VETERANS SPOTLIGHT
Change of Plans
When a traumatic brain injury threatened to take away Randy Davis’ dream, he persevered, determined to make it a reality
E
ver since Randy Davis was a kid growing up near Fort A.P. Hill in Central Virginia in the 1970s, all he ever wanted to do was join the military. He bought camo clothes, boots and “Rambo” bandannas and liked watching Army helicopters flying around the horizon. In Davis’ mind, there was no doubt that when he became old enough he would join the military. “I had a passion for our country and patriotism,” says Davis, currently a Custom Protection Officer (CPO) for G4S in Colorado. “I grew up living, eating and breathing patriotism. The thought was you get to a certain age, you raise your right hand and you serve the country.” When Davis was in his teens, his parents split up and his father moved to San Diego. When Davis turned 16, he joined him. In San Diego, he lived just four blocks from the ocean yet didn’t know how to swim, let alone surf. The country kid was out of his element. Within a year, Davis had learned to swim and surf, but longed to be in the woods. One day in class, he overheard classmates say they were going target shooting outside the city. Davis hadn’t been in the woods since he moved, so he asked if he could tag along. Unbeknownst to him, he was the most experienced shooter, as the other boys were novices when it came to guns. As the sun set and they decided to call it a day, Davis wanted to experience the woods just a minute longer, breaking from the group. After having had his fill, Davis began his trek back to the group, but as he was walking back, one of the other boys fired three rounds into the night air. The first bullet struck Davis a CPO Randy Davis on-site in Colorado quarter inch from his right eye; the second one grazed the left side of his head. Lying on the ground, Davis called for help, watching as blood spurted from his face. “The pain was excruciating. I was trying to comprehend in my own head that I was still alive. I tried to run back to the truck, but every time my feet hit the ground it was painful.” Davis was able to crawl back to the truck and was driven to the hospital where he underwent immediate surgery, not knowing if he was going to live or die.
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“I had to say goodbye to my parents because the doctors didn’t know if I would survive the surgery. I had to face that reality. I had to come to terms that I might die.” The surgery was a success and Davis slowly recovered, graduating on time with the rest of his classmates. But when Davis walked into the Army recruiter’s office to fulfill his dream, he was struck by another blow. “They told me I couldn’t even be drafted. They pulled out a medical manual that said any contusion or laceration to the brain was an automatic disqualifier. When they told me that, that was the reality that this train is at the end of its tracks. I had to say, ‘What now? What am I going to do with my life now?’” Davis bounced around multiple jobs for several years before enrolling in a criminal justice program in Virginia, eventually landing a position as a Deputy Sheriff with the city of Richmond. “I had to accept the fact that I was never going to be in the military, so I turned my passion into law enforcement as a way of serving the country. It was very similar to the military.” Davis spent nine years in law enforcement, first in Richmond, then in Norfolk,Virginia, before ending his career in Boulder, Colorado. In 2005, 21 years since his brain injury, Davis decided to spark his military dream one last time. At age 37, nearly two decades since the military closed the door, the U.S. Army offered him a position in the Reserves. “I was ecstatic. It meant so much after being told 20 years before I couldn’t even be drafted. I had turned back the hands of time.” Davis spent eight years in the military as an Army Engineer, eventually deploying to Panama. And throughout his law enforcement and military careers, he’s managed to move past the brain injury that once seemed to derail everything. Now, Davis takes part in the Pikes Peak Challenge, a 13-mile hike to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado at 14,115 feet, raising funds and bringing awareness to Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and other brain injuries. Serving alongside fellow G4S CPOs, Davis and his team all share a similar military background and G4S has worked to accommodate his past. “I began my G4S career still serving as an Army Reservist, and G4S always honored my military commitment. Now G4S gives me the freedom and flexibility to be a Field Supervisor.” Now more than 30 years after the incident that threatened to take his dreams and his life, Davis doesn’t dwell on the injury. “I’ve worked hard to regain my life. I don’t think of myself as injured. It happened, but I don’t notice the deficits. It didn’t affect me at all while serving in the military. I’m lucky. Really lucky.”
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G4S Military Outreach Initiatives, Awards, Recognition & Statistics Most Valuable Employer (MVE) for Military by CivilianJobs.com - 2014
26%
12,822
Number of veterans hired by G4S since August 2011 in conjunction with the White House’s “Joining Forces” campaign
Estimated number of G4S employees in the U.S. are military veterans
Military Employer of the Year Transition Assistance Online
23%
Percent of our security officers have military experience
4,900
Number of veterans hired between April 2015 and April 2016
VetJobs Outstanding Military Employer - 2014