Our Team
The power we have as Veterans is unfathomable. If we can unite under a just mission and cause we can change the course for Veterans across the nation. That is mission readiness. For our families, our communities and our country. Meet the team with the dream below!
Dwight Hargett
Dwight is a family man, a Professional Martial Arts academy owner, a Black Belt coach and competitor in the sport of Jiu Jitsu, with a recent Amateur MMA victory in Utah. Dwight is also the Self Defense Professor at Southern Utah University for their accredited Self Defense classes, and he is an advocate for Counter Bullying and getting Self Defense into the PE Curriculum in Public Schools. His time in the Marine Corps infantry serving in combat, as well as his own experience with abuse as a child has ignited a passion for healing others and helping them protect against bullying of any kind and from anyone, including ourselves.
After losing many of his teammates to suicide after getting out of the Marine Corps. Dwight and a group of friends, training partners and Veterans; put their heads together to formulate a plan to reduce Veteran suicide. We identified that the loss of Pride and Purpose after their End of Active Service, needed to be replaced. The Good 2 Grow program is something Dwight started with his new teammates and is excited to get this program to spread. His dream is to have every Veteran have the opportunity to join a program like ours before they make the decision to end their life. That is his main goal as Chief Operations Officer of AVO.
Founder & Chief Operations Officer
Tom York
Tom is an Air Force Veteran who met Dwight through Jiu Jitsu & Kickboxing training at Patriot Jiu Jitsu. Tom is a Patriot, a Father with 3 kids and just one son left in the nest. Although he works in Marketing Research position while he is also nearing completion of his Masters in Clinical Psychology. Tom, like the rest of the team has a passion for helping Veterans take control of their journey towards peace with a thorough assessment that can help them fill in the missing pieces that may be causing them pain. As a researcher, Tom has committed to making sure our information and data gathering systems are solid for AVO Programs to ensure we are giving the right coaching & training in our classes. This is a big part of our journey to success and we are glad to have him on the team!
Chief Research Officer
Chief Technology OfficerJesse Stringer
Jesse is a former Army Ranger and was a foundational part of this program going together. His passion for reversing the negative conditions our minds and bodies are pushed into in the military and helped the AVO learn what it was that needed to be restored in order for Veterans to get to a positive state of Mission Readiness, surrounded by teammates you care about and who care about you. Jesse is also our “Q” from the old James Bond movies and is a skilled technology enthusiast. He loves riding dirtbikes, ATV’s and also trains Jiu Jitsu & Kickboxing at Dwight Hargett’s academy in Parowan, Utah. We are honored to serve with this warrior and couldn’t ask for a better teammate.
Chief Marketing OfficerAlexander Estabrook
Alex is an Army Veteran turned photographer, artist and entrepreneur. Alex heard about our mission at one of our Team Building events(UFC Fight Night) and told us he would love to contribute to the mission and be a part of the team. Alex has been training with our Sports Performance team and Jiu Jitsu academy, and is excited to communicate the value in this type of training to help Veterans overcome depression and PTSD. Alex always has a positive attitude and a willingness to work that helps us accomplish things quickly and we’re grateful he has chosen to be on the AVO Team.