ALL-WAYS PREPARED

BIOGRAPHIES

 

Marty Simon Founder, Director & Chief Instructor   My outdoor career began at age 9 when I was introduced to scouting.  I stayed with the Boy Scout program until I was 21, working my way up to Explorer Advisor, council level.  After that approximately 3 years was spent hiking, camping, fishing, hunting and trapping throughout northern New Jersey and southern New York.  In 1963,  I was inducted into the US Army.  After basic and advanced infantry training I was sent to explosive ordinance school, combat demolitions school and jungle survival school in Panama and then off to Vietnam. After returning and being discharged I went back to my love of camping and the outdoors. In 1970,  I reenlisted in the army, eventually serving over 17 years, mostly as an instructor.  During this time I also attended small arms specialist school, arctic and temperate survival school, desert survival school and back to Panama for instructors survival school. In 1978 I became an advisor for the National Guard.  While in this position I further attended many schools including recruiting, career counseling, army professional education center, land warfare, BTMS and other schools.  In 1984 I left the US Army returning home and establishing The Wilderness Training Center. At this time I ran programs for US Air Force Pilots. In 2000 I changed the name to  The Wilderness Learning Center. Also during 1984 to present I have taught at North Country Community College, Clinton Community College and Mater Dei College and Vermont Outdoor Women, teaching programs on survival, land navigation, herbs, wilderness medicine and health. During my career I have taught US Army and Air force, Italian, German, and Canadian troops.  I also served on the Quebec, Canada council of Boy Scouts as training officer for adults during which time I received my Wood Badge. All together I have over 55  years experience teaching outdoor survival and related subjects.  I am a licensed New York State Guide, former Region 5 Director and Director at Large of the NY State Guides Association (NYSOGA), a member of the Vermont Outdoor Guides Association (VOGA) and certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR.

Aggie Simon Program Director Aggie grew up in the small farming community of Putnam Station, just south of Ticonderoga, NY, where she spent as much time as possible outdoors.  She collected everything:  leaves, bugs, rocks, feathers; enjoyed picking wild strawberries and blueberries, did a lot of fishing and camping, and occasionally helped out on the neighbor's dairy farm.  Her childhood explorations of the local fields and woods instilled upon her a great love and respect of the natural environment that remains with her to this day.  This passionate love of nature makes her perfect for the Wilderness Learning Center which she's been associated with since March 2000. We could not put on the quality programs we do without Aggie; her meticulous attention to detail ensures that everything runs smoothly.  In her additional role as Field Assistant she takes on the added responsibility of assisting the instructors in almost any capacity.  Whether it be demonstrating how to make cordage, setting up a figure 4 trap, or describing a useful wild plant, Aggie is always there to lend a hand. Her claim to fame though is serving as our Camp Cook (or as she prefers to call it:  "chief cook and bottle washer".  She makes all of the delicious meals served at the school (you won't have to brown bag it or have to go off site to get a meal)  Her homemade apple pie is a favorite among students.   When not busy with the school she and Marty run an outfitter/guide service.  Aggie is a Licensed New York State Guide and is certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR.  She's  a former Director at Large for the New York State Outdoor Guides Association (NYSOGA).  She also assists Marty during the many seminars he conducts throughout the eastern United States.  In her spare time you'll find her and Marty doing what they love: canoeing and primitive camping.

Bobby Plude  Instructor Marty has known Bobby since 1999 when they met at a sportsman's show.  They kept in touch off and on and now we are pleased that Bobby joined the Wilderness Learning Center in 2006 as a Journeyman Instructor. After his first year with us he has been elevated to a full instructor status.  Bobby's down-to-earth and warm personality makes him  a welcome addition to our school.  He first got interested in the outdoors from hearing stories told to him by his grandfather who was a forest ranger and an avid outdoorsman.  Many tales revolved around his great-grandfather, a French-Canadian, and great-grandmother, an Iroquois native.  The seed was planted and Bobby's interest in the outdoors began.   He's an avid hunter, trapper, and fisherman.  He's taught survival  courses for local hunter safety classes and also does seminars on survival at Sportsman's Shows.  He's an accomplished bowyer and crafts his creations from white ash and hickory.  He also makes primitive knives using files and deer antlers.  Bobby is a retired corrections officer with over  24 years.  He's trained in weapons, chemical agents, unarmed defense tactics, and hands-on extractions.  He also works for an explosive company and has taught explosive awareness classes to various police departments.  He's been training in martial arts since he was 12, and if that wasn't enough he's been skydiving for 9 years.  He is also a certified survival instructor. But his passion remains the outdoors and he's passing this passion on to his two daughters, who love to hunt and fish.  Bobby loves to teach people; and finds it especially gratifying to see the look on a student's face when he or she learns a new skill and knows how to put it to use.  His skills make him a valuable asset to our school and we're glad to have him onboard.  All the students he has worked with give him high praises for his teaching ability and his patience.                              Kevin Estela,  Instructor  Kevin Estela has been interested in outdoor survival since he was a child. Entertained by stories from his father’s jungle survival in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation of WWII,  Kevin grew up with a desire to learn more about the outdoors. At a young age and throughout adolescence, his father taught him many practical survival skills. He grew up hiking, skiing, fishing and woods bumming with friends and family. He spent over 10 years working as a seasonal kayaking and canoeing guide on the Farmington River in Connecticut and 5 years working at a busy outdoors retail sporting goods store. Kevin’s formal outdoors education includes off-road driving, winter mountaineering, hunting and firearms safety, wilderness first-aid, primitive survival skills, traditional bushcraft skills and of course wilderness survival through the Wilderness Learning Center. Kevin is a certified survival instructor, certified PADI scuba diver, avid power boater and saltwater fisherman. He teaches seminars at Outdoor sportsman's  shows. He was recently hired as a consultant by the History  channel as a Survival expert  for an upcoming program. Kevin’s passion for education translated into teaching  High School History full-time in Bristol, CT.  Kevin spends as much free time as possible getting out on the water or in the woods in anyway.  Whenever possible, Kevin loves to share knowledge and know how with anyone willing to listen, practice and learn. Kevin worked for one full year with us and has earned the title of Instructor.  He is also a moderator on knifeforums.com and  bladeforums.com where he contributes equipment reviews and shares his expertise with all plus he has written several articles for a leading survival magazine. . Although he isn’t officially a resident of  New York, Kevin considers the Wilderness Learning Center  his second home and Marty, Aggie, Bobby a second family away from his own. Kevin is a great asset to the school. His teaching style, personality, and knowledge are appreciated by all.   Ethan Becker, Special Instructor Ethan Becker makes his home in the Eastern Mountains of Tennessee. He is a highly skilled outdoorsman. During his long career he has been involved in many different aspects of the Outdoors, He owned a highly innovative firm that designed and manufactured mountain climbing equipment. Several of his designs are in current use worldwide ranging from the Becker Tactical and Survival Knives, Eagle Industries' Becker Patrol Pack,  the CMI  figure 8 descender and other mountain climbing    It is a privilege and a pleasure to have Ethan on our team. His long experience and background in survival will add so much to the school. Students will love his humor and no nonsense approach to everything he teaches.                   .