Hood River, Oregon, United States ISTRO Tactical Rope Master (Level 3) ISTRO Tactical Instructor ISTRO Tactical Assessor Gavin McIlvenna is a Tactical Rope Instructor with over 24 years of service in the Oregon State Police, including 14 years with the department's Special Operations Division as the Tactical Rope Team Leader. His journey on rope began in the US Army in 1989 when he learned to lead climb routes in the Italian Alps for his paratrooper unit. Throughout his nearly 23 year career in the US Army he became qualified in many ropes related disciplines including Air Assault, Rappel Master, SPIES Master, FRIES Master, and served as the first Chief Instructor for the National Guard Warrior Training Center Air Assault course. His civilian career has focused on teaching emergency medicine in the tactical environment, special weapons and tactics operations, and tactical rope operations in both urban and austere locations. Beyond his law enforcement career, Gavin is a co-founder and former President of the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Foundation. Gavin brings a deep desire to build the international tactical rope community by sharing experiences learned over decades of operational work in his role as President of ISTRO.

Redmond, Oregon, United States ISTRO Tactical Rope Master (Level 3) ISTRO Tactical Instructor ISTRO Tactical Assessor Eddy Cartaya brings over 37 years’ experience in tactical rope operations and instruction from his military and law enforcement special operations profession. After graduating from West Point in 1990 with a degree in aerospace engineering, he had careers in the military, and state & federal law enforcement agencies, all of which had tactical rope operations applications. His operational and teaching experience includes military mountaineering, urban tactical rope operations, back country rope operation with tracking teams, and protester intervention with the US Forest Service. Eddy is an experienced mountain rescue leader, certified cave rescue instructor, and a certified arborist who is fluid on rope in a variety of industries. Eddy has been a vertical caver, ice climber, and mountaineer since 1987, and now coordinates and leads science-oriented glacier cave expeditions for international teams and glacier rover testing for NASA. Eddy is a professional trainer in tactical rope operations, cave & rescue operations, advanced & specialty firearms training, and tactical tracking operations. Currently he is the curriculum coordinator for the National Park Service technical rescue school and a trainer-director with the Vertical Training Commission of the NSS. Formerly an ITRA certified instructor / assessor in technical rope and tactical rope operations, as well as a delegate to the International Commission of Alpine Rescue (ICAR). Having retired from federal service in 2021, Eddy now runs his own training center, Direct Action Vertical, Inc. to train extreme environment, ultra-light rope operations to law enforcement, military, and civilian mountain & cave rescue.

Tillamook, Oregon, United States ISTRO Tactical Level 3 (Rope Master) ISTRO Tactical Instructor Matt Gordon is a tactical Rope Instructor with over 19 years of service with the Oregon State Police, including 15 years with the Mobile Response Team and 10 years on the Oregon State Police Tactical Ropes Team. Matt has a desire to help build the international tactical ropes community by sharing experiences learned over his time in the field in his role as the Treasurer of ISTRO.

Santiago, Chile ISTRO Tactical Rope Master (Level 3) ISTRO Tactical Instructor Axel has five years of experience as a tactical rope instructor and eight years of experience in mountain search and rescue, in addition to six years as an instructor for remote areas first aid programs and wilderness emergency response personnel. His passion for mountaineering for over 15 years, in addition to his training and studies, have been dedicated to sharing his knowledge with emergency personnel in various fields. He is currently one of the directors and lead instructors for Cerberus Adviser Group (CAG Training), a Chilean company that offers ISTRO's tactical ropes programs in South America. Beyond his training as an instructor, Axel has university degrees in medical technology and is currently completing his law degree. His greatest motivation is to be able to provide new knowledge and skills from ISTRO programs for those who serve in various agencies and are dedicated to protecting and help others.

Jamberoo, New South Wales, Australia ISTRO Tactical Rope Master (Level 3) ISTRO Tactical Instructor Roland Curll is a Tactical Rope Instructor with over 27 years of service in the New South Wales Police Force, Australia — including 23 years with the elite Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit. His career has focused on technical rescue, tactical operations, and high-angle environments in both urban and remote conditions. Roland is the founder of Alias Rescue, a global training company delivering customized rescue education for wilderness professionals, law enforcement, and military teams. With decades of field leadership, he combines real-world operational knowledge with a commitment to high standards in tactical rope instruction. Beyond his law enforcement career, Roland is an accomplished alpinist and climber. His experience spans the Canadian Rockies, Swiss and French Alps, and ascents of Mount Elbrus (Russia), Vinson Massif (Antarctica), Denali (USA), and Aconcagua (Argentina) to name a few. Roland brings a lifetime of operational wisdom, a passion for mentorship, and a relentless pursuit of safety and innovation to his role with ISTRO.

Corvallis, Oregon, United States ISTRO Tactical Rope Master (Level 3) ISTRO Tactical Instructor ISTRO Tactical Assessor Scott Linn is a Tactical Rope Instructor, a caver, and 30+ year mountain rescue member who enjoys technical rope work and scientific documentation of caves. He started caving in 1982 with lava tubes and cold alpine marble caves, and has been on international caving expeditions to Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador and India to discover, explore, map, and document caves. A lifelong learner, he is the graduate of the Italian CNSAS cave rescue class of 2022 and takes his extensive experience and teaches new and different rope rescue techniques that can be applied to tactical rope work, Small Party Rescue (SPAR) as well as mountain rescue. Scott has taught Tactical Rope courses for many years, specialty firearms courses, and most recently been working with Jet Propulsion Laboratory employees to teach them Single Rope Techniques (SRT), glacial travel and working in austere glacial moulin shafts in Canada to test space exploration robots. In his downtime he is a 36+ year member of the Corvallis Mountain Rescue Unit when not traveling the world.

Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia ISTRO Tactical Rope Master (Level 3) ISTRO Tactical Instructor Bill has some 45 years’ experience across multiple rope related disciplines. An ex-Australian Army Parachute Jump Instructor (PJI), sniper, scout tracker, air rappel operator and climbing Unit Adventure Training Leader (UATL). Bill moved on after a decade in the military into mountain guiding. He spent nearly seven years working for the Australian School of Mountaineering as a professional guide and instructor leading climbing, canyoning, winter mountaineering, rope access and corporate team development programs. Bill started his own company Safety Access & Rescue in 2000 and has since worked prolifically across Australia and much of Asia delivering rope access and rescue programs. Bill is a SPRAT level 3 rope access technician as well as a CMC Rescue Instructor for Asia based programs. Bill maintains a developmental interest in tactical roping & has delivered programs in Australia for multiple SOCOMD units as well as Combat Rescue for Combat Engineer Regiment. He has also worked in the United States on tactical rope programs for multiple SWAT agencies.