Mark your calendar for the TREXPO East 2008 conference and expo, which returns to the Dulles Expo & Conference Center in Chantilly, Va., August 26–29, 2008. With a conference, professional training sessions, a trade show featuring specialized equipment and services, and a range event, TREXPO East offers something for everyone.

Attendees will learn about the latest defensive tactics, training techniques, and critical incident response methods during hands-on combative programs and traditional lecture classes. TREXPO East offers the chance to train with top instructors from some of the top agencies and training organizations, including the National Tactical Officers Association, Dallas SWAT, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Center Mass, VTAC, FLETC, and Progressive F.O.R.C.E. Concepts.

To kick off the first two days of the four-day event, keynote speakers Maj. E. James Land, USMC (Ret.) and secretary for the NRA; and Felix I. Rodriguez, retired CIA agent and author of "Shadow Warrior: The CIA Hero of a Hundred Unknown Battles," will share their experiences and insight with attendees on Aug. 27 and 28.

An NRA-certified referee and instructor in six disciplines, Land is internationally recognized as an authority on firearms and training. Certified as an NRA law enforcement firearm instructor, he has supervised weapons training programs for several major federal agencies, and has planned and implemented security protection for ranking U.S. government officials.

An avid shooter and competitor, Land has won distinguished badges in both rifle and pistol marksmanship and has set seven national shooting records in competition. During his 24-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps, Land served as captain of the USMC Pistol Team, Officer-in-Charge of the First Marine Division of Scout-Snipers, and USMC marksmanship coordinator.

Since 9/11, and especially since the war in Iraq, Rodriguez has made his depth of experience and understanding of counterinsurgency available to local and national law enforcement and the military. Because of his experience fighting in Cuba, El Salvador, Bolivia, and Vietnam, the Marine Corps asked him to help devise successful counterintelligence operations in Anbar and elsewhere in Iraq. He has advised the Miami Police Department on counterterrorism, and has also worked with the Broward County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office on anti-drug programs.

For his TREXPO East keynote address, Rodriguez will draw on more than 30 years of hands-on experience in counterinsurgency to show and tell how we have succeeded in the past, how we must never think conventionally when facing an asymmetric enemy, and how by remaining nimble and flexible in our tactics we can defeat the current generation of insurgents, whether they be jihadists, narco-terrorists, or political guerrillas.

Both keynotes are free to all attendees.

For more information visit www.TREXPO.com.