Greg Cole began his law enforcement and dog training career upon joining the United States Air Force in 1976. A graduate of the DOD Dog Training Center in 1977, he subsequently served as a security policeman and K9 handler at Loring Air Force Base, 42 Bomb Wing, Strategic Air Command. He handled 3 different patrol dogs and gained his first experiences with narcotics and explosive detection dogs. After working a year as the dog trainer at Thunder Bay Inc. in Clearwater, Florida, he and his family moved to Gulf County Florida in 1984.

In 1985 he trained and handled the county’s first police dog in the fields of patrol, tracking, area search, evidence recovery, building search, and narcotics detection, thus establishing the county’s first K9 unit. He also served as a school resource officer, DARE officer, narcotics and criminal investigator, patrol supervisor, trainer and training coordinator, a founding officer of the department’s Honor Guard and was a founding officer of the department’s SWAT team serving as assistant team leader and firearms instructor.

As the K9 trainer and supervisor he maintained charge of a six dog team unit and trained a total of fifteen K9 teams for the Department. His dog teams maintained state and national standards in fields spanning patrol, tracking, building and area search, article search/evidence recovery, vehicle search, narcotics and human remains detection. All his K9 teams maintained certifications through organizations such as the United States Police Canine Association (USPCA), the North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA), and the National Narcotics Detector Dog Association (NNDDA). Greg was also called upon to assist in the training of many other local and state agencies’ K9 units and is a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) K9 Subject Matter Expert (SME). He also serves as the police K9 operations trainer and adviser for the Gulf Coast State College Criminal Justice program.

Greg retired his law enforcement commission in 2013. Establishing J-Max K9 Training and Services, Greg continues services to the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office as their K9 trainer and advisor.  He entered into the realm of search and rescue in 2005 training his 2 Labrador Retrievers as specialty human remains detection canines, working land and water. Serving the law enforcement and civilian communities, both dogs became known for their successes in the field.  In 2009, Greg and his dog Maximus were recognized for their performance in the field by the United States Army, while serving the military in the search for their missing in Iraq. Greg is a member of the KLaasKIDS Foundation Search Center for missing and trafficked children, serving as a K9 handler and K9 instructor. Greg has received an award from the foundation in recognition of steadfast dedication and perseverance in his work to stop crimes against children. Greg continues to serve local, state, and national organizations as a K9 handler, instructor, and evaluator. He served as an instructor for the Western Carolina University (WCU) advanced cadaver dog program, and is an instructor with HRD Specialized K9 Training, established 2002.  Greg is also a K9 instructor/evaluator and serves on the board of advisors for the National Network of Canine Detection Services (NNCDS). Greg trained and is currently working his third labrador retriever, K9 Sloopy, as a specialty human remains detection K9 team, performing forensic recovery on land and water. He maintains current certifications with Sloopy through the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association (NNDDA) and the National Network of Canine Detection services (NNCDS).