ABOUT US
Established in 2016, 1* Industries was born with the Military Operator, Law Enforcement Officer, Firefighter, and Responsibly Armed Citizen in mind. Its founder (Ted Valerio) has been a Law Enforcement Officer for over 22 years and with that experience, and the experience of others in the field, 1* Industries looks to find innovative solutions for the equipment needs of our heroes.
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What is the 1* logo all about? Gary Paul Johnston gave us permission to use his logo and he can explain it best.
It all starts with Gary Paul Johnston and here it is straight from him.
"BE CAREFUL. YOU HAVE ONLY ONE ASS TO RISK!
THE HISTORY OF THE ONE-ASS-TO-RISK (1*)
Back in 1986, while I was a police officer with the Shaker Heights Police Department, although my SWAT team was always fortunate during actual raids, we were plagued with minor injuries in practice and SWAT competitions, as did other teams, so I designed a logo to remind everyone to be careful. The idea for the 1* logo is from a joke I heard as a kid. It might not be politically correct, but it went like this:
On the day before the Little Bighorn Expedition began, Col. George Armstrong Custer summoned his main Indian scout to his office.
“Tomorrow,” said Custer, looking up at the scout from his typewriter, “we are leaving to go round up Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and the rest of the hostile Sioux and Cheyenne who have left their reservations, and force them to go back. I want you to lead us to them.”
“What’s that?” asked the scout, looking down at the order Custer was typing, and pointing to the strange star shaped symbol on the paper.
“That?” replied Custer. “Why that’s an asterisk.”
“A what?” asked the scout.
“An ASTERISK,” replied Custer. “ASS-TA-RISK!”
“OH,” replied scout. He shook his head as he left.
Early the next morning, Custer found a note typed on his typewriter that read as follows:
“Dear Col. Custer,
“Me very proud that you want me to be your main scout to find hostile Indians and make them go back to reservation, but me think about it and me decide not to go, because me have only 1*!"
Using the shape of the U.S. Army’s Big Red 1 insignia my 1* © logo not only looks sharp and reminds one to be careful, but also provides another important element to those who find themselves living on the edge - humor. My 1* © insignia has been adopted by hundreds of law enforcement and fire fighting agencies, and elements of the US Military including the 82nd Airbourne during Desert Storm, the USS Vicksburg (CG69) and US Navy’s RIVRON 1, USMC, U.S Coast Guard and many more. It has also been licensed to DRD Tactical and Novak Sights for guns, MIL-TAC for knives &, pistol grips, G.I. Jewelry and others.
May God bless our men and women of the U. S. Military and American Law Enforcement.
Gary Paul Johnston"
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