Mike Badgley

Mike Badgley is the Central WA Peer Specialist at the Washington State Department of Veteran Affairs. He is also the Washington State Governor's Challenge Group 3 Lead. Mike is a USMC Veteran having served with 3rd BTN/5th Marines as an anti-tank assaultman out of Camp Pendleton, CA. He was one of very few Non-NCO Marines selected for a officer program. He attended the University of Idaho from 2001-2005 earning his BA in History and Military Leadership. Mike unfortunately suffered an injury at Officer Candidate School which ended his short but promising career. After 2 year hiatus from Government work, Mike joined the law enforcement community and served as a Deputy Sheriff, SWAT Sniper, and Ground Defense Instructor with Idaho County Sheriff’s Office until 2012.  At the end of 2012 he switched careers to be a Commercial Insurance Representative spending a decade in the private sector, building 2 separate multi million dollar businesses.  Mike has a unique background that makes his lived experience so invaluable for the field of suicide prevention as he has seen it first hand for many years. He has always had a strong interest in psychology and has studied it since 2001. It was his own crisis and seeing the pain his fellow veterans suffered that helped solidify his intention to help others in need rather than continue working in the private sector. He and another Marine formed a non-profit focused on lethal means safety in 2020.

Counties Served: Okanogan, Chelan, Douglas, Kittitas, Grant, Yakima, Klickitat, Benton, Franklin, and Walla Walla