Biography
President, Survival Educators
From 1965 to 1969 Tim served as an USAF Survival (SERE - SURVIVAL EVASION RESISTANCE ESCAPE) Instructor. In 1970 he founded and directed the Institute for Survival Education (ISE) in Seattle, WA and later in Minneapolis, MN. In 1972, Tim also co-founded Safety Survival Rescue Equipment Company (SSRE) to design and sell survival and medical kits. SSRE became Safety Developmental Industries. In 1980, ISE was rebranded as Tim Kneeland & Associates, Inc. (TK&A) to better reflect changing business opportunities. In addition to survival and outdoor education, TK&A also produced several adventure events (cross-country skiing, canoeing, hiking and bicycling), often benefiting various charities. Tim was selected to serve as the National Trek Consultant for the American Lung Association, headquartered in New York City, from 1981 to 1989. From 1983 to 2003, bicycle touring became the primary focus for TK&A, specializing in week-long, cross-country and around-the-world tours, the biggest of which took 250 people around the world through 43 countries for an entire year. In 2004, Tim founded Survival Educators, focussing more time and resources to teaching survival and self-reliance skills to government, military and the general public. Also in 2004, Tim joined Emergency Response International, Inc’s. (ERI) select team of instructors and consultants as a contractor to deliver survival programs to Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine - pilots, aircrews and marine officers - and USCG's Aviation Survival Technicians (Rescue Swimmers). In 2008, he joined the team at Corporate Air Parts in Van Nuys, CA. By the end of 2022, Tim taught over five hundred FAR 135.331 Crewmember Emergency Training courses and two hundred America Heart Association's Heartsaver First Aid, CPR and AED courses for aviators. For the past several years, Tim has taught his Outdoor Survival Skills Workshops to Disaster Professionals, First Responders, CERT Volunteers and Concerned Citizens. Tim has been a BICEPP member since 2014, and a board member since 2016. He currently serves as the Chair of the Website/Library Committee.
Tim was honored to be chosen by BICEPP to receive an Award of Excellence in 2015 and the President's Award in 2016.