Who We Are 

Joseph Jones - Survival Instructor/Cadre

Joseph Jones is a Louisiana native born and raised. He grew up in a family that has military history dating back to the civil war era. Joseph grew up being in the outdoors and first learned survival skills from his dad who was a Vietnam veteran at the age of 8 years old. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a Paratrooper stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He has two combat tours to Iraq serving as team leader on combat operations. He medically retired from the Army in 2011 after being wounded in action and is a Purple Heart recipient. He has 4 children and a beautiful wife of 15 years. In his spare time he enjoys hunting, fishing, hiking, working out and spending time with his family and teaching his children how to survive off the land. Through his life experiences he has learned to hold on to his faith and give it all to God.

Terri Lynn Jones- Graphics and Media Director

Terri Jones specializes in graphics with 7 years experience. She also has a degree in business and has owned Terri Lynn Photography now for 9 years. She is a mother of 4 with three girls and1 boy and is married to her husband Joseph for 15 years where they reside in God’s country Clinton, LA. She enjoys spending time with her family, helping people, and doing anything and everything outdoors.

Justin Cowart - Chief Training Officer

Justin Cowart became intensely focused on his fitness at a young age. At the age of 10, Justin saw how fitness could benefit him in every area of his life, especially Motocross racing. He began to become hyper focused on performance metrics well into his teenage years. After injuries in Motocross, he then became a practitioner of MMA. MMA introduced him to a new world of strength and conditioning. Justin competed in MMA for 6 years until he began to focus on his career. After MMA, he sought to be competitive and found Cross-fit. His interest in barbell training led him to studying and applying progressions through a multitude of modalities where he now continues to research and apply a vast array of modalities and energy system training. Each application varies based on the needs of each client and their goals. This was all shaped from wonderful mentors and firsthand experience through many disciplines of fitness that is continually put into current practice.

Accolades:
• OPEX CCP in Assessment, Program Design, Nutrition, and Lifestyle
• Multi time National and Regional Level CrossFit Competitor
• 2014 South Central Regionals Competitor (Team Geaux CrossFit)
• 2015 Granite Games Champion (Team OPEX)
• Coaching CrossFit and General Health through Individual Design since 2016
• Coach and Program Design of High School Football and Track Athletes for Strength and Conditioning and Lifestyle Coaching

It is Justin’s mission as Base 1520’s Chief Training Officer to merge the parallels of one’s spiritual armor with properly applied physical and mental preparation through long term and sustainable progress. It is Justin's duty to learn from his clients and guide them through the peaks and valleys of the varying challenges we all face in this test of being human.

Dr. Rikki Permenter PhD. - Clinical Field Director

Dr. Rikki Permenter has been practicing since 2009. She started out with an internship & practicum in Chalmette, Louisiana at The Gathering Counseling. After graduating with her masters she began her post-masters internship seeing clients at New Orleans Baptist, Spectrum in Denham Springs, Zachary Community Church, and in Private Practice in Baton Rouge. After licensure she continued seeing clients in Private Practice in Baton Rouge. Seeing clients at each of these various sites gave her experience in working with a wide range of clients. She has seen clients from various socioeconomic statuses, various ethnicities, various ages, and clients with severe mental illness. Rikki now is the owner of Bent Tree Counseling in Clinton, La. Where she not only sees in person clients but clients all over the world.

She is licensed with the State of Louisiana as a Licensed Professional Counselor - Supervisor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She also holds a credentialing as a National Certified Counselor.

Dr. Rikki Permenter is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science in Family, Child, & Consumer Science. She is also a graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with two masters, a Masters of Arts in Marriage & Family Counseling and a Masters of Theology. She also holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology & Counseling from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dr. Rikki is Cole’s wife and the proud mother of two wonderful girls, Hudson James and Magnolia Ruth Permenter.

Cole Permenter - Owner/Founder/CEO

Cole Permenter is best known for being married to Dr. Rikki Permenter. He will be the first to tell you that he is not athletic, not physically gifted, not really anything however incredibly competitive. It is his competitiveness that has forced him to push himself in many different ways throughout his life. Cole always participated in sports but in college, Cole discovered MMA. Although not very good at fighting, He would never give up. He was not known for his talent but mental fortitude. Through fighting, Cole’s life was transformed from this passive boy to a determined man. It is his mission to teach others how to become that never-quitting determined person.

After graduating from Louisiana Tech University, Cole then pursued his Masters of Divinity in Pastoral Ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. After just 3 semesters, Cole dropped out of seminary to pursue a secular career in medical device sales. However that was short lived, as Cole was unsatisfied in life and knew that what he was chasing was in vain. 

Cole then quit, and married Rikki and the two backpacked through Central America as missionaries. It was during this time that Cole realized how inadequate he was and that sparked a desire for him to return to NOBTS and finish his Masters. During his time in Seminary, Cole became the student minister at Bluff Creek Baptist Church in Clinton, La where he served for 2 years prior to accepting an associate pastor position in Kihei, Maui Hawaii. Only after a year, Cole felt called back to Bluff Creek Baptist Church to serve as the senior pastor. Cole has served his church since 2015 as the Pastor. During his ministry, he has trained pastors in multiple countries including: Honduras, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Iraq, Haiti, and India. He is currently partnered with an Indian national pastor. Together they are equipping pastors through theological education.

Cole is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer/Nutrition Coach. Along with his MDiv from NOBTS, He has received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Emmanuel Theological Seminary in Kota, India. He is the proud father of two beautiful girls, Hudson James and Magnolia Ruth.

He believes his primary purpose in everything he does is to glorify God through the advancement of God’s Word and Gospel (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ) to the unengaged and the unreached. This is our primary purpose in this short life.