Ambassador Stories: Pepe Campos
Every now and then we find ourselves amongst truly amazing people on this planet. People who inspire, people who help others, and people that live life without any limits. Recently we teamed up with a gentleman who embraces all those remarkable traits. His name is Pepe Campos, and here is his incredible story.
Pepe’s parents migrated from Jalisco, Mexico before he was born and raised him in Sonoma, California. There he spent 18 years on a large farm that went from having thousands of dairy cattle to now, vineyards. From there, Pepe joined the Marines and was stationed in Hawaii with the 1st Battalion 3rd Marines in 2003. His first deployment was to Fallujah, Iraq as an Infantrymen Breacher. On his second deployment was as an assistant team leader to a Scout Sniper team of 6 Marines in the high mountains of the Korengal Valley.
While in Afghanistan, Pepe picked up his first DSLR camera while being part of the Scout Sniper team. There he learned primarily long exposure night photography using a 600mm lens for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes. It wasn’t until his second visit to Afghanistan that he really started to appreciate the beauty of capturing moments and sharing them with his family and friends. That notion quickly spiraled out of control and photography undoubtedly became an integral part of his adventures.
“Naturally, I branded myself as an adventure sports lifestyle photographer”
Shortly after completing his 4 years in the Marine Corps, Pepe was hired by the U.S. State Department as a Defensive Designated Marksman for the Kabul and Baghdad consulates/embassies. This is where he picked up his passion for street photography.
Once Pepe’s security work overseas came to an end, he felt a serious void in his life. He had difficulty adjusting to the everyday routine in the States and needed something or someone to fill the hollowness.
In 2009, Pepe met with a fellow Marine whom he’d worked with in Iraq. This meet up sparked the beginning of Pepe’s ridiculous base-jumping, and aerial sports career where to date, Pepe has 500+ skydives and nearly 400 base jumps under his belt.
In 2010, Pepe attended the Puerto Rico Skydiving Freefall Festival not knowing that he would soon meet the love of his life, Cassie. She decided to do a wing-suit rodeo at the event and ultimately landed on Pepe’s radar. Imagine a young beautiful lady hopping on the back of another wing-suit skydiver. With her holding on, they exited the aircraft and Pepe chased them out of the plane to capture it all. Fast-forward two years to Spain when Cassie decided to meet up with Pepe and some friends to skydive in Lillo and of course run with the bulls in Pamplona.
“We were very adventurous in our own ways at the time and ultimately this is how we fell in love with each other. I was very fortunate to be with Cassie while I was transitioning from civilian warrior to civilian. Most importantly what I preach to combat veterans transitioning out of the military, is to stay busy and surround yourself with great, positive people. Remove anything and anyone negative from the equation. I won’t say sky sports saved my life but they have filled that void I was missing. We’re making adventures with amazing human beings and living life to our fullest potential.”
Pepe has a long history with Garmin Products. In high school he bought his first cross-country mountain bike and his mother purchased an eTrex Vista for him to use in local racing league. He would later go on to use a Garmin Foretrex 401 while in the military and his private security work. Recently he’s been using the Garmin Tactix for everything he does and collecting every insane moment with Garmin VIRB XE.
Learn even more about Pepe here and don’t forget to follow Pepe and Cassie as they create and share videos throughout their amazing adventures using Garmin products.
Check out a few of their escapades below and don’t forget to share with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and use #HaveNoLimits.
