Tom started his teaching career at the age of 13 at scout camp through swimming. He was a canoe guide and taught wilderness skills with the Boy Scouts of America for 60 years. Tom worked as a United States Air Force Survival Instructor at Ely and Quetico from 1968-1988. A retired Air Force Tech Sergeant, Lutyens spent the last eight of his 20 year military hitch as a survival instructor in Alaska, training air crews how to protect themselves if they crashed in the arctic.He worked as a contractor for Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape school at Fairchild Air Force Base and also as an instructor for Alaska Search and Rescue/Emergency Response. He has assisted with many outdoor program groups as a mentor and continues to learn new ideas with younger outdoor folks. He says he will keep going as long as God allows.