Since 2003, both Martin & Tory Ross have served as Corps Officers at The Salvation Army Compton Corps Community Center, and since the summer of 2010 at The Salvation Army Modesto Red Shield Corps Community Center. They graduated from The Salvation Army, Western Territory School for Officer Training, Crestmont College in 2003 (“Believers” Session). To test the “ministry waters”, they both served as Envoys (lay ministers/Ministry Leaders) from 2000-2001 opening a start-up ministry (Outpost) in Scottsdale, Arizona. They have been married since 1992. They have three girls who are very talented in music/arts, academics, and various activities. Their girls range in age from elementary school to college.

Captain Martin was born in Germany, where his father was stationed with the United States Air Force, but raised in the Sacramento, California area. He has an identical twin, and an older sister. He is also a very good steel drum player and percussionist. He graduated in 1994 with a B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. It was also while at Berkeley where he and his wife were introduced to The Salvation Army while looking for a church. Martin has a passion for social justice, multicultural ministry (he is semi-fluent in Spanish) and the role holistic ministry can play in this, influenced by his family’s involvement in the Civil Rights movement and push for education. His favorite contemporary role model is Dr. Martin Luther King. A slogan that provides him motivation, and that he has coined while in assignment in Compton, CA, is “Forming an Urban Think Tank to Develop the Urban Potential” and in Modesto, CA, “Building on the Red Shield Potential (A Hand Up & Not A Hand Out)." His travels to Africa (South Africa & Zambia) have shaped and confirmed his belief that community based outreach is key to transforming lives and neighborhoods. His favorite scripture verse is Proverbs 3:5-6.

Captain Tory was born and raised in Danville, Illinois before re-locating with her family to St. Paul, Minnesota. It was in St. Paul, that she eventually gave her life to Christ as a teenager. She eventually ended up re-locating to Northern California in 1990, where she attended and eventually graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. It was at Berkeley as an undergraduate Psychology major, that she gained invaluable skills working with at-risk youth. It was also at The Salvation Army, Berkeley Corps that her passion for working with youth was further cultivated, while serving as the Director of the After-School Tutoring & Mentoring program. Motivated by her own background as an “at-risk” youth, she continued to develop her skills and understanding of the youth culture through her graduate work at Sonoma State University, and post graduate experience as a therapist. Today she continues to use her skills as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist to minister and counsel with youth, adults and their families as an Officer. Her favorite scripture verse is Philippians 4:13.