VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Mike Leek, 50, and son Logan Leek, 18 share a passion to protect and serve their community.

The two are vying to become deputy sheriffs with the Virginia Beach Sheriffs Office, and they have begun their 17-week training in the 58th Basic Academy Class, making them the fourth father-son duo to join the program.

Logan Leek is a recent graduate of Kellam High School, while Mike Leek is a retired Marine who had been running a firearms business for eight years. They began training in June, and a little insight from Mike Leek’s friend in law enforcement motivated Logan Leek to pursue a career in blue after graduating.

“As soon as he told me, it definitely was an option on my radar,” Logan Leek said. “And then as I got older and started to kind of get close to graduation day, I was like, this is what I want to do.”

Mike Leek, too, was inspired by the conversation with his son.

“I even made the comment, I said, ‘if I wasn’t so old, I would do this in a heartbeat,'” Mike Leek said. “And he said, ‘You’re not too old.'”

Their training will include legal work, control tactics, firearm and emergency vehicle training.

“For me, it’s pretty much what I expected,” Mike Leek said. “I’ve already gone through Marine Corps boot camp. There really wasn’t anything here that I can say shocked me or surprised me. Obviously, I did that a long time ago. So the body reacts a little differently at this point. I think for Logan, you know, once you get through that first week, that initial shock of, this is something different, I think he’s starting to excel now.”

Mike Leek said this time spent with one another has tightened their family bond.

“It definitely, I think, brings you closer, not just as a parent and a child, but I would say almost, more as professionals,” Mike Leek said. “Now there’s that bond as well.”

Mike and Logan Leek are on track to be sworn in by January.