• Job: Director of government services, First Choice Armor, Roswell

KARL W. RITZLER/Special (ENLARGE)

Selling body armor allowed Warren Taninbaum to combine his sales expertise and military experience.

• What I do: If you ever find yourself in the line of fire, Warren Taninbaum may have you covered. He sells body armor, primarily to the military, throughout the eastern United States.

He and the three sales representatives who work for him market protective armor, concealed vests that are worn underneath shirts, tactical vests like the ones U.S. troops in Iraq wear, hard armor plates, helmets and shields.

It sounds like what a medieval knight might wear, and Taninbaum, 53, said there is a similarity.

"Things have come full circle," he said.

In World War II, most soldiers' only armor was a helmet. They sacrificed protection for mobility, he said. In Vietnam, soldiers sometimes wore thin flak jackets.

In Iraq, soldiers are outfitted with armored jackets "almost to the point of overloading," especially in the summertime desert heat, he said. "They're all sweating out there."

The goal of modern armor, he said, is protection without extra weight.

Taninbaum and his reps sell armor to the military; federal agencies, such as the Capitol Police and the Federal Reserve security personnel; and government contractors. Another division of the company sells to law enforcement agencies.

Today's armor is high-tech, compared with the metal suits that knights wore. Most are made of a ballistic-resistant, soft material, such as Kevlar, which is layered and sewn together to provide resistance to bullets. Armor plates, made of ceramic, can be inserted into pockets for additional protection.

All the products are tested against threats that wearers might encounter. Soft vests, for example, can provide protection from bullets fired by handguns, but the extra plates are needed against rifle fire.

Still, the vests prevent only penetration by bullets, not the blunt-force trauma that accompanies being shot in the chest.

Taninbaum said his job involves a lot of travel, visiting clients and potential buyers and exhibiting at gun shows.

He said that about a dozen companies supply the military with body armor; it's his job to convince buyers of the value of his products.

Taninbaum is paid a salary and commission. "I can write an order for one person. I'm looking for the multimillion-dollar orders, but they don't come every day."

• What got me interested in this: While in graduate school, "I didn't know what else I wanted to do," Taninbaum said.

He started selling software for IBM in Canada in the 1980s. After moving to the United States in 1984 — he was born in the United States and grew up in Canada — he joined the U.S. Navy Reserve while still with IBM. After Sept. 11, 2001, he was on active duty for two years in Europe.

When he returned, he said, he wanted a job that would capitalize on his parallel careers in sales and in the military. He found an ad from First Choice Armor on an Internet job site.

"It was a good match," he said. "I get the opportunity to use my military background and civilian sales skills. It's the best of both worlds."

• Best part of my job: "I enjoy helping people find answers," he said. "I meet people and groups who do important missions. It's great that I can help them out."

• Most challenging part: "The attention to detail that's required in providing our product," he said.

The armor is not custom-made for each person, but it does have to be ordered from the factory.

"With all our orders, it's a juggling act," he said. "People need it yesterday."

Taninbaum said he is competing for scarce resources and needs to deliver his orders on a timely basis.

• What people don't know about my job: "There's no such thing as a bulletproof vest," Taninbaum said. If the bullet is big enough, no piece of armor will stop it.

What people don't know about the sales side, he said, is the degree to which customer service is important.

"Every soldier will be provided body armor," he said, and it's up to him to make sure soldiers get them in a timely manner.

• What keeps me going: "What I do can save lives," he said. "I work a lot of hours, juggling management and sales. I have personal motivation to succeed."

• Preparation needed for this job: "You have to be sincerely interested in a customer's needs" and have strong sales experience and listening skills.

He said a military or law enforcement background helps but is not necessary.

Taninbaum has a bachelor's degree in commerce from Concordia University in Montreal and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

He completed a sales training program with IBM in Atlanta and has been a Supply Corps officer for 22 years. He also served as a junior officer in the Canadian Forces.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.