SWAT A/V is a family company — literally. Dad was running cable in the DMV before most of our clients were born. Rick started SWAT in 2004. His son has grown up around the gear and is next in line. We only put in what we'd put in our own home — for the people we love.
Built from the ground up with family values at our core, everything we do is driven by a genuine commitment to the people we serve. We take pride in our work because it carries our name — and that means something to us.
Technology should make your life easier, not more complicated. Our approach is simple: cut through the noise, recommend what actually makes sense for your space and your needs, and deliver it with precision. No unnecessary upsells. No confusing jargon. Just clean, effective solutions done right.
Every project we take on is treated with the same care and attention we'd give our own home. That's what white-glove service means to us — showing up on time, respecting your space, and not leaving until everything works exactly as it should. From the first conversation to the final walkthrough, you'll feel the difference.
When you choose SWAT A/V, you're not just hiring a contractor — you're joining the family. We build lasting relationships with every client, and your satisfaction doesn't end when the job does. We're here when you need us, and we stand behind every install we put our name on.
Bear was in cable before most people had it. Rick grew up watching him work. SWAT is what that looks like handed down another generation.
Rick's dad Bear started as a technician at Cable TV Arlington in 1982 and worked his way up to VP of Operations. A decade on the trucks and in the office, wiring neighborhoods and building the infrastructure the DMV still runs on.
Bear struck out on his own and founded Silver Bullet in 1992. Grew it to over 100 techs across seven counties. Over his run, Bear oversaw well over a million successful installs and service calls — by sheer volume, there isn't a situation we haven't already seen and solved. That's what made us seasoned veterans before SWAT ever opened its doors.
From 1997 to 2004, Rick and Bill Burson ran the Montgomery County crew together. Bill was the best installer in the county — the guy who cut his teeth on the hardest, biggest custom wiring jobs around. He took Rick under his wing and trained him. Those seven years became the foundation SWAT was built on.
When Comcast ended the Montgomery County contract, Bear held onto six other counties and Rick and Bill set out to build their own company. The timing was right — flat-screen TVs were arriving, and homeowners were ready for real home theater, not just another cable drop.
The turning point came quickly. A routine wiring call led to a major project in St. Michaels — a full rewire of a large waterfront home and a top-to-bottom overhaul of its audio system. That was the work we'd been chasing, and we knew it the minute we walked in. SWAT A/V was born.
SWAT A/V was hired to install a large new flat-screen with every wire concealed. When we got to the house, we saw a brand-new 5.1 Bose system — just installed by the Bose store at Montgomery Mall — with speaker wire left exposed across the walls. It looked like the homeowner had done it themselves. We couldn't believe Bose would let an install leave their store looking like that. We rewired the whole thing, fished the speakers into better positions for the room, and the client was thrilled.
That job gave us the ammo to walk into the Bose store and ask point-blank: who are your installers? It got us in front of their East Coast installation manager. We told him we'd do the first ten jobs at no charge and he could personally call every one of those customers when we were done. We knew we were the best, and exactly what Bose needed to represent them. Bill could fish wire through finished spaces other installers swore was impossible. We won the contract across seven stores in the Mid-Atlantic and grew to fifteen techs handling six to eight new installs a day — nearly sixteen years, and thousands of happy customers.
Our first golf room was a 2008 build in Kentlands for Lynni at L&M Designs. She handled the design and build, we handled the technology integration on an HD Golf simulator. It clicked — that one project turned into a long partnership. SWAT eventually acquired VGG and has collaborated with Lynni on many large projects since.
The sim market has exploded in the years since, and we're no longer tied to any single brand. We're currently building three golf rooms at once across a range of platforms and budgets. We consult with the client to pick the right simulator for their space and goals, help them order the equipment, wire the room to spec, and work with the sim company on install — then integrate everything with the rest of the home's A/V, lighting, and network so it all runs as one system.
With our five-star reputation handling the Bose stores, the Bang & Olufsen store tapped SWAT A/V as their premier white-glove installer for the DC area. Their clients expect the install to match the product. Precise, quiet, clean. It's the kind of work that became our signature on the high end of the market.
As the old cable world wound down, Bear came over to SWAT full-time in 2012. He keeps the business running behind the scenes — scheduling, gear, warehouse, logistics — so Rick can stay in the field with clients.
Twenty-two years in, more than 10,000 clients served out of North Potomac. Rick is still on every consultation. Bear still runs the office. Rick's son is growing up around the gear — already helping in the warehouse, soaking up the work every day. The family part isn't going anywhere.
Bill wasn't just a partner — he was the engine. Hundreds of clients asked for him by name. They invited him to family events and handed him keys to their homes. He set a goal, hit it, and set a bigger one the next day.
We lost Bill in 2018 — too young, deeply missed. His uniform and badge still hang in the office. The bar he set is the bar we still work to. His fingerprints are on every install we do.
— Rick · SWAT A/V
Alex and Robie are our veteran lead technicians. Heidy — Alex's sister — keeps the family vibe going in the office. A small, efficient crew with over 100 years of combined field experience and zero drama. We schedule down to 15-minute arrival windows with text updates — no 4-hour time frames. You'll have direct contact with us throughout the job and long after, whenever you need anything.
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BFour rules. Nothing clever. All of them have been true here since day one.
We design the whole system around real-world use and reliability. Flagship OLED when it's the right call — mid-tier Samsung or LG from Costco (with the 3-year warranty) when that's the smarter move. Hundreds of little decisions add up, and we take the guesswork out of every one. Your budget, your space, a finished product that's simple for everyone to use — and professional service for the long haul.
We have dealer accounts with most of the major AV and smart-home brands — and we're not loyal to any of them. If Amazon or Costco is the right answer, we'll say so.
Every OVRC install gets round-the-clock remote monitoring and troubleshooting, free, for as long as you own the system. That's how it's worked since day one.
Rick is still in the field. Bear runs the back end. The core techs have been here for years. You'll know the face at your door.
A house isn't a transaction — it's where people live. I watched my dad take calls from clients fifteen years after he'd wired their place, asking for help with something small. He went. That's the job. Anyone doing it differently is doing it wrong.— Rick · SWAT A/V · North Potomac, MD
Every project starts with a conversation — usually at the house, walking the rooms you want to work on. No deck. No pressure. Just a straight read on what you need, from the people who'll actually do the work.
Photos from real projects across Potomac, Bethesda, and the DMV. No renders, no stock — every frame is a finished install.
