AAR by student – Tactical Rifle I

8-22-2010 as written on M4carbine.net

Last weekend I attended a 3 day Tactical Rifle I course at Tactical Defense Institute (TDI) hosted by John Benner and his staff in West Union, OH. I chose TDI because it was the closest full-spectrum weapons training facility, the cost seemed reasonable and I had heard & read good things about them. Classes ran from 9am to 5pm with an hour break for lunch (pack your own cooler) and an evening shoot was scheduled for Day 2. The nearest lodging, meals and medical facility are at least a 20 minute drive.

[NOTE FROM TDI STAFF: We have arraignments made, and coordinates on file (including landing zone) with two different air-care/life-flight companies with a third available should the need arise. We are covered by 4 different regional ERs (University of Cincinnati, Adams County Regional, Miami Valley, Chillicothe) including two Level 1 trauma centers less than 15 minutes flight. In addition, we have experienced medical personal on staff at all times.]

This is my first attempt at writing an AAR, so be gentle. I didn’t take notes or pics and did not make any real effort to mentally document my training for the purpose of reporting it – so I may have missed a thing or two. I went to TDI seeking instruction, and concentrated my time on listening, watching, participating and gathering knowledge. I’ve only attended 2 other training classes, so take my random comments with that fact in mind.

The Class

* This was a Level I carbine class. There were 21 students (2 female) and approximately 8 to 10 instructors working during different portions of the class. For the most part, a 2 to 1 student/instructor ratio. All students were civilian with the lone exception of a NROTC Cadet. Ages ranged from 20 to 50+. All but two of the instructors were from a law enforcement background, only one listed military qualifications. In my opinion, a good portion of the students had very limited carbine experience, but during the entire class at no time did I see an unsafe condition on the range.

* Day 1 – Intro, classroom lectures, sighting in, precision shooting. The morning was spent in the classroom covering the basics: shooting positions, firearms safety, ammo & ballistics, different rifle types & parts, etc. PowerPoint presentations and chalkboard diagrams were used to illustrate topics. The afternoon was spent sighting-in and shooting from prone at 25, 50, 100 and 200 yards in 5 shot groups. (Take a shooting mat, you’ll want one here.) The instructors stressed, “They’ll run dirty; but not dry.” Many guns started out the day completely dry – no oil. The instructors wanted 100yd zeros on all rifles for conformity. Understood, as some students arrived with new optics freshly screwed onto weapons – no zero on the gun. I went with 25yd zeros on all 3 of my uppers and they’re going back there now that I am finished with the class. There was a classroom session at the end of Day 1 on rifle maintenance, care and cleaning.

* Day 2 – CQB. Day 2 was spent shooting at close ranges. An instructor would explain each new concept, demonstrate it (often multiple times) and then take questions. Students then got the opportunity to practice dry and then shoot the drill. Stance and squaring up to the target, ready positions and sight over bore were introduced. Reloading drills, malfunction/ clearance drills, practice shooting singles-doubles-triples at different points of aim, moving and shooting and transition to a secondary were then added. The bulk of my shooting took place on Day 2 with a slightly lower round count on Day 3.

* Low light/Night Shoot - Scheduled for the end of day 2 but the weather did not cooperate and it rained down cats-n-dogs. Time was instead spent in the classroom covering entry techniques. As much as I wanted to spend the very limited time I would get to shoot in low light working with a new Surefire 9v light, the time spent in the class was not wasted. The entry techniques would be needed the next day in the shoot houses.

* Day 3 – Five Shooting Stations. Day 3 came with a bit of relief from the heat thanks to the previous night’s rain. The group was broken up into five 4 person ‘teams.’ Each team took turns at 5 separate stations: 1.) run and gun targets on the Lower Range, 2.) two person teams in Live Fire Houses 1 and 2, 3.) a timed combo medium-range precision and CQB course on the Rifle Range, 4.) a Jungle Trail course to spot and shoot concealed targets, and 5.) a cover and concealment Obstacle Course on the Upper Range that really tested your cardio/breath & trigger control if you did it right.

* These five individual scenarios required the collective use of the skills and shooting techniques we had learned over the previous 2 days classes. Much of the course up to this point was review and reinforcement for me. These were the dynamic shooting experiences I had hoped to get from taking a class. This was my first time clearing rooms in a live fire shoot house with a carbine. That, and the extensive feedback from the instructors on my performance there were the most beneficial and informative part of the course for me. The techniques & lessons learned in the Live Fire House alone were worth the price of admission, as my home is the most likely scenario where I would deploy a carbine as a civilian. It’s funny, every hallway I enter now gets dissected and think about where I should stand, how I’d position my body and weapon and then how I would drop-in if I had to enter a room.

Other Random Thoughts & Observations

* 19 students used some brand or another of DI AR platform, 2 ran piston guns. Most were simple, basic 16″ M4 clones. A few failures to extract were the main rifle malfunctions and one student went out and purchased a new SIG with Leupold CQB after a frustrating first day. A new Eotech that wouldn’t adjust to point of impact got replaced by an Aimpoint. The instructors were extremely patient, answering a lot of basic gun & equipment questions and freely offered personal insight on different types of guns and gear. They weren’t afraid to honestly tell you what they thought of anything, in a polite fashion.

* Many students did not arrive prepared with weapons and gear proved out, but this was a basic entry level class and probably is to be expected. Only a few students ran weapon mounted lights and some students shot irons the whole weekend. Most others used a red dot of some kind: one ACOG, one 1-4x scope, the rest Aimpoints or Eotechs. Some students borrowed optics/mounts or rifles from TDI who had limited loaners on hand.

* TDI has a small pro shop with a small selection of quality optics, slings, stocks, etc. for sale and offered basic gunsmith services if/when required. A number of students needed slings, mounts, etc. and were able to get these items on site. They can provide your ammo too, if notified in advance.

* All but 1 student carried a pistol, but it was required only infrequently. Malfunction/clearance drills were presented and practiced. Transition drills were covered and students got limited practice time with swapping from primary to secondary. Transitions were only required in the event of a malfunctioning primary. The recommended 100 rounds was plenty.

* For Ohio, the weather was unusually HOT. Temps of 96+ corrected for humidity at 105. This greatly slowed the pace of the class. The instructors were very clear about the dangers of dehydration and heat stroke. Water/Gatorade was provided in quantity and students were frequently encouraged to hydrate.

* Frequent breaks were required as the high heat & humidity had a real effect on some students. The extra breaks kept the overall pace at a slow crawl during much of day 1 and 2, but honestly – at times it was brutally hot. The instructors did repeatedly caution everyone against overexertion and the need to stay hydrated. At this temp, staying hydrated was vitally important. The slower pace did allow me time to switch back and forth between guns with different uppers. I put some trigger time on a new SBR and got to run both my other guns too.

* Everyone was quickly a hot & sweaty mess, but those students running chest rigs/vests or wearing pants looked very uncomfortable. I wore shorts and ran a first line belt (Warhog by US Grunt Gear) and having nothing on my chest made me a lot more comfortable in the heat. Very few students had a method for carrying any amount of ammunition and water on their person, but we were never really far from our vehicles.

* I may have had the only IFAK on the range, but then I’m over-cautious. Chances of an accidental GSW or serious injury are probably lower than low, but it happens. The location is very remote and medical assistance would take time. Don’t know what the instructors had in their vehicles or their level of e-med training.

* The recommended 1800 rds of ammo was well over what I needed for a full class of 20 students and the pace in the heat. I probably only got off 1200 and that was shooting repeated doubles and triples most every drill. I ran 55gr. Wolf ammo (with extra power extractor springs and Crane O-rings) and experienced no weapon failures of any kind.

Over-All

I was pleased with my experience at TDI. I was made to feel welcome, learned plenty of new things to think about and definitely got a good deal for the price of the class. They offer plenty of classes that interest me and I will definitely return next year for additional courses.

“Wicked”

M4carbine.net

Jul 19, 2010 Student Writes About Tactical Shotgun

My New Year’s resolution was to attend some sort of tactical shotgun class. I figured that this was where the most improvement to my shooting/HD skills would come from. Especially since I rely on a shotgun for home defense.

Having been to Tactical Defense Institute (TDI) on two previous occasions for the Fun-N-Guns I looked at their class offerings and noticed that they had a tactical shotgun course. Given their excellent reputation, buttressed by the positive reviews from other forum members who have taken their handgun I-III classes, I decided to give them a shot.

Before signing up for the class, I e-mailed TDI to inquire as to whether my current shotgun would be appropriate for the course. You see, my HD shotty is also the very first gun I ever bought; a wood stocked pump-action Mossberg 500 12-ga with a 20” slug barrel. She sports a $12 sling and an elastic shell cuff for holding a few extras. No lights, lasers, pistol grips, collapsible stocks, compensators, red dots, tactical slings or side-saddles on my gun. This is simplicity at its finest. Mr. Benner himself responded to my e-mail, saying that just such a shotgun would be fine for the class. With that, I signed up.

When I arrived Saturday morning I signed in and paid up. While the nominal course fee is $300, TDI is running a special (limited time only) where they give 10% discount to those paying in cash. You still reserve the class with a credit card, of course, but just hand over the money at sign-in. I figure that saving $30 is worth a trip to the ATM and so opted for the discounted cash price.

The recommended load of shells for the class is 300 birdshot, 25 buckshot and 15 slugs. I used ALL my birdshot and wished that I had about 50 more. So if you go, take extras of everything. Yes, this will make your bag VERY heavy. Dang near strained myself getting the ammo bag to the car.

The start of the course involved Mr. Benner showing the difference between birdshot and various buckshot brands at different distances. He pointed out that you need to pattern your defense load for YOUR specific gun at the distances you expect to need it. This was a touch old hat for me, having long since patterned my HD shotty.

Mr. Benner also demonstrated proper recoil management including shooting a shotgun one-handed (while smoking a cigar) with very little muzzle flip. All of the shooting we did was “squared up” to the target, which worked a lot better than I thought it might. Just like with rifles, if you use proper technique you can handle the punishment that it is trying to dish out to your shoulder. That’s not to say you won’t get a bruise, because you will, but it doesn’t have to pound you into dust, either.

We practiced loading. While this might seem intuitive, loading a shotgun tactically is rather different than loading it while under no stress. Things like keeping an eye on the threat area become important in a tactical situation. You also need to learn to “abandon” a shell that you accidentally drop. Much skin is lost from the thumb by positively shoving shells into the tube far enough that it won’t pop out. The fast technique for “throwing in” a shell for an open bolt reload was WAY COOL! Most of all, they stressed that when there is a lull in the action it is important to “top off”. In other words, keep stuffing shells into the tube until it won’t accept anymore.

There were a number of speed drills done that were REALLY fun. Some were individual, others team. I was on “Team Mulligan”. While you would think that the semi-auto shotties would dominate the speed drills, it wasn’t really so. When engaging multiple targets the time lag between shots can be used to pump a shotty while swinging the barrel. The fastest semi-auto gunner in my group only bested my time to engage 3 targets by about 0.25 seconds.

We did drills that required firing (and loading) on the move. Trying to keep “squared up” was hard to do, certainly need to practice that some more. We also shot both strong and weak side, including transition drills. TONS of fun!

We did shotgun to handgun transition drills. As a cross-dominant shooter I came to this very naturally. Even with a regular (non-tacticool) sling like mine it can be done quickly. And I put the skill to good use later on.

At night we did low-light shooting drills. Part of this was using a handheld light while working your gun (yes, they even made the guys with weapon-mounted-lights do this). Another part was moving and firing while using the light in “flash-scan” mode. OODLES OF FUN!!!

Towards the end of it all we did some close-quarters drills. Just about everyone could use one of the two techniques Mr. Benner demonstrated. For a “surprise” snap shot, it would certainly be effective. Plus, the recoil was almost non-existent.

Doing the live-fire house was VERY challenging. Unlike at a Fun-N-Gun, there was no prior walk through. You had no idea where targets were. Hallways SUCK with a shotty. Of course, I shot the no-shoot target. OOOOOPS. However, on the very last target when my shotty ran dry after the first shot (I was double-tapping them all) I immediately transitioned to my revolver and triple-tapped the BG target. THAT was fun!

Off to the rifle range! We shot slugs at 25, 50 & 75 yards. And while I didn’t shoot a 1-inch group at 25 yards it wasn’t that much bigger (thank you, AppleSeed training). I was certainly the best shot with slugs in my group.

Then we went to the upper range where we went through a VERY LONG string of firing from cover and moving. This was VERY fatiguing. Didn’t look hard at first, but once you got out there it sapped your strength QUICKLY.

Lastly was the jungle walk. This was AWESOME. Going down a dense-forest path with steel knock-down targets on both sides. Of course, I missed one – as in didn’t even SEE him.

Let’s discuss equipment. Failures were happening all over with many kinds/models of guns/equipment (except for my old Mossy). I saw a red-dot go down, sights fall off guns, weapon-mounted-lights fail, a fore-end come off, semi-autos jam (especially after a couple of hundred shells) and so forth. Even guys with awesome custom equipment ran into some difficulties once they got tired and their guns got grungy. At least one guy who brought two (2) shotguns had them BOTH seriously malfunction.

Conclusions:

1 – This was my first TDI class. I was VERY impressed and will likely take more.

2 – The instructors were very good and numerous. If you needed 1-on-1 attention, you got it.

3 – Clearing any area of targets (even ones that aren’t shooting back at you) is very stressful.

4 – Semi-autos are very fast, but not really a huge edge over pump guns. But for a small number of rounds, such as is used in a HD scenario, that small edge might be worth the trade-off in cost and susceptibility to dirt

ohioccwforums.org

“Morne”

6-19-2010 Student writes about Handgun I-III

Hello Mr. Benner,

Just want to say “thank you,” to you and instructors; you are all doing great work at Tactical Defense Institute!

You may recall, 6 of us attended Handgun Levels I-III last weekend 11-13 June (Dave & Teresa Johnson, Jake & Amanda Miller, Debbie and I).

We all had a wonderful time, and learned many valuable skills and lessons.  As you and I discussed for a brief moment during the ride to Shoot House #3, your instructors are excellent; patient, “know their stuff,” and are consistently willing to provide helpful instruction – despite torrential rain!

Admittedly, my wife Deb, initially agreed to attend the course just to placate me.  Afterwards, she recognized this was really about her safety and that of our daughters, as well; she plans to attend future courses, and even wants our 13 year old daughter to participate!

Thank you again, John.

Keep up the great work you and your staff are performing at TDI.

Ever vigilant,

Steve Shrader

 P.S. You are correct, David Bowie is an excellent instructor – and I look forward to sending some of our pistols to him to be worked.

Nov 17, 2009 Handgun I-III

Mr. Benner,

I recently attended your Handgun I-III series of courses, and wanted to let you know it was a thoroughly informative and enjoyable experience.

The relaxed classroom atmosphere coupled w/ the engaging participation

in live-fire range drills and tactics was a great recipe for learning.

You and your team of instructors really showed continual dedication to ensuring the students learned the physical and mental tactics being taught, as well as understanding the context and application in real life scenarios.  Everyone was very cordial and professional, and I enjoyed learning from all of them.  I feel I’ve come away armed with a great deal more knowledge and confidence in my abilities.  We covered so many skills in three days, I had to test my recollection of it all when I got home so I’ll remember what to practice!  I’d recommend TDI to others I come across seeking to build a solid foundation in firearms and self-defense, to become better informed and better equipped for what can sometimes be a dangerous world.  Thanks to you and your team for a great weekend of training and fun, and I hope to come back next year!

Thanks

Doug Chapman

April 21,2009 Student Testimonial

John,

Thank you again for the opportunity to train with you and your team for one of the informative and enjoyable schools of any kind I have ever had the ability to participate.

I must admit that I thought the three-day class was going to be a glorified shooting school.  As it turned out, it was a life changing perspective on the real world and my position to defend my right to live in it.  Your instructors were patient, constructive, and encouraging as I grew exponentially in my knowledge for real-world tactics.

I cannot talk the praise of your school and the application of its philosophies enough.  I will schedule me, my father, and my wife, along with as many friends as I can muster, for the fall school.

Again, my sincerest appreciation for you and your teams’ instruction and patience in perhaps the most useful instructional course I have taken.

With best regards,

Seth Geeslin
[Company withheld]

All Photos submitted by the student.

TDI Ohio Handgun 1-3 experience Sept 2010 by “Snare Man”

I attended Handgun 1-3 at TDI Ohio Sept 24-26, 2010. We had 28 students and 8 instructors at the beginning. We had a few extra people join for day 2 and a few people leave for day 3. There were two 13yo’s in the class, one of whom was the son of one of the instructors and shot very well! There were at least 3 sets of husband and wives there. We went around and introduced ourselves and what kind of work we did. The class was very diverse -medical people, truck drivers, salesmen, housewives, and even a piano tuner. The staff is also very diverse including several active law enforcement personnel as well as a psychologist, attorney and financial guy. Many of the staff volunteer their time to teach there.

Handgun 1

We were in the class room for the morning. We went over a lot of the legalities on gun fights and also as they pertain to the CCW laws. John Benner did most of the talking with some of the other staff members interjecting on few sections l. Bill Posey, one of the staff members who is also a practicing attorney, talked about how the average criminal and legal defense fees for being involved in a shooting typically run$50-100k each, but that if you have the correct clause in your homeowners insurance that they will cover the civil portion of the defense. This applies whether the shooting occurred at home or outside the home.

They give you an hour for lunch. I suppose you could run to the closest town for something to eat, but it’s easiest to just bring your own food. We ate at the diner next to the Comfort Inn every morning and just bought a sandwich at breakfast and took it for lunch. They have a refrigerator and microwave, but no drinks unless you want tap water or coffee. There is ice in the freezer. I had tap water every day with lunch.

After lunch we were out on the range. We went over chest ready position and pushing the gun out, taking up trigger-slack as you’re doing it. They “roped” our guns with a piece of rubber tubing, which makes it impossible for it to be loaded or for the action to cycle. It’s an interesting way of making the gun safe. I was always brought up to never point the gun at anyone, loaded or unloaded, but after it’s roped, they have you point it at them and pull the trigger over and over in the drill. It was a little weird to get used to.

They also went over drawing from the holster into a smooth presentation.

That day we all had our own target which was nice. No taking turns. We started with a drill where we’d shoot one shot at a time, regain sight picture and then back to the chest ready. They’d say “shoot about 30shots” although if you shot 20 or 70 that was fine also. Then we did it with 2 shots, 3 shots, alternating targets and eventually with entire magazines with increasing speed. I’ve never blown through so much ammo so fast! While we were doing all of this the staff would walk around, observe and make corrections all in a very helpful, constructive, non-critical way. When Sam saw me using my M&P, asked if I’d done any work on it at all and I said no, he went and retrieved his from his truck and let me shoot a mag of his ammo through it. He had one of David Bowie’s (http://www.bowietacticalconcepts.com) trigger jobs done to it and I must say it was pretty nice! I later shot Bowie’s own EDC M&P9 and it was darn nice as well! The down side of these trigger jobs is that it takes several months to get your gun back from Bowie.

Handgun 2

Day2 again started in the class room where we went over situational awareness and watched a quite enlightening video on the stopping power(or the lack there of) of most hand guns. We then went out to the range and did malfunction clearing drills. The way they explained it made so much more sense than the way I’ve always thought about it. You don’t care what’s wrong with the gun, you just want to get it working again(assuming you’re in a gun fight) so instead of trying to diagnose what the problems is and learning a clearing technique for each type of malfunction, learn one set of techniques that works on them all. Don’t put your hand over the ejection port when racking the slide so you don’t block the round you are trying to clear from coming out. My left index finger was a little raw by the end from racking the slide so many times with 2 fingers. That was a new technique for me as I’d always just put my entire hand over top of the gun to pull the side back. We learned the technique with empty guns and magazines (checked to be empty by at least 3 different instructors) and then often had them pointed at the instructors while doing the drill. Again, just took a bit to get used to point the guns at someone. We then handed the instructor a handful of rounds which they would mix up with some empty shell casings and put them randomly in out mag and the put the mag back in our holstered gun. As an instructor watched each of us individually, [We] had to shoot through the mag dealing with the different malfunctions that the empty casings caused.

We then started doing moving drills/box drills on the steel targets. Also drawing and moving off center as you fired. John Benner took is in small groups over to live fire house #1 to give us an intro to the house stuff as a preparation for going through them the following day.

Before finishing that day we did a roughly 20 minute relaxation/meditation session with the psychologist staff member. Apparently people have had really bad experiences with the live fire houses where they get anxious, hyperventilate, ball up into a fetal position, etc. I guess some people really don’t do well under the small amount of stress in the houses. They’ve been doing these sessions at the end of day 2 for about 10years now and have apparently really seen a positive effect. John Benner, who points out that he is not a touchy feely kind of guy, said that he would not waste our money and time with a relaxation session if he hadn’t seen that it actually helps.

We didn’t really end up shooting that many rounds on Day 2 compared to Day 1.

At the end of the first day I was fearing that 1800 rounds might not be enough. At the end of the second day I realized I had plenty.

Handgun 3

No classroom stuff on day 3. We start on the range. We learned shooting from cover and different cornering techniques depending on if you have a lot of very little space to go around the corner. They demonstrated how “space is your friend” when going around corners, clearing places and in everyday life in general. We learned off handed shooting and how to move the gun from one hand to the other. How to clear around the offhanded corner, looking through your non-dominant eye and using your offhand or turning the gun sideways, all done to expose as little of you as possible.

We went in small groups with Bill Posey to do “furtive movement drills”. They got you to move off center while drawing and shooting and then we each did some role playing as the group watched where Bill would start talking to us casually and at some point the conversation/situation was going to go bad and we had to decide what to do and how to get out of it. Or whether to draw your gun on him. It was great to think through these situations and then get his input on them afterwards.

We did some timed drills to see how fast you could present and get a shot on the steel target, then how fast you could get 3 shots on 3 different targets.

We went individually to the live fire houses. I wish we would have had a chance to do more than one of them. There are 3. We each got to go through a random one. For me at least, the house is no pressure. No one is shooting back at you. It’s not timed. Nothing bad can happen. It’s really just an exercise where you get to use all of the techniques you’ve learned and put them together. There is a staff member with you as you go through and then you watch the person after you as they go through.

They have a small pro shop there. Really it’s just a small glass enclosed counter where you can buy belts, holsters, flashlights, etc, and also the TDI KA-bar knife that they all carry. They also sell some TDI clothing.

Lodging

We stayed at the Comfort Inn, as recommended by TDI. It is very nice and clean.

Free wireless internet. You get a discount for mentioning that you are there for TDI. Several of the instructors also stayed there. The free breakfast at the hotel is actually not too bad. We went over to Cruiser’s Diner right next door before and after the classes. It’s about a 25min drive from the hotel to TDI.

If you’re using GPS, your unit will tell you that you’ve arrived at TDI when you are still in the middle of nowhere. That is the edge of their property. Keep driving for about another half mile or so and you’ll come up on the TDI sign.

In the end, I only shot 900 rounds. I cannot say enough good things about my experience there and can’t wait to go back either to repeat HG 1-3or for HG

4-6 where they shoot back at you. Several people there had been through the HG

1-3 several times, including Bill Posey, who after taking it 6 times, was promoted to being on staff. The staff explains things very well. They explain why they do everything they do which really helps understand why they are teaching a particular technique. John Benner is a very unassuming individual.

They don’t name anything after them. There isn’t anything known as the TDI Cornering Technique. They teach what they think is the best technique for a particular thing such as stance, cornering, hand switching, etc.. If tomorrow they find what they think to be a better technique they will start teaching that. The whole weekend was very casual and comfortable. Definitely dress for the weather. We had perfect weather, but they apparently shoot in anything except for lightening.

.

Extreme Close Quarters –ECQ Class July 22 2010

The red suit went real well I thought. John Motil commented at the end that it was nice working with a group of people that had some open hands skills.The one cop (one that wore the gloves when we shot) struggled a bit but got it done. Penny and I practice something similar once a week plus I have a black belt from back in the day so it that part was a great review but nothing new. I had talked to a friend/associate that had taken the class last year and ended up shooting Greg because he was becoming too exhausted to continue.  Based on his information I had made the wrong deduction that it would be an extremely tiring exercise.

Apparently my friend needs to learn some more close up and personal skills. What I found really interesting was the different techniques that each individual student used to solve the problem. Also Forrest did a great job of varying his approach. The younger guys he would accuse of messing with his sister, the taller guy with the goatee he talked to in IIRC Israeli, where the student had traveled. I think he tried to get some money from Penny. For me I was all ready to give him the Farnam tape loop “Can’t help you sir.” as you raise your hands palm to the guy and walk on by. As I started to raise my hands Forrest rushed on in, he never said a word and I didn’t have time to even get ‘Ca” out. But like the other students I got her done. LOL

Frankly I enjoyed that class as much or more than most at TDI, although I struggled (and still do) with getting my back leg locked.

Mike H.

6-6-2010

John,

I can’t thank you enough.  I know it may seem silly to you, but my wife and I were both oddly sad when we left.  We lead very busy lives, and don’t get much time for fun or anything other than work it seems.

Handgun 1-3 was quite literally a life-altering experience for us.  The level of professional that is consistent instructor to instructor is not common.  I was a paramedic for 10 years, so I have had training that prepared one for lives to hang in the balance.  However, I have NEVER had training that was as professionally and completely delivered, and by persons of such high caliber.

Tonight I couldn’t WAIT to get to the radio show.  I had it in my head that I was going to tell everyone of our experience.  Then I talked to my scheduled guest, [XXXXXXX], and I told him about it.  I could tell he was worried that I was going to, inadvertently, undermine him.  Talking up TDI is fine, unless you have a guest who is supposed to be the “center” of the show.  I knew you wouldn’t want me to undercut him; even though I was DYING to spend the hour on our time there.  I did mention TDI as much as I could without stepping on Keith too much.  Also, Amy and I are going to do a special one hour segment on a couples/female perspective on our time at TDI.  I am hoping it will be the 20th, but it may be the 27th.  Either way, that show will literally be a head-swelling event for you, so maybe you shouldn’t listen.  You haven’t asked for anything like that, I know.  But I doubt you realize what an impact this had on my wife and I.  We talked about what we learned ALL the way home.  A dialogue has been opened between my wife and I that we simply didn’t have before.  We’ve always been close, but I was able to talk GUNS and SHOOTING with MY WIFE!!  NEVER has that happened in any meaningful or useful way. Please forward me a list of the instructors we had(if it is okay to mention them on the show).  I am SO proud of my wife and how well she did, and now, for the first time ever, I feel like she could really use a firearm to defend herself.  That is a comfort and peace I’ve never known; and it is especially important with her doing gold deliveries for me.  Amy and I agree that you gave us far more than we gave you.  I know I’m going on and on, but if you could see it from our point of view, and take into account that we really are at high-risk for attack, and the consider the weight that has placed on me.  I felt I HAD to either BE THERE if she were attacked, or teach her to defend herself.  One I could never guarantee and the other I simply was unable to do.  I worried about her.  I always will, but watching her “Time out” today was the happiest I’ve felt in a very long time.  I think I may have to put HER in charge of home defense; she out-scored me!

I wish we could make it to handgun 4 and 5 this month, but a coin show is going to prevent that.  However, you won’t be able to forget us for long.  We’ll be contacting you to complete the handgun levels and perhaps advanced concealed carry.  Honestly, I want to do Tac. rifle and shotgun too; Amy is ready for ANY of the other courses….you may have created a monster!

Thanks again, and if they are okay with it, I’d like the names of our instructors….they were ALL phenomenal!

Very Best Regards,

Joe & Amy Barrett

May 11th, 2009

John,

Janet, Sarah, Janet, and I were at the IDPA match inOxfordyesterday. One of the shooters commented on Ethan’s excellent shooting skills. I mentioned that I couldn’t take all the credit for teaching him everything he knows. So he asked me, “military or police?” I replied TDI, to which he nodded understandingly.  I told Ethan that was quite a compliment to his skill, attitude, and posture.

Thanks for the excellent training for me and my family.

Bob Gaston

August 8th, 2009

Subject: please feel free to use this as a letter of recommendation

John,

We were not your typical customers.   Many of us were absolute neophytes to the world of firearms, having never fired a gun before, and those of us who weren’t neophytes were  amateurs.  Our idea was to use TDI to create a team-building exercise for a dozen corporate marketing people and a select group from their branding agency.  The group included three women, one of whom turned out to be the best shooter of the bunch.

We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.  Your instructors, David and Clay, were knowledgeable, patient and fun to hang with, each step of the way.  To come from the corporate world to Adams County and discover that kind of hospitality was beyond anything we could have expected.  I will admit some members of our team were concerned about their initial exposure to firearms, but David and Clay quickly made it clear that they would walk us through anything we needed to know — what to do and what NOT to do.  I can say unqualifiedly that every member of our team had a FANTASTIC time.  Our experience brought our group closer together and, indeed, made us more of a team.

I don’t know how much “corporate team-building” stuff you do, but it felt like you’d been doing it for a long time.   I would gladly recommend TDI to any business group looking for a team-building experience unlike anything they could find anywhere else – at a surprisingly reasonable price.

I also look forward to bringing my wife out for a weekend, hopefully this fall.

Thanks again for everything.

 Cheers!

David Wecker

September 29, 2008

John,

I just wanted to drop you a quick note. I attended your Response to an Active Shooter course put on by NASRO inRiverton,WY. Just wanted to thank you again for the class, I really enjoyed it. We just put on a course for my dept., the Pennington Co. Sheriff’s Office inRapid City,SD.We also had members of the Box Elder Police Dept, a neighboring community and agents from theRapid Cityoffice of the State Dept. of Criminal Investigation attend our training.

The information and tactics you passed on to us were greatly appreciated and accepted by everyone that attended. We also were able to find some airsoft guns and used them during the training which really added to the realism for the Deputies, Officers, and DCI agents that attended. Several of the officers that came to our training have loads of tactical experience and found the tactics we showed them to be extremely effective and even suggested using these tactics during regular building entries on search warrants.

Thanks again for the knowledge you passed on to us. I greatly appreciated being able to attend your training and being able to pass that knowledge on to my fellow Officers and Deputies.

Jason O’Cilka
Sr. Deputy/School Resource Officer
Pennington Co. Sheriff’s Office

John,

Thank you so much for all that you and your instructors did to make this
past weekend such a tremendous experience for the West Point Pistol
Team. The wealth of skills and knowledge that you and your instructors
gave those cadets will help save their lives and the lives of the soldiers under their
command in future combat. I truly hope they will never need to apply what
you taught them but I fear they will need it all to soon. When they
do, I am comforted knowing that you helped prepare them.

Many thanks, again, for your and your instructors’ professionalism, selfless
service, enthusiasm and willingness to share your knowledge and experiences
with the West Point Pistol Team. You have truly made a difference in the
lives of those cadets. To say that it was a fantastic experience for them
would be an understatement. The instruction and drills were great. The
group and individual BS sessions between drills were equally beneficial,
too.

The whole weekend was both great fun and professionally rewarding for
all. If you’ll have us, my cadets are already planning next year’s trip
to TDI.

Saunders, Duston LTC(R) AOG

Dear John,

In my business, my customer’s receive a survey that enables them to grade
their experience and give feedback on their visit which allows us the opportunity
to review our business practices and change as needed.  I would like
to “fill out” a survey for TDI and simple say, don’t change a thing.

From the techniques that are taught to the whole curriculum in general,
the learning process is very well thought out and easy to grasp.  Perhaps
the element that stands out the most is the overall attitude of the Staff.  They
all sincerely emulate your courtesy and  professionalism.  In your
ads, you state: “Train with TDI’s professional staff in a friendly, fun environment.
Our total system of personal defense will exceed your expectation” — now that’s truth
in advertising.

I can not thank you and your staff enough for the skill and mindset you
have taught me.

.

John,

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed
Handgun Levels 4&5.  You and your staff are exceptional people, and a pleasure
to train with.  Your in depth training covers many thingsthat
I never would have thought  of and teaches skill that every
CCW holder should know.  I hope I never have to use them, but
I am confident that I could.

Please extend my highest regards to your staff,
who’s teaching techniques are very effective without intimidating
the student.  John Motil
should have hit me with the stick after so many “LOCK THAT WRIST” warnings,
but I think he finally got the message through.

It is TDI’s professional trainers that will
keep me returning for future classes and referring TDI to everyone
who asks.  Thanks
again for the fantastic service you provide.

Ed VanVoorst

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