BW Crew
There never had been a place to shoot, and people to shoot with like BW, and there never will be again because of costs and personnel. From 2004-2009 we trained more people, shot more bullets, and developed more training stuff than anyone, anywhere, ever. That’s just fact. I felt very lucky to be the head of such a group of hungry guys. We pretty much invented the template for military after market training. I am given way more credit than I should be, I was just a figure head that marshaled everybody in the right direction and bitched to the bosses about guns, money, gear, ranges, pay, etc, it really was a team effort. Al Clark and Dale McClellen along with some AIs like Mark5pt56, Johnny R, Detmongo, and Epp had started a good thing in the late 90’s. Me and my crew just came along and made it better, so credit should be spread equally.
I was big on 2 things for the guys. One was performance, both shooting an instructing. Two was a passion to constantly get better. I was very proud of the fact that we gave a no-shit shooting test upon interview, as well as an oral board with problems to solve. We shit-canned way more dudes than we ever hired, hundreds of them. There were only 28 or so full time BW Firearms & Tactics Instructors, and I had a hand in hiring the majority. That number includes early guys before me too like Al, Dale, etc. It still cracks me up when guys lie about it on resumes. I get at least 4-5 emails a month about it. I guess that means we did something right since everybody wants on the train.
I also liked the fact that we had so many different backgrounds to draw experience from. That way, we could pair the right instructor with the right course tactics wise. At one point, we had dudes from all SO units, LE units, and some international flair as well. Early on, being smart enough to realize we would be a target, I sent guys to every shooting school possible to make sure we were on the right track. As far as I know, my guys were always the top shooters in every course. That in itself started talk that definitely didn’t hurt.
There were a few there that I learned a lot from;
Bill Go-
was with me the first time I broke 100, 90, 80, and got a low 70 on the IDPA classifier, and he was the reason why. Bill is a great competition shooter and instructor. I believe he came in top 10 in IDPA nationals more than once, third rings a bell one year I think. Bill invented the Advanced Skills Handgun course, brought the Hackathorn Standards to BW (which I used as instructor eval), and got me off the damn slingshot reload! I hired him away from the overseas side. One of the best and most consistent pistol shots I’ve ever seen, and that’s what he taught me- consistency.
Jason Falla-
Came to us via Johnny R. I think they met at SHOT one year at a bar or something like that. Jason was an Australian SAS guy (more on that later). I knew from his mil experience that he was gonna be our land warfare guru. He also knows ropes, climbing and airframe stuff better than anyone, so all helo evolutions(and there were a lot) involved him. The first time I watched him shoot pistol, which I think was during his interview test, I was speechless……he sucked, he sucked bad. Carbine, no worries. Pistol, sketch. I say this not in a derogatory way because he worked so hard at getting better at pistol, that now he is one of the best pistol shots around. When I say work hard, I mean he was staying late, AFTER a full day of work to get the speed and accuracy that was needed. If we shot a drill and he didn’t perform up to his standard, he would shoot it again, and again, and again, and again. I missed a lot of lunches because of him.
After he had been at BW awhile we finally realized that we were in the same battle in Afghanistan. During Operation Anaconda there was an AUS SAS team to our Southeast. They were 4 or 5 clicks away, but we could see their strobes at night. It was a good feeling knowing that they were catching everything that was running their way. Jason’s team was decorated for their action.
Soon we were really doing some good things with shooting. We pushed each other hard. Jason was the first to come up with a 275 standard for all three big pistols on the Hack. That was difficult, Berretta, Sig, and Glock. Eventually, we all got it though. Jason was so good that I had no reservations about putting him on classes for Tier 1 and other SO units, all with rave reviews. One thing I noticed about Jase was that he was really professional as an instructor.
Larry Vickers’s asked us to be on a couple of shows with him on TV. After that, we noticed a few guys would come to BW and specifically ask to shoot against me and Jason. At first, we thought nothing of it, and then dudes got real serious. We crushed every one of them, some even on THEIR OWN shooting test.
Jason reworked all our tests, and course drills. He also had a hand in pretty much every mil class we did, and designed an assload of them (can’t list here). I learned how to present myself better as an instructor, and how to fine tune details for complicated classes.
Looey Gines-
Was the left handed wonder child we stole from driving. I never understood what he was doing there? A certified gun doctor, he showed me a lot about how to, and what to do to guns. He is a great IPDA/IPSC competitor, and crushed me more than a few times on stages. Looey opened my eyes to different techniques, especially left handed, with both pistol and rifle and showed me some really sweet things to do to guns to make them run better. Best left handed shooter I know. Looey showed me how to take advantage of time when shooting IDPA/IPSC stages.
Tony Reeves-
Came to us via Bill Go meeting him at some match. Tony was a Texas State trooper and was partially responsible for Texas Troopers getting EOTechs on their rifles. That should tell you what kind of dude he is. He gave up the State job to come and work for us. Tony knows guns and taught me a lot about building, putting together, taking apart, Etc. When he was on shoting, it was a magical thing to watch. He really loves shooting and guns. He got hurt pretty bad one day and lost the use of an arm for awhile. So what did he do? Became the best one handed shot I’ve seen. He taught me a love and passion for shooting.