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Hello all,

My name is Adrian. I'm here trying to reach out to other firearms instructors and individuals who are also looking for firearms instructors.

I'm going to start my journey in the land of firearms instructors soon, first starting with NRA certifications in October and then moving to bigger and better things in my desired area of teaching. Before I continue I'd like to say a bit about myself.

I am fairly (to some, very) young at 23 years old. I've done a contract in the U.S. Army as an indirect Infantryman, worked various odds and ends jobs after my initial contract before shooting back into the Army reserves, and now I'm working in private security. (Fairly short back story...okay so I might be pretty dang young.)

The main reason that I'm attempting to move over into firearms instruction is the fact that over the short few years in jobs that require the use of weapons I've met a lot of people who don't have a clue on what they would do in certain situations when it comes to firearms. And come to think of it, there are plenty of things I don't know either. Expecially when it comes down to the legalities. So my response to that is I not only need to learn it, but I also need to help spread the information. So, self/home defense, concealed weapons, and legalities of using deadly force are the things I want to focus on.

Although since I'll be green in the land of experienced trainers and so on I do want to ask people here what they look for when searching for an instructor? What practices are they most likely to go for a class in? Knowing those types of questions will help me develop a training plan so I can still get the information I learn out there and get the training that people want to them.

And for any instructors out there, I would like to ask for some advice from their end. The pitfalls and the high rises of working as an instructor. Making your own business or working from another.

I look forward to hearing some responses and I'll probably move a lot of this over to another forum just so it's not too much in the welcome area.

Thank you!
 
Too much to type here, shoot me a PM and let's do the phone call thing.

I'll have you come up and observe some classes, and show you how I do it.

There is a difference between an instructor and a teacher
 
I STRONGLY encourage you to take the Private Security Firearms Instructor course from CJTC, in Burien WA. They are serious people who know what they are doing.

You need a few years experience in armed security, $600, 1500 rounds of ammo and you have to pass the qualification with 85%.

When you show up, there is a safety brief and you go to the range for your initial qualification. You have two chances to qualify.

After those who didn't qualify have left, we all introduced ourselves.

After that it was four days of fun with your new shooting buddies. Each day has classes on accuracy, speed, weapon manipulation, malfunctions, tactics and how to teach this to students. Two or three range sessions per day.

If I had the time, I would do it again because it was so much fun.
 
Welcome to the forum. Hopefully you have taken @Cerberus Group up on his offer. I have only heard great responses about his training here. I'm going to share just a few thoughts.
  1. Remember there are many different types of students out there, various needs and skill levels; one size does not fit all.
  2. It's okay to say, "I don't know." Then go figure out the answer.
  3. Teach to your skill and knowledge competency level, everything beyond that is BS...and everyone will quickly know.
  4. The art and science of training should be nurtured as well, not nearly as sexy as high speed, low drag stuff.
The last one is usually the biggest issue. Great shooters can be the worst coaches. Seen some competent shooters, not going to win any trophies, but they could effectively communicate and give feedback to students that made them fantastic.

Good luck and welcome again to the forum.
 
I STRONGLY encourage you to take the Private Security Firearms Instructor course from CJTC, in Burien WA. They are serious people who know what they are doing.

You need a few years experience in armed security, $600, 1500 rounds of ammo and you have to pass the qualification with 85%.

When you show up, there is a safety brief and you go to the range for your initial qualification. You have two chances to qualify.

After those who didn't qualify have left, we all introduced ourselves.

After that it was four days of fun with your new shooting buddies. Each day has classes on accuracy, speed, weapon manipulation, malfunctions, tactics and how to teach this to students. Two or three range sessions per day.

If I had the time, I would do it again because it was so much fun.

May have changed a bit in recent years. It's a 90% or higher on the entrance exam otherwise you forfeit course cost and cannot continue in the course. You must also pass the qualification again with a 90% or better at the end of the course, in addition to a few other qualifications.

But I second this. I'm a firearms instructor in the Portland, OR area. I got my start at the PS Handgun Instructor course at the WA CJTC. You'll get time with several LE firearms instructors who all have a lot of knowledge and experience in this realm.

I'd also take Cerberus up on their offer - never taken one of their classes but they seem to be well respected in the area.

As most every one else has already stated - it takes more than knowledge on firearms and being a competent shooter to be a good firearms instructor. You also need to understand how to articulate information to different individuals who may have different learning styles, and do so in an engaging manner. Honestly, being a competent shooter is the easy part.

For example - I've been shooting for a long time and had time with several different instructors. It took me years to understand how to defeat pre-ignition signals because "the shot should surprise you" never made sense to me and no instructor took the time to explain it in a different manner. Finally, at the CJTC funnily enough, I had Joel Turner explain what is happening with our bodies scientifically and, in detail, explain how we must focus on the process of pulling the trigger instead of the outcome(bang!) to defeat those pre-ignition signals.
 
Welcome Adrian! Quite a journey with many forked paths in front of you. Please do reach out. I'll invite you to audit some of my classes and chat about what we believe it takes for real-world practical and pragmatic self-defense training. I can get you in touch with some of the up-and-coming stars in the firearms industry like Todd Fossey of Integrative Defensive Strategies. I am an IDS affiliate instructor and we are the latest content contributors to the Personal Defense Network. Shoot me an email to greg at defensive arts dot org and we can chat.

Greg
 

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