The Warrior Leader Class

The Warrior Leader is a class by Kyle Defoor and Sayoc Tactical Group that teaches communication, leadership, and planning principles of Special Operations forces to Fortune 500 Company executives. Special Operation combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan take students through a multitude of skills culminating in a full scale exercise totally planned and executed by the students. This course incorporates team work and leadership guidelines that transfer from the battlefield to the board room.

Kyle briefing students



Patrolling during land navigation


Group "A" rescuing hostage while "B" and "C" assault enemy

Students debriefing

Changes

I resigned from TS October 25. My last day will be November 12. I’ll be conducting military and government classes through my own company for the foreseeable future. I will also be concentrating on other interests that I’m passionate about like charity benefits, TV and movie consulting, and gear and equipment development with outdoor companies. I plan to do a few open enrollment classes in 2011. I’ll update as soon as plans are finalized. Thanks to all for the opportunities and great times, I look forward to more.

Thanks,
Kyle

Homage (Part 6 of 6)

JD-

JD’s life is worthy of a book. Here’s the reader’s digest version;
gets college scholarship for football, plays college ball and does good in school-graduates early, has degree in something called entrepreneurial studies and gets job with some type of investment company, because of some weird circumstances and a transfer he gets to play 6 years of NCAA football (as far as I know, the only person like that), takes up Gracie Jiu Jitsu for the next few years and gets good at it, has opportunity to go to Brazil and train with the family and get in a couple of high ranked fights, passes because of the birth of a child. 9/11 happens and he here’s the calling, gives up big job-comes in Army becomes a Green Beret, 2nd child on the way, deploys to Iraq, Team SGT mentor gets killed in firefight, wife ready for birth, JD refuses to come home and stays with team, misses birth. Best quote ever from Mrs. JD taken from a Civil War widow- “It’s better to have been a soldier’s widow, than a coward’s wife”. Decorated for Valor in combat, re-deploys. Eventually gets out and comes to work for TS.

JD is passionate about shooting and has the same serious intensity I hope that I convey to students as well. He first introduced me to Tracker Dan, as well as Tom Kier and the Sayoc guys. He got me moving in the right direction with the blade and survival and I’m forever grateful for that. He and I have had countless conversations, range work, and practical application as to what is needed, not needed, important, etc. in regards to tactical shooting. It’s interesting that a lot of the things we both believe in were the same although we come from different units. That’s because the experience of doing it for real on our level I think makes everyone realize the same points. A lot of the stuff we came up with and have talked about I’ll be incorporating in the near future.

The two things I learned from JD were transferring my intensity in a positive way to the students and to constantly hone the way we do things.

Homage (Part 5 of 6)

Larry Vickers-

Former Combat Applications Group operator
One of the founders of IDPA
Vickers Scoring count named for Larry
A great 1911 pistolsmith. In fact, Larry’s would be one of the only ones I would use.. IF I ever did use one.
Helped develop the H&K 416, 417, H&K compact, and H&K service pistol
Consultant to Daniel Defense and their carbines.
Designed some great 2 point service slings with Blue Force Gear.
Designed the Schmidt & Bender Short Dot scope.
Helped Surefire with the X200 series.
Consulted with Insight on their weapons lights.

My list of influences wouldn’t be complete without the LAV. He put me on TV for goodness sakes! Without a doubt Larry knows guns better than anyone I’ve ever been around. During the filming of TA and TI I soaked up as much as I could when he went “savant” on us. It took us almost a year to film both shows. A 30 minute TV show is actually only 22.5 minutes long sans commercials. Those 22.5 minutes takes about 2 days to film. So Larry and I had some time together to say the least. My biggest problem was trying to remember, or write down fast enough when he went “big” on some obscure weapon that no one knows anything about.

Being able to shoot and instruct well is one thing, knowing about the history, the development, and the reasons why and how about guns is another thing. I am really grateful that Larry took the time to show me these things, because before I met him that is where I was weak. Not that I really know anywhere as much as he does, but at least I’m a little more rounded now. I can’t think of a better gun historian to learn from.

When I got the call from Larry to be on the shows, I was excited and of course nervous. Now, I am really humbled and grateful that he asked me because it opened so many doors for me. I was also amazed at how receptive the LAV was to my suggestions throughout the show and to how I teach things as well. I know we both took some stuff from each other. Larry taught me the ins and outs of guns (literally), and showed me the importance of knowing your subject completely.

Homage (Part 4 of 6)

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.

Homage (Part 3 of 6)

Military

SEALs I served with- There were always guys that could beat me at rifle and pistol, and there still are I’m sure. I learned a lot from those guys, they know who they are. Some will get out and maybe get into this line of work I’m in; others will retire to some spot and farm for a living in obscurity. I’ve been lucky and the boys have had me back a few times this past year to hone them before they go. I am truly honored they think of me for training, I look forward to more. I am amazed at how well they shoot carbine, it’s sick. Shooting athletes is what they are. You’re fucked if they’re coming.

Recognition must go to the BUD/S and sniper instructors of the 1990’s. Those guys formed the nucleus of performers that would go to Afghanistan and Iraq. If these wars are ever written about, you’ll see the almost mind boggling performance of these men. A SEAL sniper with 160 + kills, 10 man teams that changed entire battle fronts, etc. etc. “Long Live The Brotherhood”

Special Forces brothers – Again, they know who they are. In particular the guys from 3rd SFG and the snipes from SOTTIC/Range 37 who’ve opened my eyes to new sniper stuff. Some of our SF brethren have done the same unbelievable battlefield feats and sometimes more. Again, one day hopefully everybody will know.

It all boils down to one simple task; shooting well under stress – performing.

I could write a story a day for a year of the military guys that helped me shoot better, but that would take forever. Funny enough, all the stories have the same features. I chose this one because it was my first instance of having to perform under pressure.

Pooster the Rooster –
was a CWO 3 or 4 when I first met him in 1996. I was a new guy at ST-8 with maybe a year under my belt and he had just transferred in and was overall in charge of ordnance. He had spent a large amount of his career at ST-6 as a sniper and he and his modified M-14 (more on that later) had participated in Grenada at the Governor’s mansion among other things. He was a distinguished marksman with rifle, and still shot competitively every so often.

I very much wanted to go to sniper school and at the time there were only maybe 3 or 4 slots per Team available, so there was usually a shoot off of sorts to get in. Pooster decided that he would take all the guys who wanted to go and get us ready to see who would go. At the time, upon arrival at sniper school you had to pass the Navy qual 3 out of 5 times or you got sent back. Easy, right? Well, we do it at 200 yds, not 25 simulated, and pass meant that you had to shoot expert 3 times in a row! That’s 170 or above, and you had to do it with an iron sighted, completely stock, Colt, Model 727 carbine with A059 – Green Tip, no mag on the deck either- off the elbows old style with a sling. The qual target for that test is the 200 yd “5V”. The difficulty in the test was that the bull was only 12”, and the “4” ring was, I think, maybe 4” thick. So almost everything had to be in the black by the time you got to standing or there was mathematically no way to get 170. Remember to that there were 2 rapid fire strings and this made for some real nervous and excited frogmen.

So Pooster took us out to various ranges around the beach for 2 weeks teaching us the fundamentals of marksmanship and showing us the trade secrets of a competitive rifle shooter. Because he was a Warrant and could do whatever the fuck he wanted, he dictated times, vehicles, etc. I noticed the first week that every time it was a real nice day he would break us early, around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. On one of those days he told me to ride with him instead of taking one of the gov trucks back with the boys. I figured that was not good and I was gonna hear the same old thing about being too young, blah, blah, blah (I was still 19 about to turn 20).

Instead Pooster drove to a golf course. “We’ve got time for nine. Do you golf?” “No”, I said. On the first hole he asked me how far I thought it was to the green. “Maybe 150” I said. “Close enough for a hit, its 175” he said. Throughout the 9 holes I naked eye range estimated various objects and learned about mirage and basic wind direction. This outing happened a few more times on various courses around the beach.

During the last few days of the last week, we shot the qual a lot of times to get used to it. Pooster never shot his own rifle, but would routinely ask me where I held, how is my zero, how good are your eyes, all these questions about my gun and how I’m shooting it. On the next to last day, we shot 2 quals for score. I won the first with a 193 and got myself a slot to sniper school. Pooster asked for my rifle (which he had never shot), ran the qual again and shot it with the guys who needed to shoot again...... he scored a 199.

He also gave me his match M-14 (sans scope) to shoot during the NRA rifle quals we were required to do. Sweetest shooting gun in the fleet, no shit. There were guys from NMU who had heard about that gun and wanted it bad. I knocked out a few 650s with it.

Pooster was one of the first Warrant Officer 5s in the Navy, and for good reason. I saw him again years later in Afghanistan. Me and my team hit an IED and lost one of our guys, as we were getting out of the area Pooster and his boys met us on the road after they heard our call and helped us greatly. He taught me that you have to be able to perform all the time with anything.
__________________

Homage (Part 2 of 6)

Jerry Barnhart -

First to win both USPSA Limited National and USPSA Open National Titles in the same year.
Only competitor to win both USPSA Limited Nationals and USPSA Open Nationals titles in the same year twice, 1996 and 1999.
6 time USPSA Open Nationals Champion and 1996 Colt Shoot-Off Winner
4 time (out of 9) USPSA Limited Nationals Champion
3 time World Speed Shooting (Steel Challenge) Champion
7 time American Handgunner Overall Match and 4 time World Shoot-off Champion
3 time Second Chance Combat Shoot Master Blaster Champion in both stock and pin class as well as nearly every optional side event including top Space Gun MB
3 Time Masters International Action Event Winner
Only recipient of Outstanding Sportsman Award at the Steel Challenge
Champion of 1 out of only 3 North American Championships
Pistol Master at Jeep Masters International
Winner of $100,000 Jeep Masters Shoot-off title
6 time US Gold Team Member, earned top slot for 2002 World Shoot Open Team

Jerry has influenced so many shooters and different generations that there are some people nowadays that don’t even know that what they like/do/believe in was originally developed wholly or in part by Jerry. Sometimes it’s funny to see that on the range, other times it pisses me off that someone can be so ignorant or full of themselves to believe that they were the first at something. If you ask any big name shooter today his top 3 influences I guarantee Jerry Barnhart is in there with everyone.

Jerry helped design what is now the EOTech type optic with Bushnell. In fact, he was the first to use a red dot in an open pistol competition, and of course he won. He correctly predicted in the early 90’s that the mil would soon move to a red dot on rifles. A lot of people laughed. We and some others in SOCOM listened, and behold- the red dot era. Training with red dots was a new thing for us and Jerry had already worked the kinks out and had us maxing these things out in every possible shooting situation, from CQB, to extreme distances, to shooting under cars sideways (in 1994!) we did it with him.

To give you an idea of how dedicated he was to giving a good product to the boys- We had him meet us at Shaw’s for 2 weeks of shooting. 1 week pistol, 1 week carbine. At the time Jerry had an F350 that towed an RV type trailer, that way he could set up shop basically anywhere. This was convenient for us all because sometimes we would have him meet us in some really obscure places. So his trailer is parked in front of the ranges all week. It was a long, hot, tough trip. One night, during the second week, me and my team were coming back from Beale St. at 1:30- 2:00 am. As we walk past Jerry’s trailer, trying to not be loud we hear the distinct sound of a PACT timer and a dry fire click thereafter. We stop, open his door and there he is in full kit (which he insisted on wearing) practicing in the middle of the night, so he would crush it the next morning.

Jerry set the standard that all pro shooters had to do after him. He shot our guns, unmodified, and he wore what we wore. No bullshit. His method of instruction was meticulous to the point of fine tuning even the guys who could really shoot well already. He was the first I’d ever seen use a concert type speaker system to talk. That way, if you were on the end of the line you could still hear. It was wireless, so he could go from standing to prone and be talking the whole time and never miss a beat. This saved a lot of time on the range because we didn’t have to “bring it in” with 20-25 guys every time he put something out.

Early on, he gave out these great hats that said “Barnhart Performance” to those who would beat him on a competition. It was a symbol of pride to wear one. You wanted to wear one around the Team area, that way everyone knew. Not a lot of people got those hats. At one time, it was one of the only “civ” hats authorized. Later he would give them out to those who won amongst themselves.

Jerry has trained more direct action operators from SOCOM than any person ever. I think that is huge when you look at the performance of the guys over the last 9 years. I think that is the best accomplishment any shooting instructor can get- to see his product tested, perform under stress, and perform unbelievably well again, and again. He has also recently set up the entire shooting program of another mil entity.

Jerry also made the best set of shooting videos ever, period. If anyone makes something better, they’ll have to copy the format, especially the head cam piece. If you’ve never seen, do yourself a favor and get them.

Unfortunately, for those that haven’t done a class with him, he doesn’t offer civilian classes anymore, but, there are more than a few that can pass on what he taught us all- how to shoot to the best of our ability with speed and accuracy.

Homage 1 of 6

Not enough love spread in this industry sometimes (I think). I want to try and change that. I am very lucky with what I get to do for a living (something I like doing). There are a few folks that helped me and mine along the way. Some of these guys taught me how to better shoot. Some taught me how to better teach. All in all, as in the context of marksmanship and tactical shooting these are the guys who have most influenced me and a lot of others as well.

John Shaw - has been the winner or runner-up in every major combat competition in the world, including: the I.P.S.C. Nationals; I.P.S.C. World; Bianchi Cup; Steel Challenge; Second Chance; Soldier of Fortune; I.P.S.C. Canadian and European Championships. Shooting awards and honors include: World Speed Shooting Champion, Pistol and Shotgun; nine Gold Medals in three World Championships; captain and nine-year member of the World Champion U.S. I.P.S.C. Team; 1995 Stockgun Match Winner of American Handgunning Man on Man Championship; and Man against Man Pump Shotgun World Champion.

John kinda was the first guy to have a lot of military and gov business and pretty much set the bar for everybody thereafter. The facility is great and it was in the middle of nowhere, yet close enough to a major city to get some good time off. At a time when most mil units had no real shooting instruction, John provided it and it spread like wildfire. Many units still go there for training. The SEAL Teams have been using him since the early 80’s. There is a lot of history at “Shaw’s” as we called it. I was fortunate to have John as an instructor during my first 2 deployments. There are still things I learned then that I use now. John retired by the time my third tour came around in 1997-98. Was the first person who really taught us what speed really was?

Ross Sanders – The first time I went to Mid-South I remember this guy weed eating and taking care of the place. The second time I went the guy was only doing upkeep in the morning. He would come and AI the class for John with us in the afternoon. The third time I went, John had moved to Idaho and Ross was running the whole show. Quite impressive to see someone make that type of move and be as good a shot as Ross is. My trips to Shaw’s after that involved many man on man shoots with Ross for gallon size Crown Royal. I won, he won, etc, etc. Being rednecks, Ross and I also have a weakness for Crimson Tide football and pickup trucks. Ross has by this point, taught a staggering number of SOCOM operators how to better handle pistols and carbines(he is second to only one person). He also invented one of the best damn zero targets ever. Ross was the first person to show us when we had to be slow and when we can get away with being fast.

Karl Meltzer - Red Bull Human Express

Link to Article