4 years ago
I've been going to SEG for about a year now, Other...
I've been going to SEG for about a year now, Others have commented on how great the range and shop is, but I wanted to say something about the classes. I've taken four two-week classes there on defensive pistol, shotgun, and rifle. If you are in this area and you're looking for training, this is the best it gets. In fact, if you can take a class with Brandon, this is the best it gets anywhere, I don't care where you live. If I lived next to Kyle Lamb's VTAC training facility and Larry Vickers was my best friend, I'd still fly up here to train with Brandon. He's one of the best teachers I've seen in any field, and he knows his stuff when it comes to teaching you how to about how to use various weapons and to get into both the physical and mental condition you need to be in to take care of yourself and your family. You never, ever feel like his ego is more important than his desire to make you a better, more skilled shooter, and that goes a long way when you're starting out. And for advanced folks he can push the best to be even better. He knows how to adjust his expectations to the student, and he sets up a safe but cutting edge environment. When you have 10 inexperienced shooters holding deadly weapons, it's important that the teacher is someone you can trust. Brandon is that kind of teacher. Why he doesn't have his own school somewhere is beyond me. Forget the YouTube wannabes or the other local bozos who care more about their greatly exaggerated war stories and political hobbyhorses than teaching you. Brandon is the real deal. There are other great teachers there too. Dan is awesome, and really knows his stuff.
But here's the downside and why only four stars. If you get into a class with Steve, the manager and owner's son, just politely drop and sign up for one with Brandon or Dan. You never get the sense that he wants to be there, which is probably true. He treats the students in the class like he's doing them a favor gracing them with his presence, and he just makes the entire environment feel less safe, less informative, and frankly less enjoyable. I've never seen him actually demonstrate a single principle he's critiquing everyone else on, but he definitely always has an opinion on what everyone is doing wrong. Great, sometimes knowing what's wrong is the best motivator but if that's all you got then you need to really think about whether you're in the right business. A little humility goes a long way, and someone who can show some humility actually makes you feel like he knows what he's talking about. especially given the severity of the lessons he's teaching. When you take a class with Brendan or Dan, you develop a sense of camaraderie with your classmates, you see improvement, and you know what to do next to get better. You feel like you're working toward becoming better at something that might save your life. With Steve, you feel like you're in trouble with your 3rd grade principal for yelling in the cafeteria. And that's even before you get started.