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Dan Flowers: Owner
 Dan
is a US Army veteran, having served in the infantry
with the 75th Ranger Regiment and 101st Air Assault
Division. During his military service, his duties
were primarily within the sniper discipline. His
military overseas experience includes deployments to
the Middle East, Honduras and Panama. In addition to
his military education, he has attended numerous
civilian firearms training schools.
Since 1991, he has been employed as a professional
firearms trainer and protective security specialist
providing contract instruction and / or security
services for various client companies in the US and
abroad. In his 15 years in the defense and security
training industry, he has had extensive
international experience, including work in areas
such as Pakistan, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, Colombia, and
various Central American countries. During the
period 1993-1997, he also conducted numerous
Law-Enforcement Special Operations courses through
the NC Community College System, and instructed
college courses in Wilderness Skills and Leadership
Development. In addition to weapons training, his
training experience includes team building,
mountaineering, tactical rope-work and rigging.
Since 1993, Dan has been continuously engaged in
research to enhance the operational capabilities of
snipers. He conducted years of private independent
research which have yielded advanced ballistics
calculation methods (copyrighted) which supersede
previously published inaccurate methods, as well as
developing advanced operational SOP’s for nearly
every facet of the sniper mission. His recent
developments include specialized ballistics
calculations, rigging systems, and operational SOP’s
for helicopter platform sniper employment. He has
contributed much of this material to the US Army
Sniper School for inclusion in the sniper Field
Manual (formerly FM 23-10) and the Advanced Sniper
Course. Dan was also consulted by the US Army
Infantry Center’s Directorate of Combat Development
as an independent subject matter expert on the
Semi-Auto Sniper System (SASS) program.
Prior to founding the Ballistic Edge, he was
serially, a Senior Instructor (1997-2000) and
Sniper Programs Manager (2000-2005) for MPRI-Beamhit.
He was the primary capability designer of the Sniper
Training System, which is the only ballistically
accurate sniper simulation system in existence. The
STS is in widespread use throughout the US Armed
Forces and US Federal Law Enforcement. His duties
included R&D, T&E, conducting training, and
assisting integration of simulation into sniper
training for client commands and agencies. During
his tenure at MPRI-Beamhit, Dan had the privilege to
instruct thousands of personnel from every branch of
the US Armed Forces, and many federal, state, and
local law-enforcement agencies.
Dan is also an active competitor and holds a Master classification in NRA High-Power Rifle.
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Don Alexander: Instructor
Don Alexander retired as a CW3 from the US Army after
spending over 26 years in Special Operations, the last 21
years with the 5th Special Forces Group. He has had 6
overseas combat tours to include 2 tours in Iraq (Desert
Storm and Iraqi Freedom), Afghanistan, Somalia, and Bosnia,
as well as hundreds of other overseas deployments. He is a
former SF A-Team commander, and has served as both a SF
Company and Battalion Operations Officer.
Don has extensive military and civilian training experience,
and has trained thousands in the use of tactical firearms
during his career in disciplines ranging from sniper to
combat handgun and CQB. In addition to his military
training, he has attended numerous civilian firearms
training programs as well, and has worked as an instructor
for Thunder Ranch. Don is an innovator, and is constantly
developing new methods and applications involving the use of
rifles (auto and bolt action) for use in the hostile
tactical environment. He currently is also the Co-director
of Training for SHD Consulting, a company providing both
weapons training and security consulting services to many US
military and government agencies. |
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Kent Gooch: Instructor
Kent served with both the US Marines and the US Army
National Guard until his retirement in 1998. He was a
scout-sniper with the 5th Marine Regiment before continuing
on to assist in the course development of the Scout Sniper
Instructor School at Quantico MCB. He served as an
instructor at the SSIS for 5 years and as an instructor for
various other courses at the USMC Marksmanship Training Unit
for an additional 3 years before being selected for Warrant
Officer, MOS 9925, Range Officer. From 1989-1994, he served
serially as the OIC of the Combat Marksmanship Instructor
Section USMC Security Force, Pacific (MCSF, Pac) School and
as the Range Platoon Commander at Parris Island SC.
In 1994, he left the USMC to become a Scout Platoon Sergeant
with D Co, 1/186th INF Oregon ARNG. He attended both the Ft
Bragg SOTIC course, and the US Army Sniper School at Ft
Benning GA (Distinguished Honor Graduate). In 1996 he
attended the Master Marksman Training Course (Honor
Graduate) at Camp Robinson AR. From 1995 to his retirement
in 1998, he was first an instructor and then the NCOIC of
the US Army National Guard Scout Sniper School at Camp
Robinson AR. During this period he was also a member of the
All National Guard International Combat Team (Sniper/Service
Rifle). In addition to his military training, he has
attended numerous civilian schools, including the NRA Police
Firearms Instructor Course and the FBI Observer / Sniper
Course.
Since retiring from active service, Kent has been
continuously involved in training with several companies,
specializing in the training of tactical marksmen. He ran
the Super Sniper Shootout, a multi-national event held in
partnership with the Austrian Army and Federal Police from
1999-2001. During 2003 he developed and ran an Alabama State
Police Academy sniper program and served as adjunct SWAT
instructor at the Alabama State Trooper Academy. He has
written for Police Marksman and Tactical Shooter magazines,
and co-authored “The Military and Police Sniper” published
by Precision Shooting Magazine. |
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Ken Vogel: Instructor
Kenneth Vogel is a retired Police Captain from a municipal
police agency where he was the commanding officer of a
regionalized composite Emergency Police Services unit (SWAT)
and the Police Training Bureau. He has both a Bachelor of
Science degree in Criminal Justice and a Master of Science
degree in Administration. During his past thirty four years
of law enforcement service he has successfully completed
over fifty formal training schools, presented by U.S.
Federal, State and County government agencies and also
private sector organizations, that concern the combative use
of firearms, police tactics and use of force subjects.
He has extensive domestic and international police teaching
experience, having provided training and consultation
throughout the USA and on five continents throughout the
world for police, military and licensed security personnel
from twenty-one separate nations in lawful firearms use of
force related subjects.
Ken is the author/inventor of the well-known AVOPS (Armed
Vehicle Operations) course of instruction and operational
methodology in use by many law-enforcement, military, and
protective services agencies. He is also currently on staff
as an adjunct instructor with the Gunsite Academy and the
NRA Law Enforcement Activities Division. he is also a
frequent contributing writer to many professional police
journals and publications relevant to tactics, techniques
and tools for the application of lawful force in the police
community. |
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If you have any
questions or would like more information, please contact us
828-963-2450,
email us, or use our
online
request form. |
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