Whew…

Posted on by March 24, 2013

16 hours of practical and classroom, and ‘I’ are now a certified NRA basic pistol instructor… (well, as soon as the forms get sent in)…

Decided to get out of the office (e.g. I needed to take some leave to manage hours), so I called up Bill Keller, who blogs at eiaft,  and signed up for his instructor training class.

Why, you may ask?  Well, honestly it’s because I’m getting folks coming to me for advice, and one of my co-workers is a scoutmaster and they are looking for instructors to help with merit badges. To help the scouts these days, you have to be NRA certified and they cannot afford to send people to the classes.

I figured if I’m going to do this, I might as well do it right, and over the phone conversations with Bill and reading his blog I was very comfortable with the way he does business, and his attention to detail.  Of course it doesn’t hurt that he’s also a retired Mustang…LOL

The ONLY problem (well, other than my lousy shooting), is it’s Iowa, it’s (supposedly) Spring, and it’s colder’n hell… First morning 10 degrees, this morning a ‘heat wave’ of 25… I bout froze my ass off!!!

It was a well taught class, and both the class interactions and the documentation and support from NRA are excellent.  Bill did an excellent job of ‘managing’ a diverse group, and keeping the training running.  As always, safety was first and foremost and the ability to both present and receive information allowed us to see the course from both sides.

If you’re interested, I’d highly recommend taking an instructor course from Bill, or an NRA instructor near you.

I learned a lot, and realize that I really need to get into the books to do the training correctly… And that my previous military instructor experience is both a help and a hinderance…

Comments

Whew… — 31 Comments

  1. Congrats! Glad you’ve joined the ‘club’!
    I got my NRA ‘Gun In The Home’ cert so AZDPS would grant me CCW instructor cred. I don’t know if I have the stamina to teach, anymore, but, it sure was fun!

    gfa

  2. Congratulations. One of these day I should break down and do the same…but I doubt it.

  5. Congrats Ol’ FO. Many have and will learn from your knowledge and experience.

  6. Guffaw- I ‘should’ have done it a long time ago…

    Stephen- It’s “only” time and money… 😀

    Robert/drjim- Thank you!

  7. Congratulations on the training. I can vouch for what you said, I am a scout leader and I am only qualified to teach archery and BB’s to cub scouts. The Webelo’s can shoot pellet rifles but the instructor has to be NRA trained and that cost $$$. I want to get the NRA range training so I can run ranges for both webelo and boy scouts.

    • I’m Basic Pistol *and* Range Safety Officer trained.
      The RSO training is about one-half “running the business of a range”, but is still well worth the money and time.
      And as somebody else here posted, it gives you extra credibility in dealing with people.

  9. I like the idea that someone with common sense will be working with the Boy Scouts and teaching them the proper handling of firearms. Not just from their dad and uncles and such. Congrats on doing it right, too.

  11. Exactly how much Time and Money?
    I’ve plenty of one but not so much of the other.
    I’ve taught a few people how to shoot but feel I could do better.

  12. Congratulations, NFO! That’s a big accomplishment. I can attest to the fact, however, that you already were an EXCELLENT firearms instructor. 🙂

  14. I’ve signed up for the Basic Pistol Instructor program for the same reason. And because I’m going to be putting together some continuing education programs where having that certification will lend some credibility to the content.

    I recently taught my son and daughter in law the very basics of handgun shooting, but want to be able to do a better job the next time I’m visiting.

    I, however, will not be going to Iowa in the middle of glacier season to take my class! 😉

  15. “it’s colder’n hell”
    Well, I would hope so!
    Good! Those scouts need great instructors, and I am sure you will do a wonderful job.

  16. Congrats on a well earned certificate. You will, undoubtedly, positively touch the lives of many fine scouts. However, they are attention challenged young men, so “Be Prepared!”

  17. Welcome to the club, buddy! If I may make a recommendation, get your rifle discipline in addition… and volunteer for Boy Scouts. Most rewarding thing I do with my instructorship (it’s a word. I just made it.)

  18. and… I feel dumb for only reading paragraph one and then posting. You already ARE working with the scouts! The only downside having pistol as opposed to rifle is that only Venture scouts, 14 and over, can shoot pistols per BSA rules. 🙁

  20. SoCal- Thanks!

    Mr.G- I got pistol this time around, will do rifle next… and yeah, it’s kinda pricey, but it pays back in spades (doing the right thing, not in $$)!

    WSF- Good point!

    CP/Fuzzy- Thanks!

    Stretch- $300 for the course, luckily my travel was basically no cost…

    Christina- Thank you, that means a lot 🙂

    Rick- “I” think it’s worth it!

    TOTW- Smartass 😛

    Jenn- When the HIGH for three days is 33, yeah it’s COLD! 🙂

    Mikey- Having been one, I can vouch for that!!!

    Tango- Rifle is on my list!

    JR- Yeah, but ‘my’ luck is wrong place wrong time… LOL

  24. Welcome to the club! Once you get the paperwork back, get the RSO cert. If you have instructor cert, you can simply take a written test for that.

    Nicely done!

  27. Good on ya, brother.

    I’ve been thinking about teaching CCDW here in the Commonwealth; I just have to get up off the keister and figure out how to go about it…

  29. Cold in Iowa in the spring? Really? I live about 2 hours drive south of where you flew out of. Also, welcome to the NRA instructor club. You will find that it’s very rewarding for your students and YOURSELF!

    Terry > Retired Senior Chief Gunners Mate