About CDA

Charlie Delta Academy is a culmination of my experience so far as a shooter and my desire to give back and help others along the way. The name is a reminder to not take myself too seriously and to remember where I came from as well as where I still have to go as a shooter. 

 

 

The training industry is flush with content guaranteed to make you better with "this one simple trick!!!". The fact is, it does not work that way. There is no single technique or trick that will make you a better shooter overnight. You must constantly pursue the fundamentals and their core concepts. I'm far from the first or only person to think this way. However, this is my way to offer up my own understanding of practical marksmanship, share my own training, and help others with theirs.

 

More about me:

I'm not here to give you my bullet-point war hero resume for my ego (although, I am a civilian pilot and I think it's in the FAA regulations that pilots announce themselves at every possible opportunity). This is for readers, and later students, to understand where I come from as a shooter and instructor. I started carrying a gun professionally around my 18th birthday when I enlisted in the Army as a reconnaissance trooper. I spent 7 years in the Army with two deployments overseas during Operation Iraqi Freedom and subsequent operations, finishing as a reconnaissance section leader. I then left the Army for a career in law enforcement where I served most of my time as a K9 handler, narcotics officer, and part time instructor.

 

I ended up as a full time firearms instructor with the Department of Energy's Training Command (TRACOM). Thanks to the gentlemen I worked with, I became a true student of marksmanship and practical shooting. I realized the "tactical" training community left a lot to be desired and, in some ways, was moving in the wrong direction. Old training paradigms and tactical dogma had placed a limit on our own improvement. Training became an Instagram fad and too many people had drawn a line between competitive shooting and carrying a firearm professionally, with both sides not wanting to acknowledge the benefits of the other. Fortunately, some in the industry have begun to slay the sacred cows the community has held onto. 

 

I finally decided to take up competitive shooting full time. In my first season, I became a Master class shooter in IDPA and high B-class in USPSA. By coincidence, my first season mostly consisted of IDPA matches. Although, I am a fan of both sports. Competitive shooting offered a new freedom to explore and pursue my abilities as a shooter. It doesn't matter how good I am today, there is always someone better and something else to achieve. That is exactly what I needed.

 

Eventually, my wife saw my drive to excel in USPSA and IDPA and helped push me to create this site. I'm currently a contractor working overseas and shooting matches as I can on my trips home. Soon I hope to draw on my past experience to grow this into a training company offering classes for competitive shooters and professional gun handlers alike. Welcome, and I hope you stick around for what's to come