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The Godfather Of Gun Training: Jeff Cooper
Am Shooting Journal ^ | 4/7/2017 | Tim Reed

Posted on 04/07/2017 9:22:06 AM PDT by w1n1

I have never met Jeff Cooper. I have never taken a class at the Gunsite Academy and I don't claim to know much about the man. I do know that he saved my life, and if you carry a gun for a living, at some point he is going to save yours too. In order to digest this sweeping statement you have to understand how things were before Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper, USMC (retired/deceased), developed the "modern techniques" of small arms training and opened the Gunsite Training Academy in Paulden, Ariz.

THE FIRST FIREARM that I carried was a Marine Corps issue .45-caliber pistol. The date: December 1983; the place: Beirut, Lebanon; and the mission: determine the source and nature of a serious food-borne illness that had started ashore. I was a navy corpsman, a medical laboratory technician, coming off the USS Guam to assist the environmental medical team in isolating an outbreak of salmonella paratyphoid. This disease is a man killer and the mission was very important, but as far as pistols go, I was completely untrained. A fellow corpsman, who was assigned to the Marine helicopter squadron operating off the coast of Guam, had given me the pistol.

I have know idea where he got the firearm; he simply pulled it out of his tiny locker located in the shared overflow berthing compartment. He handed it to me with the warning, "Whatever happens, for god's sake, don't load it because the Marines ashore would go crazy if they caught you with a loaded weapon." Read the rest of the Jeff Cooper story here.


TOPICS: Hobbies; Military/Veterans; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: banglist; gunsite; guntraining

1 posted on 04/07/2017 9:22:06 AM PDT by w1n1
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To: NewJerseyJoe

P4L


2 posted on 04/07/2017 9:46:12 AM PDT by NewJerseyJoe (Rat mantra: "Facts are meaningless! You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!")
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To: WXRGina

ping


3 posted on 04/07/2017 10:06:17 AM PDT by logitech
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To: w1n1

Good article, thanks for the link.


4 posted on 04/07/2017 10:30:09 AM PDT by elimn8u
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To: w1n1; logitech

Cool! We just got back from Gunsite, the February 250 Pistol Class.


5 posted on 04/07/2017 10:51:57 AM PDT by WXRGina (Repeal and DON'T replace!)
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To: w1n1

Great article. Thanks.


6 posted on 04/08/2017 4:18:56 AM PDT by ViLaLuz (2 Chronicles 7:14)
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To: WXRGina

How was it? Your thoughts, opinions?


7 posted on 04/08/2017 5:35:21 PM PDT by Redcitizen
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To: Redcitizen

RC, it was outstanding! Here’s my report on it: http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3541876/posts


8 posted on 04/09/2017 5:53:47 AM PDT by WXRGina (Repeal and DON'T replace!)
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To: WXRGina

I read it and it was a well written, detailed report. Sounds like you got your money’s worth and some good life long habits. I do appreciate your posting it.


9 posted on 04/11/2017 7:10:18 PM PDT by Redcitizen
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