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In reading TGO David's post from 06 Apr 2012:   1. Valor Ridge Pistol Immersion (Pistol Craft I and II combined) 2. This class is conducted by Valor Ridge. 3. Lead instructor is Reid Henrichs. 4. Cost of this course was $950.00. 5. I am in no way affiliated with the organization of Valor Ridge nor did I know Reid Henrichs in any shape or form before taking this class. I am receiving no payment of any form by completing this AAR.  I am simply a firearms enthusiast and enjoy training and wanted to share this new firearms school with the members of TGO. I was a TGO Benefactor before Valor Ridge became public.       Last week I attended Valor Ridge Pistol Immerson class which is Pistol Craft I and II in a 4 day spread. The wife was wanting to tag along but I talked her out of it and made it a man trip. Chattanooga to Middlesboro, KY didn't take too long. I stayed at the Middlesboro Holiday Inn Express.   Some thoughts on this place to stay: 90% of our class stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. It is in the very middle of town across from Wal Mart. There is a bit of traffic noise but not too bad. The free breakfast was nice to have. I loaded up on their oatmeal every day. Hot coffee to go was nice as well. Their parking lot security seemed better than average with multiple cameras in the lot. That said, they didn't bat an eye when I unloaded my truck everyday coming through the lobby. There is a Cracker Barrel nearby if you are a huge breakfast eater. The travel time from the hotel to Valor Ridge was 25 minutes and this isn't a route you can exactly speed on and make up time. Head back through the tunnel and then make your way to Valor Ridge. They way I went took me from Kentucky, into a valley in Virginia, and then some fairly tight roads into Tennessee. Once you turn off the main divided highway in Virginia, you can forget speeding. Its a tight, narrow road with drop-offs. Put on some country music like Eric Church and enjoy the ride. My F150 navigation was WAY off. Verizon did pretty well. You will see a Valor Ridge sign on the road. Locals know you probably ain't from around there and will help you. They seem nice enough, even to the Yankees in the class that took a wrong turn.   The property is extremely nice. He certainly put some work in to the range and buildings. I have included some images after my ramblings for your viewing pleasure. Everything is new. The classroom has a lot of history in it as well. Reid put together a video that I will link and it shows some detail on the classroom.   When we got to Valor Ridge, Reid was there as well as an assistant instructor. Easy going handshaking and welcoming was going on. The classroom was set up and in everyone's place was a Pistol Craft I notebook, VR logo pen and water bottle. Nice touch. Introductions were made. The assistant instructor is a flight nurse in his other job and it was nice to have such a medical person on staff with his go bag of goodies. Reid is very humble and doesn't talk about himself much. He is very good on his delivery of the material in the book. You can tell he was a teacher prior to this endeavor. The fundamentals were covered and thoroughly explained and then it was range time for paper targets. The range for the pistol class is a 100 yard gravel flat surface with targets at both ends. There is a concrete pad at one end for the majority of this class. The days run together after a while. I can't tell you when we covered certain topics or when we shot and then went to lunch. Pistol Craft I essentially covers fundamentals, range time (proper draw and presentation of weapon from holster, marksmanship under stress, clearance of type 1, 2, and 3 malfunctions, loading and reloading, one handed manipulations, moving and shooting, various shooting positions, shooting from 3-50 yards, contact distance techniques, how to deal with multiple targets, crowd management, and additional classroom instruction on the attitude of the armed citizen and this is incorporated nicely with various history lessons regarding an armed population. This mindset classroom instruction is worth the cost of the class IMHO. Marksmanship, OODA loop, and pre-assault cues as it relates to criminal assault paradigms. were also covered. I cannot express to you how good of a teacher he is. I hope it comes through on his YouTube videos. Standard LE qualification and the FBI POC were passed during this course.   Pistol Craft II is where the real fun began. Most shooting on the range was either solo, in pairs, or in small groups while in front of the class. The classroom time covered deadly force analysis, medical and anatomical lectures, GSW and treatment. Range time took off right where Pistol Craft I ended. The situations Reid has created for Pistol Craft II will not be discussed by me. You just have to experience it for yourself with no pre-gaming. At no time were the 4 handgun rules violated during the 4 days of training. We had people in the class for whom this was their first time taking a tactical course and there were students who had previous training. The pace was appropriate so that everyone was challenged. We had a great group of individuals in our class. Everyone was a good dude except for the one female in the class and she hung right in there with all the guys.   It was nice to meet Reid's SO as well. She is a friendly and down to earth person just as he is. They seem to be a great couple and I wish them the best in their future they are building up on the Ridge. I hear she is a shooter as well with an AR, I just didn't get to see it.   I could keep typing about this class and what it was like. I have no complaints about this class in its delivery, classroom or range execution, or any aspect of this class in general. The video linked below describes the range much better than I can. The goats are a good thing. Ole Ted likes his ears and head scratched. I feel that Valor Ridge is going to keep growing as shown by 2016 is almost entirely sold out. I hear they have additional classes planned for release in 2017. If this were a publically traded company, I would have bought stock in it while I was up there. I can't wait to go back and take Rifle Immersion.   Ried's vido on what Valor Ridge looks like now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHTySD_bZUE

I've been looking forward to this for a while. He seems to be doing very well for himself. His class are selling out rapidly for this year. Not the best AAR author but I will give it my honest opinion.

Anybody headed to Harrogate, TN this weekend for Pistol Immersion?

I ordered the cop rig and it did well for the shotgun class. Not exactly low profile but there will be not a whole lot of places to hide in the front yard if you get up and running with this rig on. Unfortunately I don't think there is an ETA on future orders. It's a versatile rig for sure. http://www.originalsoegear.com/collections/chest-rigs/products/cop-rig

I can't wait to learn how to make this 870 sing. Looking forward to the shoulder-bruise-resembling-a-blueberry-patch. It wouldn't be the first time going home with validation marks from training.

Thanks for the welcome. I look forward to this class and meeting some individuals from your area. If anyone is on the fence, this is a golden opportunity with Randy especially considering price and a small class size.

I'm in. PM inbound.

Man and I thought I was the rectal magnet. You surpass me Sir and that's an impressive feat.

When SI claims this is one of their "premier" courses they aren't kidding. This was hands down the best tactical class I have taken thus far and will likely remain so. To a degree, all classes are what you put into them and I gave this one 110% and came home with a fair share of bruises (summertime class and I refused to put on extra layers during Airsoft shooting) My wife asked me was I just a slow learner or just slow in general. This class is where the rubber meets the road and to say Randy is an excellent instructor in this area is an understatement. I feel sorry for whoever has a brain fart and decides to jump him at breathing distance one day.    I would suggest not getting the double cheeseburger at lunch before the wrestling session. Just my two cents. 

The training was done by GandLacademy.com and this individual was the instructor.    http://gandlacademy.com/instructors/rob-corcoran/   My card reads "This certifies that ......has completed training for exp. batons".    It was not specific to Monadnock but he carried one. 

Hey Randy. It was a good class. It taught you how to handle the baton and was more in defensive nature than I thought to be honest. Strikes were covered. What I have an issue with is how police are using this weapon for compliance vs pulling their gun out and I think that is different for a civilian (maybe armed, maybe not) down on Market Street in Chattanooga that gets approached on the street by urban dwellers with bad intentions in mind. Simple compliance would not be my goal in mind at that point. I guess we can all hash that out in court in the future if it comes to it.    I appreciate the OP setting this class up and I was impressed with G and L's instructor for the baton class. 

I will pass it on that I have seen work done by Tactical Firearms Solutions out of Cleveland, TN and their work is outstanding. I hear they are soon to open a store in the shopping center where Sportsman's is located. I don't want to break any TOS by quoting the contact information on a non-paying vendor. They have a page on FB with contact information and he has a FFL. 

    I came here to get a better house but I neglected to consider the GA income taxes. Bonehead move. Its about time to look for some acres in Tennessee.

  Hey dawgdoc. I don't blame you for the quick getaway. The only crazier people about a college team would be our Blue neighbors to the north.   I bleed Georgia Southern blue. People just get a funny look on their face or tell me they went a semester to GSU and had to come home.

Thanks for the welcome guys. Now I gotta work on getting a sig and image. And joining the Benefactor status.

Hey guys. My mailing address is in Walker County but my employment and all my free time is spent in Tennessee so I hope this is well received. I work at Erlanger in the OR and my wife is medical too. I grew up in middle Georgia but moved around with jobs and education and am probably gonna stay here. I've lived here since 2004. I've grown up around guns my whole life and have been training with Suarez for the last couple years. I've been fortunate enough to learn from Randy in regards to getting off the X and getting tossed around by him in a 0-5 class. I started off with a Ruger .357 Police Service Six as my first handgun, moved to Glocks, am invested heavily in the 7.62x39 with AK rifles / pistols, then obtained some (cough cough) 7.62x54 guns, then just got into the AR based pistols. That about covers my calibers. I love the outdoors and spending time with my family (wife and two labradoodles). I CC when I can and have other items when I can't...its hard to conceal in scrubs and you can imagine that doesn't go over well in the employment arena. I am a member of CRC range.   I joined because I know two posters and they recommended the site. It looks to be a great forum and I like how most of the information on here is pertinent to my location. I hope to be an active contributor and continue learning. Thanks guys. 

Both of the other two guys have confirmed payment. 

Add me to the list and +2 others. Paid and done for total of 3 on my end. The wife is one of the three. The additional two other guys were texted payment options.    Thanks for setting this up and I'm looking forward to this class.    Well done Sir.