Bill Dalpe and I have been social media friends for a while. I will admit that I’ve got another friend using “Patriot” for his training business and I may have gotten them mixed up at first. I met Bill at the GOAL Breakfast this past year and I took the Before You Carry & Defend class with my good friend Mark, who I’ve done a few other courses with. I’m glad that Bill and I finally made it happen this summer.
Like many instructors, Bill started off teaching from friends and friends of friends. After someone suggested he become an instructor, he learned that he didn’t know what he didn’t know. That’s where his passion for training and training trainers started. Bill is a certified instructor with the NRA, the USCCA, and the MA State Police. And he’s a Training Counselor for the NRA and USCCA, too. He started Patriot Firearms School and has built it to a great training school with it’s own classroom stocked with all the things an instructor needs and more! He’s got some Patriot Firearms School swag, too. With his facility, he offers it for use by his instructor candidates. Eventually, he had a client who had some local property and offered to build him a range. Like many offers from folks, he didn’t believe it until he saw it. Now it’s where he does live fire for his courses.
Bill wrote a book called After The Bell Rings. It’s a situational awareness book for kids in their early teen years. There was a local boy around 13 years old who was abducted over drugs. Wanting to do something to help, he took the NRA’s Refuse To Be A Victim course to a local school and offered it for free. After the school administrator saw “NRA” on the back of the book, they rejected wanting the course in their school. Bill took this obstacle and turned it into an opportunity to write this book.
The book looks at several situations that are realistic and how a teenager can respond to them. He uses the Cooper Color Code of Awareness, but adapts it to a Trust Ring, which relates better to younger people. The book is written for teenage students but their parents should really read it and talk with their kids about how they can implement these ideas into their own lives.
The backseat rider we have is Fred. Fred is a 3D target made by Target Nation. He’s a cardboard target torso and body that can be used with the downloadable vital organ targets or traditional targets. The aim with the targets is that in self defense situations our “target’ isn’t a 2 dimensional concentric circle or a bowling pin Q style target. You could shoot at an angle and not hit any vital organs, which can be analyzed with Fred. Fred can be dressed up in clothes and comes with several accessories, including a shotgun, knife, phone, and a gun. He can also be a target backing and opens up to put targets inside him. Fred really takes the scenario training up a notch as many folks haven’t shot at targets that look, shaped, and dressed like people.
Bill also has a podcast that gets into something close to his heart. His son has dravet syndrome so he and his wife are life long caregivers for their son. His podcast & YouTube channel “A Matter of Perspective”
Favorite quotes:
- “I didn’t know what I didn’t know, but then I knew what I knew, I was like WOW!”
- “I have a very huge soft spot for new instructors. I remember what it was like when I first became an instructor.”
- “I’ve been exposed to a multitude of sh!tty instructors.”
- “I take my role as a Training Counselor extremely seriously.”
- “I like the role of mentoring instructors.”
- “None of us have our (stuff) completely together.”
Riding Shotgun With Charlie
Riding Shotgun With Charlie isn’t about firearms. It is about having an intimate conversation with 2 people talking. You’re the fly on the rearview mirror. Many passengers are involved in the firearm community, but not all of them.
This is a more intimate conversation than a phone, radio, or Skype interview. You get to see the passengers. And you’ll see where the road and the conversation take you!
www.ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com.
