Tom Smith - Lead Instructor

Tom has been a firearms enthusiast for more than 30 years.  He first learned his skills at the hands of his father who is a veteran that served as a company commander in the army during the 60's.  Tom followed his footsteps and served in the Army as an infantryman in the late 80's.  Tom's enthusiasm has led him to be a lifelong hunter who has hunted game in several countries as well as being a competition shooter in both handgun and long-range rifle.  He is also active in the firearms industry and consults with several firearms industry manufacturers on products and designs.

Tom is a certified instructor with the National Rifle Association, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training.  He is also a Certified Range Safety Officer.  Tom has a Red Belt with black stripe (one level removed from Black Belt) in Taekwondo and has trained in Maui Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, and Greco-Roman Wrestling.

Tom is involved in every aspect of the training and will lead most classes.  His easy-going style allows him to be very approachable during classes.  While very knowledgeable, Tom will never come off as smug and goes to great lengths to provide information in an easy to understand manner.  He considers it a privilege to be involved in each and every class and quickly makes friends with every student.  Training students and preparing them to defend themselves as well as introducing people to the sport of shooting is his passion and it shows in every class he teaches.


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Sabra Smith - Instructor

Sabra has been around firearms for almost 20 years.  She original took up shooting as a way to spend time with her family and found that she not only really enjoyed the shooting sports, but was a very talented shooter.  Sabra is a graduate of many firearms self-defense classes and has been instructing full time for over two years.  She has also studied unarmed self-defense using Chinese Kempo and Akido techniques.

Sabra focuses on assisting newer shooters during the range portion of the class.  Her patience and amazing teaching skills have helped an untold number of novices go from a lack of confidence or even scared to really enjoying their shooting experience and hitting their target with amazing regularity.

Many people credit Sabra with launching their interest in firearms due to her skill as an instructor and her involvement is a primary reason many of our classes have such a high percentage of referred female students.  She is also the friendliest person you could ever hope to meet and will go out of her way to make you feel right at home during your training.



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Jared Gilreath - Instructor

Jared is a self-defense master.  He has been involved in the martial arts for 17 years and has spent the last 7 years as an instructor.  He has a black belt in Taekwondo and has trained in Chinese Kenpo, Aikido, Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, Maui Thai, Close quarter Combatives, and the George Dillman system of Pressure Point Fighting.  Jared has also been involved in the sport of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighting.


Additionally, Jared has 5 years of military service and has served on deployments ranging from Hurricane Katrina to Operation Iraqi Freedom.  While in Iraq, Jared served on a Personal Security Detail for Tier 1 VIP's and was hand selected for a 3-man Personal Security Detail for Brig. General Phillips.

Jared's primary focus is on unarmed self-defense in our advanced classes although his skills as an instructor and master of many different kinds of weapons lends his abilities extremely well to providing great insight into all our classes.  Jared is extremely friendly and helpful and will quickly become a guy you can consider a friend, which is a good thing because you definitely want him on your side.



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Peggy McAbee - Instructor

Peggy has trained in the martial arts for many years and now holds the title of Assistant Instructor.  She has a green belt in Chinese Kempo, a blue belt in Aikido and a purple belt in Taekwondo.  Peggy is also training in Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Kali-Escrima.  She teaches Youth Classes and assists in teaching the Women's Self-Defense Seminars at Unified Martial Arts in Stillwater.

Peggy is a valuable asset in our weaponless self-defense classes.  You can find Peggy training seven days a week in her martial arts along with gun, stick and knife disarming techniques.  She brings not only extensive experience in the martial arts but a woman's point of view to the training.  Her kind words and easy smile makes everyone around her feel at ease.


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Mike Smith - Instructor

One of my great joys is getting to work with my son, Mike, during our training classes.  Mike attends the University of Arkansas where he is studying History with plans to gain his masters degree at Seminary.  He is heavily involved with the Christian outreach program, Young Life, both here in Stillwater and as a leader in Fayetteville.  He is also an Eagle Scout through Boy Scouts of America Troop 828.

Mike has studied the martial arts and is an absolute ace with the AR platform.  He is a very skilled shooter and hunter and can handle anything from long range rifles to handguns with extreme proficiency.  Don't let his youth fool you, Mike has grown up around the shooting sports and is keenly aware of all aspects of training and safety.

Mike's primary responsibilities lies in range management where he assists the primary instructors with the operation of our firing range.  Mike's lifelong affection for firearms and willingness to do any task assigned has certainly provided him the unique opportunity to be well beyond his years in knowledge and experience.  You will see him working on the range, changing out targets, and demonstrating a skill set as the instructor takes the class through their paces.  Don't hesitate to ask him for anything you need.  His easy-going yet respectful style makes him a real asset to any class he is involved with.


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Megan Smith - Assistant Instructor / Sales

It is truly a great joy to get to work with those you love.  I'm fortunate to get to work with my daughter, Megan, during our training classes.  Megan is a senior at Stillwater High School and is heavily involved in choir and other activities.  Megan is also a participant in Stillwater Young Life, which is a local Christian outreach program as well as activities through Sunnybrook Christian Church.  She is also very active politically, being involved in many debates and keeping aware of current topics.

Megan has studied martial arts including Tae Kwon Do, Chinese Kempo, and Akido.  She is an unbelievable shot with a pistol and has competed in handgun competitions, often showing up "the boys" much older than her.  It's always an event worth seeing when Megan pulls out the full-size .357 magnum revolver and begins taking it through a course of fire or throws her competition pistol up and begins laying down steel plates with amazing speed and accuracy.  Megan is also a great thinker and brings a great perspective to the classes through the eyes of a young woman.  Having grown up around firearms and self-defense training, she has a wealth of self-defense knowledge and is always willing to share that knowledge and skills with others.

Megan's primary responsibilities during training are assisting new shooters, often young ladies like herself, and demonstrating skills and techniques as the primary instructor takes the class through it's paces.  She is of great assistance in showing that, regardless of size or stature, anyone can master the skills we teach.  Megan is a pleasure to have in class as her easy smile and soft-spoken manner mask the deadly efficiency in which she can wield a weapon.  Yes, potential boyfriends, that was "aimed" at you.


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Larry Pettit - Gunsmith

 

Larry has been married to his wife Faith for 36 years and has 6 children and 10 grandchildren.  He served in the US Army National Guard from 1990 - 2004.  Larry was involved in the first Gulf War (Desert Storm) as a Rocket Launch Crewmember.  After hostilities ceased, he was made a vehicle and artillery general mechanic due to his civilian experience as a mechanic.

Larry spent 3 years full time with the Oklahoma National Guard in Ardmore and Ada and became the section motor chief and later inspector for whelled vehicles and small arms to include crew served and individual weapons.

Larry graduated from Colorado Technical University in 2009 obraining an Associates degree of Science, Applied Mechanics.  He is also a graduate of the US Army Course in electrical repair, level 30, and small arms repair and inspection, level 40.  Larry is a graduate of the Penn Foster Career School with a degree as Gunsmith.

Larry is capable of just about any repair or custom work with the exception of "Hot bluing".  This is something we hope to add to our mix of capabilities soon. 

 

 

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