Mike Garza - Lead Instructor
Mike brings a passion for teaching personal defense and tactics to his students and presents it in a straight forward and easy to understand format. He is a lifelong student of the gun excelling in a variety of platforms but with a passion for long distance precision shooting. His interest in firearms came early in life, despite being in a household unfriendly to firearms, by way of summer camps that encouraged marksmanship skills development. These summer retreats allowed Mike to gain an appreciation for firearms and marksmanship that set in motion a path to the military and law enforcement. With over 15 years spent involved with providing advanced technology and hardware in support of our national security, NAS and Department of Defense initiatives for tactical reconnaissance and battle damage assessment, Mike is able to explain highly complex tactics and learning concepts with an ease that most veteran instructors appreciate.
Mike has extensive training on many weapon systems from his years in the United States Navy and as a military contractor in places such as Dubai, Haifa, Egypt, UAE, and Israel. He is on his 10th year in law enforcement with one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the Southwest. He has spent 6 years as a General and Firearms Instructor and Range Safety Officer with his agency and also carries certifications to instruct for judgmental use of force, weapon inspector, defensive tactics, weapon retention, mechanical restraints, chemical agents and numerous other AZPOST courses for the agency. Mike is also a certified Taser® instructor for both initial and rectification courses and maintains certifications from the National Rifle Association for Basic Pistol, Firearms Safety, and Range Safety Officer.
Mike has conducted countless hours of training for active shooter and force on force training scenarios with handgun, shotgun, rifle, and Taser®. Mike is also both Arizona and Nationally certified as an EMT and provides emergency range medical treatment if ever needed.
Mike feels compelled to share the theories behind training concepts and finding what works for the individual versus believing that there is only one way to accomplish the results of speed and accuracy. As a firearms instructor to hundreds of students each year for both civilian and law enforcement, his professional and instructing style makes for a great learning environment. "My goal is to change students mindset of ‘who cares’ or 'it’s not that important’ when it comes to defensive firearms training. Each shot matters, each drill matters, each miss matters, and each mistake matters. You had better care enough now to learn the skills needed to save your life, or that of your family, when it happens.”
