About Lethality Ranch.
Lethality Ranch came about after years of collaborating with a group of Soldiers and civilians who are, or were, responsible for developing, validating and codifying current Army small arms training doctrine, standards and requirements. Some in the working group have since transitioned out of the military, some have moved to new positions in related fields, and others are still roaming the halls of Building #4, FBGA.
These collaborators are members of the Lethality Ranch – Development Facebook Group, and some key players are Group Moderators in that group. They are also Authors who contribute to this website. If you’ve ever wondered why something is written the way it is, why certain things aren’t included in certain documents and standards, or why certain changes took place, the answer can be found in our collective brain housing group.
This website was created by a member of Army National Guard who was a senior small arms trainer at the largest west coast Army Pre-mobilization Training & Assessment Element, and who is now responsible to the State Marksmanship Coordinator for planning, resourcing, coordinating and conducting small arms training, unit assessments, trainer development, programs of instruction and the annual Combat Match (AKA, “TAG Match”).
Founded by a former Marine Intelligence Analyst, who felt the need contribute to the fight after 9/11, he joined the Army National Guard as the fastest way to deploy overseas as an infantryman. Three deployments to Afghanistan, and one deployment to Iraq later, he now devotes his time to leadership development in the area of small arms employment. In the beginning, however, he was far from proficient in the use of arms to do what the Army required.
On a helicopter headed to Camp Tillman, in a remote corner of Afghanistan, he soon realized that in real life, there isn’t any action movie theme music. Louder than the howl of the spinning rotors, the relentless echo of “oh shit, this is real” smothered the ill-conceived notion that the Army actually prepared him for any of this.
After that first deployment, the relentless pursuit of training flowed from the cold reality that nobody cares about one’s survival as much as the individual. As soon as you think that “If I really needed it, they would’ve trained me on it/given it to me/shown me how,” you’ve lost the battle.
40-some-odd months of boots on ground, more than 50 weapons-related training courses, and countless people trained in the military and civilian world later, it’s time to ensure hard won lessons are not lost, best practices are shared, and we help each other become better than we were yesterday.