Brent's FBI Handgun qualification for the Active Self Protection instructor certification program

Instructors @defenders-usa are held to a high standard to always be learning, growing and challenging their skill sets. Visit https://www.defenders-usa.com/about-us/ to meet our team!

Brent Hickmon is the owner of Haven Defense Co. (http://www.HavenDefenseCo.com), a custom holster manufacturing company he formed in early 2016 when he realized the need for access to better holsters and range gear after attending training with Defenders USA’s Adam Winch in 2015. Since then he has trained extensively under various Defenders USA instructors. Over the years since, Brent highly honed his skills in both handgun and rifle so much that in 2020, Adam asked him to start assisting in numerous classes, where he gained a lot of experience apprenticing as an assisting instructor and range safety officer.

Brent’s training resume is largely with Adam Winch and other Defenders USA instructors, with enrollment and completions as a student, as well as an assistant instructor in many:
– 3 Day “Defenders Series”, Concealed Handgun Permit Course, Fighting Rifle 1 & 2 , Combined Rifle/Pistol, Handgun Fundamentals, Handgun Speed & Accuracy, Advanced Fighting Handgun 1 & 2, Long Range Precision Rifle 1
Training outside of Defenders USA includes:
– NRA Basic Pistol Instructor Certification, with Dynamic Combative Solutions’s Dave Laird.
– Active Self Protection National Conference classes under John Correia (ASP), Brian Hill (The Complete Combatant), Neil Weidner (ASP), and
AJ Zito (Practical Performance).
– Certified Instructor and Advanced Instructor, with Rangemaster’s Tom Givens. Brent was won the coveted “Top Shot’ award in the Advanced Instructor Certification program.
– Deliberate Coaching, with The Complete Combatant’s Brian Hill.

Brent is the proud father of two young boys and has a magnificent wife, Marissa. They both run Haven Defense Co. full time, all while he enjoys camping, archery hunting, movies, reading, and oil painting.

Brent has challenged himself to apply for the ASP instructor certification program. Details can be found on the ASPIC website at: https://www.aspinstructors.com/

The @ActiveSelfProtection Instructor Certification is not a course for entry-level instructors.

To be considered for the program applicants submit:
- Verification of instructor certification from a nationally recognized source (NRA, USCCA, Rangemaster, Sig Academy, etc).
- A written summary of teaching experience (inside and outside the industry) and an approximation of the number of students you’ve taught.

You have to already know how to shoot.
-As part of your application packet you’ll submit an uncut video of yourself shooting 45 or better on Dot Torture at 3 yards, and an uncut video of yourself shooting 90 or higher on the FBI Qualification.

You have to know what’s up with medical.
-Verification of completion of a Stop The Bleed type trauma med course within the last 3 years.

Other people need to support this.
-A letter of reference from a student that has recently trained under you.

You’ll have to tell us your “why”.
-A statement of 1,000 words or less outlining why you believe the ASP Instructor Development program is for you.

You’ll have to tell us about yourself.
During the application process you’ll visit with members of our instructor cadre so we can get to know each other a bit and you can determine if this program is for you.

You’ll need to travel to attend a 3 day in-person training conference.
Students will be required to travel for an in-person training conference. There is only one date/location available per cohort and attendance is required for course completion.

The in-person training conference for Cohort 6 is March 3, 4, 5, 2023 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the beautiful Alliance Range & Armory. The in-person training conference for Cohort 7 is November 3, 4, 5, 2023.

Cohort 6 begins February 1, 2023 and Cohort 7 begins September 1, 2023.

You’ll have to put in the time and do the work.

Students can expect to spend five to seven hours per week to meet course requirements. Following a schedule we read, study, and digest about one book a month, engage in weekly Google Meets, and complete approximately seven assignments during the six month course. Students invest 120 to 150 hours to complete the course, making this equivalent to the workload of a master’s level collegiate three credit hour course. This course requires a lot, but never more than what’s do-able. Every book, assignment, Meet topic, and exercise is designed to enhance your teaching methods, your curriculum, your business and even you as a shooter.

This course requires a lot, but it will also give you a lot. To our knowledge, there is nothing like this course being offered in the firearm training community, and one distinguishing factor is that you will be expected to come to this course as a professional, and do the work of a professional through out the course.
Source: https://www.aspinstructors.com/