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Ray Chapman, |
Ray's shooting career began at the age of 16 as a Marine in WWII. Many of his principles for defensive shooting came from this experience. His activities as a law enforcement officer reinforced them. At the request of fellow officers he began teaching these principles. He perfected his skills and became involved in competitive shooting. Ray went on to win more than 250 major shooting tournaments. The most prestigious was the inaugural World Championship of Practical Shooting in 1975.
The demands for his teaching became such that he took early retirement as an engineer and moved to Columbia, Missouri, to open the Chapman Academy of Practical Shooting. As Ray’s reputation grew his school also gained a reputation for excellence among shooters. Ray strives for perfection in everything he does. That effort is reflected in the course curriculums offered at the Academy. Ray always incorporates new techniques to improve the presentation and content of the programs.
Ray reduced his participation in the hands-on instruction of the Academy after fifty years of shooting and teaching. His personal involvement now consists of working with certain returning groups.
Ray's influence at the Academy continues through the instruction of his long time associate and Director John Skaggs, and the staff they have trained.
Effective shot placement, moving quickly, and using cover are the three essentials of practical defensive shooting. They are continually emphasized when any of Ray's instructors are teaching.
Ray passed away on February 2, 2008 (obituary 1, obituary 2); his legacy will continue through his instructors and the people he has trained to win.
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John Skaggs, |
Like Ray, John's shooting career started in uniform, but as a law enforcement officer. Before John had received any formal training he was involved in an armed confrontation with a robber. John was periodically involved in such armed situations throughout his entire law enforcement career. These convinced him of the value of quality training which he endeavors to provide to Chapman Academy students.
John eventually received basic law enforcement training and went on to receive advanced formal firearms training ranging from the University of Illinois to the Department of the Treasury Secret Service Firearm Instructor course. His Chief appointed John as the Firearms Instructor of the department as a result of his training and experience. John was selected to be the Firearms Training Coordinator of the Region 4 Mobile Law Enforcement Training Unit in Illinois in addition to his duties as a street officer. Blackhawk College of Moline, Illinois awarded John the status of Adjunct Associate Professor in Criminal Justice in 1981.
In 1984, John attended the Chapman Academy Police Survival School and returned in 1986 as an instructor. When Ray semi-retired he promoted John to Chief Instructor of the Chapman Academy. John’s 10 years of experience with Ray fully familiarized him with the Chapman curriculum. He has an unmatched insight into Ray's concept of practical shooting.
John suffered a stroke in June of 2004, and has not yet been able to resume his teaching. Some in the industry have written about John's experience, and how his training has helped others. His fellow instructors are still in close contact with John, and wish him continued progress in the difficult recovery process.
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Rich Greiner, |
As a Vietnam Era veteran, Rich's firearms training began when he was assigned as a Navy Hospital Corpsman T.A.D. to the 2nd Marine Division. Although limited to only the venerable 1911 as a sidearm because of non-combatant status, he quickly developed a passion for shooting and the shooting sports.
Rich became a certified NRA rifle, pistol and shotgun instructor. As a life-long recreational and competitive shooter, Rich began taking the various Chapman courses in 1993. Recognized by Ray and John as having the potential to become a member of the Chapman Academy instructor staff, he received numerous hours of coaching, counseling and training in the Chapman method of practical shooting.
In 1996 Rich, a small business owner at the time, was ambushed by two gunmen late one night while leaving his establishment. A shoot-out ensued. Despite being seriously wounded, Rich was able to prevail. He readily credits the training obtained from the Chapman Academy for his survival.
Despite his quiet demeanor and easy-going personality, Rich is passionate and thoroughly committed to insuring each student at the Academy receives the very best instruction in practical defensive shooting. During his time at Chapman Rich has taught elements of Chicago's HBT Team, and various federal agencies. Rich has been "on-board" at the Academy since 1997.
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John Leveron, |
John had some formal competition and training experience in the U.S. Army, but attended more schools as
a police officer. John attended training seminars and courses from the Law Enforcement Training Institute, and several
state and federal agencies, and served as his department's primary firearms instructor. Working the midnight shift for a
number of years placed John in a number of armed confrontations. This reemphasized to him the need to continue gaining
further training.
Like many other instructors, John also attended other private firearms schools in the U.S., culminating with the Chapman
Academy in 1997. John began his instructor training with Ray and John Skaggs later that year, and has taught at the
Academy since 1998. John has also guest instructed for the FBI (St. Louis office) and a number of Missouri and Federal law
enforcement agencies.
John enjoys working with the unique individuals that come to the Chapman Academy, from military and Special Response teams,
to the many officers and private citizens who are attending using their own checkbook because they want to win, should they
be forced to defend themselves.
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Craig "Gunny" Johnston, |
Craig's shooting career began at age 18 as a U.S. Marine. A retired Gunnery Sergeant with 21 years, Craig won his first leg medal in 1986. In 1988 Craig was trained as a Marksmanship Instructor and in 1990 served with the Marine Corps shooting teams. During his career Craig has taught hundreds of Marines to shoot various weapons.
In 1992, all of Craig's training was put to use when he served as a sniper team leader and a UNITAF advisor to an auxiliary security force in Somalia.
Retiring in 2000, Craig moved to Columbia and became an NRA certified pistol instructor. Craig spent some time around John Skaggs, and became more interested in defensive pistol usage. Craig went through the instructional programs in 2004 and wanted to help other shooters with practical shooting, and he started teaching at the Chapman Academy in 2005. Craig enjoys instructing, recreational and competitive shooting.
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Jeff Harper, |
Jeff "Harp" Harper came from a law enforcement family, and started shooting and hunting at an early age. Jeff's father was a police instructor, and Jeff grew up helping with instruction for various departments and police academies in Illinois and Wisconsin. Jeff's background there is primarily in defensive tactics, and retention / disarming.
Like many of us, Jeff grew up shooting handguns, but "did not know, what he did not know" until exposed to formal progressive defensive pistol instruction. Jeff took to course work quickly, and took every course in 2006, and began instructor development late that year, culminating in a teaching start during 2007.
Jeff is also an avid high-power cross course shooter, having competed at Camp Perry several times. Jeff also enjoys physical fitness, and long range shooting besides the weekly pistol work.
How to become an instructor at the Chapman Academy
Essentially, this is a service job, and it takes the right sort of person. We initially expect you to come out and take (at a minimum) the Introduction to Chapman Method course, which lets you evaluate the first steps of the Chapman Method, and lets you see the instructors and vice versa.
If after your initial courses it looks like there is a match for each party, then the Academy will put you through additional instructor training at our cost. As you progress through this, you will learn more of the techniques themselves, how to effectively communicate them, the set up process, the lectures, demonstrations, and to generally become proficient with the course material.
For the motivated, this process takes about a year. There is generally no pay (other than receiving all of the instructional development and courses) during this time. Upon completion of all of the public courses, as well as the instructor development weekends, you may well be ready to assist with an actual course. Our students expect the best, and we will only allow the best instructors at the Chapman Academy.
Mr. Chapman has empowered his two senior instructors to continue developing instructors that meet his strict standards and guidelines. In essence, the Chapman Academy doesn't hire instructors, we develop the right individuals to become Chapman Academy instructors.
If you are up for the challenge, please contact an instructor during a course you are attending, or after your course completion to begin the process.