Meet The Firearms Instructors....

Bob Houzenga

As a 20+ year veteran street-cop, Bob brings a real world perspective to his teaching.  Combined with his competitive career that spans decades and has earned him six national titles and over 300 state and local titles, he is uniquely qualified as a firearms instructor.  Bob has served as a staff instructor for Massad Ayoob's Lethal Force Institute since the early `80s.  He is also the firearms instructor for his department and expert in Police Training for surrounding county and municipal departments.

In addition to his firearms credits Bob is a certified instructor in Kubotan/persuader, and Weapon Retention and Retrieval. He has trained in knife/counter-knife techniques as well.  His long list of training includes: Gunsite, Chapman Academy, Massad Ayoob, Jim Cirillo, John Farnam, and Joe Truncale.  In 1996 this cumulative experience came together when asked by several LFI graduates to provide a two-day advanced shooting course.  Together with Andy Kemp, Bob created a program of fast paced drills for the advanced shooter, aptly called "Shoot `til Ya Puke".  This was so successful that it soon became part of Massad Ayoob's Lethal Force Institute program under the banner of LFI-Advanced Handgun Skills.  It is, to date, the only course offering by LFI that is not designed and/or taught by Massad Ayoob.  That Massad would put his stamp of approval on the course and welcome it into his curriculum speaks volumes to Bob's skill in building a training program and is an honor any instructor can be proud of.

Bob Houzenga is currently Chief of Police in Camanche, Iowa. He is a Master class IPSC and IDPA competitor.  When he is not teaching or running the police department Bob often provides expert witness testimony on behalf of the defense in justifiable shooting cases.  He is a published author and has appeared in approximately two-dozen publications. Midwest Training Group is proud to have him as co-Director.

Andy Kemp

Andy brings 25+ years of shooting experience with him.  He is a staff firearms instructor for Massad Ayoob's Lethal Force Institute and is the only private citizen to hold full instructor credentials with LFI.  Andy is also a staff instructor for John Farnam's Defense Training International giving him the rare honor of having instructor credentials with two of the Big Four schools.

In addition to firearms training, Andy is instructor certified in Weapon Retention & Disarming and Kubotan/Persuader.  Knife/counter-knife training and unarmed self-defense tactics supplement Andy's regular firearms training, adding a more universal dimension to his instructing style.  Over the years Andy has trained and worked with many of the most prestigious and nationally renowned firearms instructors including Massad Ayoob, Chuck Taylor, the Chapman Academy, John Farnam, Joe Truncale, and Jim Cirillo.  This diversity allows Andy to provide students with the full spectrum of techniques and philosophies.  Andy is also co-creator/instructor for LFI-Advanced Handgun Skills, a high-intensity skill development course recently added to the Lethal Force Institute curriculum.

A "Master"-ranked IDPA competitor, Andy holds state and regional combat shooting titles. Andy has trained hundreds of law enforcement officers and civilians and is a full member of the American Society for Law Enforcement Trainers. Andy has had articles published in Combat Handguns and Handguns Magazine and has appeared on CNN and Headline News as a weapons expert. His name and photo have appeared several times in many of the finer gun publications.

Massad Ayoob

Massad Ayoob is presently Director of the Lethal Force Institute (LFI), training hundreds of civilians and Law Enforcement personnel each year in judicious use of deadly force, armed and unarmed combat, threat management and officer survival.  Additionally, he coordinates a dozen LFI staff instructors and assistant instructors in four countries.  He appears selectively as a court accepted expert witness in the areas of dynamics of violent encounters, weapons and weapons / self-defense / police training, and survival and threat management tactics and principles.

Ayoob is a part-time/fully sworn police officer with the rank of Captain.  He has authored over one thousand published articles on weapons and self-defense, and several authoritative books.  Articles or stories about Massad Ayoob have appeared in such mainstream media as the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, LA Times, PBS Frontline, ABCs 20/20, Boston Herald, and many more too numerous to mention.

Ayoob's shooting skills have won him more local, state, regional, and national titles than can be mentioned here.  He is one of the first to have earned a four-gun Master rating in IDPA.  He is one of those rare individuals who have the ability to translate his own skills to others.  A powerful speaker, superb motivator, and skilled communicator, Massad Ayoob is recognized as one of the best firearms instructors in the country.

John Farnam

A veteran at Police Training, John Farnam is considered to be one of the top firearms instructors in the nation.  As president of Defense Training International (DTI) he has personally trained thousands of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel as well as civilians, in the tactical use of handgun, rifle, and shotgun.  As a military veteran who has seen action, John knows what works.  His experience in law enforcement enables John to differentiate between the training needs and responsibilities of a civil society as opposed to a military operation.

John has written and appeared in numerous articles and his classes have been the subject of several gun writers.  In addition to the firearms training videos John has produced, he has written some of the best texts on shooting techniques including The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning, The Farnam Method of Defensive Shotgun and Rifle Shooting, and The Street Smart Gun Book.

John is one of those rare firearms instructors who continue to train themselves, always seeking new techniques and skill.  He is a strong competitor each year at the National Tactical Invitational, a match designed to push shooters to the extreme and test every facet of firearms skill and tactics.  John brings the lessons learned there and elsewhere to his classes.  Each year John travels the country teaching the latest concepts in defensive tactics and marksmanship.

Joe Truncale

Joe Truncale has been a career police officer (29 Years with the Glenview Police Dept.) and a lifetime student of the martial arts (40 years of training and teaching) earning Black Belts in Karate (5th dan), Judo (5th dan), Kobudo (4th dan) and Jujitsu (9th dan soke). He has taught thousands of police officers and citizens self defense. He is the founder of Bushi Satori Ryu, Samurai Aerobics, Persuader Defense Systems, and Pro-Systems. He has more than 300 papers (articles, essays, reviews and poems) and 35 books/manuals published. He belongs to numerous professional associations and is one of the founding directors of ASLET.

Ken Hackathorn

Ken Hackathorn has served as a US Army Special Forces Small Arms Instructor, Gunsite Instructor, and NRA Police Firearms Instructor.  He is currently an FBI Certified Firearms Instructor, Certified Deputy Sheriff with Washington County SO, Ohio, and a SRT member and Special Response Team trainer.  Ken has trained US Military Special Operations forces, Marine FAST and SOTG units and is a contract small arms trainer to FBI SWAT and HRT.

Ken has provided training to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and been active in small arms training for the past 25 years.  He has written firearms related material for Guns & Ammo, Combat Handguns, Soldier Of Fortune, and currently American Handgunner and contributed to at least six other gun/shooting journals.  He is a founding member of IPSC and IDPA and currently serves as the Vice President of IDPA.

Ernest Langdon

Mr. Langdon has more than 11 years active duty as a U.S. Marine. He is a combat veteran who has participated in military operations all over the world including Panama, Cuba and the Persian Gulf. His extensive experience as a Marine Sniper, both as a team leader and a platoon sergeant, lead to his selection as instructor and later Chief Instructor of the Second Marine Division Scout Sniper School. After returning to the Fleet Marine Force for deployment to the Persian Gulf, he was reassigned to the High Risk Personnel Course in Quantico, VA., where he served as an instructor and later Chief Instructor for over three years. As the Chief Instructor of the High Risk Personnel program Mr. Langdon was responsible for the training of over 200 students annually in advanced marksmanship skills necessary to survive a terrorist or armed criminal assault.

Ernest was then assigned to Marine Barracks Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was immediately given the responsibility of training the barracks Close Quarters Battle (CQB) and Designated Marksman (DM) teams. As NCOIC of the CQB and DM teams Mr. Langdon trained the team members in special operation techniques and tactics needed to respond to hostage situations that may arise from the thousands of refugees housed aboard the base. Mr. Langdon is a graduate of 18 formal shooting schools and 4 anti-terrorism schools with instructor certifications from the FBI, NRA, US Army and US Marine Corps.

He has a Master Class rating from the United States Practical Shooting Association and the International Defensive Pistol Association with 7 National Championship titles and 2 World Championship titles. He has trained over 2000 students in advanced marksmanship skills to include personnel from the FBI, DEA, CIA, DIA, Federal Air Marshals, State Department, Secret Service, state and local law enforcement, as well as every branch of the US and some foreign military services. He is a published author with several articles in print in major industry magazines on firearms techniques and tactics. He is on staff with The Police Policy Studies Council as well as being and adjunct instructor for the Sigarms Academy and the Surefire Institute. Mr. Langdon is the President and CEO of Langdon Tactical Technology, Inc. located in Burke, VA.