The TTPOA Podcast

On this episode we sit down with Krystal Dunn.  Krystal is a seemingly unlikely combination—part competitive shooter and part brow and skin care salon owner. Krystal grew up in a military family and spent her childhood all around the country shooting pistols with her dad, mom and uncles. However, she’d never even heard of competitive shooting until the fateful day her dad asked her to try it. After shooting an IDPA match, she quickly transitioned into USPSA and got into precision rifle competition. She’s now well established in her competitive shooting career, traveling to matches and events around the country, proudly promoting shooting sports and 2nd Amendment rights.

On this episode we sit down with Mike Mihalski, Kyle Grouthes and Chuck Pressburg of Sons of Liberty Gun Works.

Mike Mihalski is the co-owner and founder of Sons of Liberty Gun Works in San Antonio, Texas.

In 2014, with just one workbench in the basement of a lumberyard, Mihalski founded Sons of Liberty Gun Works alongside current co-owner, Kyle Grouthes. Under Mihalski’s leadership, the company is considered the fastest-growing rifle manufacturer in the United States. Mihalski takes pride in supplying countless government entities and civilians with high-quality rifles. 

In addition to overseeing the expansion of the business, Mihalski has committed his career to education and fact-based advocacy for the Second Amendment. He travels the country training armorers and fervent firearms enthusiasts on rifle construction. Mihalski also provides counsel to federal, state and local officials on firearm policies.

While many gun manufacturers shy away from debate and public comment on the firearm industry, Mihalski has, on many occasions, enthusiastically engaged in the public dialogue surrounding gun violence, mass shootings, and other firearm topics.

https://sonsoflibertygw.com

On this episode we sit down with “Sandy” Wall.  Sandy is a retired Master Peace Officer and a 28-year veteran of the Houston Police Department. He has worked in Patrol, Narcotics, and has served 22 years on the HPD SWAT Detail. He served as a Team Leader for more than 12 years.

After Law Enforcement he worked for Safariland Group as Director of Training for 15 years.

He co-authored, “Training the SWAT Trainer”. (Thomas publishing)

He is a multi-patent owner and inventor of the WallBanger Tactical System. Owner and CEO of Less Lethal Options, LLC.

He has been recognized in the U.S. Federal Courts as a subject matter expert in Less Lethal Munitions and Tactics. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Texas Tactical Police Officers Association and Tactical Response Magazine. He has instructed for the FBI, TTPOA, MSTOA, CATO, NTOA, LTPOA, ATOA, Florida SWAT Association, CATI, ALERRT and the US State Department.

Check out his new book "The Long Ride Home"
https://www.amazon.com/Long-Road-Home-Sandy-Wall/dp/B0B18N6M3K
When Andy, a fresh-faced, naïve young man escapes his small town in Texas to embark on a career to become a big city cop, his life is changed forever. When he joins the Houston Police Department, his experiences, sometimes exciting, sometimes shocking force him to confront evils that most of us could never imagine, all while keeping his own demons at bay.  
After ten years of service as a beat cop, and fighting crime in the dangerous world of narcotics in the nation's fourth-largest city, Andy accepts the ultimate challenge, joining the Houston SWAT Team. His limits are tested like never before and he finds himself living on the edge where he must face his greatest fears, and finally confront the adversaries who have taunted him along the way.

On this episode we sit down with Sal Hernandez.  Sal is currently a full time SWAT Officer for a large agency in Texas. He is a firearms instructor and part of our sniper team. I’ve been a Police Officer for 9 years.

Prior to LE, he played D-1 college baseball.
He's competed in several SWAT competitions prior to The Tactical Games and he comes from a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu background.

He first heard about The Tactical Games while competing at the Florida SWAT roundup in November 2018. Tim Burke was a guest speaker at the opening ceremonies and talked about The Tactical Games.  He was immediately interested and competed at my first event in March 2019 at Reveille Peak Ranch in Texas. He knew that competing at The Tactical Games would strongly improve my performance at TTPOA and Florida SWAT round up competition’s. Training for and competing at The Tactical Games has also helped my individual skills as a Police Officer.
The men’s elite competitors have pushed me to another level. There were several times in 2020 I thought that I should drop down to the intermediate division. Several men’s elite competitors reached out to me and gave me advice on how to get stronger and improve my physical performance. You won’t get that camaraderie anywhere else.

He is truly grateful for all of the people he has met throughout the 7 Tactical Games he as competed in. Training for The Tactical Games has become a lifestyle for him and my wife who just competed in her first event.

On this episode we sit down with the TTPOA Sniper Cadre and discuss SNIPING and all things Sniper.  Mark Lang, Sean Harris, Mike Saxion and "The GOAT" Kelley Pirkle... These guys were a blast to sit down with and by far this was one of our favorite episodes to record.   

On this episode we sit down with Matt Pranka and Ben Stoeger.....  You just got to listen to the "Shit Show"....   Seriously on this episode Matt and Ben dive into competitive shooting in the tactical community and why we should be doing it.   Enjoy..!!

Sean Coldiron, served 15 years of his 21 years with the United States Border Patrol as a key leader with the full-time tactical team (BORTAC) in Tucson, Arizona.  Sean served the latter years of his service with BORTAC as the Deputy Commander.  Prior to the U.S. Border Patrol, Sean is a veteran of 2nd Bn / 75th Ranger Regiment.

https://www.ironclad-cs.com

On this episode we sit down with Ben Stoeger and discuss shooting and life.  Practical Shooting is still his life. He travels, trains, competes, teaches and improves both his own skills and his training methods. Things change fast in the competitive shooting scene and he like to stay on top of the changes in order to shoot his best and teach his students to be the best.

In 2005 he discovered the sport of Practical Shooting. This sport instantly became an addiction for him. He started training like it was his full time job and he got proficient quickly. He used dry-fire as his primary source of training and was able to make USPSA GM almost right away after starting competition.

By 2007 h started attending USPSA Nationals in an effort to learn how to shoot better and improve his skills. This is the most challenging event in USPSA to win and it took him years more of training to do so.

H began teaching other people to shoot in 2008. This started as a side gig at first but eventually it became his only occupation. In a few short years he was a traveling shooter/instructor and had published many of my ideas into a book series.

https://www.triarcsystems.com

On this episode we sit down with the Chris Reeves from TriArc Systems.  With a fervent interest for American war and weapons history, Chris Reeves founded TRIARC in September of 2013. As a former paratrooper, unit 1/505PIR in the 82nd airborne division, Chris’ military service of 14 years included two one-year combat tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Chris was specifically trained and developed a strong talent for problem solving and working with mission specific equipment. Leadership skills were acquired during his deployments to Iraq as Chris was a squad leader and platoon sergeant in the 4th infantry division. Faced with battleground hardships, he had to ‘charlie mike’ (continue mission), many times when challenges seemed insurmountable.
After being wounded overseas and receiving a Purple Heart, Chris retired from the military and remained in Texas to work in the firearms industry. He was finally able to converge all of his values to a specific task: fine tuning the modern AR weapon system. 

A RIFLEMAN’S WORK GUN IS HIS CLOSEST COMPANION AND EXTENSION OF SELF— IT IS THE MAINSTAY OF PAST AND PRESENT WARS. AND THE GREAT MEN OF AMERICAN HISTORY REALIZED THAT IN WAR, THERE ARE NO RULES. ONE MUST GO INTO DEADLY GROUND WITH NO-HOLDS-BARRED IF HE WANTS TO COME OUT ALIVE. WHEN SEEMINGLY INSURMOUNTABLE FORCES STOOD IN THEIR WAY, THEY KNEW THERE WAS NO WHERE TO GO BUT FORWARD. TRIARC CONVERGES THESE TRADITIONS WITH EXTENSIVE TRIAL AND RESEARCH TO ARM USERS WITH FUNCTIONALLY INNOVATIVE WEAPON SYSTEMS. ULTIMATELY, TRIARC BUILDS TOOLS THAT EMPOWERS INDIVIDUALS TO KEEP PUSHING FORWARD.

On this episode we sit down with The Former TTPOA President Graham Smith and totally embarrass him.  Graham as been a mentor, brother and leader to so many people throughout his long TTPOA career.  Thank you for everything you've done for us and we love you...

Graham has been with the Irving Police Department since 1990. He worked in the Patrol Div, Gang Unit and in 2001 he transferred to the Tactical Unit/SWAT where he served full-time for 18 years.  He is currently assigned as an academy training coordinator and serves as a Team Leader on SWAT.
He holds a BSCJ from Texas A&M Univ. Commerce, Master Peace Officer Certification. Completed TTPOA Basic and Advanced Swat Schools, FBI Basic SWAT School. Certified TTPOA Tactical Rifle Instructor, CRTC Urban Tactical Rifle Instructor, AR-15 & M-16 Colt Armorer, TTPOA Explosive Breacher, TCOLE Instructor and Firearms Instructor, Wall Banger Instructor, Ballistic Shield Instructor, Def-Tec :Less Lethal, Chemical Munitions, NFDD, O.C. Instructor.

PS....  Don't Be a Ding Dong