Our training staff is made up of law enforcement and/or military personnel, current or former.

Our experience and training ranges from the basic to the advanced. It includes topics from human combat performance to hostage rescue operations and counterterrorism.

Our instructors have a passion for proper training, have years of training experience and are continuously working to improve their own skills, as well as ways to impart these skills upon others.

Experience and training is like any education, what a person gets and retains from it is entirely up to each individual as well as their competence in using the new information or skill.

Our instructors focus on training, combat training. We work hard to test every concept, principle and technique in environments that are as close as possible to real world combat.

 

Wade A. Deuter - Lead Instructor

Wade has been in law enforcement for several years and has a professional firearms background that spans almost a decade and a half. Wade holds multiple instructor certifications in topics from High Risk Incident Operations to Pre-Incident Indicators to Terrorist Bombings, including 5 NRA firearms instructor certifications. Wade also holds a large number of operator certifications, which include certifications in advanced weapons and tactics, martial arts relating to law enforcement, officer safety, and many more. He began his law enforcement career as a Corrections Officer at the South Dakota State Penitentiary, then was recruited to a local Police Department. Certified as a South Dakota State Law Enforcement Officer and a Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor in the same year, he started instructing basic firearms at the State Law Enforcement Academy. While working as a patrolman, Wade continued his training with several months per year of advanced training from throughout the United States in advanced firearms, building entry, and other high risk operations. Along with continuous training, Wade continues to gain Law Enforcement experience as a part-time Law Enforcement Officer and SRT member for a Local Police Department and as a Contract Officer for a Federal Agency.

Shannon Hinrichs - Instructor

Shannon Mark Hinrichs currently serves as a training coordinator and instructor at the South Dakota Law Enforcement Training academy. He is certified as an Instructor-Trainer for PPCT defensive tactics, groundfighting and spontaneous knife defense. He is an NRA certified handgun-shotgun instructor, and had also been certified as an Oleoresin Capsicum instructor and a Simunitions instructor. He is certified through the Police Society for Problem Based Learning as a Qualified Police Instructor in Problem Based Learning. Mr. Hinrichs teaches basic and advanced level courses in firearms, building search techniques, vehicle pullovers, communications, scenario development and implementation, defensive tactics and leadership. Prior to his Law Enforcement career, Mr. Hinrichs served in the United States Army as an Interrogator and Psychological Operations Specialist, conducting missions in Somalia and South and Central America. He served as a jumpmaster, armorer, M60 gunner and M203 gunner, as well as a squad leader and linguist in both Russian and Spanish languages.

Spencer O'Bryan - Instructor

Spencer O'Bryan is an 11 year officer of the Rapid City Police Department. He is currently assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division, investigating domestic violence, after serving in the Field Services Division for 10 years. Mr. O’Bryan has been a firearms instructor for his department since 2003 and a state certified handgun instructor since 2005. He has served five years with a joint Special Response Team serving as the Assistant Team Leader for the entry team for the last year. His training over the years has included numerous SWAT courses, advance tactical pistol, sub-machine gun, patrol rifle and patrol rifle instructor, defensive tactics, and ground fighting as well as other topics. Mr. O’Bryan has also been involved in several real world situations involving the use of deadly force. This unique experience aids in evaluating and creating combat tactics and courses for training of those with little experience to those with many years of service looking to improve their abilities and performance. Mr. O’Bryan also served five years on a joint agency Dive Rescue Team obtaining advance training highly specialized equipment and incident command operations. He is dedicated to better understanding the physiological effects of stress and how to counter those effects to improve performance and ability in those situations. In his pursuit of this, Mr. O’Bryan began skydiving in 2006, and is now an instructor at a drop zone in the Southern Hills.

Seth Thompson - Instructor

Seth Thompson has been a deputy sheriff in a western department for the last seven years. Thompson is the lead firearms instructor for his agency, as well as an instructor for officer safety tactics, night vision equipment and thermal imager operation. Previously, Thompson gained experience as a city police officer, state park ranger, correctional drill instructor and correctional counselor. Thompson's educational qualifications include a B.A. in Justice Studies from Chadron State College, multiple law enforcement firearms instructor's certifications from the State of South Dakota and the National Rifle Association, as well as numerous armorers and weapons system operator's certifications.