Posted on September 7, 2023 by Justin Collett in Steve Moses
Meet The FTA Member Series: Doug Greig
Tell us who you are, where you grew up, where you live, and where you teach.
My name is Doug Greig and I currently live in Franklin, Texas with my wife Shannon. We moved to Texas in 2019 after living in Vermont for all of our lives. I currently teach all over Central Texas for Greig Performance Shooting (own company with my son), KR Training, Palisade Training Group, and Crosshairs Texas.
Were you ever in the military, law enforcement, or any other profession in which possession of a firearm was necessary?
I served a total of 24 years between Active Army and the Vermont Army National Guard. I started out as a Forward Observer (combat experience with armored cavalry in Desert Shield/Storm) and ended my career as a Military Policeman with combat/deployment experience in Iraq doing convoy security and personal security details.
Would you name just three firearm trainers that you have trained under?
Mike Seeklander of Shooting-Performance, the Sig Sauer Academy Staff, and Kyle Lamb of Viking Tactics.
What firearms class did you attend that made the greatest single impression upon you and why?
The Semi-Auto Pistol Instructor Course at Sig Sauer Academy. This was my first instructor course after taking the NRA Basic Pistol Instructor Course years previous to that. This was the class that made me decide to become a firearms instructor. Before that, I was only taking classes at SSA to become a better shooter. It was more than just the curriculum covered that week that changed me. It was the way the instructors carried themselves, presented the information, and coached us through the process of learning how to work with students. There was no yelling, there was no intimidating, no running through the curriculum for the sake of just running through it. It was a pass/fail class that required everyone to pass a written test, pass a tough firearms qualification, and on the last day we all had to work together to teach an 8 hour basic pistol class to a group of 25 paying customer of the Academy. At that time in my career it was tough, but to this day one of the certifications I’m most proud of.
What is your favorite class to teach and why?
Any first level Defensive Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun Class. Personal Defense has been the biggest reason I’ve seen that people buy firearms and these classes are the first time students are generally introduced to techniques that are applicable to using a firearm in that manner. Because of my military background and experience, I use to teach a lot classes that required plate carriers, knee/elbow pads, drop leg holsters, etc and they were a lot of fun and were attended by students who were already fairly proficient. But in my opinion, they were not realistic to what the average person needed to know, so I hung up the plate carrier and started working with people who were relatively new to firearms and wanted to learn how to defend themselves and often intimidated to do so. So why are these my favorite classes to teach? I get to see people who may have little to no experience getting “off the flat range” and introduce them not only to the physical techniques to survive, but the mental attitude as well. And it’s a tough but rewarding process. You’re taking people and pushing them out of their comfort zones with a firearm and challenging them to do things they never would have thought they could do. At the same time you don’t want to make them over-confident thinking they are ready to take on John Wick. But it’s the confidence in the way they handle themselves and the look of “did you see what I did!” in their eyes that makes me love those classes.
What is your favorite training drill, and why do you think your students benefit from it?
The 3M Drill. You have everything in it….movement….manipulations….malfunctions…all in ten rounds. It can be performed with any platform and changed in little ways to make it even more challenging. In my Level One Defensive Handgun class, this is the test you need to complete to pass the class. In my One Handed Operator Class, you have to perform the drill both strong hand and support hand only. Plus, it’s an excellent dry-fire drill as well. The benefit? If you’re new to defensive shooting on a flat range this is a great introduction to placing rounds accurately at a target while paying attention to several different things.
As a member of the Firearm Trainers Association, what do you think might be the most important thing that instructors would benefit from knowing?
I would say the standardization of the documentation. Especially when it comes to the Liability Waiver and Range Safety Brief. Taking as many classes as I have, I have seen all types and sizes of waivers. Some were just a few sentences, while others are pages upon pages. When I first started instructing, that was one of the things I struggled with. I didn’t have the money to hire a lawyer to write one up and those online legal services didn’t quite seem to “get it right” in my opinion. So I did what a lot of people do, I copied someone else’s. The problem with that is, where did they get theirs from? Was it from a lawyer or a class they took? Using the documentation from FTA has given me the reassurance that not only is it worded correctly, but if I should ever have a reason that the waiver is needed, FTA will support me even more because I used their forms and not something I found online.
Why did did you join the Firearm Trainers Association?
The rates were comparable to what I had before (Lockton like everyone else when they start), but the coverage was much better. And in my case, there were people I could actually talk to about the company, coverage, etc. I could never do that with the previous company.
Would you please provide any contact information that you would like the Firearms Trainers Association to share with the readers?
I can be reached by email at gps@greigshooting.com and cell phone 802-349-7717. I can also be contacted through the following websites: