Squad Drills Baby!

A long time ago I heard a phrase that went something like “life isn’t worth living unless it with someone else” and that resonated with me as I was trying to find a sense of community in my hobbies. Prior to getting into shooting guns, I was very invested in golf. Which I still love golf, I haven’t played in a very long time and haven’t committed any effort into practicing. But there was a time when I would golf quite frequently on a weekly basis. When I lived in Jacksonville and also in Fort Myers, I found some friends and colleagues to golf with and completely enjoyed golfing be it in a group if not just a 2-some. But once I moved to the Tampa Bay area, my interest seemed to fizzle out as I haven’t made any golf buddies or found any of my friends interested in golfing. While golf can be done as a solo activity, I truly enjoy the competition between myself and my peers. The connection we build before, during and after the round and the ongoing chatting we do the weeks leading to the next outing is what kept me going. Plus, who wants to go out on a golf round solo and hit a hole in one and no one vouch for it, or any other potential great shots that may magically arrive from a weekend golfer? So as my golf hobby has been side-lined, I have invested more focus in the shooting world and bettering my marksmanship. In that effort I have bonded with my best friend, Darius, (who got me into shooting in the first place) and have met some pretty great people along the way. In my short time of gun ownership, I have had the opportunity to shoot on private property and have a ton of freedom and exposure to all sorts of things that the 2A community can offer. As I started shooting and practicing more, I decided to post some content on social media (as did Darius) and we started getting some peoples attention. One person in particular is Gammage. Gammage came to me through an Instagram DM, yes he “slid into my DMs”, asking to come shooting with Darius and myself. Me being a new shooter and not sure about meeting strangers and shooting guns, I tossed it to Darius to do vetting and he confirmed an invite to Gammage for a range day. I did some research on Gammage and his shooting and found his posts to be similar to ours; fun, informational, supportive and something to glean from. So on April 10th 2021, Gammage joined Darius, myself and few other guys for a range day. As soon as he introduced himself, he gave me a big hug and the connection was there. He was kind, yet safe and educated. I observed as he took himself serious when it came to his marksmanship, was open to constructive coaching and showed us some things as well. He was a great addition to the group as he joked with us all and got to know us all a bit more than whats on social media. After the range session ended we exchanged phone numbers (also a first for me) and started a group chat just the 3 of us (Darius, Gammage and myself). We sent videos and feedback on the range session and also planned for our next outing in the weeks to follow. Two months later we reconnected at a larger range day with some 20 plus people at “IG Range Day”. This was a range event that Gammage coordinated with a variety of people all across the state and some neighboring states to get together and share in our enjoyment for everything 2A. The event was a success but afterwards Darius, Gammage and I talked more about the 3 of us connecting more frequently and the idea of building a team or squad or something where we could grow our community. Thus birthed the idea of the of us starting a squad. Darius and I have been connected for 18 years now through college and our fraternity bond, but adding people in the mix is a new opportunity for connection and growth. We didn’t have a “name” or anything to represent who we were, we didn’t know if we even needed or wanted that “branding”. But naturally, after we got together and posted some videos we started tagging the videos with #SQUADDRILLS and it instantly was a hit. It was after a few of our videos got some traction we decided we would own the hashtag and take it on as our name. We were officially calling our group/squad #SQUADDRILLS. A few months later is when Darius submitted Gammage and my name to Brownells for Field Agent recommendation and thats when everything started picking up. The content we were creating wasn’t only being seen by the followers we had earned, but also through our affiliation with Brownells thousands more people are able to see what we are bringing to the 2A community. Today the 3 of us represent Brownells as Field Agents, we also (with the addition of our guy Dalton) are now known as the founders of #SQUADDRILLS. The four founders (4 Horsemen) of #SQUADDRILLS have a laser focus to build on our marksmanship skills, improve the quality of content we post and grow the 2A community with our foundational values at the front of our message “Progress Not Perfection”. We now have a goal to develop some merchandise and to get more people engaged with us for range sessions in an attempt to build some relationships and to educate others in smart gunownership and how to have fun at the range while also working towards individual goals. The connection at the range doesn’t end when we go home either, we have a group chat started where we connect with our range folks and help them with any questions or advise they may have be it trouble-shooting a defect with their firearm, finding resources for ammunition or just sharing some home training tips to improve on skills away from the range. A key component of what #SQUADDRILLS is all about is in personal character and how you compose yourself. We value what it takes to be invested in your family first and foremost. We know we all have jobs and responsibilities and the time it takes to improve skills can be limited. But we also understand that life can get crazy and 2A things may need to take a break while life gets back in order and under control. The great thing about this community we are building is that its not strictly shooting guns at the range, its also making content outside of the range. Be is posting remix videos to one another to see how our home training is doing, or some random funny thing we thought of and posting our reactions to it, #SQUADDRILLS is meant to be fun for all who are willing to have an open mind and kind heart. At the end of the day we know we are handling dangerous tools and the intention is to be skilled to protect ourselves and our family should a situation arise. But in light of the serious nature of the tools we are working with, there isn’t anything saying you can’t have fun learning and growing. So, if you’re in the Tampa Bay area and you’re into anything 2A and you’re looking for a place to call home. Reach out to me and we can let you know when the next #SQUADDRILLS outing will be. I promise you, if you come with an open mind, open heart and sense of humor you will both have a great time but you’ll also learn something too. Heck, you might even make a new friend and find your new direction in life like I have. Stay safe, be humble and lead with your heart.