Who Teaches Your Class
Colorado Tactics is one instructor, by design.
Every class is taught by John Rader — not a rotating bench of contractors, not whoever was available that weekend. When you book, you know exactly who is standing in front of you.
That matters more than it sounds. Most of what makes instruction work is the instructor noticing the thing you cannot see yourself, and then knowing which of several fixes suits you. That is not a curriculum. It is judgment, and it does not transfer between staff.
Who teaches your class
- Teaching since 1993 — more than 30,000 students
- Douglas County Verified Firearms Instructor #25037 — valid statewide
- NRA Certified Instructor #167433046
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife verified Firearms Safety Program instructor, listed as Colorado Tactics
- United States Marine Corps — Sergeant, 1991–2001
- Law Enforcement — Sergeant, 2001 to present
John’s background
During his time in the Marine Corps and in Law Enforcement, he has been called upon to teach many classes. John has been formally trained in the military to design classes and present information to military standards, which includes writing the material to present the information and collecting feedback from the students. One of his assignments in the military was as a Primary Marksmanship Instructor (PMI) where he would teach marksmanship for 52 hours in the first week with his students and the second week was spent applying the information that was presented and qualifying with the M-16A2. During John’s time as an instructor, he trained over 16,000 shooters with a 96.8% qualification rate. To date, he has trained over 30,000 shooters in his time of instruction.
Another assignment as an instructor in the military was in Japan where John was responsible for developing an academy teaching Marines to become coaches on the rifle and pistol ranges. As coaches, these Marines were able to train other Marines in marksmanship and qualify those Marines with rifles and pistols. During this time John was also responsible for a computer called the ISMT (Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer) which consisted of three CPU towers synced together. These were connected to three large projectors that allowed for twelve firing lanes to effectively train shooters without the cost of ammunition.
On two separate occasions, John was selected to become an instructor in hand-to-hand combat and ground fighting. During this time he promoted, scheduled the classes, presented the material, and graded hundreds of students on the performance of the techniques that were taught in self-defense/hand-to-hand. Grading students on the pressure points and vital areas of the body and their ability to effectively strike/evade and gain submission through a combination of Russian Sambo and grappling. John was awarded many Meritorious Masts, letters of recommendation, and two Navy Achievement Medals.
After a career in the military, John accepted a position with Law Enforcement where he has had a successful career and quickly aspired for and obtained a position as a firearms instructor, He has 25 years as a Sergeant in Law Enforcement, and continues to teach various subjects.
Train with us
See every class and what it costs on the services and prices page, or call and we will point you to the right one.
Proudly serving the Denver Metro area and all of Colorado
Classes in Parker and Aurora · Monday–Saturday, 9–5
720-464-SHOT (7468) · info@coloradotactics.com