Professionalism Speaks for Itself

Some time back, this class came to my attention. Specifically, see the wording here. "Unlike other local “Civilian Sniper” courses, this class is taught by instructors who have served in dedicated Army sniper roles, providing students with instruction grounded in professional sniper doctrine and practical field experience rather than recreational or theoretical approaches."

Now, I have a rule of thumb. I do not disparage other firearms schools or instructors. It is not a good look, and frankly, any competent instructor could probably nitpick another instructor’s wording, methods, or marketing if they wanted to. To what end?

That said, I got curious. So I searched. Guess what was the first entry in Google?

Ghost Ring Tactical has a class called Civilian Sniper. I sincerely hope the entity from the first screenshot was not taking a swipe at Ghost Ring, because Ghost Ring is one of the best organizations in the industry. In fact, I am friends with one of their instructors, and he is also a Patriot Training alumnus.

For the record, since this post could itself be interpreted as criticism, I am intentionally leaving the original entity unnamed. The purpose here is discussion and enlightenment, not internet drama.

Now, Google and AI can be wrong, so I clicked the link (hence why it is purple in the above screenshot). Here is the class:

Other than Ghost Ring, I could not find many classes using the term Civilian Sniper. One person suggested the wording may have referred to my own class, Citizen Sniper, but there is a significant distinction between the words citizen and civilian.

A citizen is a legally recognized member of a nation or state, possessing both rights and responsibilities within that society. Citizenship implies participation in society, belonging to a political community, and carrying both freedoms and obligations. Voting, jury service, lawful self-defense, and civic participation all fall under the broader concept of citizenship.

A civilian, by contrast, is simply a person who is not a member of the military, law enforcement, or another armed governmental service. The term is primarily occupational and descriptive. It distinguishes non-military persons from military or police personnel.

In other words, citizen describes belonging and responsibility within a society, while civilian merely describes the absence of military or governmental service.

Because of that distinction, and because Patriot Training is much smaller than organizations like Ghost Ring Tactical, I genuinely doubt the wording was aimed at my school specifically.

Which brings me to the larger point.

Trying to elevate yourself by diminishing others is rarely a good strategy. Even when subtle, it reflects more poorly on the speaker than the target. Likewise, trying to imply superiority without clearly explaining what value you actually provide to students does little to build confidence.

Professionalism speaks for itself. Results speak for themselves. Instruction speaks for itself. At Patriot Training, we don’t claim legitimacy by diminishing others. Our legitimacy is demonstrated by the results our students produce, time and time again.

The firearms training industry is already crowded with ego. It does not need more chest-thumping disguised as marketing.

What say you?