It is incredibly how quickly time flies the older you get! I can hardly believe it is time to write another one of these. I like putting out some goals at the beginning of the year, and reporting back at the end. That really helps me to hold myself accountable to achieving them. Let’s take a look at my goals for 2025, and see how I did at living up to them…and what else I got up to.

Goal: Graduate the Academy

My first goal was to simply graduate the police academy. Obviously that’s done, and I’m very glad to have it behind me. There were several side goals that went along with that.

Graduate as Class Sergeant: Accomplished! I was the class sergeant from the third night of class until the end. As a result, I was also awarded the Outstanding Cadet Award. I tried to get one of the younger guys in class to take the class Sergeant role, but none wanted it, so I jumped on it and ran with it throughout the class.

Graduate as Top Academic Cadet: I did not achieve this goal. I was edged out by another guy who certainly deserved it.

Cooper Law Enforcement Standards:I really like the Cooper Standards, so much so that I wrote about them in a standalone article. My goal for the academy was to finish with an “Excellent” (90% or better) across the board. I handily accomplished this and came in at 94% overall, which I was extremely pleased with.

Get Sworn: And of course, I wanted to get sworn as a law enforcement officer. And I did. Though I had intended to stay full-time at EMS, I went to the sheriff’s Office full-time and cut back to part-time at EMS. I've also completed Field Training and am finally out on my own!

Goal: Complete My New Book, Competent & Dangerous

I am beyond happy to announce that Competent & Dangerous: Master the Skill to be a Man Among Men is finally complete. I had hoped to have it out by summer. I didn’t quite make that; it went live on November 6th, and sales have been strong. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet…get on it! If you’re unfamiliar, you can read more about it here.

I’m super happy to have a shelf full of my own books!

You can also hear me talk about it on the Distinguished Savage Podcast, American Warrior Show, That Weems Guy, and the Concealed Carry Podcast or read Mike’s review on RevolverGuy.com. And the best way to learn about it is to order a copy!

Unaccomplished Goal: Rangemaster Shotgun Instructor

I signed up for - and fully intended to take - the Rangemaster Shotgun Instructor class at Apache solutions. Rangemaster training is among the best firearms training I’ve ever taken, and I’m big into shotguns. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be - one of my unintended goals (a little further down) got in the way. That’s okay, though! I’m already signed up for the same class this June. If you want to come, I’d love to see you there!

Goal: Read 104 Books

I did pretty well on this one! Through October I kept up with 10 books a month. I hoped to blow this goal out of the water with 120 books this year. Once I got into my FTO track, my time got a lot more scarce and reading fell off some as a result. I think reading is incredibly important, and I’m thrilled to have accomplished this goal. If you don’t read, you should! If you’d like to but don’t know how, read my Secrets of How to Read More Books!

Law Enforcement Instructor Course

I had the opportunity to attend my state’s three-week law enforcement instructor course. This probably provokes more questions than answers in most of you, like, “haven’t you barely been a cop?” Yes, but due to my experience and training, the agency decided they could use me as a firearms instructor.Thanks to some of my previous experience I was able to waive the full requirements to attend this course. And honestly, it was a far better instructor course than I anticipated.

Tactical Handgun 1 with Greg Ellifritz

I have several friends in the Columbus, OH area, so I usually go visit every year.usually, my friend Neil and I find time to attend some training in conjunction with the visit. This year we attended Greg’s Tactical Handgun 1. It was a phenomenal class

Chicago Trip

Illinois is a state I had not visited prior to this year. Along with my good friend Nick Coffman, I made a point to. I drove out to his place in Louisville, and we drove together from there. In Chi-town we visited a famous pub, saw the Cubs play, had a Chicago-style hot dog, and went to Lou Malnatti’s for a Chicago deep dish. It was a short trip, but pretty amazing…and it crossed another state off the list for me!

I know many of my gun-oriented readers would recoil at the idea of going to Chicago because they can’t carry a gun there. Though I would have preferred to have been armed, I never felt even the slightest bit unsafe. My brain is my primary weapon system, and the main tool I use to keep myself out of trouble. If you’re relying on the gun as your only way out of trouble, you’re probably more likely to have to use it (and expose yourself to all sorts of legal and criminal risk). You’re also going to miss out on an awful lot of what this world has to offer.

Revolver Fest

Before this year it has been quite a while since I had been to any revolver training. I was fortunate to be able to attend Revolver Fest, one of the premier revolver training events out there. It was great to catch up with my friend Mike Wood and do some training. You can read my review of Revolver Fest over on my old site, RevolverGuy.com.

Mike Wood teaching revolver basics to revolver enthusiasts.

SWAT Competition

My SRT team attended a SWAT Competition through our state’s Tactical Officer’s Association. Only seven teams attended, with us coming in fourth. We still beat out one team with full-time members, which is a pretty big accomplishment. I had one extremely good individual performance, as well. I think it’s good to get into the competitive space every now and again, and this served that role for me.

High Risk Environment Course

2025 also gave me the immense good fortune to be invited to attend American Warrior Society’s High Risk Environment Course, not only as an attendee, but also as an instructor. My friend Dr. T.C. Fuller wrote up my instruction, and I wrote up the rest of the class. If Mike and Rich run another one next year I plan to teach and attend again, so be there!

The HREC cadre. Me, Mike Seeklander, Rich Brown, Dr. T.C. Fuller, and Will Parker.

Change Website Hosts

I finally did this. though this wasn’t on my list of goals for this year, I have been putting this off for about three years. As some of you noticed, it wasn’t a 100% smooth process, with the site being down for a couple days. The expense and terrible customer service of my old hosting service made it worth it. I’m glad to have that behind me. As a result of this switch, the mailing list may be more reliable, too. Additionally, adding a store to the site should be a reality soon, too.

Stay Tobacco Free

I managed to stay tobacco free for another year! November marked six straight years of being on the wagon with smokeless tobacco. I hate to say it, but quitting tobacco was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The main motivation to stay off it is realizing how hard it is to quit.

Wrap-Up

And that’s pretty much it. When I started this little year-end wrap up I didn’t think I had that much to report. As I got into it I realized I had done far more than I realized. Stay tuned for my 2026 Goals - it’s going to be a big year for me!

2025 - Year In Review