Overview and Staff

Defense Associates

Overview and Staff

Many instructors and/or organizations currently offering firearms training base their credentials on training they have received as police officers or in the military or tout their success in competitive shooting matches. Others point to all the courses they have taken at numerous nationally known training schools and a few may have actually taught at some of these schools. While there are probably some very good instructors who have followed this path, we believe it has numerous shortcomings.

Generally, neither the police nor military are known for their cutting edge techniques in the use of small arms, not to mention that their tactics are usually somewhat unsuited to civilian needs. As to attending numerous schools, taking shooting courses does not train one to conduct them and even working as an assistant instructor is but one step in learning the art of teaching. We also do not believe that a curriculum created by combining pieces of courses taught by other schools is either ethical or likely to produce superior results.

Defense Associates already had an established relationship with both Chuck Taylor's American Small Arms Academy (ASAA) and Massad Ayoob's Lethal Force Institute (LFI) when we made the decision to become more involved in training. We had long believed these schools offered the best courses available and Taylor and Ayoob to be two of the best instructors in the field. Why not just join them? After a substantial period of training, our Senior Staff became the only instructors ever authorized by both ASAA and LFI to conduct firearms training without the presence of Taylor or Ayoob.

Though a separate business entity, Defense Associates is now for all practical purposes an extension of these two schools. Our firearms and lethal force management courses are ASAA and LFI programs and it is they who issue the certificates our graduates receive. Except when limited by our range, the courses taught in CT are the same as at the ASAA and LFI home facilities - of the approx. 32 who have successfully completed the ASAA Handgun Combat Master Course since its inception in 1981, seven have done so in CT. In addition we are conducting all of ASAA's Handgun Courses, opposed to one or two day tactical seminars, currently scheduled for 2008.

The schools we represent are two of the oldest that are still operated by their original founders. Taylor has been called the "The Professional's Professional" because of his contributions to advancing the art of weaponcraft. The efficiency of both his shooting techniques and training methods have been proven time and again by his students in actual gunfights. Ayoob was the first, and really still the only, instructor to create a workable training course that deals with avoidance techniques, police and court interaction and dozens of the other non-shooting dynamics involved in self-defense. Both instructors remained committed to high standards. Both schools conduct a meaningful test at the end of every course. Without such testing the student can neither evaluate the effectiveness of the training nor provide proof of absorbing it if it is needed in court. Everyone who keeps a gun for self-defense owes it to himself or herself to take advantage of both Taylor's shooting and tactical expertise and Ayoob's knowledge of the legal system and personal dynamics. Both are needed to successfully defend yourself in today's society.

To attend any of our classes you must preregister. Repeat students can do so by phone or mail. First time students must submit either a copy of their carry permit (CCW), law enforcement I.D or a character reference from either a judge, lawyer or police department stating they have no history of criminal or violent behavior, drug use or alcohol abuse. An enrollment form can be printed from our "Training Application" page. Space availability, date changes, additional classes, etc. can be found on our Training Update page.

Students should have a basic knowledge of firearms safety and the operation of their weapon(s) before attending class. ASAA handgun courses must be taken in sequence and for safety reasons the Three-Day Handgun course is a prerequisite for the Handgun Clinics or Tactical Seminars.

If you need additional information about any of our courses please feel free to contact us via email or to call from 5 PM to 10 PM Monday through Thursday.

STAFF INSTRUCTORS

Frank Cornwall
Mr. Cornwall is one of two ASAA Senior Staff members instructing on the East Coast. He began working with ASAA in 1986 and LFI the following year. He was appointed the regional training coordinator for both schools in 1990. In 1992 he became one of only a dozen shooters to successfully complete the ASAA Combat Master (Handgun) course since it was devised in 1981, the following year he become one of five, off-site ASAA instructors. He is one of only two people who is both an ASAA Rifle & Pistol Instructor and authorized to conduct the firearms training for LFI1.

Mr. Cornwall has been certified by the National Law Enforcement Training Center as a Handgun Retention and Disarming Instructor and holds NRA Instructor ratings for Pistol, Rifle and Shotgun. He is full voting member of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI) and a NRA Life Member.

Gary Nalband
Mr. Nalband is one of two ASAA Senior Staff members instructing on the East Coast. He became a range officer and assistant instructor at ASAA and LFI courses in Connecticut in 1988. In 1992 he became one of the first twelve to successfully complete the ASAA Combat Master (Handgun) course and the following year completed training to become one of only five, off-site ASAA instructors. He is one of only two people who is certified both as ASAA Rifle & Pistol Instructor and to conduct firearms training for LFI1 and the first ASAA Combat Master / LFI3 graduate.

Mr. Nalband is a certified NRA Pistol, Rifle and Shotgun Instructor and Life member.

Tom Herlihy
Mr. Herlihy is a graduate of ASAA's Advanced Handgun Course as well as numerous Tactical Handgun, Shotgun and Rifle Seminars. Additionally he is certified as an armorer for Glock, Sig Sauer, and Smith & Wesson. Although a qualified assistant handgun instructor and range officer, Tom's main responsibility is developing and instructing the non-firearms (knife/cane/etc.) training classes offered by Defense Associates. Tom has been training in martial arts for over 25 years and his studies have included Nihon Jujutsu, Kodokan Judo, Boxing, Greco Roman Wrestling, Kun Tao, Muay Thai, Jun Fan Gung Fu (Jeet Kune Do), Silat, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Okinawan Karatedo and Kobudo. He also briefly studied Aikido, Kendo, and Russian Sombo. Tom has dedicated the last few years to studying the combative arts of the Philippines. He has trained in several different Filipino martial arts systems including Doce Pares, Lameco, Sayoc, Serrada, and Pekiti Tirsia.

He is certified as an instructor trainer for Defensive Tactics and Tactical Folding Knife, and as a Personal Protection Specialist. He is individually certified as an instructor for Expandable Baton, Handcuffing Techniques, Oleoresin Capsicum Aerosols, and Use of Force.