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Firearms training businesses see demand growCounterterrorismefforts bring in morecustomers fromlaw enforcementJessica GuynnAssociated PressCONCORD - “Attention: this facility is accessible to military and law enforcement only,” reads the sign bolted to a metal fence that encloses a four-acrecompound in rolling flaxen hills. Only the sharp crackle of gunshots pierces the hot stillness in this secluded place.This isn’t the kind of firearmstraining facility you’ll find in the yellow pages. The HALO Group enlists a team of ex-military - former Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces and Delta Team members - to instruct lawenforcement and military personnel.Almost immediately after Sept. 11, company spokesman Kevin McMahon and the otherfour men who run HALO Group started offering the shooting ranges and instructors for free to the military. We wanted to dosomething more than wave the flag,” McMahon said “It’s ourway of doing our part.”Halo’s firearms training business has jumped 80 percent since the attacks as local counterterrorism efforts take on newurgency McMahon said. These days use of HALO Group’s three ranges, live-fire shoothouse, defensive tactics training room and classroom has doubled asmembers of about 50 local, state and federal law enforcementagencies hone their firearms skills and a handful of Army and Air Force units pack in as much practice as they can before shipping overseas.HALO Group got its start in 1996. teaching firearms courses around the country. It opened its doors in Concord three years later, tapping law enforcement contacts and advertising through trade associations togrow the business. Its 13 instructors focus on federal, state andlocal cops, police cadets and military personnel.Thev also offer the occasionalclass to the public.HALO Group - McMahon refuses to divulge what HALO stands for is one of the few pri vate tactical ranees operating in the Bav Area. Gun advocatesblame the lack of ranges on growing public anti-gun senti ment, California’s restrictive gun and zoning laws and the shortage of affordable landSept. 11 has raised HALO Group's profile and expanded its mission It recently launched a consulting business calledAssociated PressNapa Valley Criminal Justice Training Center range master instructor Dave Clark, right, instructs cadet Oscar Delaroche on how to properly squeeze the trigger of his 9mm pistol during shooting exercises at a HALO Group Inc. training session in Concord. The HALO Group uses ex-military - former Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces and Delta Team members - to instruct law enforcement and military personnel. And business has been booming for the past year.ants and hazardous materialsand waste technicians, among others.services escalated after Sept. 11. said Russ Thurman, a formerHALO International's corporate vice president is Hershel Davis, who when he retired from the Navy after 34 vears was theMarine and editor of Shooting Industry Magazine. Though he is not familiar with the HALOftI►senior enlisted SEAL. “I spent my life assaulting enemy targets, Davis said. “Now I keep the enemy from assaulting ours.”Its vice president is Paul Howe, a Delta Force team leader played by William Fichtner in the film Black Hawk Down” who led the main ground force to the First crash site. Howe whoGroup, he’s familiar with the level of military training that many of the people who start these organizations receive.“These guys are trained and trained and trained to do this,he said. You’ve got some guys who are let’s just say - double PhD s in terrorist operations.” Renting the range and its instructors isn’t a big money maker Projected revenue thisAssociated PressNapa Valley Criminal Justice Training Center cadet Joel Plain shoots at a target during exercises at HALO Group in Concord.HALO International, targeting corporations interested in beefing up security. HALO International assembled a team thatBritish Special Air Services, Secret Service, Special Forces and Navy SEALs as well asserved 10 out of 20 years in the military with the Army’s elite counter-terrorist unit 1st Special Forces Operational Detach-ment-Delta, teaches hostage rescue training.Firearms training and consulting businesses have mushroomed as demand for suchvear is about $1 million. Advising companies on how to better safeguard their facilities wouldbe far more lucrative. McMahonsavs HALO International is talking to numerous corporations and projects annual revenues of S4.1 million to $4.5 million,includes former members of thenuclear. |etrochemical and safe ty engineers, marine consultdespite the stiff competition itwill face from long established, deep-pocketed security outfits. California has a number ofpotential terrorist targets -nuclear power plants, power grids, airports, bridges, public transportation. Several threatsto East Bav refineries sinceSept. 11 have heightened security efforts.wHALO Group choreographedwitha training exercise ChevronTexaco's Richmond refinery and the Richmond police SWAT team in June that simulated terrorist attacks on the refinery. The two-day drill helped the SWAT team, Coast Guard, the Richmond police marine unit and refinery officials grapple with hazardous conditions loud machinery hot surfaces, combustible materials in attempting to foil an attack aboard a tanker, on the wharf and inside the plant.The Richmond police department and ChevronTexaco arenow better prepared to respondto an incident, said Mark Avers,% 'the refinery’s chief of emergency services. They’ve drawnup checklists so that refineryworkers can prepare information to assist police officers when they arrive, agreed on a staging area, even learned each other's hand signals.miSee Simon.See Simon ride his bike.See Simon leave his bike inthe driveway. See Simon’s dad drive over the bike.See Simon cry. Simon’s mom is so smait. She looksthrough the Appeal-Democrat Classifieds. Now Simon hasa new bike. See Simon smile. See Simon ride hisnew bike.APPEAL-DF.MOCR.ATClassifieds • 741-8293VETERAN EX-IRS AGENTS TAX PROFESSIONALSClients Never Meet with the IRS - Settle for Pennies on the Dollar • Written GuaranteeFree Tax Settlement Analysis:Confidential Interview in Our Local Office800-377-9835Toll FreeFree Insider Report:How to End IRS Problems Forever1877-451-9111Toll-Free 24 Hour Recorded Messagewww.jkharris. comthe (Nation s) most successful tax resolution company The Wall Street JournalJK Harris Company- Yuba City, CA lt;475 Offices Nationwide)I--I
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Marysville Appeal Democrat
Marysville, California, US
Sun, Nov 03, 2002
Page 25
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