Your Coach and Instructor is Sgt. E.J. Vaughn Jr.., a retired Illinois State Police Sergeant and former Mt. Vernon, IL Police Department Sergeant with 25 years of combined Law Enforcement experience and many awards to include:

• Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) certified police firearms instructor.

• Former Taser Instructor certified by Taser International (now Axon Enterprises).

• Former Police Defense Tactics Instructor certified by Pressure Point Control Tactics (PPCT Management Systems).

• Mt. Vernon Police Department High Risk Team (HRT) serving as a team member, assistant team leader, and team leader.  While serving on the High Risk Arrest Team, Sgt. Vaughn participated in over 100 high risk search warrants executed to find narcotics, illegal firearms, and fugitives from justice.

• Mt. Vernon Police Department Range Officer and Department Armory officer

• Transitioned the Mt. Vernon Police Department from issued Colt 1911's to Glock 22 firearms.

• As an Acting M/Sgt, with the Illinois State Police supervised four investigative offices located in various locations from Springfield, IL to to Du Quoin, IL.

• Experience working in Patrol, Investigations, and Supervision.

• United States Marine Corps veteran.  Serving in Operation Restore Hope, Somalia in 1992-1993 and being Honorably discharged in 1997 at the rank of Sergeant.

• Several awards to include being the Valedictorian of his police recruit class, Earning the Officer of the Year from Mt. Vernon Police Department in 2004, a Officer of the Year nomination for the Illinois State Police in 2004, and is the recipient of many other Commendation Letters for his work as a police officer.

​In addition, Sgt. Vaughn is an experienced faith based organization security team leader who has served in that position for 14 years.  Sgt. Vaughn has earned a black belt in Shotokan karate and is a United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) certified firearms instructor and a USCCA Countering the Mass Shooter threat instructor.  He posts occasional blogs on topics related to self reliance and self defense.