About Chuck Taylor

The author of over 5000 magazine articles, three magazine columns ("Combat Corner" - COMBAT HANDGUNS; "Sharpshooter" - GUNS & WEAPONS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT and "Handguns In Combat" - HANDGUNS) and four successful books (THE COMPLETE BOOK OF COMBAT HANDGUNNING, THE FIGHTING RIFLE, THE COMBAT SHOTGUN & SUBMACHINE GUN and his latest work, the 4th edition of THE GUN DIGEST BOOK OF COMBAT HANDGUNNERY) on weapons & tactics, Chuck Taylor is an Adjunct Professor Of Police Science, Court-Recognized Expert Witness and the first 4-Weapon COMBAT MASTER. A qualified parachutist and decorated Vietnam Veteran who served two combat tours in that conflict, he is both AIRBORNE and RANGER qualified, with additional expertise in SWAT and Counter-Terrorist Operations.

An NRA-certified Rifle & Pistol Instructor, former World-Class IPSC competitor & U.S. Team member, he also held NRA Expert Ratings with Light Rifle, High-Power Carbine and High-Power Rifle. While on active military duty, he earned Expert ratings with the M1911 .45 pistol, M-1, M-14 & M-16 rifles, M-14A1 squad automatic rifle, M-60 machine gun and M-79 40mm grenade launcher and has successfully qualified 7 times as a Handgun Combat Master with as many different handguns.

As the founder/director of The American Small Arms Academy, he has been involved in the training of tactical and security personnel of a number of both well-known and covert military & police special-operations units. For the last ten years, Chuck has been rated by virtually all of the gun magazines as one of the so-called "Big Four," the four best trainers in the world and, in January, 1996, was honored when the Swiss Army (and, in January, 1997, the Swiss Air Force) formally adopted his rifle, submachine gun & handgun techniques. Since then, more than 300,000 personnel have been trained in Taylor's methods, earning him even more international recognition. In January, 2003, the Belgian Army followed suit and in the coming years, apporximately 100,000 additional Belgian personnel will receive training in Chuck's weapon-handling and shooting methods, making him the only professional trainer in the world to have his techniques adopted by several major military powers.

Chuck's contributions to the field of combat handgunning are numerous, far-reaching and widely copied. Among his accomplishments in this area are the creation of the Tactical Reload, proven-superior methods of Malfunction Clearing, Multiple Target Engagement and Responses to the left and rear, shooting while moving and the adaptation of the Speed Rock and Stepback into highly effective close-range emergency response procedures.

As a result, feature articles on his techniques and instructional programs have appeared in internationally-known publications, such as AIM and FIRE! (Belgium), DEUTCHES WAFFEN JOURNAL (Germany), ACTION GUNS & LeCIBLE (France), SWISS ARMY JOURNAL, ARMAS Y MUNITIONS (Spain), INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE REVIEW & INTERSEC (Britain), Guns & Ammo HANDGUNS, COMBAT HANDGUNS, SPECIAL WEAPONS, SWAT, SHOOTIST, GLOCKSTER and a multitude of newspapers.

In addition, he has received multiple commendations from the U.S. Department Of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) & Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI), International Association Of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI), U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), U.S. Army Special Forces, U.S. Navy Special Warfare and dozens of SWAT units and law-enforcement agencies worldwide.

A sometimes controversial innovator with an unflinching commitment to results, Chuck's techniques are credited with saving the lives of hundreds of law-enforcement officers, military personnel and civilians alike. In fact, as students, many of his professional colleagues learned much of what they know from Taylor.

As the Director of The American Small Arms Academy, he can be found either in the field training or conducting research in pursuit of his lifelong goal -- saving lives by advancing the state-of-the-art of combat weaponcraft.