Reston Group/Ridgeline Defense Event Overwatch

Then, about three years ago, I decided to take a chance. I messaged a trainer who seemed to operate differently—he appeared practical and, crucially, was still actively working the job. To my surprise, he messaged back. That brief exchange fundamentally changed my way of thinking about the industry and planted a seed. Since that conversation, I’d been waiting for the opportunity to train with him.

It took time, patience, and some careful coordination, but in June of 2025, the stars finally aligned. I was headed to the Event Overwatch class, put on by Jared Reston and Ridgeline Defense in Grinnell, Iowa. My trip there was an epic adventure, covering well over 1,000 miles. I drove through one of the most terrifying, heavy 100 mph straight-line wind storms I’d ever encountered, burned nearly five tanks of gas, and subsisted mostly on gas station fare. It was one of the grandest adventures a man could want.

Before diving into the class, let me set the scene. For those in the know, Grinnell is the home of Brownell’s Inc.—a massive partner in the gun industry. While most people see Iowa as a “flyover state,” for a good ol’ boy from Kansas and Oklahoma like me, it felt right at home. The range itself is about ten miles south of I-80. You twist your way down two-lane roads to a simple farmhouse and a sign, surrounded by crops. Once you pass through the gate and down the gravel road, you open up onto a beautiful facility with four shooting bays, one of which stretches out to an impressive 500 yards.

As for the class, I won’t give you a granular, day-one, day-two, day-three recap. Instead, I want to try and cover some of the core topics and critical concepts we explored. My goal is to give you a taste, but ultimately, I encourage you to take the class and experience the impact for yourself..

The beauty of this course, and a sign of its well-designed and structured approach, is that every key concept builds upon the last, culminating in a single, powerful philosophy. I won’t give a day-by-day account, but here are my four biggest takeaways from the training:

1. The Power of the Immediate Follow-Up

The very first lesson dismantled a common misconception: it’s not “one shot, one kill,” it’s “one shot, one hit.” The moment that hit is confirmed, you must be ready for an immediate follow-up shot. We dedicated significant time to putting multiple rounds onto targets as fast as the shooter could manage while maintaining acceptable hits. This instantly brought to mind a core principle taught to me by Will Andrews: Shoot as fast as you can, and as slow as you have to in order to make the hit. This task is, of course, easier with an autoloading rifle, but the proficiency gained was remarkable. By the end of the course, I was easily achieving 0.25-second splits on targets out to 400 yards, the rounds almost sounding like a single, sustained impact.

2. Precision Over Single-Shot Accuracy

This takeaway directly supports the first. Many shooters mistakenly believe they are “great” because they can place a single, perfect round at a given distance. However, in this line of work—and particularly in an overwatch capacity—Precision is the ability to repeat, while Accuracy is a single shot. The ability to quickly repeat acceptable hits is far more critical than an occasional one-hole group. You must be able to put multiple rounds on target in rapid succession when the situation demands it.

3. Economy of Motion Creates Time

The third major principle was simple but profound: Move fast, but not in a hurry. In high-stakes environments, economy of motion creates the time you need. The objective shifts from securing a perfect shot to securing an acceptable hit in time. We trained to operate at assaulter speeds. I understand that this can sound like a lot to absorb, but it’s all interconnected. In the LEO Sniper/Overwatch Community, we don’t have the luxury of waiting for that perfect “timer” shot. If we expect to make a difference, we must become efficient with our movements to secure the necessary hit within the often small time window we’re given.

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4. Operational Maturity: The Mental Game Changer

Operational Maturity, is perhaps the hardest concept for the newer sniper to truly grasp. It’s a multi-layered philosophy that extends well beyond marksmanship.

The first layer is about doing the work before the work needs done. This means meticulous preparation and intelligence gathering: scouting the venue, collecting critical data like winds a-loft, and defining your areas of operation and overlap. It also means consistently putting in the non-firing reps—the dry-fire practice Jared rightly called rehearsal time. This disciplined preparation is what builds the subconscious competence you need when the pressure is on.

The second, crucial layer of maturity is possessing the discipline to know your limitations. You must be brutally honest with yourself about when you can and when you absolutely can’t take the shot. When the parameters are outside of what’s acceptable—when that perfect shot isn’t possible—operational maturity means recognizing that your role has shifted. You are now relegated to being a great observer, providing the crucial intelligence to guide a ground team to the target. That shift in mindset, from shooter to intelligence source, is the true mark of a mature operator.

5. Acceptable is Good Enough

Finally, we tackled the concept of acceptable yardage is like acceptable wobble—in other words, close is good enough. One of the biggest struggles new long-range shooters and snipers face is the notion of acceptability. Hollywood has fed us so much myth about the “perfect shot” that many don’t truly understand the operational reality of a sniper. It’s not about making the perfect shot; it’s about making the acceptable shot—the one that stops a threat from inflicting more violence. This mission cannot be accomplished without integrating the first four takeaways.

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Overall, I am thrilled and incredibly grateful I was able to attend. The class was well worth the monetary and sweat equity. Jared and Ridge Line Defense brought a lot of practical experience from years of event overwatch and condensed it into a 3 day class. Training with Jared was a bucket list item I can proudly check off.

Jared mentioned he plans to start limiting the number of classes he teaches due to other commitments, so before he stops entirely, I’ve set a personal goal: to try and bring this class to Oklahoma. Stay tuned to see if we can get him here in 2026!