The Discovery Channel is currently filming for an upcoming new series, “Wreckreation Nation”.  The show’s theme was originally intended to showcase the host, Dave Mordal (of Last Comic Standing fame), participating in extreme adventure activities.  The original title for the show, “Adventure Man”, fit the plot of Dave taking on more adventures than just trying to survive in the woods.  But, as Dave and the producers soon learned, his involvement in such activities ended up beating him around as he tried out things that were actually common place (even recreational) for some people.  Dave and the crew came out to the GPS Defense Sniper School to film one of their episodes and they did in fact learn something we tell all of our students from day one, “[Being a sniper] looks easy enough until you learn properly how to do it” - Sir Baden Powell.  After seeing that some of us do this for fun and many of us do this for a living, I think that Dave and the crew decided that the new title, “Wreckreation Nation” was fitting.

As Dave went through the course with the rest of the students, the Discovery Channel camera crew followed.   This provided some extra hurdles for Dave to overcome during the course.  In this picture, Dave is learning how to construct an urban hide for himself and his spotter, but is having a bit of trouble not being seen with his camera crew in tow.

It can be said that we were both a bit amazed at how much actually goes into our respective jobs.  There is a lot of behind the scenes support for shows like this… more than just the host you see on screen.  Likewise, there is a lot that goes into an effective sniper team completing their mission… a lot more than just a good shooter behind a good rifle and scope.  Despite what either of us usually see, once you learn what is really going on, yo ugain a new appreciation for what is required to make something so difficult look so simple.

It was a pleasure for us to have Dave come through the course as part of Wreckreation Nation on the Discovery Channel.  We were able to help them showcase what some of us do for a living by having him complete a GPS Defense Sniper School course.  Look for our Sniper School episode of Wreckreation Nation in early ‘09 on the Discovery Channel, and then sign up for your own course!

According to a recent article in an Oklahoma Newspaper, NewsOK, Dave said, “…Sniper camp was my favorite, It’s a camp in Phoenix, and it’s ex-military that run it, like Navy SEALs and Army snipers. You will learn exactly what skills are involved in being a sniper.  Once in a while, there’s a civilian, but mostly it’s military and law enforcement. It’s live fire; it’s not pretending, but they’re very safe.”

And in the AZ Star Net, Dave said this about his experience at our school, “…That was one I was most proud of. Even at 48, I went through a lot of it. I had first round hits from 500-900 yards out. I was doing really well with that.  The camp is made up of mostly military, law enforcement and government agents. There were people there we could not show on film. And you could go in as a civilian, but they will only show you the basic stuff. There are some courses there they will not show civilians, and with good reason.”

Here are some pictures of an Air Force SOCOM student of ours during his unit’s training.