Dalton Fury
Dalton Fury, a pseudonym, retired from the US Army after twenty plus years of service. Fifteen of those years were spent serving in special operations units – both the Army Rangers and 1st SFOD-Delta. He is the author of the New York Times Best Seller, KILL BIN LADEN.
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Gary Williams
Gary is a 20 year Electrical Engineer and since 2004, he has been the Director of Business Development for ASAT (Assured Space Access Technologies Inc.), a consulting company specializing on MDA (Missile Defense Agency) projects and programs. Gary has been working in Space and Aerospace Weapons Systems since 1983. In short Gary is our registered TacSim. Gary has worked on many of today’s major weapons systems, along with satellites and launch vehicles. Yep, TacSim has a real Rocket Scientist.
As a self proclaimed small arms expert (a loose term). Gary is very knowledgeable and has firsthand knowledge of many US and Soviet small arms and is proficient in tactical and long range shooting, along with pistols, knives and shotguns. Most of his tactical knowledge comes from his military training, self taught or comes from volunteering for OPFOR missions for the State.
Jamie Wiedeman
Jamie Wiedeman retired from the Army after serving over 20 years. As an enlisted soldier, he made the most of his opportunities in the military, constantly volunteering for challenging and high risk assignments. After serving in both 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions, Jamie was selected to serve in 1st SFOD-D at Ft. Bragg, NC where he operated over 11 years.
Jamie was involved in many real world operations while serving in Special Operations. He has worked in small teams and alone, conducting sensitive reconnaissance and direct action missions is support of US objectives. His experience with small unit tactics, clandestine operations, weapons, and explosives has been proven during many combat deployments. He is known for his resourcefulness, focus, and unrelenting determination to accomplish his assigned mission.
Following his military career, Jamie has been successful in the tactical equipment and weapon industry. His work supporting the military with equipment and tactical training has undoubtedly saved many lives and increased soldier’s capabilities. He has remained active by training US Military, Law Enforcement, and Government Agencies.
SGM (Ret.) Doug Van Der Pool
Doug brings over 21 years of military and special operations service including 7 years experience in law enforcement to the TacSim community. Over the years these assignments developed his skills as a soldier, operator, teacher, mentor and leader.
Before retiring from the military in 1995, Doug attended the US Navy Land Survival Course, Special Forces Qualifications Course, Basic Airborne Course, Military Freefall (MFF) Course, Sniper and Dynamic Entry Training, Combat Diver Course, Advanced Tracking Course, and Laser Target Designation Course
Since his retirement Doug has attended many law enforcement courses and earned the Medal of Valor in 2006 and the Meritorious Service Ribbon in 2007 for the investigation and prosecution of an on-line child predator.
Itsuya “Gogo” Miridoru
Itsuya “Gogo” Miridoru, a model and writer, hails from Tokyo, Japan and is an esteemed addition to the Tactical Media Group family. Also extremely skilled as an artist and pianist, Itsuya is well-known in the Milsim/Airsoft community and comes with a bevy of necessary real world skills, making her mental arsenal a force to be reckoned with.
A reserve officer in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Reserve Component
(JGSDF RC), Itsuya brings with her a wealth of experience. With her current stint as a rappelling training assistant instructor at the JGSDF Tamura Training Center (TTC) and well being well-versed in tactical shooting, her quick wit and decision-making skills will be much appreciated on the team.
Itsuya’s weapons of choice are the HK G36 series and Glock series of pistols. She
is also a trained personal protection body guard. Having a huge fan following in Asia, Itsuya has appeared on a variety of television shows, print magazines, books, Military Memorabilia conventions, and celebrity events. She will be an indispensable addition to the Tactical Media Group family.
Hugh Daly
Born in England, Hugh attended the Hereford College of Art & Design majoring in television production and photography. While in Hereford, Hugh served in the 5th Battalion The Light Infantry, a Volunteer – Reserve component of The British Army. Later, Hugh was one of a handful of actors to be accepted at The Rose Bruford College of speech and drama in London. In 2004 Hollywood called. Hugh coordinated a 101st Airborne Pathfinder segment for “Mail Call D-Day” 60th anniversary special with R. Lee Ermey on The History Channel. Over the next two seasons, Hugh wrote and directed on-location “Army ROTC” and “Tiger Stripe” segments for “Mail Call” and starred as Colonel Coyote Taylor in “Storm on the Horizon” for The History Channel. In 2007, Hugh co-wrote and starred as Major Andrew Pearman in “Brother’s War” an independent feature film exploring espionage and deception in the final days of World War Two. Hugh worked in 2008 as character wardrobe designer/military technical advisor, creating twenty eight characters representing all Military branches and diversity in “Beyond all Boundaries”, a state of the art 4-D film executive produced by Tom Hanks for The National World War 2 Museum in New Orleans. Today Hugh is senior staff writer with Dagger Media Group, scripting award winning training films for the U.S. Army and Cross Cultural Competency for the U.S. Air Force.
Hugh has appeared in numerous television and feature films, including “Crossing Jordan”, “Numb3rs”, “CSI:NY”, “Race to Witch Mountain”, “Hancock” and “G.I. Joe”, and as a stunt performer in “The Butcher” and “Green Street Hooligan’s 2”. Hugh appeared as a character in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2. He has just finished working on Call of Duty 7: Black Ops as a Military technical advisor and the character of “Wall Street” in the first Call of Duty 7: Black Ops commercial and print campaign. Hugh has two feature films in development.
SGT Igor Dobroff
In 1978, at the age of 19, Igor Dobroff was drafted for two years to the Soviet Army. He asked to join the VDV (Soviet Airborne Forces), and the request was granted. SGT Dobroff started his military experience with the VDD (Guard Airborne Division), near the old Russian city of Pskov as a rifleman. During his service, SGT Dobroff made three jumps including a night jump. A year later, he was transferred to the Artillery Airborne Regiment as a scout/radio operator.
In 1980, the Soviet Army began troop deployments to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan on a peacekeeping mission; SGT Dobroff and his fellow soldiers volunteered. The Russian film 9 ROTA depicts a later period but with same general concept. SGT Dobroff and his comrades were sent to the Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan in January 1980 as part of the Artillery Reconnaissance Unit. During a combat mission, SGT Dobroff was wounded and evacuated from Afghanistan back to a military hospital in Tashkent, Soviet Central Asia. In June of 1980, he was discharged from the Soviet Army.
After his military service, Igor Dobroff enrolled in the maritime marine college and later worked as a Navigator for the Soviet Merchant Fleet where he earned the rank of Lieutenant in the Soviet Naval Reserve. For his service, SGT Dobroff received Soviet military decorations for valor and for action in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
As a history enthusiast, Igor Dobroff earned his BA degree in History from the Moscow University in 1991; the same year the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Igor has lived in the United States since 1996.
In 2002, Igor became a member of the California Historical Group a WW2 reenactment community. He possesses an interesting collection of the Red Army infantry weapons, including a demilitarized 45-mm AT cannon. He has also translated many manuals of the Red Army. Igor Dobroff joined the Lion Claws series in 2007.
COL (Ret.) Paul Longgrear
COL (Ret.) Paul Longgrear has been a popular VIP in mil-sim events since 2004. Col. Longgrear is most famous for his leadership in the Battle of Lang Vei in 1968. He was as a leader of a Mike Force comprised of 196 Hre Montagnards from Ban Me Thuot. This account is detailed in the book, Night of the Silver Stars: The Battle of Lang Vei by William R. Phillips and Tanks in the Wire: The First Use of Enemy Armor in Vietnam by David B. Stockwell.
Col. Longgrear retired from the US Army after 26 years of combined federal service. He is a Middle East specialist and speaks on counter terrorism, patriotism, and identifying the real enemy in the current terrorism conflict. Col Longgrear served two combat tours in Vietnam and was in the Middle East when Desert Storm erupted, and he was immediately ordered back to the USA to support the war effort. Col. Longgrear has since been inducted into the Infantry OCS Hall of Fame.
COL. Longgrear was with Tactical MilSim Magazine from its inception as a master tactician who brings valuable real-world expertise and a wealth of knowledge in mil-sim war-gaming experience to the Tactical MilSim family.
Fred Brownbill
Fred Brownbill was born and raised in Rhodesia in 1955 before moving to South Africa in 1970 where he continued his education graduating from Christian Brothers College in 1973. He returned to Rhodesia and fought on active service attached to two special force groups for seven years in that Countries terrible terrorist war before taking the very good advice of others and leaving when Independence was announced and a Marxist Government under Robert Mugabe took over. Fred was Stateless and very unsettled and from 1980 traveled around much of the world on motorcycles and has over 1,000,000 miles under his belt, while maintaining a residence in England for 14 years. He managed the largest motorcycle retail company in Europe during this period, and continued his travels as often as possible. Fred has raced motorcycles both as a drag racer and road racer, competing in Africa and England .He immigrated to the United States in October of 1994, becoming a proud and legal U.S. citizen in 2003.
Today, Fred works as a Deputy Sheriff for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. He is the President and voting director of the Save America Foundation. He is also a member of Oath Keepers and various other Conservative Patriotic groups. He is very active as a public speaker at different Conservative groups and locations around the State of Florida. He has been interviewed on various different radio and live internet radio programs. He is married to Marty, an advisor to the Board of the Save America Foundation, and they have 2 daughters, one in California and the other in Florida. Both he and Marty are still each riding motorcycles and take as many trips both in the States and abroad when they can.
Tom Leitner
> Tom is a decorated Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps where he served with Military Police and Airframes for the CH-53E. Tom enjoys teaching wilderness survival courses and specializes in Urban Escape & Evasion and Tactical Applications in Urban Survival. He is proficient in Dynamic Combative Pistol, Tactical Carbine & Pistol, and Personal Protection. He is also active with the local CERT Team and volunteered during Hurricane Sandy.
Tom is also an avid mil-sim player, attending events all over the US with his team the Suicide Kings out of NJ. He has been involved with mil-sim for more than 5 years and is noted for his unorthodox approach to strategy and threat elimination.
Brian Gilbert
Brian Gilbert has served as a Firefighter/Paramedic for almost 6 years in his home state of Florida. He has served as the department’s Public Information Officer, achieving PIO at the FEMA Level, and as the Assistant Team Leader for Florida Light Technical Rescue Team 312. His current serves as a rescue swimmer with the County’s Marine Rescue Unit.
Brian’s experience with Fire/Rescue vendors lead him to start reviewing products his fellow MilSim enthusiasts. Merlin’s Blog Spot, having only been formed less then 6 months ago, has lead to several reviews/blogs that have gain notoriety with leaders in the Airsoft Industry. Currently, Brian maintains his blog, Youtube channel, and is retained as staff-medic with Mind Game Productions.
Associate Writers
Eddy Bobby
Robert McLaughlin
Brian Simmons
Asst. Photographers
Ryan Penny
Consultants
Paul Pawela
