Nicholas Irving is a former U.S. Army Ranger with multiple combat deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. During his service within the 75th Ranger Regiment, Nicholas served as an Assaulter, Heavy and Light Machine Gunner, and Designated Marksman.
His proudest and most notable position was serving as Sniper. During his time in the Sniper Section, Nicholas attended and completed multiple Sniper Schools and Courses such as U.S. Army Sniper School, Long Ranger Sniper Course, High Angle Sniper Course, and Extreme Range Sniper Course. While his time within the Sniper Section, Nicholas also served as Sniper Team Leader, Squad Leader, and Master Sniper.
During a deployment in 2009-2010 as a Sniper, Nicholas earned the nickname “The Reaper,” after achieving a large number of enemy kills on a short 3 ½ month deployment, making him the deadliest sniper in 3rd Ranger Battalion. Not only is he the deadliest, a little known fact about Nicholas is that he is also the first African American Sniper to serve in 3rd Ranger Battalion.
Nicholas has received a variety of awards throughout his time deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. One of his proudest awards is the Valorous ARCOM Medal, which he received after a sniper mission where he found his element in a close ambush in Afghanistan. Nicholas successfully eliminated enemy targets, not only with his rifle, but by also calling in close air support where 105mm rounds landed less than 100 yards away from his team. His actions saved the lives of 5 men.
After his time in the 75th Ranger Regiment, Nicholas worked in Iraq as a private contractor.
Nicholas has since moved on with his career, where he currently instructs individuals in the art of precision rifle, carbine, shotgun, and pistol. His clientele includes members of JSOC, various SWAT teams around the U.S., D.O.D. members, etc. He has recently taken his special skill set abroad, instructing Special Operations members in Finland, Estonia, and other countries.
Nicholas also runs and owns his own website and shooting school, HardShoot, and is a contributing writer for the website SOFREP.com.
When Nicholas is not on the shooting range, he is putting his time in Battalion and in combat on paper, and for the LoadOutRoom. He has self-published three books, Team Reaper and Precision Rifle B.I.B.L.E., volumes 1 and volume 2. He is currently working on another book with St. Martin’s Press.
Bart “Sergei” Norman is a Poland-based firearms instructor and security consultant.
A proud member of the Tactical Beard Owners Club, Sergei graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University with a BA in Information Science (Social Media and Open-Source Intelligence), and from The Higher Banking School with an MA in Management Psychology (War on Terror as part of Political Marketing in the US after 9/11).
He is currently leading a quiet life as Polish Army reservist, Sergei’s main fields of study include: Psychology in Propaganda, Information Security, Open-Source Intelligence, Information Analysis, Conflicts in the Caucasus.
Sergei enjoys writing about gear and sharing his expertise with the LOR community.
Pulling Punches
Not us. This site doesn’t pull punches out of fear of advertising sponsor backlash. The truth is, a lot of print magazines and gear sites let their advertisers call the shots when it comes to decisions on what to post and what to say. Insanity! While we promote great relationships with our sponsors and industry, the tail does not wag the dog in The Loadout Room. The other painful fact is that there are a lot of sites writing about gear and guns and that just don’t have a clue. Most the people on these sites have never left the comfort of their living room couch let alone stepped outside the wire.
Hard core guns and gear born again hard.
So welcome to the Loadout room friend, pull up an ammo can, pop open a cold beverage and join us for great conversation about gear we love.
-Brandon
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