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Ю́рий Ю́рьевич Витре́нко (; ) — украинский экономист, управленец и государственный деятель. Председатель правления акционерного общества «Национальная акционерная компания Нафтогаз Украины» с 29 апреля 2021 года.

Биография
Родился 17 сентября 1976 года в Киеве. Отец — Юрий Николаевич Витренко, кандидат экономических наук, доцент; мать — Наталья Витренко, доктор экономических наук, научный сотрудник, в дальнейшем известный украинский политик, лидер Прогрессивной социалистической партии Украины. Родители развелись в 1991 году, после развода родителей Юрий остался жить с отцом.

Образование

С пяти лет учился в киевской школе № 172, после восьмого класса поступил в экономический класс гимназии № 153, параллельно учился в Киевской школе менеджмента для старшеклассников (с 1993 года преобразована в Киевский лицей бизнеса).

В 1996 году окончил бакалавриат Киевского национального экономического университета с красным дипломом по специальности «международная экономика», в 1997 году в том же университете окончил магистратуру с красным дипломом по специальности «управление международным бизнесом», в период учёбы проходил практику в американском Университете науки и техники штата Айова и участвовал в международных студенческих конференциях.

С 1997 по 2000 год учился в аспирантуре Института международных отношений Киевского университета на кафедре международных экономических отношений.

В 2002 году после сдачи четырнадцати квалификационных экзаменов стал членом Ассоциации присяжных сертифицированных бухгалтеров, с 2007 года является почётным членом ACCA.

В 2004 году окончил программу MBA международной бизнес-школы INSEAD, затем проходил практику в инвестиционном банке Merrill Lynch.

С 2005 года является ассоциированным членом Лондонского института ценных бумаг и инвестиций.

Карьера
С 1992 по 1993 год занимал должность аналитика в Украинской финансовой группе, с 1995 по 1996 год работал в ПАО «Укринбанк» в должности специалиста второй категории управления внешнеэкономической деятельности международных расчётов.

С 1998 по 2002 год занимал различные должности в подразделении менеджмент-консалтинга ведущей международной компании в сфере предоставления аудиторских и консультационных услуг PricewaterhouseCoopers (Coopers & Lybrand до слияния с Price Waterhouse), в том числе являлся старшим консультантом по вопросам управления, работал в отделе управленческого консультирования.

С 2002 года принимал участие в проекте по разработке стратегии НАК «Нафтогаз Украины» и в проекте по созданию вертикально-интегрированной нефтяной компании как помощник заместителя председателя правления. Занимал должности помощника заместителя председателя правления, руководителя подразделения корпоративных финансов, главного советника председателя правления, внештатного советника председателя правления, директора по развитию бизнеса.

С 2004 по 2005 год был начальником Управления планирования финансово-хозяйственной деятельности, начальником Управления корпоративных финансов, заместителем начальника Департамента экономики и ценовой политики НАК «Нафтогаз Украины».

С 2005 по 2006 год работал в инвестиционно-банковском подразделении лондонского отделения банка Merrill Lynch.

С 2006 по 2007 год являлся советником, затем главным советником председателя правления НАК «Нафтогаз Украины».

С 2008 по 2010 год занимал должность старшего вице-президента и главного операционного директора фонда частных инвестиций «Амстар Европа».

С 2008 по 2014 год приглашен выступить как один из организаторов реструктуризации международных долгов НАК «Нафтогаз Украины» путём обмена на выпускаемые еврооблигации в должности внештатного советника председателя правления компании; после смены руководства компании в 2010 году остался внештатным советником.

В 2010 году учредил инвестиционную компанию «AYA Capital».

В 2014 году вернулся в НАК «Нафтогаз Украины».

13 ноября 2018 года стал исполнительным директором НАК «Нафтогаз Украины», занимал должность до 17 июля 2020 года.

В апреле 2019 года стал главой наблюдательного совета ПАО «Укрнафта».

В октябре 2019 года стал членом наблюдательного совета государственного концерна «Укроборонпром».

17 июля 2020 года Юрий Витренко покинул пост исполнительного директора НАК «Нафтогаз Украины».

21 декабря 2020 года постановлением Кабинета министров Украины с 22 декабря 2020 года назначен первым заместителем министра энергетики Украины и стал временно исполняющим обязанности министра.

28 апреля 2021 года постановлением Кабинета министров Украины, 29 апреля 2021 года Юрий Витренко назначен главой НАК «Нафтогаз Украины».

15 июня 2021 года на сайте Национального агентства по вопросам предотвращения коррупции появилась информация о том, что распоряжение правительства о назначении Витренко является незаконным и его нужно отменить.

Семья и личная жизнь
 Отец — Витренко Юрий Николаевич, кандидат экономических наук, доцент.
 Мать — Витренко Наталья Михайловна — доктор экономических наук, академик, лидер Прогрессивной социалистической партии Украины, народный депутат Украины II и III созывов, кандидат в президенты Украины 1999 и 2004 годов. После событий 2014 г. некоторое время жила в Москве а затем вернулась в Киев.
 Жена — Ирина, от которой трое детей: Кристина (2004 г. р.), Григорий (2007 г. р.) и Маргарита (2015 г. р.).

Примечания

Ссылки
 Довідка: Вітренко Юрій Юрійович
 Биография

Выпускники Киевского национального экономического университета имени Вадима Гетьмана
Руководители НАК «Нафтогаз Украины»
Министры энергетики Украины


Thanks for the review and suggestion! Mind if I ask which device you have? I can probably only add this feature to some of the newer watches (like VAHR/VA3/645/935/Fenix 5), as older watches (like 235/630/Fenix 3) are right up at the memory limit with this app. Please press Contact Developer and let me know. Thanks!


News Reporting and Navigating Risk: Is Gender a Factor?
This event is organised by the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) and the Frontline Freelance Register (FFR).
News Reporting and Navigating Risk will be a moderated discussion with accomplished journalists who have reported from hostile environments around the world about their experiences with a focus on best practices for security, emotional self care, and access to medical, mental health, and emergency resources.


To follow the transdisciplinary ambition in much information science and philosophy leading to cognitive science we need to include a phenomenological and hermeneutical ground in order to encompass a theory of interpretative meaning and signification to achieve a transdisciplinary theory of knowing and communication. This is also true if we start in cybernetics and system theory that also have transdisciplinary aspirations for instance in Batesons ecological concept of information as a difference that makes a difference and in Luhmann's triple autopoietic communication-based system theory. Charles Sanders Peirce's pragmaticist semiotics integrates logic and information in interpretative semiotics. But although Peirce's information theory is built on meaningful signs and he connects information to the growth of symbols, his information theory is empirically based in a realistic worldview, which in the development to modern biosemiotics include all living systems.
Cybersemiotics and the Reasoning Powers of the Universe : Philosophy of Information in a Semiotic-Systemic Transdisciplinary Approach. / Brier, Søren.
In: Green Letters, Vol. 19, No. 3, 2015, p. 280-292.
N2 - To follow the transdisciplinary ambition in much information science and philosophy leading to cognitive science we need to include a phenomenological and hermeneutical ground in order to encompass a theory of interpretative meaning and signification to achieve a transdisciplinary theory of knowing and communication. This is also true if we start in cybernetics and system theory that also have transdisciplinary aspirations for instance in Batesons ecological concept of information as a difference that makes a difference and in Luhmann's triple autopoietic communication-based system theory. Charles Sanders Peirce's pragmaticist semiotics integrates logic and information in interpretative semiotics. But although Peirce's information theory is built on meaningful signs and he connects information to the growth of symbols, his information theory is empirically based in a realistic worldview, which in the development to modern biosemiotics include all living systems.
AB - To follow the transdisciplinary ambition in much information science and philosophy leading to cognitive science we need to include a phenomenological and hermeneutical ground in order to encompass a theory of interpretative meaning and signification to achieve a transdisciplinary theory of knowing and communication. This is also true if we start in cybernetics and system theory that also have transdisciplinary aspirations for instance in Batesons ecological concept of information as a difference that makes a difference and in Luhmann's triple autopoietic communication-based system theory. Charles Sanders Peirce's pragmaticist semiotics integrates logic and information in interpretative semiotics. But although Peirce's information theory is built on meaningful signs and he connects information to the growth of symbols, his information theory is empirically based in a realistic worldview, which in the development to modern biosemiotics include all living systems.


text:
Prosecution rests case against man suspected in 1984 slaying of Bennett family
The defense for Alex Christopher Ewing is expected to wrap its case Wednesday.
Author: Kevin Vaughan
Published: 1:28 PM MDT August 3, 2021
Updated: 8:35 AM MDT August 4, 2021
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Prosecutors brought their case against Alex Christopher Ewing to a close Tuesday morning, using a detailed walkthrough of genetic evidence to show that his DNA was found inside the home where three members of an Aurora family were murdered in January 1984.
Yvonne "Missy" Woods, a DNA analyst at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was the last of 25 prosecution witnesses called to the stand in Ewing's trial on multiple counts of first-degree murder in the hammer killings of Bruce and Debra Bennett and their daughter, Melissa.
Melissa, 7, was sexually assaulted in the attack.
Credit: Courtesy Bennett Family
Melissa Bennett, left, and her parents, Bruce and Debra Bennett, were murdered the night of Jan. 15, 1984. Only Vanessa Bennett, 3, survived.
After her testimony, which ran more than three hours, prosecutors rested their case – and defense attorneys moved for a mistrial, arguing that recent testing of some evidence left them unable to provide Ewing with effective assistance. District Judge Darren Vahle denied the motion.
Under questioning from District Attorney John Kellner, Woods told the jury that Ewing's DNA, extracted from sperm, was found on both the carpeting beneath Melissa Bennett's body and a comforter that partially covered the 7-year-old when a firefighter found her.
RELATED: Jurors hear about Lakewood murder linked by DNA to 1984 killing of Bennett family
Jurors also heard mathematical probabilities that the DNA could be anyone other than Ewing's.
For example, Woods told the jurors that matching DNA profiles were discovered on the comforter in testing of different sections of it done in 2001 and again in 2018. Both matched Ewing, she testified.
Credit: Sentinel Colorado
Alex Ewing enters the courtroom after the morning recess on the first day of his Aurora Hammer Murder trial July 27 at the Arapahoe County Courthouse. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/ Sentinel Colorado
She told the jury the "probability of selecting an unrelated individual at random from the population" with that same DNA profile is 1 in 13 nonillion. That's 13 with 30 zeroes after it.
Woods also testified about evidence from the murder of Patricia Smith, a 50-year-old interior decorator who was raped and beaten to death with an auto-body hammer in Lakewood six days before the Bennett murders.
A judge handling the case ruled that the jury could be told about Ewing's connection to the Smith murder because of similarities to the Bennett killings, although they have not been told that Ewing is scheduled to go on trial in that case in October.
Patricia Louise Smith
Woods testified that she found Ewing's DNA on the carpeting under Smith's body and on a child's blanket found at the scene.
Defense attorneys Stephen McCrohan and Katherine Spengler have suggested that evidence in the Bennett cases was mishandled – drawing out acknowledgments that some police investigators didn't wear gloves, that the comforter was dried in a room that was not sterilized, and that the packaging on some items was damaged. They've also elicited acknowledgments that some evidence – such as a hair found on Melissa Bennett's pajamas – was destroyed in testing and that other items are missing.
Some of Kellner's questions went right to the defense assertions.
For instance, he asked Woods whether, as she prepared to test evidence in the Smith case, any evidence from the Bennett murders was in her lab.
"At this time, no," she said.
Woods also told the jury that CBI analysts had developed DNA profiles for both Patricia Smith and Melissa Bennett – and as Kellner wrapped up his initial questions he asked about another suggestion of defense attorneys.
"Do you see any evidence of contamination from one case to the other?" Kellner asked.
"No," Woods replied.
Woods said none of Melissa Bennett's DNA was found on any evidence in the Smith case – and that, conversely, none of Smith's DNA was found on any evidence in the Bennett case.
"Is it fair to say that the DNA profile that links those two cases is solely Mr. Ewing's?" Kellner asked.
"Yes," Woods replied.
RELATED: Bennett family murders: Jurors hear about DNA evidence
During cross-examination, McCrohan asked Woods questions about a number of items that Ewing's DNA was not found on – including Smith's boots, jeans, and panties, which investigators have long believed were pulled off by the killer, and the murder weapon. Similarly, Ewing's DNA was not found on Melissa Bennett's pajamas or underwear.
McCrohan also had Woods confirm that there were many pieces of evidence she did not test. That included a knife that investigators believe the killer used to slash Bruce Bennett's throat, and kitchen drawers the killer appeared to have pulled out.
He also asked her about testing for what's known as "touch" DNA – genetic material left by sweat or skin cells when a person handles an object.
"Certainly, the only way to know there's not evidence on any of these items is to test them, right?" McCrohan asked.
"Yes," Woods said.
She also agreed that DNA from crime scene investigators or investigators could be on some of the items.
"There could be DNA on there from the person who handled these items during the crimes against the Bennetts, correct?" he asked.
"That's possible," she said.
But she said CBI does not perform touch DNA testing in crimes that occurred before 2006 "because of the sheer number of people who could have touched it over the years."
At one point, McCrohan suggested that CBI was "not interested" in testing evidence the killer could have touched and asked if that was a fair characterization.
"No," Woods replied. "It's after looking at hundreds of things that were swabbed for touch DNA over the years and realizing it's not answering the question."
The question she was referring to is simple: Who committed this crime?
With respect to the knife in the Bennett case, McCrohan pointed out that it wasn't tested for touch DNA even though that was being done as far back as 2010.
RELATED: 20-minute video gives jurors a glimpse inside crime scene at Bennett family home
"Swabbing in 2010 is not answering who handled the knife in 1984," Woods said.
"It would answer whose DNA was on it," McCrohan replied.
"And all the people who handed it over the years," Woods said.
Following up, Kellner asked what might have happened if the killer had worn gloves.
"A person wearing gloves could bring any number of DNA profiles to items that they touch," Woods said.
"And not leave their own?" Kellner asked.
"That's correct," Woods said.
He also returned to the effort to answer the investigative question.
"In a brutal sexual assault of a child where there's semen found at the scene, does it more closely answer the question?" Kellner asked.
"Yes, it does," Woods said.
"About who committed the rape and murder?" Kellner continued.
After more questions from McCrohan, and some questions from jurors, Woods left the stand a few minutes before noon.
"The people rest," Kellner said.
Spengler immediately moved for a mistrial, arguing that the defense was handicapped by recent touch DNA testing of evidence in the Smith case. Vahle denied that request – and also denied a defense request to acquit Ewing on all charges after Spengler argued the prosecution had not proved its case.
Defense attorneys have told the judge they need a day or two to present their case.
Ewing, 60, was identified as a suspect in the Bennett and Smith cases after a DNA hit in 2018. At that time, he was still serving a 110-year sentence for a late-night ax handle attack on a couple in Henderson that occurred about 7 months after the Bennett murders.
Credit: Nevada Department of Corrections
The hit came after Nevada prison officials started obtaining DNA from inmates and adding it to the FBI's national database, known as CODIS. It was there that it was matched first to the Bennett murders and then to Smith's killing.
While the jurors have been told that about Ewing's connection to the Smith's murder, they can only consider it for "proving identity, for showing modus operandi and common plan, scheme, or design, and to refute any defense of mistake or accident as associated with the DNA evidence."
Jurors have also been told that Ewing was out of Colorado from Jan. 27, 1984 – 11 days after the Bennett killings – until he was returned to the state to face trial in February 2020.
Contact 9NEWS reporter Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.
The story of the assaults, the search for a killer, and the anxiety that gripped the survivors and altered life in the Denver metro area is the subject of a 9Wants to Know investigative podcast.
"BLAME: The Fear All These Years" takes listeners back to the attacks and tells the stories of those most deeply impacted — the survivors and the loved ones of the dead. It follows the police investigation through years of cold-case frustration, forensic breakthroughs and the latest developments.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Bennett family murders
Judge declares mistrial for man charged in 1984 Lakewood killing

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It didn't take long for these kiddos to get dirty... but what do you expect when you are at one of their favorite parks?
From chalk to bubbles, and just enjoying the stream that runs through Corbetts Glen, this session was non-stop from start to finish. We were celebrating Chris and Melissa's 10th Anniversary while the kids ran around and played.
But the photos tell a great story, 10 years of marriage and two kids later, congrats Melissa and Chris!


Comfortable Accommodations near Corcovado & Cano Island at Drake Bay Resort!
Drake Bay Resort, selected as a prime location in the Osa Peninsula, on an outpost of land situated at sea level. The cabins were constructed on the ocean with a breathtaking jungle river at your back door. There is exceptional swimming, and kayaking just steps from your cabin, as well as various hiking trails ranging in difficulty levels, and miles of beaches ideal for jogging. Drake Bay Resort, the first hotel at Drake Bay, was built by the owners Marleny and Herbert and they have operated the hotel continuously for 18 years.
Drake Bay Resort offers comfortable, rustic cabins that include welcome modern amenities. Each room contains a sleek tiled bathroom with hot shower, ceiling fans, reading lamps and electricity. All have a front porch for relaxing and taking in the pristine beauty of Drake Bay and the surrounding mountains and rainforest. The lodge offers free laundry service with clothes returned the same day. By the pool, you can enjoy fantastic ocean views while you kick back and enjoy the sun. Warm ocean water fills the beautiful pool located right at the sea's edge. Lunch is available every day at the open-air poolside restaurant.
The river allows effortless boat landings at the dock rather than a beach landing. All of the tours and boats are privately owned and operated by Drake Bay Resort. The knowledgeable guides who all speak English will provide interesting facts and history about any of the different tours offered. The gorgeous protected areas Corcovado National Park, as well as Caño Island, are close to the hotel. So it is a great opportunity to make trips there and experience the natural beauty of tropical plants and exotic animals. Other tours provided in the area include scuba diving, snorkeling, whale and dolphin watching, kayaking and horseback riding.
Another great facility of the Drake Bay Resort a fully stocked bar. It is an open-air bar that is a great place to relax and watch the amazing colors of the sky when the sun starts to set over the bay. Guests also enjoy three tasteful meals a day included. These are featuring fresh caught local seafood, meats, tropical fruits and vegetables (grown on the hotel's organic farm), hot rolls, soups, salads, homemade bread, and desserts. There are also free snacks available at the bar. This hotel is a perfect place to enjoy your vacation.
Drake Bay. Restaurant. Laundry Service, Concierge.


The attorney representing a Corning woman accused of causing her son's death will likely base her defense on autopsy results and medical records.
Kristy L. Van Etten, 26, pleaded not guilty in Steuben County Court Monday morning to second-degree manslaughter. She is accused of injuring her 5-month-old son in 2006.
The infant died 13 months later.
After the arraignment, Defense attorney Terrence Baxter said he will focus on the medical records and seek a more definitive cause of death.
Van Etten was originally charged with felony second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. The charge was elevated after the infant died in a Buffalo hospital.
According to police, Van Etten shook and threw her 5-month-old son, Maxim, in August 2006 at their Griffith Street home in Corning.
Assistant District Attorney Travis Barry was not immediately available for comment following Monday's proceedings.
"The people stand ready for trial on the superseding indictment," Barry said in court.
If convicted of manslaughter, Van Etten faces up to 15 years in state prison. She is currently free without bail.
Also, the misdemeanor child-endangerment trial of Van Etten's husband, Joshua Van Etten, will likely begin within weeks, Baxter said. Joshua Van Etten was charged in connection with the alleged attack in August 2006.


As the state scrambles to meet a January deadline to get local school districts to sign on to the State Department of Education's (SDE) proposed education reform plan for funding under the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) grant, CEA held a special meeting for local Association leaders to meet with State Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan.
At the December 17 meeting, McQuillan explained the state's RTTT application process, what it means in terms of funding to districts, and what the grant could mean for teachers. The state must submit its application by January 19 to be eligible for $175 million in federal grants.
The commissioner said the grant would allow Connecticut to move forward on some significant education reform proposals, such as the high school reform plan proposed last year but never approved because of state budget problems. According to the commissioner, a "reconstituted" high school reform plan is part of the state's RTTT grant.
In addition to McQuillan's presentation, the meeting was led by CEA President Phil Apruzzese, CEA Executive Director John Yrchik, and key CEA managers. They and the commissioner encouraged local Association leaders to get involved in a dialogue with districts that decide to participate in the RTTT grant.
At the same time, CEA leaders urged local Association officers to make sure that if they participate that any rights protecting the Association or its members are not waived or overridden.
Apruzzese and CEA Director of Policy and Professional Practice Mary Loftus Levine are among representatives of key public education stakeholders who have been involved in the state's RTTT application process. They serve on the SDE's External Partners Advisory Committee that has met since late summer.
The December meeting in Cromwell was the first opportunity for local Association leaders to hear directly from the commissioner about the implications and goals of RTTT. After covering the components of the RTTT application, McQuillan answered questions by some of the 80 local teacher leaders attending the meeting.
Districts that agree to work with the state and participate in the RTTT grant must implement all or significant portions of the state's reform plan that will be submitted as part of the grant application. Participating districts will be required to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will hold them accountable for meeting the goals, timelines, budgets, and targets specified by the state.
Districts that decide to participate in the state's RTTT plan must submit a signed MOU to the state by Monday, January 11.The MOU is binding on the district and at a minimum must be signed by the superintendent and the board of education chair. The Association is more likely to be involved with — and shape — the program if it also signs the MOU.
One thing to consider is that RTTT is a competitive grant program. The federal government has established a point system to decide which states may get money based on certain things.
Connecticut gets more credit in this competitive grant if the agreement also includes the signature of the local Association president. However, in each school district that decides to participate, the local union president is not required to sign the agreement.
The bottom line is that deciding whether to sign on to the grant is a decision that each local has to make for itself. Locals have to evaluate how children's education might improve and what their members might gain.
CEA Legal Counsel Ronald Cordilico spoke to local leaders about how they can effectively participate and collaborate with their administrators on RTTT but still maintain and uphold teacher collective bargaining rights and rights protected by state statute.
Cordilico added that any committee agreement must be submitted to the Association as the bargaining agent, separate from the committee. The Association's officers should then meet separately, pursuant to its local constitution, to decide what action to take.
"Get any agreement in writing. Don't rely on informal conversations," he stressed.
Apruzzese encouraged local leaders to take an "active role" in any and all committees or arenas where RTTT programs are developed and implemented. He said local Association officers can also help by educating and engaging members in discussions about the state reform plan in the RTTT grant.
Yrchik said RTTT is an opportunity for teachers and the Association to assume an advocacy role in making decisions that will shape education policies and programs.
@Union: CEA has taken every opportunity to engage association leaders about the opportunities that RTTT provides, including this one-on-one meeting with the commissioner. In the final analysis, local associations need to decide for themselves how to proceed.
Nice summary of the presentation given by the commissioner. However, I was hoping that CEA would take a stronger stance and provide more guidance to locals regarding Dr. McQuillan's comments.
I taught in Montana for eight years; in South Dakota for two years; in Minneapolis for 15 years and in Maine for one year. I have been teaching in Connecticut for eleven years. I have to say that I was impressed with the quality of schools in Connecticut from the first year I lived here. We do many things better than districts around the United States. Do we have room for improvement? Yes, of course. But let's not assume that everything in our state educational system is outdated and wrong and needs to be thrown out and reformed. Lets look that the systems that are outstanding and see if we can learn from them. There are many of them in this state.
Having moved from the nation's 2nd best educational system (CT) to the 2nd worst (Clark Co.School District, NV) 18 months ago, I can attest to the superb teachers and teacher training that Connecticut offers its citizens. And CEA is one of the reasons CT enjoys its reputation: a strong association providing leadership and protections for its members is essential for success. You never fully appreciate something until you've 'lost' it! Keep up the good work, CEA.


Testimonials 11-15 out of 2210 displayed.
Absolutely top-notch instruction! I did the 2-day Advanced Combat Pistol Level 1 course and loved it. The content was covered very purposefully and was effectively presented. The guys at TDSA were highly technical, entertaining, and used a method of lecture and practice that was second to none. This is a must have in your firearms training arsenal.
My husband and I took a 4 hour class with Marshall. I had some experience with firearms and a few classes but was never totally comfortable with practicing by myself. I had never shot more than one maybe 2 different pistols at any one time. Every time I would pick up a different pistol it felt like another foreign object, something I would have to relearn. Within the first 30 minutes Marshall had me shooting everything from Glocks, Walthers, Kahrs, Sig Saurs, and Smith & Wessons with confidence. Marshall is very attentive to his students. Knowing that I had less experience than my husband he was still able to accommodate to my training level. He was right there every time I made an infraction and he gave me a few "Aha" moments that will last me a lifetime. He backed all of his technique with science of how the body works with shooting both physiologically and structurally, which made sense to me since I have an anatomy and physiology background. Marshall teaches with enthusiasm and passion. He is a skilled marksman and knows his craft. I would travel across the state to train with him again to receive the quality of instruction he gives. This was the best 4 hours of training EVER!
I take writing testimonials very seriously. My wife and I just took a 4 hour class with Marshall and the quality of our training deserves sharing.
Customer satisfaction is top notch - Marshall has a busy schedule (probably for the following reasons) but was extremely accommodating.
Marshall is a true teacher - We first had the best class about the fundamentals of shooting. It was customized to our background and level of expertise, and every technique was backed up by science.
Every aspect of the class was tailored to us - Marshall brought 10 pistols of different brands and sizes. He taught us all the criteria to look for on a gun for a good fit.
Marshall is a marksman - When we shot, Marshall was correcting minute errors in our technique. My shot groups became half smaller and 3 times faster - incredible.
Marshall is very enthusiastic - This was the best 4 hours I've had with a pistol.
I signed up for this class not knowing what to expect. I have shot pistols off and on for the last 6-7 years with no real training other than taking a concealed class to the my license.
I thought I knew the basics, but I quickly realized that I didn't know much at all. I had never been introduced to the fundamentals of marksmanship, or had them presented to me formally. Everyone thinks they know how to grip a pistol and aim down the sights, but it probably isn't correct.
TDSA helped me gain a better understanding of the basic skills. While on the line they help correct the small things, give you pointers, find the small adjustments to make. Each instructor can provide a different way to think about the same subject. While working on grip, it took something Billy said to me for it to really click.
After the weekend was over I was completely exhausted, and in a good way. I learned tons of knowledge and skills, I felt safe the entire time, and had tons of fun.
Now I know what I need to practice on , how to train, and to stay in the fight. I can't wait for my next class with TDSA.
I wanted to say thank you for the past two days of Advanced Combat Pistol. Your entire team of instructors were fantastic.
I learned and grew as a shooter. Your teaching methods and techniques were valuable. I cant wait to come back.


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How this 75-Year-Old Uses a Bike to Beat Diabetes
This 75-Year-Old Beat Diabetes When He Picked Up Cycling
Simeon Gipson turned to cycling to avoid insulin injections—and now does an annual 300-mile ride.
By Emily Shiffer Published: Apr 6, 2021
Courtesy Cherokee Nation
"I'm proudly the last person anyone would think of as being fit or even alive in late life," says Simeon Gipson. Half Cherokee and half Choctaw, he grew up in Oklahoma on a Cherokee reservation, where he contracted polio as a child. He learned to ride a bike then but never rode recreationally until he was in his 50s. Pain, he says, led him to retire early from his job in the medical-legal section of the Cherokee Nation W. W. Hastings Indian Hospital—he'd had a knee replacement and shoulder surgeries. That put him in the same position as lots of his contemporaries. Nearly a quarter of people between 65 and 84 have chronic pain almost every day that gets in the way of their jobs and their lives. Plus, Gipson had gained weight, and he found out he was severely diabetic—and diabetes can be more complicated to manage as you age.
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But the thought of sticking himself with needles to deal with his diabetes made him consider exercise. Biking might be bearable, he thought. He liked pedaling through Cherokee country. When his son heard him say that, he bought a nice used bike for his dad, who thought he'd better raise his game if he was going to ride a bike that nice.
"My rides grew longer basically because of wonderments—what I call goals. They started as 'I wonder if I can bike ten miles, 20 miles, 30 miles.' Eventually I got to 100 miles," says Gipson. Then 300, on what has become an annual ride he does through Cherokee country.
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When the Oklahoma Senior Games called and urged him to sign up for a qualifier to race, competing became part of his life. And has added vitality to it. Between riding and eating better, like cutting back on fried foods, the nine medications he took for diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol became just one—and over ten years of cycling, he dropped 75 pounds.
"I've lasted this long in cycling because of stubbornness and enjoyment," says Gipson. "I always want to have more behind me than in front of me, and I always want to enjoy a ride or race no matter how much I hurt."
Emily Shiffer
Emily Shiffer is a freelance health and wellness writer living in Pennsylvania.