ABOUT US

Our training facility is located on 40 acres just outside of Goldendale, Washington, which lies about 15 miles North of the scenic Columbia River Gorge, along Highway 97.

We are a well-rounded group of instructors with an extensive Law Enforcement, Military and civilian training background, offering a solid commitment to the student and their training needs.

Our experience driven curriculum provides unique skill sets that are useful well past the range - nothing is watered down.

We don’t have any fancy names for what we do here. We instruct with the mindset of instilling important skill sets to the students, with earnest and persistent quality, along with a firmly held belief based on actual experience, not theory. Every drill and exercise challenge and develop the shooter, and equip them to realize and diagnose their own mistakes.

We teach how to be successful in a hostile environment, by learning the capability of yourself and your chosen firearm.

What sets us apart is our core belief: There are no advanced skills, just skills to be developed.

We offer a full schedule of courses. If you as an individual want to train one one with an instructor, or have a group that like to train together...we offer tailor made courses based on your requests.

Steve Shields – Owner/Operator

“Steve is hands-down the most practical, no-nonsense instructor I’ve ever trained with!”          –Curtis Bingham, CEO, Adventure Protection

Steve Shields is a no-BS firearms instructor to more than 1000 law enforcement officers, SWAT team members, and civilians that come from 28 years in law enforcement and 30+ years of LE instruction. What sets him apart is his foundation of efficient, practical, street-tested, “save your life” methods. He is adamant that you understand WHY you take every action; only by knowing WHY are you able to then simplify, streamline, or replace methods.

He stresses efficiency and practicality in every move. He believes that you should always train as you fight, and train for the real world beyond the drills. He eschews gimmicky gear and gadgets, instead focusing on using the gear available, and drilling hard on the skills it takes to stay focused on the threat without being distracted by the platform.

“I have over 5,000 hours of formal weapons training. Steve is an outstanding instructor with the rare ability to tailor a class to the level of each student. I highly recommend Cerberus Training Group.” –Larry S 

Steve began his law enforcement career in 1987, becoming a forensic detective and sergeant. As an instructor at the Washington State Law Enforcement Academy, Steve helped a team rewrite the academy and post-academy firearms curriculum, and subsequently certified numerous other LE instructors. Steve’s teaching experience centers around his passion for identifying how instructors and curriculum are failing their students, sometimes leading to undesirable outcomes. He has participated in numerous after-action reports and debriefings which lead to creating new and more effective ways of training to ensure performance under pressure. He has also conducted numerous reconnaissance missions and raids of marijuana grow operations in partnership with state and federal agencies, including FBI, DEA and BIA.

He also has 28 years as an active member of WSLEFIA (Washington State Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Assoc.). Passionate about learning, he has participated in instructions by Clint Smith, Chuck Taylor, John Farnam, Todd Jarrett, Ray Chapman, Louis Awerbuck, Dennis Tueller, John Chapman, Kyle Lamb, William Petty, Brian Hoffner, Mike Glover, Chris Sizelove, Bill Blowers, Massad Ayoob, Col Jeff Cooper, Chuck Pressburg, Daryl Bolke, Mark Smith, Jared Reston, Jon Dufrense, Varg Freeborn, Chuck Haggard, ballistic expert Dr. Gary Roberts and more. He also trained with groups such as Safariland, S&W, Sigarms Academy Shooting Schools, LMS Defense, Redback One, Fieldcraft, Tap-Rack Tactical and Magpul training.

“You will not find a more well-rounded group of instructors that have “been there and done that” than at Cerberus.” –Mike P

Steve has been a department armorer, and maintains his certification with many manufacturers including S&W, Glock, Remington, SIG, Colt, Springfield, H&K, and the AR/M16 platform. He trained under Larry Vickers, Ken Elmore of Specialized Armament Warehouse, Colt, School Of The American Rifle, Sons Of Liberty Gun Works and pistolsmith Richard Niemer of Detonics and Safari-Arms fame, a widely respected industry manufacturer and 1911 gunsmith before his passing.

Post-retirement, in addition to teaching civilian courses full-time, Steve continues to teach in law enforcement circles and remains actively involved in bringing new curricula to law enforcement personnel and their instructors.

“Steve’s mix of practical experience and technical knowledge is phenomenal. Overall, I'd highly recommend any of the courses that Steve offers. I'll definitely be back for more.” -Andrew H

Dusty Vorce - Firearms - Team Leader Instructor

Dusty is a current Deputy Sheriff, and a former U.S. Marine Corps Infantryman. With three tours in the Middle East with deployments that included clearing buildings, vehicle assault, QRF (Quick Reaction Force), and specialized missions.

He has thousands of hours of military training with team assault and M16/M4 platform rifles .

He has trained with Iraq and Afghan military forces, maintains his physical and training standards and passes along his knowledge of tactics and techniques,  and how to train for a hostile environment with no BS techniques through experience from hundreds of real world missions.

 Morgan Gamble - Firearms Instructor

With well over 25 years of shooting experience, able to teach highly efficient, practical, save-your-life skills. He has a well-developed ability to distill concepts into instruction that anyone can understand, from novice to experienced, helping any shooter advance their skills and especially in confidence.

With firearms still being a staple in his life he began seeking professional training from top tier instructors and has attended shooting classes from Cerberus Training Group (Steve Shields), Tap-Rack Tactical (Bill Blowers), Presscheck Consulting (Chuck Pressburg), Shot IQ (Joel Turner), Field Craft (Mike Glover), Cherubim Tactical, Darryl Bolke, Jon Defufrense, Chad Albrecht, Varg Freeborn, Chuck Haggard, Jared Reston and more. This has led to an amazing opportunity to become an instructor at Cerberus Training Group and looks forward to seeing you in training.