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MICHAEL HARRIES Los Angeles, California (310) 216-7361
Mr. Harries renewed his interest in shooting after he left the Marines and joined the Southwest Pistol League in 1969. He met the famed Jeff Cooper, who is commonly referred to as the "Father" of modern combat shooting, in 1970 and participated in Mr. Cooper's "Mountain Man" program, which was an advanced experimental shooting program run at Big Bear. He won the "B" Class championship in 1973 and went into "A" Class in 1974. In the 1970's and early 1980's, Mr. Harries coached five different shooters to SWPL Class championships, and others to numerous high finishes. His teaching techniques were developed and polished during the time he coached the shooters in the competitive club called "The Equalizers" of the SWPL from 1971 until 1982. He also taught students privately who came to him for practical defensive shooting techniques. During this time, Mr. Harries also was on the staff with the late Mel Tappan with his well received series of "Seminars-On-Survival" and demonstrated all of the combat pistol technique pictures in Tappan's book Survival Guns, which is considered by many to be the classic work in its field. In 1976, Mr. Harries was a founding member of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) in Columbia, Missouri. Although his basic reputation was built upon his pistol shooting success and teaching, he developed many tactical and teaching techniques for the rifle and the shotgun as well. Word-of-mouth reputation brought him students from numerous sources. Additionally, Mr. Harries consulted with several clandestine government agencies on matters of shooting and weapons selections for a variety of missions. In 1981, Mr. Harries founded the Southern California Tactical Combat Program which was designed to replace all the very advanced experimental shoots (practical rifle, pistol and/or shotgun events) held at Big Bear by shooting pioneer Jeff Cooper. The program later become a premier research and development program for the tactical use of small arms. In 1982, Mr. Harries joined the teaching staff of the American Pistol Institute ("API", that Jeff Cooper founded) known as "Gunsite". The American Pistol Institute was sold in 1992 and has since been doing business as "The Gunsite Training Center" (GTC). During his years teaching at API/GTC, he has trained a great number of police, SWAT team members, FBI agents, Customs and Border Patrol officers, and the military (including SEALS, DELTA FORCE, USMC RECON). Mr. Harries is fully qualified on pistol, rifle, shotgun and is equally familiar with several fully automatic weapons such as the MP5, MP5SD, Ruger 556ACS, among others that are used in police circles. The "Harries Flashlight Technique" is the prototype used in many law enforcement and military circles after Mr. Harries introduced the technique to a key individual on the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT Team. As a result, the SWAT member and his partner scored the first successful use of the Harries Flashlight Technique in a hostage situation that saved two nurses. There have been several articles published in firearms publications on his flashlight technique over the years, the most recent in the Feb. 1994 issue of Peterson's "Handguns" magazine. Mr. Harries continues to research and develop techniques for use in low-light shooting with both pistol and long arms and is presently working on a book about his flashlight technique as well as other books and videotapes on shooting and related tactics. He writes regularly for the Southern California Tactical Combat Program's newsletter as well as for the Military Marksmanship Education Foundation (MMEF) which is dedicated to making improvements in the Army and Marine Corps Marksmanship. Mr. Harries also teaches on a contract basis for the Martial Marksmanship Institute which is the teaching arm of the MMEF. Mr. Harries prides himself on his teaching techniques solidified by communication skills and his belief that people are individuals who must be treated according to their needs, experience and the frame of mind to which they approach shooting. It requires very careful listening to the student for any information that helps teach them better, meaning a very flexible approach to teaching without sacrificing any fundamentals of technique, gun handling or safety. Safety, Mr. Harries believes, does not have to be compromised in shooting and/or training and his research of techniques both old and new has led him to consult on several movie scripts and coach actors on having them use the "proper" technique for the period of the movie and the character that the actor is playing without the terrible gun handling most often shown in films. Mr. Harries also maintains his own private teaching practice in California and travels to train people when his schedule permits.
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