Guardienne- A woman, girl, or other female force who or which guards; a female guardian.
Women and Veteran owned and operated.
Women and Veteran owned and operated.
MEET YOUR COACHES
Karen FarthingKaren has a bit of the Peter Pan Syndrome. She served over 17 years in the military across 2 branches - the Army and the Marine Corps. While serving, she accumulated 7 different MOS designators, 2 instructor designators, and a bunch of "other duties as directed" experience. She has been an intelligence analyst, a HAWK missile system operator, a clerk-typist, a Military Police...person, and normally ended up in a Battalion or above staff position in training or analysis. If there was a weird or new job that needed to be done, Karen was tasked with it (this is a nice way of saying that if she got bored, she would get up to shenanigans - so she was kept very busy). Her post-military life had her engaged in everything from social work, outside sales for an industrial distributor, penetration testing, systems administration, and running charitable gaming for a non-profit. (More evidence of the Peter Pan Syndrome.)
She worked for The Bulwarks for about 6 years as a firearms instructor and training coordinator. That's where she met Courtney. Karen has a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications Systems Management, with emphases in Forensic Analysis and Systems Security. She currently works for a fiber internet company. Karen is a wife, mother of five, grandmother of three, and an avid connoisseur of the worst gas station food available. CERTIFICATIONS - KY CCDW Instructor - Rangemaster Firearms Instructor Certification - Image Based Decisional Drills Certified Instructor (The Complete Combatant) - Deliberate Coaching (The Complete Combatant) - OC/Pepper Spray Instructor Certification (Agile Training & Consulting) - Active Self Protection Instructor Certification - NRA Range Safety Officer - NRA Rifle Instructor |
Courtney McCarthy BeadnellCourtney served 14 years in the Army as both Military Police and Corrections. During this time she held many extra duties, but her last primary position was as a Platoon Sergeant. She then spent 8 years with the Kentucky Department of Corrections as a Probation and Parole Officer where she primarily supervised a specialized caseload of sex offenders. While with KyDOC, she was a Field Training Officer (FTO), Fentanyl Responder, Firearms Instructor and Crisis Negotiator. During this time, she was also a firearms instructor and private security agent for The Bulwarks for about 6 years (this is where she met Karen).
Courtney has a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice with a Concentration in Organizational Law Enforcement Leadership and a Master of Education in Clinical Counseling. Currently, Courtney is a licensed professional counselor associate where she provides mental health services to adults, children and families. Courtney is a wife, mother of two, and a world traveler. CERTIFICATIONS - KY CCDW Instructor - Rangemaster Firearms Instructor Certification - Image Based Decisional Drills Certified Instructor (The Complete Combatant) - Deliberate Coaching (The Complete Combatant) - OC/Pepper Spray Instructor Certification (Agile Training & Consulting) |
FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Karen and Courtney first met in 2017 (ish) while attending the same firearms training course. From there they continued to train and coach together and it became rare to see one without the other. Polar opposites in many ways, Ying and Yang if you will. However, one thing you will notice is their style differences complement each other in a way where one may lack the other makes up for. This makes them a dynamic duo and offers flexibility in their ability to coach a wide range of students.
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