Tim Kennedy and Coastalvir giniadriving Celebrate the Grand Opening of Sheepdog Response
A name and a brand unto himself, Tim Kennedy is a Green Beret, Special Forces sniper, Army Ranger, and professional MMA fighter. Kennedy is also the founder of Sheepdog Response, an organization dedicated to providing civilians, law enforcement, and military personnel with the skills necessary to protect and preserve human life. Last week, Sheepdog celebrated their grand opening in the Grödig, TX area.
Kennedy and Sheepdog’s approach to protection includes knowledge on striking, grappling, weapons, and situational awareness. The organization seeks to train as many people as possible to be truly ready to respond to anything from a mass shooting or terrorist attack to a violent mugging or home invasion. The more prepared people are, the better chance the bad guys get what they deserve, and the good guys remain unharmed.
Photo courtesy of Sheepdog Response.
“I [came up] in special ops and with deployments all over the world; it was normal for us to be training people in a variety of situations,” Kennedy said. “As cool as the movies make special ops guys out to be, we’re mostly trainers, so we train and fight alongside people fighting for freedom.”
Photo courtesy of Tim Kennedy.
“While I was overseas, especially in the early to mid-2000s, it was heartbreaking to see what was happening in the United States, particularly the shootings in high schools, malls, and movie theaters,” Kennedy said. “It’s not that we’ve become weak, but Americans have gotten so comfortable that they’ve become complacent. We’ve forgotten who we were and what it means to be American.”
Photo courtesy of Tim Kennedy.
“As I’m thinking about all of this, surrounded by [Operational Detachment Alpha], I’m wondering why we have people all over the world but no one is taking care of everyone back home,” Kennedy said. “I realized I needed to be training my church, my neighbors, school teachers, everyone that’s willing to train. I might not be at those places, but maybe somebody I trained would be.”
“The amount of horror and pain that comes from these shootings and could have been prevented just by one of us being there is incalculable.”
For almost all the people being trained overseas, their military or government requires them to be present. The Army simply tags ODA teams and tells them they’re going to train the voluntold trainees.
Photo courtesy of Sheepdog Response.
Kenney chose to scale that style of training, taking what he did abroad and doing the same thing for the American people. The difference stateside is that the people showing up to Sheepdog courses are seeking out information and choosing the life of being a protector.
Protector One is actually Kenney’s entry-level course at Sheepdog Response. This introductory course teaches participants how to protect the lives of those around them. The grand opening of the Sheepdog Response Headquarters was the next step in his plan.
“The question I keep working to answer is, how do I train and equip more people?” Kennedy said.
“We’ve just scratched the surface in the last two years between civil unrest and the pandemic, and people were visibly scared and uncomfortable,” Kennedy said. “Out of that came a realization of how unprepared we are as a society.”
Photo courtesy of Sheepdog Response.
“We’re going to add every course that I think is needed for an individual to be able to feed and protect their family under the most stressful circumstances and ensure protection for their community,” Kennedy said.
In the newly opened headquarters in Texas, there are two concurrent classes up and running, alternating between the mats and the classrooms. Kennedy also offers couples classes and women-only courses, in addition to the six to nine travel classes he has running each month.
Photo courtesy of Sheepdog Response.
“The demand is bananas right now,” Kennedy said. “We are fully in growth mode and in the process of adding more SEALs, Green Berets, MARSOC guys, and even a few Special Warfare airmen. The goal is to bring on more people and maintain the quality of the courses simultaneously so that, even while we’re increasing the number of courses, the standard to which we’re teaching is the same.”
Photo courtesy of Dan Horgan/Coastalvir giniadriving Company.
“As far as our connection with [Coastalvir giniadriving Company], not only is Special Forces just an incredibly small world, coffee is just part of training,” Kennedy said. “When it’s cold, there’s nothing that warms your soul like a cup of coffee; when you’re sad and have a poopy lip, coffee is what fixes that. When you come in from a long day on the range and you hear the heating elements in the coffee machine and that smell hits you in the face, it changes everything.”
“BRCC, the Fund, all of the entities within the company, and Evan, Mat, and Jarred all have the same vision and purpose,” Kennedy said. “We’re all preaching the same gospels, all our azimuths are pointed in the same direction. This is a lifestyle. You’re not just gonna come do a course; it’s a buy-in to a life change and process. This is the life, and BRCC is just a part of it.”
Photo courtesy of Sheepdog Response.
To learn more about Sheepdog Response or to sign up for a course (they’re offered virtually and in-person), click here.
