We help Beginners to Advanced Students avoid confusion, being unsafe, as well as physical, moral, social, legal, and financial jeopardy so you can return/remain safely home to/with your family. Freddie Merc’s is Veteran owned and operated by Will Parker (see our articles published in the July Issue of Concealed Carry Magazine and the American Warrior Society at the bottom of this page). Our goal i
s to teach the members of our community prevention as well as the skills to survive a deadly force encounter (the beginner to the experienced). With four decades of experience with firearms, training and honing skills, Will remains a dedicated student himself by regularly attending training from some of the top instructors in the U.S. His knowledge, skills, and abilities are second to none in the Flathead when it comes to the total package of self-defense with a firearm. Will served in the U.S Navy and Marine Corps for over 25 years specializing in Operations (1986-2011). During his career he was a Special Weapons Sentry, member of the Security Teams and Team Leader, Marine Corps Weapons and Tactics Instructor, Strike/Fighter Tactical Instructor, and Weapons Systems Instructor. He first became an instructor in 1994 and has pursued additional teaching credentials and continuing education ever since. At Freddie Merc’s we are committed to offering our students and customers the best available instruction and customer service in Montana. We have the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities to teach you in prevention (soft skills), defense (hard skills), self-defense law (legal), and help developing your skills in these areas to save your life – physically, morally, socially, legally, and financially. We offer a wide variety of training in the area of self-defense. Will is a Deadly Force Instructor, Force Science Analyst, USCCA Senior Training Counselor and Instructor, I.C.E. Defensive Firearms Coach, NRA Basic Pistol Instructor and Range Safety Officer, and Law of Self-Defense Instructor Program Graduate. He spends hundreds of hours per year training with some of the top instructors in the country, as a student or alongside them co-teaching. Dedication to our community with the highest quality training available is what we are dedicated to doing. We travel to attend advanced level courses (end user and instructor development) to bring these skills sets back to you. Once or twice annually we bring in outside instructors to teach at our facility (see Hosted Training). Contact Will today for more information about upcoming classes, additional services, or how to meet your goals. Ask yourself these three questions:
What am I currently capable of doing? How do I accomplish getting better? Will has dedicated himself to teaching others violence prevention and to prepare for violence, should it be unavoidable. He dedicates hundreds of continuing education hours per year and strives to be a better educator each day.
- 25-Year Navy & Marine Corps Veteran
- Graduate USMC Weapons & Tactics Instructor (2009)
- Graduate USN Strike Fighter Tactical Instructor (TOP GUN) (1999)
- 40+ Years of firearms experience
- 29 Years as an Instructor
- 17 Years as a Competitive Shooter
- Formal School House Trained & Certified Instructor (1994)
- AA Degree in Instructor Technology (1999)
- Criminal Law School Student
- Expert Witness
- Certified REEA Distinguished Real Estate Instructor (2023)
- Certified REEA Gold Standard Instructor (2019, 2021)
- Certified USCCA Senior Training Counselor (2018)
- Certified USCCA Training Counselor (2015)
- Certified USCCA Concealed Carry & Home Defense Instructor (2013)
- Certified USCCA Defensive Shooting Fundamentals Levels 1 and 2 Instructor (2017)
- Certified USCCA Countering the Mass Shooter Threat Instructor (2018)
- Certified USCCA Emergency First-Aid Fundamentals Instructor (2017)
- Certified USCCA Women’s Handgun and Self-Defense Fundamentals Instructor (2017)
- Graduate Force Science Institute Analyst (2020)
- Certified Massad Ayoob Group Deadly Force Instructor (2020)
- Graduate American Law Courses – Criminal Law (2022)
- Graduate American Law Courses – Evidence: Guardrails of Justice (2023)
- Graduate American Law Courses – American Property: Freedom, Liberty & Ownership (2023)
- Graduate American Law Courses – Civil Rights, Civil Liberties and the Constitution (2023)
- Graduate Law of Self-Defense Instructor Program (2016, 2022)
- Graduate Law of Self-Defense Level 1/Advanced (2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023)
- Graduate Law of Self-Defense Level 2 (2018)
- Graduate Law of Self-Defense Defense of Property (2019, 2022)
- Graduate Law of Self-Defense Lawful Defense Against Rioting Looting and Arson (2021, 2022)
- Graduate Law of Self-Defense Level 1 Montana Supplement (2016, 2017, 2018, 2022)
- Graduate Massad Ayoob Group MAG-40 Armed Citizens Rules of Engagement (2018)
- Graduate Rangemaster Establishing a Dominance Paradigm (2020)
- Certified Rangemaster Instructor Development (Top Graduate) (2017)
- Certified Rangemaster Advanced Instructor Development (2020)
- Certified Rangemaster Master Instructor Development (2022)
- Graduate Rangemaster 2018 Northwest Tactical Conference
- Graduate Aprill Risk Consulting UNTHINKABLE: Concepts and Techniques for the Gravest Extreme (2019)
- Graduate I.C.E. Advanced Pistol Handling (2023)
- Graduate I.C.E. Unorthodox Shooting Positions (2023)
- Graduate I.C.E. Intuitive Defensive Shooting Instructor Development (2018)
- Graduate I.C.E. Counter Ambush (2016)
- Certified I.C.E. Defensive Firearms Coach (2017)
- Graduate I.C.E. Combat/Intuitive Defensive Shooting (2017)
- Graduate Shooting-Performance and Rob Leatham The Bigger Circle (2022)
- Graduate Shooting-Performance Firearms Instructor Development Course (2020, 2021x3)
- Graduate Shooting-PerformanceDefensive Handgun (2015)
- Graduate Shooting-PerformanceDefensive Rifle (2015)
- Graduate Shooting-PerformanceCompetition Handgun I (2020, 2022)
- Graduate Shooting-PerformanceCompetition Handgun II (2020)
- Graduate Emergence Situational Awareness For Employees (S.A.F.E.) Instructor (2020)
- Graduate FirearmsAcademy of Seattle Active Shooter Interdiction (2018)
- Certified Firearms Academy of Seattle MasterHandgun (2018)
- Certified Sabre Red Pepper Spray (OC) Instructor (2021)
- GLOCK Advanced Armorer (2008, 2013, 2018)
- Graduate GLOCK Instructor Workshop (2010)
- Certified Smith & Wesson Semi-Automatic M&P Armorer (2016)
- Graduate Front Sight Firearms Training Institute Four-Day Defensive Handgun (Distinguished Graduate) (2015)
- Graduate LCG Tactical Handgun Tactical Skills & Movement Course (2018)
- Graduate LCG Tactical Low Light (2019)
- Graduate LCG Tactical – Tactical Carbine (2019)
- Graduate SAC Tactical Essential Carbine (2019)
- Graduate SAC Tactical Low Light (2020)
- Graduate Predator Security & Defense Private Security Specialist/Bodyguard Executive Protection (2019)
- Graduate Predator Security & Defense Long Range Marksman (2020)
- Graduate Sniper Central Long-Range Precision Marksman (2013)
- Certified NRA Basic Pistol Instructor (2008)
- Certified NRA Basic Range Safety Officer (2008)
- Certified Montana State Firearms Instructor (2019-2023)
- Certified Utah State Firearms Instructor (2014, 2017, 2020, 2023)
- Certified USCCA, NRA & USMC Range Safety Officer
- Certified USPSA Chief Range Officer with Multi-Gun Endorsement (2009-2023)
- USPSA, IDPA & Defensive Pistol Competitive Shooter
- Life Long Student
Trained Under:
Rob Leatham
Massad Ayoob
Tom & Lynn Givens
Dr. William Lewinski
Dennis Tueller
Rob Pincus
Michael Seeklander
Andrew Branca
Craig Douglas
Dr. William Aprill
Marty Hayes
Lee Weams
John Hearne
John Holschen
John Murphy
Michael Martin
Beth Alcazar
Rich Brown
Gail Pepin
Sam Conway
Predator Security and Defense
Bruce Moyer
Theresa Barnabei
Bruce Cartwright
Organization Memberships:
USCCA Life Elite Member
International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors
NRA Life Member
American Warrior Society Life Member
American Competitive Shooting Society Life Member
USPSA Member
IDPA Member
