Justin Dyal Remembering TLG

As you might be able to tell, we are setting some framework for how we look at and use the pistol. This week we will take a break from that and remember Todd through his friend Justin Dyal. Justin is another good friend of mine that I met through Todd and I’m very happy to share his thoughts with you. – SLG

Pistol-Training has been a wonderful resource for shooters of all levels since Todd first launched it.  I frequently pointed shooters to the site even after Todd’s untimely passing and I had hoped for some time that SLG would find a way to bring the site to a new generation of shooters.  SLG asked me to share a few thoughts about Todd as the site rekindles connections with longtime readers and reaches out to new ones.  I’m happy to relay a few things about a great shooter who I was fortunate to call a friend.  I first met Todd around 2000 through my friend Ernest Langdon and I deeply value all of the time we spent shooting, talking on the drives to matches, and bouncing ideas off of one another over the years.

I look around the industry, the concealed carry space, and the training world and see many places where Todd influenced things for the better.  In some cases he helped start or reframe a discussion, generate thought or interest in an area, or spur developments. Many of these things are still timely.  However, I wanted to share a few qualities where Todd was exceptional in ways that are perhaps more universal than ‘just’ shooting.

Todd fearlessly pursued connection.  He made a point to seek out expertise in every aspect of his interests and to leverage the knowledge and experience of others.  Todd would approach anyone who knew something he wanted to learn.  He was completely unafraid to ask questions, challenge ideas, or to propose counterpoints to some of the biggest names in the business.  

Over a relatively short time his circle of friends and professional acquaintances grew to an impressive network.  Todd knew everyone.  He had close friends who were National Champions, operators and trainers at the most elite units within both SOF and law enforcement, R&D folks across the industry, and regular shooters of all types, stripes, and interests.  Many of these relationships were formed when he was just a regular guy of moderate shooting skill who had the courage to approach folks and engage.  

This is a pattern I see with many of the most influential figures in the shooting/training community- their contributions are powerfully enabled by the size and relative quality of the network they are able to draw upon.  Often these giants have experts in every sub field and friends at seemingly every company in the business at their disposal.  

On the other hand I’ve also seen the mirror image.   The misunderstood introvert who arrives privately at some breakthrough and has real value to offer but lacks the social network to truly advance an idea, technique, or training approach.  This individual often becomes a footnote in discussions: ‘Oh yeah, that was the guy that was doing XYZ when everyone thought that was strange.  I guess he was ahead of his time’.

Todd was a connector; he was equally happy sharing knowledge or insights with others less knowledgable or skilled as learning from those who could address his insatiable curiosity.  He loved to be at the big, rowdy dinner table after a match, a class, or training session.  Some days he was the apprentice sitting among a table of masters and others he was the master sharing his tips.  In either case he was sure to be driving the conversation and forcing everyone to truly think.  

There have been many times where I have hesitated to reach out to a knowledgable acquaintance or friend of a friend and Todd would pop into my mind.  On my better days his memory encourages me to make the call.  

Todd was unapologetically authentic.  Todd was unique in many ways, but I always admired how he was aware of his talents and confident in them, aware of his shortcomings and honest about them, and completely disinterested in mimicking anyone else.  

Todd was an often unpredictable non-conformist, mostly because he insisted on thinking for himself and calling fouls wherever things didn’t add up or make sense.  It helped that he was often right, but this could lead to friction and he was fine with that too.  He could simultaneously be an early adopter or innovator in one area while staunchly resisting red hot (and to his mind, foolish) trends in others. 

He gained a following at a time when the training world was neatly split between former big title USPSA/IDPA champions and former elite unit operators with a few grizzled police gunfighters here and there.  There really weren’t that many ‘regular guys’ teaching classes with a focus on high-performance, defensive oriented shooting.  Todd put himself out there because he was passionate about the craft and saw a gap for people like himself.  He gained a large following by being himself.  

As Todd was reaching his stride as a high performance regular guy training increasing numbers of real deal law enforcement and military shooters it was ironic that there were a rash of hot-for-a-minute trainers who imploded from cases of false resumes and stolen valor.  There is a lesson there.

A not insignificant number of popular trainers on the circuit today have been influenced by Todd’s marketing approaches to his ideas and classes, his drills, and his methodologies.  These range from inspiration to imitation, which Todd would probably find humorous.  His success came from knowing and being himself and he moved the needle in a lasting way by being true to that.

Todd lived by a personal code.  I’ve had the real privilege of friendship with some great men who were men of honor.  Peeling that admiration back a layer or two I see men whose personal codes were heavily shaped by their families’ values, their faith, their experiences, and/or the ethic of their professions.  With Todd he had a variety of unwavering commitments that were deeply held and seemed uniquely personal.  It appeared to me that he had reached certain conclusions and demanded certain behavior of himself because primarily he had arrived at that intention.  He was absolutely immovable about these things.  

He was deeply loyal to his friends.  He was incredibly generous with any item that he had been given by a company or no longer needed. He would call anyone on behavior which he felt was unsafe.  Doing much of his shooting at the high-traffic NRA range, this was often inconvenient or not much appreciated by the offender.   

Sometimes these were quirks such as he insisted that no active-duty serviceman ever pay for a meal where he was at the table.  I tried for years in vain to find a loophole to this. 

I was often impressed at how Todd harnessed pride and ego to advance his skills but did so without compromise or being captive to it.  For years he competed in his daily carry gear with his actual carry ammo or full power analog, while ingraining little technical habits such as decocking his Beretta (or later Sigs) before moving from a target array.  He maintained these habits even as he climbed the ranks. There were a number of matches we shot where he probably could have won his division by shooting more ‘competitively’ rather than with the habits he wished to create.  He competed hard and without excuses.  When the competition rules no longer allowed his carry gears he left the game and developed a new sport to address this and other shortcomings.  

Adversity reveals character and as Todd battled illness he did so with a strength and resolve that will forever be an inspiration to all who knew him.  He went from shooting at the highest level to resetting to a maddeningly humble capability but he used that experience to learn and to share the experience with his readers.  

There is a passage in Burton’s Kasidah which I believe would have resonated with Todd;

“.. From none but self expect applause.  For noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps his self-made laws.”

Speaking of connections…

I met a number of very high quality humans and shooters through Todd over the years.  One of these was his best friend and longtime shooting partner SLG.  SLG is a very high level shooter who has been studying every aspect of the gun for many years and using them in a wide variety of operational settings.  Where Todd was admittedly a pistol guy with a hard focus on defensive utility, SLG is that as well as an all around gun guy with interests (and significant experience) in riflecraft, fieldcraft, carbine/CQB, sniping, and historic/classic firearms.  SLG is one of my first calls when I have either a question or an idea and I am greatly looking forward to reading what he shares with all of us through the posts here at Pistol-Training.  

Justin Dyal

Justin Dyal is a longtime shooter, trainer, and writer who is a retired Marine Corps Special Operations Officer (Marine Raider).  He was responsible for many of the Corps’ advanced weapons courses within multiple specialized units.  He is currently a Field Editor for the American RIfleman and teaches a limited number of classes each year.  @dialed_in_training