Last month, we showcased how relationships forged at GOAL years ago played no small part in the forming of Ridgeline and the Ridgeline Training Center.  If you missed that piece, you can check it out here (https://goal.org/Ridgeline-Training-Center).  This month we will take a deeper look at the Ridgeline team and Training Center itself.  As a reminder, GOAL members have been provided access to a promotional code (https://keap.page/drx793/ridgeline-special-offer-for-goal-members.html) for a discounted training course of their choice with Ridgeline in 2022.  When a member uses the code to purchase a course, they receive a discount and Ridgeline also donates to GOAL.  It’s a great opportunity for you to save and an easy way to support the work that GOAL continues to do. 

The Ridgeline Training Center located in Dalton, New Hampshire is an easy 2.5 hour drive up Route 93 North from Boston.  Situated on nearly 80 acres in the heart of the White Mountains, the facility was designed by Special Operators and purpose built to support world-class training for top tier Military and Law Enforcement units.  Directly adjacent is The Team O’Neil Rally School and their 583 acres that feature over 6 miles of improved roads and several ranges to include the mountain wind course.  Combined, the adjoining facilities have over 660 acres of dedicated training area.  The exciting part is that the Ridgeline team uses all this infrastructure in their open enrollment classes, providing opportunities and experiences that just can’t be found at many other training facilities. 

Safety of the students, staff, and surrounding community is the priority, every range aboard the Ridgeline facility has been built to meet or exceed NRA, NSSF, and Department of Energy Range construction criteria.  All the pistol/carbine ranges allow for a 270-degree field of fire, which allows the staff to create unique and challenging courses of fire.  The range complex features several pistol/carbine bays, two (2) 25x50 yard bays and a 150x50 yard pistol/carbine bay as well as several hundred steel targets that let staff pre stage multiple ranges, so students get the most from their training time.

A third 25x50 yard bay dubbed “Pain Street, USA” has recently been converted to replicate a city block, complete with CONEX container buildings, shooting facades, and vehicles.  While originally built to meet an end user requirement, Ridgeline now incorporates this unique setup in their Low Vis Pistol and Recce Carbine courses, letting students shoot, move, and communicate in and out of buildings and vehicles.

The multi-purpose rifle range features lanes out to 300, 400 and 600 yards, over 100 steel targets of various sizes setup for both known and unknown distance courses of fire, five (5) moving target systems, and a dozen remote computer-controlled Action Target Auto Targets, all of which can be engaged from the soon to be completed multi-story Sniper Tower.  The features incorporated into the Sniper Tower’s design, combined with the range it fires on provide shooting and training opportunities unlike anything in the region.  Students in the Recce Carbine, Scoped Carbine, and Advanced Precision Rifle courses will utilize this structure to apply the lessons learned in class to realistic urban positions, as well as in “run and gun” format exercises.

Directly in front of the Sniper Tower lies the prop line.  Comprised of vehicles, fences, rock piles, culverts, barricades, building corners, and whatever else the staff dreams up next, shooters get to do what other classes only dream of by engaging off real-world props and not just standard barricades.

2022 will see the team transition from its current dated schoolhouse to a new and modern home to provide students with the best learning environment.  Complete with classroom, pro shop, offices and an outdoor covered patio, the new building will mark the completion of the first phase of Ridgeline’s plans.

While all this infrastructure is impressive, only when it is combined with proven curriculum and dedicated instructors does it benefit the student.  The Ridgeline team is comprised of individuals that have been vetted not just for their backgrounds, but more importantly for their ability to connect with and instruct students.  The full-time staff has over 100 years of Military and Law Enforcement Special Operations experience and continues to hone their skills through training, deployments, call outs and competitions, to include first place and top five finishes in the U.S. Army International Sniper Competition, U.S. Army Special Operations Command Sniper Competition, the U.S. Army Winston P. Wilson Sniper Competition, and the King of Two-Mile Championship.  While many training outfits like to laud the accomplishments of their staff, Ridgeline maintains that the individual student and their goals are always their highest priority.  They take the lifetimes of experience in competition and combat and distill what works and what doesn’t into purpose-driven curriculum designed for student success.

Training is the obvious purpose for a trip to Ridgeline, but the surrounding area offers hiking, skiing, fishing, snowmobiling, and more in the way of outdoor activities.  The family can spend the day enjoying all the north country has to offer while you hone your skills with some of the nations best.  At the end of the day a few miles off the mountain you’ll find restaurants, breweries, eclectic shopping, and lodging all less than 20 minutes away.  Ridgeline has built a shooters paradise here in New England and GOAL is happy to have helped put all of this in motion.