Cory and Erika of Range Time have a popular YouTube channel, and seem to have built a decent firearms training business. Some people have recently accused Cory of “stolen valor,” saying that he claims to have served in the military, but that he did not.

Cory has chosen to address these accusations in a video that also discusses the company losing the fight to keep their range over noise complaints.

He addresses questions directed at his service starting at the 4:20 mark.

Cory says that he attempted to join the National Guard, and passed out during his PT tests at Fort Benning. The Army discovered an existing case of mitral value prolapse, and processed him out of the service with a general discharge (they weren’t happy that he did not disclose that he knew of this pre-existing condition). This was fourteen years ago.

On his bio at the company’s web site, Cory claims to have served in the U.S Army, prior to a medical discharge for a heart condition.

Cory Jackson is the Co-founder of Range Time-Tactical Shooting, LLC, he is also a NRA Certified Range Safety Officer and a pistol and rifle instructor. Since he was medicallly discharged from the Army in 2001 for a pre- exsisting heart condition, Cory has had around 100 hours of training each year from some of the top instructors around the United States. What is unique about Cory is that he has been constantly training over the past 13 years and although he is an instructor he tries his best to be a constant student and continue to learn. Cory’s training style has derived from the classes he has taken by picking and choosing what works best for him and his students.

Now, is that a tad bit deceptive? Some people certainly seem to think so, despite the fact that it appears to be a factual statement.

Cory slices in video clips from past shows where he clearly states that he was not a veteran. Unless Jackson had claimed elsewhere that he is a veteran, or that had a combat MOS, or made a similar claim, I don’t see any reason to feel the anger towards Jackson that some are trying gin up.

He attempted to serve his country, but a preexisting heart problem kept him from serving. Hey… he made the attempt. Most people haven’t.

My advice to those considering taking classes from Range Time would be to simply talk to prior students and see if they thought the company offered good value for their training dollar. Obviously, there are many former Range Time students who seem to think that Cory and Erika have something to offer.

A good teacher can come from anywhere. Don’t let anyone convince you that there is only one acceptable pedigree.

Update: Some posters to Sniper’s Hide are making the argument that Cory Jackson wasn’t discharged over a heart condition, but that he went AWOL less than two weeks after joining the Army, and became a deserter.

While we’re unable to verify the authenticity of any of the documents presented at Sniper’s Hide link or in the video above, they do tell a completely different story than Mr. Jackson presents… and makes an allegation he needs to address.