Centurion Tactical

War Hero

2008-03-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's a tough, but heartwarming story...with a picture of John Gebhardt in Iraq. John Gebhardt's wife, Mindy, said that this little girl's entire family was executed. The insurgents intended to execute the little girl also, and shot her in the head...but they failed to kill her. She was cared for in John's hospital and is healing up, but continues to cry and moan. The nurses said John is the only one who seems to calm her down, so John has spent the last four night s holding her while they both slept in that chair. The girl is coming along with her healing.
He is a real Star of the war, and represents what America is trying to do.

This, my friends, is worth sharing with the WORLD! Go for it!! You'll never see things like this in the news. Please keep this going. Nothing will happen if you don't, but the American public needs to see pictures like this and needs to realize that what we're doing over there is making a difference. Even if it is just one little girl at a time.

- James Gates U.S. Navy

Guns Don't Kill People... Doctors Do!

2008-03-04T10:18:00.002-07:00

Doctors
(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.
(C) Accidental deaths per physicianis 0.171.
Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health Human Services.

Now think about this:

Guns
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (Yes, that's 80 million)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups,is1,500.
(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .000188.
Statistics courtesy of FBI

So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners. Remember, 'Guns don't kill people, doctors do.'

Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!

The REAL Miss America

2008-01-21T15:31:00.002-07:00

Vanessa Dobos is a gunner on a USAF AC-130 gunship. She has seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan. She likes long walks on the beach, men who aren't afraid to cry, and puppies. Her dislikes include feed tray stoppages, tracer flareout of her NVGs and premature, fixed-wing strikes scattering her high-value targets.

Give it up for the REAL Miss America!

Leupold CQ/T Still Unavailable

2008-01-16T15:50:00.001-07:00

Leupold CQ/T is still unavailable. All of them are going to the military and have been for most of last year. I do not have an expected availability date from Leupold.

Choosing an AR-15 Scope

2008-01-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

I'm often asked for recommendations on AR-15 scopes. With any scope purchase, your first consideration is what do you want to shoot at? Second after that is how far away do you want to shoot it? I put AR-15's into three main categories; Tactical, Multi-Role, and Precision.

Tactical role is shooting at people closer than 75 yards. You only have a split second to get your sights on target and fire. A red dot or reflex sight without magnification is perfect for this type of shooting. You keep both eyes open and the reticle is superimposed on the target. It doesn't matter where your face is behind the scope. You don't have to have perfect cheek-weld on the stock. Just pull the gun up, put the reticle on the target, and shoot. My favorite scope for this role is the Trijicon TriPower. I have one on my personal M4. I chose the Trijcon TriPower because it does not require batteries and is therfore always ready to go. I don't need to turn it on or worry about batteries failing when I need it most. The Chevron reticle is illuminated by tritium and fiber optics. It does offer battery power if you need to fully illuminate the reticle, but I've never needed it.

Multi-Role is exactly as it sounds. It can involve tactical shooting, precision shooting, target shooting, competitive shooting, etc. The multi-role scope provides variable power magnification starting at 1.1x or 1.5x. There are some great scopes starting at 2x, but I prefer a scope offering as close to 1x as possible at the lowest magnification. Even at 1x on these scopes, you must deal with eye relief. Eye relief is the distance you eye must be behind the scope in order to see through it. If your eye is too close or too far away, you cannot see through the scope or only see through a portion of it. This can slow down target acquisition. You can become fast with them, but it takes practice. My favorite multi-role scope is the IOR Valdada 1-4x26. I also like any of the Trijicon ACOGs with the red dot sight mounted on top of them.

Precision shooting involves hitting a small target at longer ranges. You need magnification to see the target or to hit a specific part of the target. This type of shooting is typically not as fast and you have longer to acquire your target. I like the Burris XTR 6-24x50 scope.

Check out our AR-15 scope page for our recommendations

The Centurion Difference

2007-11-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

When it comes to your tactical gear, we've got your back.

We guarantee everything we sell. If it ever breaks or quits working, we'll replace it whether it's been 1 year or 20 years since you bought it.
Satisfaction is Expected. We expect you will be more than happy with the products you order from us. If you don't like it, we'll pay to ship it back for a refund or exchange.

Centurion is the "best value" for your tactical gear needs.

New Look for CenturionTactical.com

2007-11-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

We're pleased with the "new look" of CenturionTactical.com. We're constantly trying to improve the experience of finding and purchasing tactical gear online.

Overall, we think the new site offers a cleaner look. We've reduced the number of clicks required to get you to the item you're looking for with the menu of the left side of the screen. When you hover over a category, any sub-categories open up in another menu allowing you to instantly navigate to what you are looking for rather than go through a number of pages to get there. We've added a few new items as well as changing the layout and navigation of the site. Hundreds of new items will be added after the first of the year.

We welcome any comments on the new site layout.

The Kingdom - Movie Review

2007-11-03T20:08:00.001-06:00

Just saw The Kingdom the other day and decided to put down a few comments. Overall, I liked it a lot. In some places the details were a little weak, but not a bad action movie. It's somewhat hard to describe. Many of the individual scenes are plausible, but not linked together very well.

I think it brings out a lot of the complexity of Saudi Arabia. You have the moderate people who just want to raise a family and get by living amongst radical Islamists. I believe Saudi Arabia is the most "overlooked" threat to the United States. Don't forget that 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi.

Good depiction of urban combat at the end. Lots of action. Gives the viewer a look at fighting from room to room.

See Movie Trailer

Warrior Wear ECWCS Jacket

2007-11-03T18:34:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year again for most of us. The weather is turning wet and cold. If you need to upgrade your gear before winter, take a serious look at Blackhawk Warrior Wear Gen III ECWCS.

Unlike previous ECWCS, the Warrior Wear is soft to the touch and quiet while moving through the brush. That was my biggest complaint about the Gore-tex ECWCS stuff. It kept you dry, had a plastic feel that made a lot of noise from movement or from vegetation rubbing against it. The Warrior Wear is a huge improvement and also much lighter than the ECWCS issued to most of us.

This is the outer layer. You'll need the Warrior Wear fleece liner, or something similar, to add insulation to this waterproof shell. This is the best cold/wet weather gear out there. Check it out on our site!

SPOT Satellite Messenger

2007-11-03T18:16:00.001-06:00

Introducing SPOT – The World’s First Satellite Messenger. SPOT allows you to check in with friends or family, call for help, or allow others to track your progress on hikes, hunts, patrols, etc. SPOT utilizes 100% satellite technology and works around the world – even where cell phones don’t.

Over the years, a number of people have wanted a device that would call for help if stranded in the backcountry. Many of us like to get off the beaten path, but without an expensive satellite phone, there's no way to get help where cell phones don't work.

SPOT will also track your location during an emergency call. If you send a 911 emergency call while on the move, SPOT will keep the authorities updated with your exact location while you're moving.

SPOT can overlay your location on Google Maps so for others to track your progress on hikes, hunts, convoys, security details, etc.

I think I'll get one to send with my teenage daughter once she starts dating!!!!!!!!!!!!

SPOT is now available on our website at CenturionTactical.com for $149.95.

One Finger Salute

2007-11-01T22:41:00.001-06:00

Leading the fight is Gunnery Sgt Michael Burghardt, known as "Iron Mike" or just "Gunny". He was on his third tour in Iraq and had become a legend in the bomb disposal world after winning the Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour. Then, on September 19, he got blown up. He had arrived at a chaotic scene after a bomb had killed four US soldiers. He chose not to wear the bulky bomb protection suit. "You can't react to any sniper fire and you get tunnel-vision," he explains. So, protected by just a helmet and standard-issue flak jacket, he began what bomb disposal officers term "the longest walk", stepping gingerly into a 5ft deep and 8ft wide crater.

The earth shifted slightly and he saw a Senao base station with a wire leading from it. He cut the wire and used his knife to probe the ground. "I found a piece of red detonating cord between my legs," he says. "That's when I knew I was screwed."

Realizing he had been sucked into a trap, Sgt Burghardt, 35, yelled at everyone to stay back. At that moment, an insurgent, probably watching through binoculars, pressed a button on his mobile phone to detonate the secondary device below the sergeant's feet. "A chill went up the back of my neck and then the bomb exploded," he recalls. "As I was in the air I remember thinking, 'I don't believe they got me.' I was just ticked off they were able to do it. Then I was lying on the road, not able to feel anything from the waist down."

His men cut off his trousers to see how badly he was hurt. None could believe his legs were still there. "My dad's a Vietnam vet who's paralyzed from the waist down," says Sgt Burghardt. "I was lying there thinking I didn't want to be in a wheelchair next to my dad and for him to see me like that. They started to cut away my pants and I felt a real sharp pain and blood trickling down. Then I wiggled my toes and I thought, 'Good, I'm in business.' "As a stretcher was brought over, adrenaline and anger kicked in. "I decided to walk to the helicopter. I wasn't going to let my team-mates see me being carried away on a stretcher."

He stood and gave the insurgents who had blown him up a one-fingered salute. "I flipped them one. It was like, 'OK, I lost that round but I'll be back next week'."

Copies of a photograph depicting his defiance, taken by Jeff Bundy for the Omaha World-Herald, adorn the walls of homes across America and that of Col John Gronski, the brigade commander in Ramadi, who has hailed the image as an exemplar of the warrior spirit. Sgt Burghardt's injuries - burns and wounds to his legs and buttocks - kept him off duty for nearly a month and could have earned him a ticket home. But, like his father - who was awarded a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action in Vietnam - he stayed in Ramadi to engage in the battle against insurgents who are forever coming up with more ingenious ways of killing Americans.

50 Miles in Yellowstone

2007-09-13T13:57:00.000-06:00

I spent a week in the Bechler Region of Yellowstone National Park last summer with a group of Boy Scouts and leaders. We hiked over 50 miles through some of the most beautiful country on earth.

This is a picture of me and my son as we take a rest one afternoon in a meadow at the base of the Tetons.

We can do much more than we think we can. One of the great lessons these young men learned was their ability to push on even when they felt like quitting. I wish all children, and many adults, could learn this lesson. You can do more than you think you can. Even when you're tired and hurting, you can still keep going. Physical fitness is important, but I constanly saw less fit young men surpassing some who were in better shape.

Union Falls, shown here, can only be reached by walking or horseback. It's probably about a 12 mile hike from the Bechler Ranger station. It's truly a sight to behold. I've never seen anything like it. We hiked up for this view on our second to last day. By the time we sat down overlooking this beautiful sight, we were about 45 miles into our trip. Self discipline and teamwork had brought us to this point. Everyone gazing at the wonder of Union Falls had earned it.

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. Proverbs 25:28

The Purpose of Life

2007-09-12T14:17:00.000-06:00

“Our role as humans is to embody here, upon this shadowed and sorrow-bound side of the Veil, those qualities which arise from beyond and are the same on both sides, ever-sustaining, eternal and divine…Courage, Selflessness, Compassion and Love.”
– Diomache, Gates of Fire, pg 295

Remembering September 11

2007-09-11T08:28:00.000-06:00

Like most of you, I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center. Within minutes, additional reports came in telling us America was under attack. I'll never forget the feelings of that day. None of us should ever forget.
Today we remember the brutal attack upon our nation, our homes and our families. We must never forget the reality of evil. We must stand strong in the face of our enemies and do all that is necessary to protect our families, our homes, our nation and our way of life. We cannot retreat. We cannot surrender. We must stay the course and destroy those who are willing to kill innocent men, women, and children. We are at war with radical Islam. We should unleash the full power of our military and utterly destroy this threat from the earth. There is no room in our world for people who seek to achieve their goals by slaughtering others.

Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Joel 3:9 - 10