John “Doc” Spears is a former U.S. Army Special Forces medical sergeant and sniper, physician and orthopedic spine surgeon, defense-industry consultant, and Director and Instructor at Forge Tactical. His work combines medicine, marksmanship, small-unit tactics, human performance, and realistic application-level training.
Professional Biography
Spears served as an 18D Special Forces Medical Sergeant and sniper with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). His work included counterinsurgency, counternarcotics, and interdiction projects in Central and South America. That background placed medicine, fieldcraft, precision shooting, small-unit operations, and tactical decision-making within the same operational framework.
After leaving active military service, Spears completed extensive civilian medical education. Published professional biographies document undergraduate study in biochemistry, osteopathic medical school, an orthopedic surgical residency, and a spine-surgery fellowship at Cleveland Clinic Florida. He subsequently practiced as an orthopedic spine surgeon.
Spears later returned to the defense and firearms-training community, becoming a student of Pat Rogers and then an instructor for EAG Tactical’s advanced courses beginning in 2009. Forge Tactical credits him with helping expand the EAG course catalog and develop application-focused training beyond isolated weapon skills.
Forge Tactical and the EAG Legacy
Following Rogers’ death, Spears and John “Chappy” Chapman formed Forge Tactical in 2017 with other members of the EAG cadre. The organization was built to preserve the standards and lessons of EAG Tactical while continuing to test and evolve its curriculum.
Forge describes its instructional progression as moving from skills to techniques and then to procedures. Spears’ work concentrates on the layer that follows basic proficiency: combining weapon handling, marksmanship, movement, communication, judgment, leadership, and aggression into coherent responses to complex problems.
This approach is especially visible in his work with shoothouses, small-unit tactics, sniper operations, tactical medicine, and full-mission-profile exercises. The purpose is not to add complexity for spectacle, but to determine whether individual abilities remain accessible when students must divide attention, manage risk, and make decisions.
Medicine, Performance, and Instruction
Spears’ medical background gives his instruction an uncommon breadth. His experience spans Special Forces medicine, civilian surgery, tactical casualty care, anatomy, injury, and human performance. He has taught Combat Lifesaver material and has addressed the integration of medical care with active tactical problems rather than treating the two subjects as unrelated.
His published work has also addressed shoothouse safety and the psychology of optimal shooting. Across these subjects, Spears emphasizes systems rather than slogans: facility design, instructor control, student readiness, attention, stress, learning methods, and the ability of an instructor team to diagnose problems through more than one approach.
Spears has also contributed to professional education concerning pistol-mounted red-dot sights and has worked as a defense-industry consultant and product-development advisor. These roles reflect the same application-first perspective: equipment and technique should be evaluated according to the task they must support.
P&S Connection
Spears is part of the Extended Primary & Secondary Network through his participation as a P&S podcast panelist. His multidisciplinary background adds context to discussions involving tactical training, medicine, equipment, performance, and the transition from isolated skills to practical capability.
His contribution fits the P&S emphasis on experienced practitioners who can explain not only how a technique is performed, but how it integrates with judgment, mission, environment, and risk.
Key Areas of Experience
- U.S. Army Special Forces medicine and sniper operations
- Orthopedic medicine and spine surgery
- Small-unit tactics and advanced shoothouse instruction
- Tactical medicine and casualty care
- Skills-to-procedures training development
- Full-mission-profile and urban training
- Human performance and instructional methods
- Pistol-mounted optics
- Defense-industry consulting and product development
- Primary & Secondary podcast participation
Selected Sources
- Forge Tactical — Legacy and Instructor Biographies
- RECOIL — Formation of Forge Tactical
- Soldier Systems Daily — Handgun Red-Dot Sights with John Spears
- Doc Spears — Professional Biography
- Civilian Carry Radio — John “Doc” Spears
Profile last reviewed: September 10, 2026.
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John “Doc” Spears · John Spears Forge Tactical · Forge Tactical director · U.S. Army Special Forces medic · 18D · 7th Special Forces Group · Special Forces sniper · orthopedic spine surgeon · Pat Rogers · EAG Tactical · advanced shoothouse instructor · small-unit tactics · tactical medicine · full-mission-profile training · defense-industry consultant · Primary & Secondary · P&S podcast panelist