Documented affiliation: InSights Training Center
Areas of focus: defensive firearms, combatives, tactics, instructor development, visual processing, and decision-oriented training
Professional Biography
John Holschen (1958–2025) was a retired U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, weapons specialist, medic, combatives instructor, protective-security professional, and defensive-firearms educator.
Holschen served more than two decades in Army Special Operations and intelligence assignments. His documented roles included Special Forces weapons sergeant, Special Forces medic, instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, senior hand-to-hand combat instructor, and master instructor for 1st Special Forces Group. His later work included protective-security, training, and government-facility security assignments overseas.
After his military career, Holschen became closely associated with Greg Hamilton and InSights Training Center, teaching firearms, tactics, combatives, personal defense, and instructor development. InSights identified Holschen and Hamilton as the only two-time winners of the National Tactical Invitational and recognized both as Master Tacticians and Master Trainers through the American Tactical Shooting Association.
Holschen’s instruction treated shooting as one component of a larger defensive problem. His curriculum integrated weapons handling, movement, use of cover, low-light work, communication, empty-hand skills, edged-weapon defense, situational awareness, and judgment.
Late in his career, he worked with Dustin Salomon and the NURO system to incorporate visual stimuli, information processing, response inhibition, and decision-making into firearms training. That work required students to perceive and interpret changing information before choosing and executing a response, moving beyond repetitions built around a known target and a predictable shot-timer signal.
Holschen died in September 2025. His influence continues through the instructors and students who adopted his analytical, adaptive approach to defensive training.
P&S Connection
Holschen appeared with Dustin Salomon and Matt Landfair on P&S ModCast 371, “Integrating Visual Stimuli Into Training.” The discussion documented his late-career emphasis on connecting technical firearm skills with perception, cognition, and appropriate decision-making.
Selected Sources
- InSights Training Center — About
- InSights Training Center — Instructors
- Shooting Illustrated — InSights Intensive Handgun Skills
- Active Response Training — John Holschen Remembrance
Profile last reviewed: September 10, 2026.
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John Holschen; U.S. Army Special Forces; Green Beret; Special Forces weapons sergeant; Special Forces medic; John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center; 1st Special Forces Group; combatives instructor; protective security; InSights Training Center; Greg Hamilton; National Tactical Invitational; Master Tactician; Master Trainer; defensive firearms; defensive handgun; tactical decision-making; visual processing; NURO; Dustin Salomon; information processing; response inhibition; instructor development; P&S ModCast 371; Primary & Secondary; Extended P&S Network.