Frequently Asked Questions

Traveling For Training?

Shady Valley is a small unincorporated Appalachian town that is surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest. The lodging below is just down the road from the ATAC. Shady Valley has one general store and the Raceway Restaurant named for the Bristol Motor Speedway in the area.

The Shady House
https://www.vrbo.com/4081171ha

Shady Lane Farm Homestead
https://www.vrbo.com/Shady-Valley-Hotels-Shady-Lane-Farm-Homestead–Newly-Remodeled-Ranch-Style-Home

Scott Hill Cabin
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/14746518

The closest town to Shady Valley, TN is Damascus, VA only 11 miles down the road from ATAC. The drive from Damascus, VA to Shady Valley, TN follows the winding mountain stream called Beaver Dam creek taking you through Backbone Rock. Damascus, VA offers a variety of houses and cabins to rent as well as other attractions like the Creeper Trail. Damascus is a hikers and mountain bikers paradise.

Things to do in Damascus, VA
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g57658-Activities-Damascus_Virginia.html

Cabin/ House Rentals in Damascus, VA
View Rentals

If you would rather stay in a nice hotel in an area providing every modern convenience the City of Abingdon, VA is only 25 miles from Shady Valley, TN.

Things to do in Abingdon, VA
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g30220-Activities-Abingdon_Virginia.html

Hotels in Abingdon, VA
https://hotelguides.com/virginia/abingdon-va-hotels.html

If you are flying in from out of state the Tricities Airport code is TRI. The Tricities Airport in Blountville, TN is a short 32 miles from ATAC (Shady Valley, TN). Unlike other firearms training companies, you don’t have the inconvenience of flying with your firearms and equipment because we provide everything!

Tricities TN Airport (TRI)

https://triflight.com/

Enterprise Car Rental from Tricities Airport

https://www.enterprise.com/en/car-rental/locations/us/tn/blountville-tri-cities-regional-airport-56e4.html?mcid=yext:245709

Budget Car Rental from Tricities Airport
https://www.budget.com/en/locations/us/tn/blountville/tri

Alamo Car Rental from Tricities Airport
https://www.alamo.com/en_US/car-rental/locations/us/trit71-tri-city-blountville-arp.html

ATAC is located in the extreme northeast tip of Tennessee in the beautiful Shady Valley, surrounded by the @cherokeenationalforest and the Appalachian Mountains.
 
With plenty of excellent places to stay nearby and one of the major interstate highways is only 30 miles away (HWY 81). Easily accessible to anyone on the eastern seaboard, though they have many attendees that fly in from all over the USA.
 
They are close to both the most visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park / Gatlinburg / Dollywood , Asheville NC, and the Biltmore estate, Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and more to do in the area.
Many attendees made a vacation out of their trip.

 

More FAQs

For our safety, as well as our guests’ safety, a valid Concealed Carry Permit and Drivers License is required to be presented upon the day of training. If you do not have a Concealed Carry Permit we will run a background check free of charge

The minimum age for a pistol or rifle course is 21. When accompanied by an adult the minimum age is 15 with a learners license or photo identification.

We provide a climate-controlled area with a kitchenette and refrigerator. We provide lunch, cold bottled water, coffee and tea. Upon reserving a course we will send you a menu for lunch to preorder for the day of training.

Dress as if you are going to work out, or work in the yard. Be comfortable, not fashionable; you may sweat a little, you may get a little dirty.

Recommended Clothing:

  1. A short sleeve or long sleeve t-shirt that tucks into your pants so that you can draw from the holster without any impediment.
  2. Loose-fitting pants with belt loops are highly recommended.
  3. Comfortable sneakers, boots or appropriate footwear for hiking and walking over outdoor terrain. Closed toe footwear required.
  4. We provide ballistic eye protection, you are more than welcome to use your own.
  1. A tank top, low cut top, top with an open midriff, sleeveless top, etc. This is for your comfort and safety.
  2. Shorts, skin tight jeans or pants.
  3. High heels, spike heels or an other shoes you would not wear for hiking.
  4. Tiny sunglasses that do not cover your eyes. Again, this is for your safety.

If at any time a guest demonstrates unsafe behavior, they will be counseled. Counseling may consist of a verbal warning or removal of ammunition with allowance to dry fire through the remainder of your training. If a guest fails to respond to a verbal warning, they will be escorted off the range.

NO REFUNDS WILL BE ISSUED FOR SAFETY VIOLATIONS.

A.T.A.C. will deny training to anyone who appears intoxicated, angry, disruptive, confused or simply evokes an uneasy feeling with the instructors or other guests. This is a safety measure. All guests come to the course understanding that a simple sixth sense is all it takes from an instructor to deny training. In this case, a refund will be issued.

A full course with four guests is designed for eight hours of training. If less than four guests are present for the training time may be reduced. However, this does not mean that the quality of training per guest will decreased.

We offer a different curriculum for women.  The women’s curriculum is designed to match her psychological strengths such as multitasking, procedurally driven and a unemotional mindset towards firearms.  And her desire to feel safe in public.

Our curriculum for men is unique considering our adult learning model the 4 – C’s (Comfortable atmosphere to enhance Comprehension to build Confidence to achieve Capability).  And his desire to protect his family.

For the couple that desires private firearms training we create the most exciting date like atmosphere in which you and your spouse will leave with the capability to use firearms together as a team.

The short answer is YES.

  • Your firearm must be a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol or rifle.
  • Your firearms must have a factory threaded barrel 1/28th thread.
  • Your firearm must cycle our ammunition which is subsonic – CCI Suppressor.
  • You will need 10 magazines.
  • Your firearms is required to have a silencer, use one of ours or bring your own.

Yes, we have a dedicated and secure parking lot on the range. You will only be a short walk from your vehicle at all times in the event you need to access your vehicle during the training.

Absolutely not! When guests work in a two person team they will be parallel to one another. Control and safety is increased by only two people firing at a time with one instructors direct observation.

A new firearm owner with a concealed carry permit experiences a real world 360-degree range every day (i.e. carrying in the public). Can you image an individual that carries a firearm in public, but only trains on a one directional flat range with paper targets? A.T.A.C. is a basic course, which means that everything is calibrated to SLOW and deliberate movements. Considering the Crawl, Walk, Run methodology.

A.T.A.C. is exclusively CRAWL.

Still Have Questions?

We offer entry level, basic courses designed to lower stress and anxiety. Our training is designed for those with little to no firearms training experience. The courses are not physically demanding and most importantly FUN! If you have a question about A.T.A.C. feel free to reach out below.

Course Registration Form

2020 Registration is Now Open!

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*Concealed Carry permit required