Civilians in Florida are training like soldiers: ‘Best prevention to war’

POLK COUNTY, Fla. —

In the quiet countryside of Polk County, there's a shooting range where target practice is anything but ordinary.

"I’m getting ready to shoot at 517 yards," Rick 'Arby' Mattson explains while lying on the ground behind a long-range rifle.

"Going hot," he warns, before pulling the trigger and hitting a target well off in the distance.

Mattson is a retired two-star general with the U.S. Air Force. He used to fly fighter jets.

Now, long-range shooting is his hobby.

Mattson said it's part of a change in gun culture in America in recent years.

"I think it's gotten a lot more serious," he said. "I think that the technology and the capability has just grown and exploded exponentially."

The range is part of Bone Valley Industries, a training facility for skilled shooters and outdoor enthusiasts. Mattson is one of the owners.

"It used to be, back in the day, where a 500-yard shot was — that was pretty impressive, to be able to do it," Mattson said. "This rifle can go out to 2 miles."

The prepared citizen movement: Body armor and night vision

"It's normal now for civilians to buy body armor and night vision and have access to this type of equipment," Eric Roscher said.

Roscher is an Air Force veteran and part-owner at the range. He also owns a separate company that trains on the same grounds.

Roscher’s company, Barrel & Hatchet, offers military-style training to civilians.

They are not beginner courses. They include more movement than typical firearm training sessions and include shooting with body armor and night vision.

"Not looking for a fight, but I believe that a strongly trained and well-armed populace is the best prevention to war," Roscher explained.

The training is part of what’s become known as the "prepared citizen movement," and if Roscher’s following is any indication, it’s growing in popularity.

His YouTube page has nearly 200,000 subscribers.

"The prepared citizen essentially means, to me, is someone that is willing to take charge of not just defending their family, but also providing for them," Roscher said. "Whether that’s spiritually, physically."

Roscher points to uncertainty during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently, the war in Ukraine as reasons for the movement's momentum.

"There were videos coming out right before the Russians invaded, of (Ukrainian) civilians trying to be quickly trained by the government and the military on how to defend themselves, how to put on tourniquets," Roscher recalled. "That really opened my eyes."

Expert questions the need for military-style training

"I think that the term is purposefully vague," Landon Frim said of the prepared citizen movement. "Because who could be against being prepared, right?"

Frim is a philosophy professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. He studies everything from religion to politics to the modern militia movement.

He has also researched the prepared citizen movement.

"It's such a broad term. It's such an eclectic, umbrella term. That it can include a lot of explicitly politically-motivated people," Frim said. "It could include political extremists who simply don't want to advertise the fact."

Frim has also reviewed Roscher’s work, from his YouTube page to his podcast.

While Frim admitted he cannot know the motivations of those in the movement, he questioned the need for this type of civilian training.

"I don't understand what scenario he (Roscher) is imagining," Frim said. "By his own admission, he is training people to shoot the length of three football fields. You don't need to shoot the length of three football fields to defend your front porch, I'm sorry."

Roscher says community is his real motivation

When asked what motivates him, Roscher said it’s not politics and not even the equipment or training.

He said it’s the community that’s formed in the movement that keeps him involved.

He adds a Bible message at the end of his videos, and said the real motivation is seeing lives changed.

"When you see other people commenting on a prayer request, someone saying, 'I just need a prayer on something, I'm going through a hard time,'" Roscher said, pausing to fight back tears. "To see people come together like that, it's awesome. It's inspiring."

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