How a knowledge of CQB Syntax can prevent errors in transferring to one-man clearing techniques.
How building design guides human behavior, and how syntax, or clearing order, changes how we approach clearing rooms in...
A systematic analysis of the benefits of slicing a doorway at low-ready in CQB.
A discussion of an extremely common phenomenon in CQB training that only comes out in real time.
©[2025] Borderland Perspectives
Rob Brotzman Dept. Head of East Coast Operations
Rob considers himself a “student of the gun.” He’s always seeking out more training, techniques, equipment, and information to give him an edge, whether it be in competition or in a self-defense situation. Introduced to firearms for both sport and protection at a very young age, he is an avid hunter and outdoorsman, who excels at tracking wildlife as well as the occasional human.
He makes his daytime living as a video engineer and a two-time Emmy-winning videographer, and is also a member of and the firearms trainer for Wolfpack Missing Persons Search and Recovery. His eye for the camera lens and knowledge of firearms and tactics make him a natural fit as the department head of East Coast operations.
In his down time he enjoys competitive shooting, tactical training, hunting, fishing, and general outdoor badassery. He also enjoys taking long walks on the beach with his beard, and making his partner Nathan’s life utterly miserable at odd hours of the evening.
Nathan WagarExecutive Director; Core Material Coach
Nathan joined the Army at 17 to escape a lifestyle in California gangland, and deployed twice to northern Iraq with 101st Airborne. He was selected along with other individuals from the infantry recon sections in the battalion as part of a special task force charged with kill or capture missions of high value targets. His experiences with violence have been tempered by his academic pursuits and interest in fields such as complexity science, and this eccentric background is probably what has led his friends to dub him the “Irish Cholo.”
He is the owner of Black Mesa TFAC and has received professional trainer licensing and instructor certifications in CMD boxing, the CMD combat intelligent athlete program, EMP mental game performance coaching, and Red Zone Knife Defense, and was given permission to teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by his coach and friend Gustavo De Alencar.
He was the creator of the official threat assessment method used by CMD Intl. formerly known as TARMAC, and the gun disarm method used by Red Zone Threat Management Systems. He has developed custom courses for both civilian active shooter response, and active threat room entry techniques as an adjunct SME at Shockwave Defense, and teaches protection methods to members of the New Mexico Secret Service assigned to the Albuquerque field office. He is in the process of undergoing an additional certification in Risk Terrain Modeling, the latest environmental threat assessment program developed by criminologists for LEO and security departments.
Nathan’s outlook and focus is best described as mastering one’s environment, and this theme forms the thrust of his vision at Borderland Training. The seriousness with which he approaches his material is matched only by his astoundingly effeminate taste in coffee, and penchant for wearing Star Wars shirts and flip flops while teaching. When not coaching or working on a new project, he trains, hunts, and spends an obscene amount of time getting really, really pissed off at his hetero-lifemate Rob.
