by Ed Head, trainer, author, and veteran of both the Border Patrol and the USAF, passed away on Friday from cancer. I never got the opportunity to take a class with him but did get to share a beer or two with him at a Michael Buys The Beer get-together in Las Vegas. He was wearing his traditional Hawaiian shirt and shared stories with my brother-in-law Larry and myself.
His gun reviews were always spot on and you knew you could trust them. Ed knew firearms. More importantly, he knew how to use them in dangerous situations from his days in law enforcement. In addition to his reviews, Ed wrote the Skills Check column for the NRA’s Shooting Illustrated.
Ken Campbell, CEO of Gunsite, wrote this about Ed and his career on Facebook:
Ed (Was) was a US Air Force Security Police Officer from 1972-1976, specializing in nuclear weapons security. Also, he was the Captain of a weapons and tactics competition team.
He entered the US Border Patrol in August 1977 and was assigned to San Diego, CA. During his tenure, he supervised a Patrol Group of 19 supervisors and 160 Agents at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station. His stories of his time there are near-legendary. Successfully completing the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Firearms Instructor Training Program with a Distinguished Master rating, he began working as a Range Officer conducting all firearms training and qualifications for the Chula Vista and Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station. That later morphed into the Sector Firearms Instructor and then the Senior Firearms Instructor for the San Diego Border Patrol Sector, including more than 2500 agents. Additionally, he was the Founder, Rangemaster and first club champion of the San Diego Law Enforcement Combat Shooters Association.
Ed retired after 24 years with the USBP, retiring in 2001.
Ed met the love of his life Jean in and they were married over 36 years. They shared many adventures from horses to recent travel in their RV.
The other great love of his life was Gunsite. He began attending Gunsite in 1988, earning the coveted “Expert” (“Golden E”) rating in many of his classes. He attained his Instructor Rating at Gunsite in 1992. Ed worked as Operations Manager from February 2005 to September 2010 and then resumed his lengthy teaching career at Gunsite. His career as a writer in the gun industry also began to flourish, writing for NRA Publications and working with Michael Bane on video productions. Ed taught his last class at Gunsite late May of 2022. We know it was a very difficult moment for him to come to us in early June to let us know of his illness and withdrawing from the active instructor roster. We assured him he was only being moved to the “injured reserve” list and we looked forward to his return.
I love this picture of Ed from his younger days when he was a supervisor with the Border Patrol. You knew he meant business.
His death reminds me of John Donne’s poem.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
We are all diminished by Ed’s death.