Illinois Concealed Carry Certified Instructors
Steve Watson
Veteran, Owner, & Director of Training
Steve is the owner and Director of Training for condition Yellow Academy. He has been involved in the shooting sports since 1996, following his honorable discharge from the US Navy Submarine force. While in the Navy, he qualified with the .45 caliber pistol and was a member of the Nuclear Weapons Security Detail.
Shortly after his military service, Steve began shooting recreationally and for training in a defensive pistol league, where he realized his firearms training and skills were lacking. Wanting to become as knowledgeable and skilled as he could, he began a lifelong quest to become proficient, skilled, and as informed as possible on all firearms platforms, including gunsmithing.
Steve has trained at several premier firearms training institutes including Front Sight Firearms Training Institute in Nevada, Sand Burr Gun Ranch in Indiana, and under the instruction of Massad Ayoob, the founder of Lethal Force Institute.
After achieving the many NRA, USCCA, and other instructor certifications listed below, Steve founded Condition Yellow Academy in November 2013. His goals for our company are to spread our enthusiasm for living the armed lifestyle, promote firearm safety, and help our students learn the skills necessary to successfully defend themselves and those under their mantle of protection.
Under Steve’s leadership, Condition Yellow Academy now has 12 instructors and has trained over 6000 unique students.
Instructor Certifications:
- IL Concealed Carry Instructor
- Defensive Pistol
- Defensive Pistol Skill Builder
- Advanced Tactical Pistol
- Defensive AR Platform
- Defensive AR Platform Skill Builder
- Advanced Tactical AR Platform
- Defensive Shotgun
- Defensive Shotgun Skill Builder
- Advanced Tactical Shotgun
- USCCA Instructor
NRA Instructor Certifications:
- NRA FIRST Steps and Basic Pistol
- NRA FIRST Steps and Basic Shotgun
- NRA FIRST Steps and Basic Rifle
- NRA Home Firearm Safety
- NRA Personal Protection In the Home (PPIH) and Outside the Home (PPOH)
- NRA Metallic Cartridge Reloading
- NRA Refuse To Be A VictimNRA Range Safety Office
Allison Watson
Instructor & Business Manager
Allison’s journey into the world of firearms began for her as a student at Condition Yellow Academy in 2018. With no firearms experience at all, she wanted to purchase her first firearm but immediately realized that with gun ownership, knowledge, skills, and responsibilities would be needed that she knew nothing about.
After two months of trying to figure out what to do and where to go, she took Condition Yellow Academy’s Illinois Concealed Carry course, a 16-hour course teaching her all about firearms and a wide range of state and federal law.
Having immediately fallen in love with the gun world, Allison continued her training with Condition Yellow Academy, completing the following courses:
- Defensive Pistol I
- Defensive Pistol II
- Advanced CCW
- USSCA Concealed Carry and Home Defense
- NRA Personal Protection Inside the Home
- NRA Range Safety Officer
- USCCA Instructor Certification Course
She has also trained at the renowned Front Sight Firearms Training Institute in Nevada. Now certified by the USCCA as a firearms instructor and certified by the Illinois State Police as an Illinois Concealed Carry instructor, Allison has been teaching with us since January 2020. After becoming an instructor, she created and developed our first ever women’s only course, Introduction to Pistol Shooting, along with the follow up course, Pistol Shooting Level I, both now offered to men and women alike.
Allison currently teaches a variety of courses for us, specializing in teaching new shooters or those with very little experience, helping them learn the skills of shooting in a safe, comfortable, relaxed, and even fun learning environment. She has worked with students who, quite literally, are terrified of firearms, but came to us to overcome their fears and learn to defend themselves. She inspires our students with her own story of coming from a place of knowing nothing about guns to helping hundreds of students learn the skills needed to be safe gun owners.
Allison now holds the title of Business Manager at Condition Yellow Academy and runs the day-to-day operations for both our locations. If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to Allison directly by phone, 847-341-5711 or email, info@conditionyellowacademy.com.
Pete
Pete is passionate about teaching students the skills, knowledge and attitude necessary to safely handle and carry firearms for personal protection. Pete has trained under many prestigious instructors and enjoys this lifelong journey of becoming the best instructor he can be. He seeks to consistently motivate his students to become more confident in their skill and knowledge of firearms, as well as the legal aftermath of justified use of force. Pete is a professional educator by trade and has been teaching concealed carry classes for Condition Yellow Academy since 2017.
Instructor Certifications:
- Rangemaster Certified Pistol Instructor
- NRA Chief Range Safety Officer
- NRA Personal Protection Outside the Home Instructor
- NRA Personal Protection in the Home Instructor
- NRA Pistol Coach
- NRA Basic Pistol Instructor
- Refuse to be a Victim Development Counselor
- USCCA Defensive Shooting Fundamentals Instructor
- USCCA Concealed Carry and Home Defense Fundamentals Instructor
- USCCA Countering the Mass Shooter Threat Instructor
- Second Amendment Foundation Training and Education Association Instructor
- WI Armed Private Security Person certified for Aerosol Weapons OC Products, Semi-Auto Pistol, Revolver, Rifle and Shotgun
- Illinois State Police Approved Concealed Carry Instructor
Joe Koselleck
Joe Koselleck is one of our newer instructors at Condition Yellow Academy, teaching our Illinois Concealed Carry Course. Joe has his Concealed Carry Permit and has been shooting for the last five years. He has participated in many of the defensive pistol courses we offer, and he is a top competitor in our Defensive Pistol Shooting League. Joe has his NRA Range Safety Officer certification and is a USCCA Certified Instructor.