Face of Blue Force Gear
Meet the team – Blue Force Gear is a local company with global prowess. Focused intently on improving load carriage equipment for military and law enforcement end users.
Blue Force Gear employs a team of more than 60 who are committed to designing, manufacturing and delivering the best slings, medical and trauma kits and various other load carriage equipment.
Ashley Burnsed started Blue Force Gear with the belief and and passion that he could improve the gear that our law enforcement, military and civilians use. Blue Force Gear is driven by a code of advancement, “If we can’t make something better than what is currently being produced, we don’t make it” says Burnsed. Blue Force Gear has pioneered technological innovations that have revolutionized load carriage and weapon slings, establishing the world’s best weapon sling and the world’s lightest load carriage equipment.
To support their growing business, Blue Force Gear recently built a new facility located in Pooler, GA and added a retail store and training facility. Enter Chris Sizelove, who recently retired from 20 years in the Army and 13 deployments. As he tells it, “I had a great time during my service, serving alongside the best men this country can produce.” Ultimately during Sizelove’s service, he worked in every position in the Ranger Regiment from rifleman to Senior Non-Commissioned officer of a 55 man assault force.
With the addition of the new Blue Force Gear Training Facility, a conversation about how to best utilize that capability was born. Sizelove was intimately familiar with Blue Force Gear’s brand and products and had worked with the company as a subject matter expert for load carriage equipment development. So, after a few discussions, a training strategy was born and Blue Force Gear offered Sizelove a position as Senior Manager of Training. It was a perfect fit for a company that promotes opportunities for veterans to stay connected to the industry and apply their hard-earned skills in the civilian sector.
The Blue Force Gear training facility consists of a mock 1.5 story building with a configureable floor plan. The weapons’ ammunition, referred to as “simunitions,” are a less-lethal training aid that still packs enough punch to reinforce lessons learned during training exercises. The goal of The Blue Force Gear training facility is two fold – support local law enforcement and military with exceptional training opportunities and work as a development lab for Blue Force Gear to test and evaluate new load carriage products.
Chris is currently developing a full curriculum of instruction to equip law enforcement, military and responsible citizens with the knowledge and skills to be successful when faced with dynamic situations in and around structures and confined spaces. “We train escalation and de-escalation of force hostage situation, high-risk search operations, low light, no light, night vision device use, breaching doors and walls, use of specialized marking devices and emergency medical procedures in or around a structure,” said Sizelove. “This opportunity really hit me as a huge way to start to give back and pay forward the best lessons I learned.” blueforcegear.com / 877.430.2583
