Serving 10 years in the MARINES, Jon Barton earned his combat and weapons experiences as a US MARINE infantryman (0351) in Operation Nobel Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. His combat experiences have given him a competitive edge over the competition in modern warfare and combat technical advising. Jon is an expert trainer in over 90 different weapons and weapon systems to include ALL modern rifles, handguns, explosives, rocket launchers and missile systems. Last year at AFM Jon was quoted saying: "It's not enough to know the weapons; you have to know the strategies behind how they are used, and not only in real life, but for camera." In the Marine Corps Infantry, Jon went to a variety of advanced schools that included: Advanced Combat Course, Squad Leaders School, Small Unit Leader's course, Military Operations on Urban Terrain Instructor's Course, Advanced Demolitions, Urban Mobility Breacher's Course, Combat Marksmanship Rifle, Combat Marksmanship Pistol, Range Safety Officers Course, Light Armored Recon Commander's Course, Advanced Anti-tank Missile School (TOW 2 and Javelin), Improvised Explosive Device Instructors Course, Funeral, Drills, and Ceremonies Course, Land and Sea Navigation Course, Combat Swimmers School, Water Survival Qualifications Course, Advanced Helicopter Operations, Mountain Warfare and Survival School, Rappel Master School, Advanced Weapons and Tactical Applications, Gorilla and Counter Guerilla Warfare School, just to name a few. All courses were completed between 2001 and 2008 making him the most currently trained Military Coordinator in Hollywood. Realizing that film makers needed not only tier 1 military and tactical consulting, but more of a one stop shop for all their production needs , Jon created TACTICAL MEDIA GROUP , a consulting and production company that offers military props, weapons, uniforms, camera equipment, action choreography, script rewrites, stunt coordination, stunt equipment, and technical advisors, cameras and editing services to both large and small productions. Jon has never backed down from a challenge and has trained some of the biggest names in Hollywood for their roles on camera including: Will Estes, Aaron Eckhart, Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Chris Hemsworth and the cast of Red Dawn, Joe Mantegna , Thomas Gibson, Mandy Patinkin and the cast of Criminal Minds, Tom Sizemore, Eric Palladino and the cast from Over There, just to name a few. In 2007, Jon was hired by Lexi Alexander as the lead combat trainer, military advisor, and weapons consultant / trainer for "Punisher: War Zone". On PWZ, Jon was responsible for all nine principle actor's and 22 stuntman's firearm training as well as transforming Ray Stevenson into a modern Punisher. He helped design the new Punisher armor, and was responsible for all the new weapons and ammunition for the main character. He was also responsible for ALL the action and weapons choreography in the film. In 2008, Jon was hired by producer Jeffery Chernov and director Jonathan Liebesman to train Aaron Eckhart for his role in the upcoming feature Battle: Los Angeles. Jon was able to transform Mr. Eckhart into a battle hardened US MARINE for test footage within a short 3 week period. Jon also provided technical changes to their script and provided all wardrobe and weapon system for test filming. In 2009, Jon was hired by Tripp Vinson and Beau Flynn as the military coordinator and combat trainer for Chris Hemsworth and the cast for Red Dawn (2010). Jon trained Chris for 3 months and was able to give him the all the modern combat knowledge and weapons training necessary to focus his character for the film into a hardened war veteran. As a producer, Jon produced all the military scenes for Lexi Alexander and Deborah Del Prete's latest independent film "LIFTED", earning him his first mainstream associate producer's credit, which was quickly followed up with a co-Producer's credit in Brian Austin Green and Michael Clarke Duncan's latest action film "CROSS". At this moment Jon is in preproduction co-producing Max Martini's independent military drama "WILL GARDNER" starring Max, Lauren Holly, and Jeffery Dean Morgan. Jon is also co producing 3 short films for close friends that are festival bound. As a writer, Jon has written a military sci fi feature film trilogy called "AURILLIUM" which is currently filming as a web series as it seeks funding for production. "AURILLIUM" follows a team of US Marines fighting a war 30 years in the future. He has also been co writing an action drama with writing partner Kathleen Kennedy. Named "A plague of consciousness", the feature film follows a young scientist around the world as she tracks the carrier of the next bubonic plague. To cap off Jon's exploits, he has teamed up with Peter Lang and the production company PICTURES IN A ROW to produce a biographical reality series that follows Jon and his team from production to production revealing the behind the scenes world of TACTICAL MEDIA GROUP Combined with the latest equipment, weapons, a private training center at his disposal 24/7, and the highest level of trained military assistants in the film business, Jon is leading the pack for the next generation of Military in Hollywood. Show less «