For sh!ts and giggle, I'd like to explain "appeal to authority" as simply as I think possible (last time, I swear). This is a logical fallacy that states the attacker is attacking the person making the argument and NOT the argument itself by either invoking an authority that disagrees or challenging the authority of the person making the argument. I realize I'm playing a little loose with the definition, but I'm trying to keep the pace moving.
Consider this example, a student and teacher are looking out the window and the student says "The sky is blue". The teacher responds by saying "No, the sky is green."
The appeal to the authority attack says the student is wrong cause he lacks the authority and the teacher is right cause he possesses the authority. It does not address the logic of the argument in any way, rather merely WHO is making the argument.
If I say "safe holster training does NOT end with ACTS/PROVE/whatever" and your response is "Well ex-SAS, ex-Blackwater, Johnny Stiffcock disagrees", you have FAILED COMPLETELY to defeat the argument. You have presented nothing and failed to even addressed it. I can't stress this enough - you are FAILING here! Don't fall into this trap of stupidity. It makes you look like an idiot!
I hope this helps the next one of you who wants to go down this road.
Neither my, yours, or Johnny Stiffcock's credentials matter if you do not have a logical reason to refute an argument.