Pat_Rogers
Member in memoriam
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2002
- Messages
- 166
EAG conducted a 4 Day Tactical Carbine Class at the Memphis PD Range. This was an open enrollment 4 Day Class that was conducted primarily within the excellent shoot house.
T1 started off with a lot of glances skyward as the residue of Ike passed by the range. We had moderate rain and wind in the early morning, but moved out by the time we went hot. T2 was partly cloudy, and while warm, neither was it oppressive, and it set the pace for the rest of week.
This class was interesting, not the least interesting part of which was Best Excuse Ever for Having to Cancel, awarded to Jeff Kinsley. His excuse- “I am in India, and can’t get out”.
Note that Jeff is an American citizen who lives in Indiana, so it took me a few seconds to comprehend this.
We also had had one shooter- Lyle B – (aka Longeyes on LF) who showed up one day late. Everyone else seemed to have it figured out right, but the wind in Montana apparently blew ill. Hard to believe that someone would be “That Guy” before he ever arrived….
Of course, his misfortune added to our mirth when he informed us that now he would have to stay a day later.
Shooters here were almost typical for open enrollment classes- cops, farmer, financial guys, commercial pilots, pharmacist, soldier, nuke engineer- Americans. Notable was Wes Grant (of MSTN). I have no idea how he ever fit in an A4 cockpit- that boy is big.
Because they were experienced, the guns and gear issues had been worked out prior to arriving at class. This is of course a nice touch, and makes life, teaching and training easier.
We spent T1 running square range drills related to the shoot house. This was a busy day, and while we did confirm BZO, mist of the shooting was up close with a lot of movement thrown in.
The remainder of the week, day and night, was spent in the shoot house.
Training to fight in confined spaces takes people way out of their comfort zones. There are a lot for reasons for this- you are not on a manicured lawn, with concrete lanes, delineated target zones and distances, and drills that you are required to shoot.
Inside the house you are in (with some exceptions) a 360 degree world; the distances vary from contact out to a max of maybe 15m, and having to discriminate between shoot/ no shoot targets make for interesting times.
Ad to this mix is the fact that we all watch too much television and see too many movies. Consequently people will- regardless of admonitions to the contrary- move too quickly for the circumstances. They will also understand completely what target focus means, and how that can lead to disaster for you when you lose situational awareness (SA).
Other issues have to do with target engagement. When faced with multiple targets, some will forget their multiple target engagement sequencing, and stay focused on that one target, in their sights, to the exclusion of all else.
Others will forget about offset at close range, with the resultant low hits. And some will forget about sights and throw poor shots or even complete misses at short range.
We run reactive targets in the house- in this case, Action Targets drop targets.
For those who have shot only on a square range against paper bad guys, a reactive target is a revelation. While all of our training is to shoot until the threat stops (usually requiring shooting them until they stop/ drop), often new shooters will fire only a pair to the reactive targets and move away to something else. Add to this the fact that the balloons are small and the angles involved to hit them are sometimes difficult to strike, some shooters will fire, not get a reaction and wind up staring at it. I guess they are trying to influence the target by osmosis…
Night/ low light runs make things even more complicated.
Being able to hit accurately on a square range does not always translate into fighting effectively. Remember that marksmanship is only 1/3 of the Combat Triad, and Mindset/Tactics and Weapons handling must be integrated into the mix.
Fortunately, any issues in this class were on the low side and things smoothed out quickly- by T4, Learning had occurred.
Thanks to Mike and Sid for their hard work. Thanks to Donna for her hard work in dealing with the admin issues.
Kudos to Jason Redding and Brad Banning of MPD for once more hosting us. MPD has a terrific range facility, and a great attitude.
And of course special thanks to Larue Tactical, BravoCompany USA, TangoDown, Viking Tactics, Slip 2000, BlueForce Gear, H&K, Noveske, MagPul and Aimpoint for comtinued and generous support.
T1 started off with a lot of glances skyward as the residue of Ike passed by the range. We had moderate rain and wind in the early morning, but moved out by the time we went hot. T2 was partly cloudy, and while warm, neither was it oppressive, and it set the pace for the rest of week.
This class was interesting, not the least interesting part of which was Best Excuse Ever for Having to Cancel, awarded to Jeff Kinsley. His excuse- “I am in India, and can’t get out”.
Note that Jeff is an American citizen who lives in Indiana, so it took me a few seconds to comprehend this.
We also had had one shooter- Lyle B – (aka Longeyes on LF) who showed up one day late. Everyone else seemed to have it figured out right, but the wind in Montana apparently blew ill. Hard to believe that someone would be “That Guy” before he ever arrived….
Of course, his misfortune added to our mirth when he informed us that now he would have to stay a day later.
Shooters here were almost typical for open enrollment classes- cops, farmer, financial guys, commercial pilots, pharmacist, soldier, nuke engineer- Americans. Notable was Wes Grant (of MSTN). I have no idea how he ever fit in an A4 cockpit- that boy is big.
Because they were experienced, the guns and gear issues had been worked out prior to arriving at class. This is of course a nice touch, and makes life, teaching and training easier.
We spent T1 running square range drills related to the shoot house. This was a busy day, and while we did confirm BZO, mist of the shooting was up close with a lot of movement thrown in.
The remainder of the week, day and night, was spent in the shoot house.
Training to fight in confined spaces takes people way out of their comfort zones. There are a lot for reasons for this- you are not on a manicured lawn, with concrete lanes, delineated target zones and distances, and drills that you are required to shoot.
Inside the house you are in (with some exceptions) a 360 degree world; the distances vary from contact out to a max of maybe 15m, and having to discriminate between shoot/ no shoot targets make for interesting times.
Ad to this mix is the fact that we all watch too much television and see too many movies. Consequently people will- regardless of admonitions to the contrary- move too quickly for the circumstances. They will also understand completely what target focus means, and how that can lead to disaster for you when you lose situational awareness (SA).
Other issues have to do with target engagement. When faced with multiple targets, some will forget their multiple target engagement sequencing, and stay focused on that one target, in their sights, to the exclusion of all else.
Others will forget about offset at close range, with the resultant low hits. And some will forget about sights and throw poor shots or even complete misses at short range.
We run reactive targets in the house- in this case, Action Targets drop targets.
For those who have shot only on a square range against paper bad guys, a reactive target is a revelation. While all of our training is to shoot until the threat stops (usually requiring shooting them until they stop/ drop), often new shooters will fire only a pair to the reactive targets and move away to something else. Add to this the fact that the balloons are small and the angles involved to hit them are sometimes difficult to strike, some shooters will fire, not get a reaction and wind up staring at it. I guess they are trying to influence the target by osmosis…
Night/ low light runs make things even more complicated.
Being able to hit accurately on a square range does not always translate into fighting effectively. Remember that marksmanship is only 1/3 of the Combat Triad, and Mindset/Tactics and Weapons handling must be integrated into the mix.
Fortunately, any issues in this class were on the low side and things smoothed out quickly- by T4, Learning had occurred.
Thanks to Mike and Sid for their hard work. Thanks to Donna for her hard work in dealing with the admin issues.
Kudos to Jason Redding and Brad Banning of MPD for once more hosting us. MPD has a terrific range facility, and a great attitude.
And of course special thanks to Larue Tactical, BravoCompany USA, TangoDown, Viking Tactics, Slip 2000, BlueForce Gear, H&K, Noveske, MagPul and Aimpoint for comtinued and generous support.
