In the thread on supplementing training with competition I touched on how one should really have an individual training program. Amazingly enough, this arrived in my inbox tonight:
https://sofrep.com/news/would-you-g...ubmV0IiwgImtsX2NvbXBhbnlfaWQiOiAiSFZTM0NhIn0=
Core Curriculum: 40-ish Credits
This is where things really get interesting. Don’t hold me to the exact number of hours — I’m just spitballing here, but how about some classes like:
Obviously there is the opportunity for some very cool electives. Here are a few of my ideas. If you want, you could probably put together some pretty cool focuses/minors.
https://sofrep.com/news/would-you-g...ubmV0IiwgImtsX2NvbXBhbnlfaWQiOiAiSFZTM0NhIn0=
Core Curriculum: 40-ish Credits
This is where things really get interesting. Don’t hold me to the exact number of hours — I’m just spitballing here, but how about some classes like:
- Physical Fitness: five days a week for the entire four years. Broken out in something like: Three days of Crossfit-style strength training, one day of aquatic training, and one day of classroom covering exercise physiology, diet, and nutrition, sleep hygiene, etc. (Here’s where my instructor nerd comes out: to account for injuries and excused absences you can miss up to 18 percent of physical fitness sessions per school year. However, you can miss no more than 10 percent of any given module, so you can’t decide you don’t like swimming and take all the swim days off.)
- Unarmed Combatives: This would be cool. Five-day-a-week BJJ training (with attendance policy similar to physical fitness). Most students would probably leave with a very high blue belt, and more than a few motivated students could probably leave with a purple belt. Another option would be a year each of four different disciplines.
- Emergency Medical Technician-Basic w/ TR-C: Taken during freshman year. Continuing education provided every year throughout. In a perfect world the campus could partner with the local EMS system to establish a clinical program similar to my current EMT program (I have to spend 36 hours in an ambulance and treat at least 10 patients to graduate).
- Human Contact: I don’t know how else to describe this other than maybe a “situation awareness, avoidance, and how not to be an *******. . . unless you need to be” class. Textbooks: Left of Bang by Patrick van Horne, The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker, and It’s Not All About Me by Robin Dreeke.
- Digital Security: I’m at the age where most of my imagination centers around teaching rather than attending (thought attending would be cool) and I definitely want to teach this one. Textbook: Digital Self Defense by me, coming very soon.
- High-Performance Driving: Driving on a track, skidpad, and some basic off-road driving. This portion would also cover some basics of vehicle maintenance like preventative maintenance and changing a tire. Driving is something you engage in daily, and something far more people should seek training in. Though I’ve attended several high-performance driving courses since, this is something I wish I had attended in my very early 20s. This skill is extremely likely to save a life. At my imaginary college, sustainment training would also be a requirement on a quarterly basis. If anyone has a great idea for a textbook for this one, please let me know.
- Firearms 1: Basic Riflery. Students would get some experience operating lever-action, bolt-action, and semi-automatic rifles, and shooting at 100 to 500 yards. The practical test would be an iron-sight, range qualification similar to the Marine Corps’ old rifle qual. Shoot me ideas for textbooks.
- Firearms 2: Basic Handguns. This would cover the modern technique of handgun manipulation, including presentation, basic marksmanship, emergency, speed, tactical reloads, malfunction clearance, and SHO/WHO shooting. This class would also cover carry methodology and the operation of striker-fired, single-action, and double-action pistols and double-action revolvers. Textbooks: Stay in the Fight by Kyle Lamb, Concealed Carry Class by Tom Givens.
- Firearms 3: Integrating rifle and pistol skills into close-range, urban style carbine work from 0-100 yards. Pistols would be utilized and pistol skills refreshed frequently. Classroom work would cover terminal ballistics for both rifle and carbine. This class would also include low/no-light fire and range time with the shotgun. TEXTBOOK: Green Eyes, Black Rifles by Kyle Lamb.
- Capstone: Force-on-force scenarios with integrated combatives, IDPA-style scenarios, etc. Would also incorporate driving skills, medical scenarios, human-contact skills into full-spectrum defensive scenarios.
Obviously there is the opportunity for some very cool electives. Here are a few of my ideas. If you want, you could probably put together some pretty cool focuses/minors.
- Long Range Shooting (Textbook: Long Range Shooting by Ryan Cleckner)
- Basic Patrolling (Textbook: Tactical Manual: Small Unit Tactics by Max Alexander — I haven’t read this one but it comes well recommended to me.)
- Firearms: Foreign Weapons
- Firearms: Double-Action Revolvers
- Surveillance (Textbooks: Secrets of Surveillance, Surveillance Countermeasures, and Countering Hostile Surveillance by ACM IV Security Services)
- Lock & restraint defeat (Textbooks: Practical Lock Picking and Keys to the Kingdom by Devian Ollam)
- Tactical Questioning, Interviewing, & Interrogation
- Advanced EMT
- Wilderness EMT
- Wilderness Survival
- Preparedness
- Instructor Development
- Skydiving: Admittedly this isn’t a “tactical” skill unless you become proficient enough to challenge freefall school. Not everything has to be uber-serious, however. This is an adventurous pursuit, and would probably appeal to a lot of students.
- SCUBA Diving: again, little tactical applicability, but definitely a fun skill to have.
