- Reaction score
- 16,946
- Points
- 1,260
Okay so here goes -
After Action Review: Tactical Response Tac Rifle 11-12 Aug 2005 Abbotsford BC.
Instructors: James Yeager, Shay and the Marine who IIRC was Steve (sorry faces good names not so...)
yeah I left my Oakley's on the table for the pic :
I am not a stranger to "tactical" training, however as a Canadian ever since 9/11 it has been more awkward to attend training down South - where (realistically) the best training is had. I naturally jump at the chance(s) to attend classes in Canada. When it was announced that Tactical Response was running a class in BC I attempted to jump at the chance, fortunately a very accommodating family and girlfriend allowed me time during my summer block leave to lug a bunch of Army crap across Canada and back inconveniencing travel plans etc but allowing me to enjoy my 'art'. I knew pretty much what I was bringing based on previous experience. I decided to branch out beyond a simple review of the teaching/content and get into more aspects of both gear and the other shooters (cuz I'm perfect damnit...)
My Kit:
Hat and Helmet (Surefire ball cap and Cdn Gallet helmet.)
Gun belt - 1st Line (Safarialand 6004, magpouches)
LBV/Armour system 2nd Line (a KevinB/bigred designs modified Paraclete RAV)
Ear pro and Eye Pro (Peltors and Oakleys - Bolle 8000 Tactical Goodles where helmet mounted and not used since I wimped out and only shot in my hat...))
Boots and Uniform (in this case I wore the Crye MultiCam Field Pants and Shirt - the integrated knee and elbow pads are nice if you know you will be needing them) and it allowed me to cut out my knee and elbow pads from the kit list.
1 x Sig P226 (and spare handgun)
1 x LMT 10.5"
1 x KAC SR16 (good thing as the LMT shit the bed 40 rds into the course)
10 mags for each pistol and 16 mags for the Carbines.
500rds of 9mm
1500rds of 5.56mm
· I know from previous courses I tend to go thru more ammo than the recommended output.
Water
Anyway back to the course - 0900 James Yeager had us all into the classroom (see Shay's pic) for a short but necessary intro and ground rules. With any mixed class (well admittedly even closed LE/MIL events) there is a vast disparity of shooter skills and mindset. Not only must the goals of the course be clearly layed out but the safety parameters and commands be clearly illuminated prior to going live. This was done, and done well - further Yeager left no one gray about the course of GunFIGHTing.
Shooting starts: First point THIS WAS NOT A TACTICS CLASS (Yeagers Point and bears to mind several times later)
Starting with Pistol - some DEA dots - shoot on command stuff (Yeager pretty much booked up a TAC Pistol with our performance with the handgun...) *Side note I am no great pistol shooter, and see the majority of weakness in mil shooters is dealing with the pistol due to the limited (read non existent) pistol training outside of the SOF realm. Really time was pushed and we bashed on despite some students having WEAK control over their pistols, this seemed entirely constrained to the civilian shooters on the course. We observed each other shoot pistol and reholster to hopefuly correct any errors.
MISS drill - discussion with my "ward" - actually a good partner by the end.
My MISS stuff
Getting into rifle with the MISS drill - Here James and other seemed to have their work cut out since a large portion down the line seemed to be new to rifle/pistol transition and need assistance in doing so safely... Anyway 30 transitions for each shooter gave the staff a good handle on who was where on the skill set bar. This is key to progressing safely; that the staff need to know where the bar is for everyone and look extra closely at those who are not as smooth or deliberate with their actions. - or worse to ensure no one else had a debate about someone's pistol calibre based upon staring down the barrel as piperdown and I had one someones Beretta (yes Mike I do agree that barrel looks much to wide to be 9mm...)
I was surprised that more time was not spent demonstrating positioning coming from the EDI (explain, demonstrate, imitate [students imitate]) type of mil instruction background. However admittedly it was a two day course and it is described in the course book.
Walking the partner around - and aware of the outside world.
Shooting on the move - seamlessly working into *something I really learned here from Yeager was when teaching people to shoot on the move - let them move naturally and find their own sweet spot. It seemed a lot more fluid than forcing troops into a crounch and starting them off shooting on every second footfall then every foot fall. This way the shooter fell into to it naturally (at least my perspective from viewing others, I already knew how to shoot on the move). Using your partner/buddy in movement drills, as the control, was another area that gave the student controlling insight into upcoming events (a building block per say). It started the non-shooter thinking about command and control - essential to later team events. Shooting while moving laterally to the target both left and right flowed well - the iron sight shooters learned the value of a red dot CCO in this event and the value would be highlighted throughout. Barricade drills where done in two's as well (afterthe singles) but with the acting rear cover/support/communication (popping into if the #1 had a stoppage) with only one gun firing at once (for those like me who like max rounds down range - it was unusualy - but keeping mind this was all building block techniques)
piperdown with his LE C8 doing prone barricade
My partner with my guidance moving to cover.
More guidance...
Me engaging from kneeling
Off to next cover...
Day One end.
A varied Aussie Peelback - in stack 4 guys empty mag (A Zone chest) communicate stopage-pul otu and the next swign up seemlessly - kinds of like a static door entry ; your carbine going up when the front many has just cleared - cept of course you dont right turn left turn but shoot and move when the IA hits.
Team Events - now moving into 4 and 8 man team gave credence to our earlier coined ABP acronym (anyone but Pilot... - inside joke ) This is wear the shooter unfamiliarity with each other was readily apparent as different SOP's and training conflicted (despite James earlier warning - and several of his "Is there Fucking something I fucking forget to fucking tell you" or words to that effect. The Shoot-Move and Communicate fiasco... Doing a 4 man stack separated by 50m to another stack/brick/det/team whatever and trying to harmonise moving and shooting between the teams. Ideally everyone is on individual comms and the dets can commincate electronically -thus they can save hand signals for backup. Either way have a SOP for hand signals - this got frustrating for me (and others in my stack) as we where used to the #3 being the IC and standard hand signals. Originally James had asked us to use the #4 as both the rear cover and IC - it seemed to work okay for some of the teams that had no grounding in teamwork, but kinda hi-cupped us used to the #3 - until he asked and he allowed our sacks to run a #3 as IC (he said prior this is NOT a tactics class but it made it easier to flow and he allowed us that). The hand signals issue was a bugaboo that bit a few teams where one thought the other was covering and both teams moved - a few teams made up for it by firing on the move. Once again the one shooter firing for 8 man gave me the creeps (but it was NOT a tactics class) keep thinking building blocks.
piperdown doing rear cover (left)
piperdown and crowd
team coord
End State - In two days I don't think much else could be covered, I had been given a few (okay too numerous to count) reminds about my pistol reloads (back intot he pocket) and to keep the rifle up when reloading static (this issue I reload on the move at SUL and get somewhat lazy other times). * I finally found out what SUL means, thanks Yeager (for those who do not, take a class J ... I was extremely happy with the result - good shooting is always a plus. Formal courses for me are a way to refine technique and see what others are doing and if could work better for me. I'm looking forward to more Tactical Response classes in Canada and hopefully other companies will come up as well.
James asked me later if anything was different from what I've done before (or at leat remarkably different) I'd never done a two day rifle/carbine class - 5 day yes longer - yes - plus Army stuff - so I dont think anymore could be done. Obviously my wants (refnine some techniques, network, pad resume...) Where different than that of a relative novice shooter want to be able to safetly negotiate a 3 gun or action Rifle match.
For the CF side of the house - DHTC instructors have been teaching SUL (south) method of long gun carry to us pleabes for a while - especially important during stacks and house movements when one is not upfront (keep the LASER rule in your head at all times). The big advantage was that the shooters got going quicker than the typical CF reflexsive shooter package where there is little if any (dep who runs it) shooting on the move -- the key to being killed is of course staying static so the more fluid we can do all our drills (Shoot-Move-Communicate, and in Shoot I mean reload, IA's etc) on the move the better. The course was much cheaper than the flight from Ottawa to BC :'( - and I can recommend it to anyone from novice to advanced shooter.
What did I learn - well what SUL meant.
I found a bunch of better teaching methods/concepts that I had seen/used previously.
And MOST important reinforced the mental aspect - the mind is your best weapon and you need to be 100% comitted to the fight.
More pics coming.
After Action Review: Tactical Response Tac Rifle 11-12 Aug 2005 Abbotsford BC.
Instructors: James Yeager, Shay and the Marine who IIRC was Steve (sorry faces good names not so...)
yeah I left my Oakley's on the table for the pic :
I am not a stranger to "tactical" training, however as a Canadian ever since 9/11 it has been more awkward to attend training down South - where (realistically) the best training is had. I naturally jump at the chance(s) to attend classes in Canada. When it was announced that Tactical Response was running a class in BC I attempted to jump at the chance, fortunately a very accommodating family and girlfriend allowed me time during my summer block leave to lug a bunch of Army crap across Canada and back inconveniencing travel plans etc but allowing me to enjoy my 'art'. I knew pretty much what I was bringing based on previous experience. I decided to branch out beyond a simple review of the teaching/content and get into more aspects of both gear and the other shooters (cuz I'm perfect damnit...)
My Kit:
Hat and Helmet (Surefire ball cap and Cdn Gallet helmet.)
Gun belt - 1st Line (Safarialand 6004, magpouches)
LBV/Armour system 2nd Line (a KevinB/bigred designs modified Paraclete RAV)
Ear pro and Eye Pro (Peltors and Oakleys - Bolle 8000 Tactical Goodles where helmet mounted and not used since I wimped out and only shot in my hat...))
Boots and Uniform (in this case I wore the Crye MultiCam Field Pants and Shirt - the integrated knee and elbow pads are nice if you know you will be needing them) and it allowed me to cut out my knee and elbow pads from the kit list.
1 x Sig P226 (and spare handgun)
1 x LMT 10.5"
1 x KAC SR16 (good thing as the LMT shit the bed 40 rds into the course)
10 mags for each pistol and 16 mags for the Carbines.
500rds of 9mm
1500rds of 5.56mm
· I know from previous courses I tend to go thru more ammo than the recommended output.
Water
Anyway back to the course - 0900 James Yeager had us all into the classroom (see Shay's pic) for a short but necessary intro and ground rules. With any mixed class (well admittedly even closed LE/MIL events) there is a vast disparity of shooter skills and mindset. Not only must the goals of the course be clearly layed out but the safety parameters and commands be clearly illuminated prior to going live. This was done, and done well - further Yeager left no one gray about the course of GunFIGHTing.
Shooting starts: First point THIS WAS NOT A TACTICS CLASS (Yeagers Point and bears to mind several times later)
Starting with Pistol - some DEA dots - shoot on command stuff (Yeager pretty much booked up a TAC Pistol with our performance with the handgun...) *Side note I am no great pistol shooter, and see the majority of weakness in mil shooters is dealing with the pistol due to the limited (read non existent) pistol training outside of the SOF realm. Really time was pushed and we bashed on despite some students having WEAK control over their pistols, this seemed entirely constrained to the civilian shooters on the course. We observed each other shoot pistol and reholster to hopefuly correct any errors.
MISS drill - discussion with my "ward"
- actually a good partner by the end.
My MISS stuff
Getting into rifle with the MISS drill - Here James and other seemed to have their work cut out since a large portion down the line seemed to be new to rifle/pistol transition and need assistance in doing so safely... Anyway 30 transitions for each shooter gave the staff a good handle on who was where on the skill set bar. This is key to progressing safely; that the staff need to know where the bar is for everyone and look extra closely at those who are not as smooth or deliberate with their actions. - or worse to ensure no one else had a debate about someone's pistol calibre based upon staring down the barrel as piperdown and I had one someones Beretta (yes Mike I do agree that barrel looks much to wide to be 9mm...)
I was surprised that more time was not spent demonstrating positioning coming from the EDI (explain, demonstrate, imitate [students imitate]) type of mil instruction background. However admittedly it was a two day course and it is described in the course book.
Walking the partner around - and aware of the outside world.
Shooting on the move - seamlessly working into *something I really learned here from Yeager was when teaching people to shoot on the move - let them move naturally and find their own sweet spot. It seemed a lot more fluid than forcing troops into a crounch and starting them off shooting on every second footfall then every foot fall. This way the shooter fell into to it naturally (at least my perspective from viewing others, I already knew how to shoot on the move). Using your partner/buddy in movement drills, as the control, was another area that gave the student controlling insight into upcoming events (a building block per say). It started the non-shooter thinking about command and control - essential to later team events. Shooting while moving laterally to the target both left and right flowed well - the iron sight shooters learned the value of a red dot CCO in this event and the value would be highlighted throughout. Barricade drills where done in two's as well (afterthe singles) but with the acting rear cover/support/communication (popping into if the #1 had a stoppage) with only one gun firing at once (for those like me who like max rounds down range - it was unusualy - but keeping mind this was all building block techniques)
piperdown with his LE C8 doing prone barricade
My partner with my guidance
moving to cover.
More guidance...
Me engaging from kneeling
Off to next cover...
Day One end.
A varied Aussie Peelback - in stack 4 guys empty mag (A Zone chest) communicate stopage-pul otu and the next swign up seemlessly - kinds of like a static door entry ; your carbine going up when the front many has just cleared - cept of course you dont right turn left turn but shoot and move when the IA hits.
Team Events - now moving into 4 and 8 man team gave credence to our earlier coined ABP acronym (anyone but Pilot... - inside joke ) This is wear the shooter unfamiliarity with each other was readily apparent as different SOP's and training conflicted (despite James earlier warning - and several of his "Is there Fucking something I fucking forget to fucking tell you" or words to that effect. The Shoot-Move and Communicate fiasco... Doing a 4 man stack separated by 50m to another stack/brick/det/team whatever and trying to harmonise moving and shooting between the teams. Ideally everyone is on individual comms and the dets can commincate electronically -thus they can save hand signals for backup. Either way have a SOP for hand signals - this got frustrating for me (and others in my stack) as we where used to the #3 being the IC and standard hand signals. Originally James had asked us to use the #4 as both the rear cover and IC - it seemed to work okay for some of the teams that had no grounding in teamwork, but kinda hi-cupped us used to the #3 - until he asked and he allowed our sacks to run a #3 as IC (he said prior this is NOT a tactics class but it made it easier to flow and he allowed us that). The hand signals issue was a bugaboo that bit a few teams where one thought the other was covering and both teams moved - a few teams made up for it by firing on the move. Once again the one shooter firing for 8 man gave me the creeps (but it was NOT a tactics class) keep thinking building blocks.
piperdown doing rear cover (left)
piperdown and crowd
team coord
End State - In two days I don't think much else could be covered, I had been given a few (okay too numerous to count) reminds about my pistol reloads (back intot he pocket) and to keep the rifle up when reloading static (this issue I reload on the move at SUL and get somewhat lazy other times). * I finally found out what SUL means, thanks Yeager (for those who do not, take a class J ... I was extremely happy with the result - good shooting is always a plus. Formal courses for me are a way to refine technique and see what others are doing and if could work better for me. I'm looking forward to more Tactical Response classes in Canada and hopefully other companies will come up as well.
James asked me later if anything was different from what I've done before (or at leat remarkably different) I'd never done a two day rifle/carbine class - 5 day yes longer - yes - plus Army stuff - so I dont think anymore could be done. Obviously my wants (refnine some techniques, network, pad resume...) Where different than that of a relative novice shooter want to be able to safetly negotiate a 3 gun or action Rifle match.
For the CF side of the house - DHTC instructors have been teaching SUL (south) method of long gun carry to us pleabes for a while - especially important during stacks and house movements when one is not upfront (keep the LASER rule in your head at all times). The big advantage was that the shooters got going quicker than the typical CF reflexsive shooter package where there is little if any (dep who runs it) shooting on the move -- the key to being killed is of course staying static so the more fluid we can do all our drills (Shoot-Move-Communicate, and in Shoot I mean reload, IA's etc) on the move the better. The course was much cheaper than the flight from Ottawa to BC :'( - and I can recommend it to anyone from novice to advanced shooter.
What did I learn - well what SUL meant.
I found a bunch of better teaching methods/concepts that I had seen/used previously.
And MOST important reinforced the mental aspect - the mind is your best weapon and you need to be 100% comitted to the fight.
More pics coming.
