AAR: CRG2 in Haw River, NC May 24-25 2014

[Alex Nieuwland]

I just got done teaching CRG2 with JD Lester in Haw River, NC. What a great class! This was my second trip to this facility, and it has gotten even better than before. Last year, the 3-yard line was at a low spot in the range, causing it to be muddy in places. Shortly after that class, the club was kind enough to bring in a lot of mulch and rocks to move the low spot further away from the backstop.

Here is the first - and only - photo from day one:
Quiet.jpg

I have decided to call this photo The Quiet Before the Storm, because it is the only photo from day one. Once everyone arrived, we dove right into the material, and forgot all about taking photos. On day two, however, JD’s very talented daughter came by to take photos, so she more than made up for that. Here is the official class group photo:

group2.jpg

The eight students present brought a wide variety of guns. They ranged in size from an RMR-ed G20 with a weaponlight to a PPK. One student brought a Ruger SR-22 to stand in for his Kahr. It ran like a top. Another student used a Wilson 1911 in 9 mm on day 1 and an FN Five-Seven on day 2. A Sig P226, Beretta Centurion, Colt Gold Cup 1911, RMR-ed G17, Springfield XD, and a G21 also made an appearance.

When it came time to cover shooting from cover (pun intended), we made good use of a steel target helpfully provided by the range.

steel.jpg

The weather was great, the students loved the material, and there was much good discussion. What a great way to start a Memorial Day weekend!

[Eldora]

OK, I'll go first. A well-deserved THANK YOU to JD & Alex for a very well-done job! It isn't easy to tag-team as smoothly as they did sharing the duties and making everything run so well. Both guys are knowledgeable and, more importantly, have the ability to convey that information to the student.
I was the guy with the little "pop gun". I brought it partly because of my carpal tunnel syndrome issues. Fed it good Remington ammo and it didn't miss a single beat...or even get dirty. Also, after working on my belly for the past several months, I worked from the appendix position...and I like it! Mostly, I wanted to learn technique anyway and, boy, there was plenty of stuff to absorb! That's why I filled up 3 pages of notes.
We learned how PESTS EAT FAST and talked about avoidance techniques. You know...Distance from Disorder.
Moving to the range we did a bit of sighted shooting and then got into Point Shooting. That made me realize how much practice I need to do but it was great to learn and see how easy it is to get the hits you need with both eyes open.
There were 4 shooting positions that were demonstrated and practiced along with learning the "Zipper". Then came movement. Granted, we weren't moving fast enough in class to be unsafe but it isn't hard to see the benefits. More (fun) practice at home required! BTW, everything was demonstrated, practiced "dry" and then done with live ammo.
There was a segment on malfunctions and how to clear them. Honestly guys, I once took a class from a "big name" place one time before I found Suarez and there were so many different malfs and techniques to solve them that it became very confusing! Simple is better!
We discussed legal issues, too. Personally, I need that kind of instruction and common sense approach to help me clear my thoughts concerning those things. That way I'm not "lawyering up" when I need to be shooting. Very helpful.
This was my 3rd SI class so I was familiar with the After-Action routine but practice is always a plus. There was a good bit of ambidextrous shooting, as well. Alex says there shouldn't be any of this strong-hand, weak-hand stuff. Good point.
We ended the class shooting (right & left handed) from cover at steel. Fun stuff to be sure!
I had a 1.75 hour drive home after class yesterday and I used the time to reflect on those 3 pages of notes. Also came up with a couple of ideas to get in more good Airsoft practice in the backyard.
Some of the other guys will have more comments, I'm sure. Thoroughly enjoyed myself and brought home some new skills.
Thanks JD & Alex. It was nice to meet some new people. Hopefully, our paths will cross again.

[Mike O'Leary]

This was a great class!! JD and Alex are excellent instructors and a valuable asset to SI. I have trained with SI four times before in Pennsylvania, but this was my first class in North Carolina. I recently moved from behind enemy lines in communist Maryland to North Carolina and I am thrilled to be able to continue my training here with JD and Alex. As usual for SI, this class was a wealth of knowledge. Eldora's post sums up the curriculum and what we were taught. We had a very good group of experienced shooters and it was great training with all of you.

I personally had a couple of eye opening learning experiences. I am glad I discovered this at class and not in a real gunfight. I had got into the habit of using the RMR on my G17 as a cocking lever, by sweeping my hand over the top of the slide and pushing back on the RMR. This had always worked for me until we started doing some malfunction drills, particularly double feeds. By sweeping my hand over the top I was actually creating a worse malfunction by my hand blocking the ejection of the bad round. Alex quickly corrected me on this and solved the problem for me. So, now more practice for me with my hand cupped over the top of the slide behind the RMR to eliminate this problem.

I totally enjoyed myself at this class, the people were great, the weather was great and overall a great learning experience!

[Alex Nieuwland]

OK, I'll go first. A well-deserved THANK YOU to JD & Alex for a very well-done job! It isn't easy to tag-team as smoothly as they did sharing the duties and making everything run so well. Both guys are knowledgeable and, more importantly, have the ability to convey that information to the student.

Thanks! The ability to convey information is an important characteristic of good instructors.

I was the guy with the little "pop gun". I brought it partly because of my carpal tunnel syndrome issues. Fed it good Remington ammo and it didn't miss a single beat...or even get dirty.

Was it Remington Golden Bullet?

There was a segment on malfunctions and how to clear them. Honestly guys, I once took a class from a "big name" place one time before I found Suarez and there were so many different malfs and techniques to solve them that it became very confusing! Simple is better!

Exactly. That is why we teach what we teach: You will seldom need it, but when you need it, it should be right there at your fingertips, not in a flowchart at home.

Thanks JD & Alex. It was nice to meet some new people. Hopefully, our paths will cross again.

Me, too. And thanks for posting a review.

[Alex Nieuwland]

This was a great class!! JD and Alex are excellent instructors and a valuable asset to SI.

Thanks! We are glad you enjoyed it.

I have trained with SI four times before in Pennsylvania, but this was my first class in North Carolina. I recently moved from behind enemy lines in communist Maryland to North Carolina and I am thrilled to be able to continue my training here with JD and Alex.

Welcome, again!

I totally enjoyed myself at this class, the people were great, the weather was great and overall a great learning experience!

See you at the next class! Thanks for posting your review.

[JD Lester]

Thanks for the AAR comments gents.

This class was great and I had a blast working with Alex again.

I enjoyed watching the integration of learned skills as we progressed through the course.

I look forward to training with all of you again.

As I mentioned after class Force on Force will allow you the opportunity to get practical application of what we covered this past weekend, in an environment that allows for " re-do's". (A lot of them.)



v/r

JD






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BigT5g]

Thanks to Alex and JD for running a very polished and informative course. Specifically I appreciated Alex's command and ease of delivery of the material, and JD's quietly assured 1on1 style of instruction obviously born out of real world experience. It was my first class with SI. I will likely take further classes from this organization. I am already an experienced shooter and instructor so the first day felt a little slow as it was mostly a refresher of the fundamentals. I acknowledge the necessity of this since the instructors dont know us or our level so to keep things safe they need to make sure everyone is at a certain level before getting to the more involved shooting drills. That being said I did find the lecture on PESTS EAT FAST useful as well as their clearly presented ideas concerning point shooting.
The second day involved more shooting than the first which I and my G21 thoroughly enjoyed. I also found the SI method of after action valuable.
If I had to find anything to quibble with it would be: 1. the course is billed as "not for beginners", but the first day was spent fully on the fundamentals. I would have liked to see more advanced stuff right off the bat. (like i said above i understand why they did it this way, but maybe SI could advertise this as a beginner to medium lvl course?) and 2. I really only had a problem with one SI item of doctrine. magazine retention. you'll never convince me to retain an empty mag during an emergency reload. it is just a fact that doing a competition style slide lock reload is faster than a reload with retention and we all know that speed kills. I truly believe that a tac/retention reload is only appropriate if you have A: time, and B: cover. Time being the most important. I will ofcourse choose to retain all equipment if im not getting shot at...(but even in training i will drop an empty mag on slide lock so i dont develop a bad habit) Alex, JD please correct me if I'm wrong that SI teaches to retain in emergency reload. If i miss understood i appologize, but thats what came across during the course.
Over all I highly recommend training with SI from what I have seen so far. I hope to attend the team tactics course in June schedule allowing.

[BigT5g]

Oh and I forgot to mention that the SI method of malfunction clearing was refreshingly simple and intuitive.

[JD Lester]

BigT5g

Thanks for the comments and it was great training with you and I look forward to seeing you in class again.

Our default is to not have an emergency reload if at all possible by using the proactive reload.

The emergency reload has its place however, no documented civilian, police, or military gunfight shows where it has saved the day. This has been discussed here on WT several times.

It appears that most trainers teach the emergency reload as the default because it is the easiest, at the end of the drill everyone just polices up their mags. That is all good on the square range....not so good if you have had to go extra innings with some major league thugs across a parking lot.

Alex did mention that if speed is a concern let the mag fall free and get the gun up.

I hope this has cleared any miss understandings with mag retention during reloads.

v/r

JD






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Eldora]

"Was it Remington Golden Bullet?" Yes, Alex, it was Golden Bullet. When we began you suggested I clean the little Ruger a couple of times during the day. I didn't and that night in the motel when I stripped it down it wasn't dirty at all. Smith & Wesson sells a branded dry lube that I like. It sprays on wet, then evaporates with no greasy film. A shot of that kept it going throughout the class. I did clean it Monday morning at home but it really wasn't needed.
Since BigT5g mentioned it, I'd like to second his comments and compliment you on your manner of speech and command of the range. Clear enunciation and flawless grammar helps to make the course of study easier to understand. As someone who would rather write than speak, I noticed that quality immediately. Clearly explaining the reasoning behind SI methods helps, too.
On a different note; I had the idea to hang an old shirt on a hanger from a low tree branch in the backyard and use it for Airsoft practice. I also put an old cookie sheet inside the shirt for a little "ping"; kinda like shooting steel. I can move to my heart's content in any angle I want. It's easy to simulate cover and just about anything else one might need to practice. Spent a few minutes out there this evening with the pistol. Works pretty well, thank you!