AAR: HRO-5 Terrorist / Active Shooter Interdiction March 19-20 Birmingham AL

[RobertM]

I took the HRO-5: Terrorist / Active Shooter Interdiction this past weekend (March 19-20) in Calera (Birmingham) AL. Randy Harris did an outstanding job of presenting the material in a clear and easy to understand manner. I’ve taken several classes taught by Randy and have always learned more than I had expected. In this class I was overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I thought I knew but didn’t really know. From the extremely aggressive CQB (knife, pistol, rifle) techniques, to the pistol sniping, to “how many shots can I get on fool with AK while he’s reloading”, to Force on Force scenarios, all uncovered areas that I need to improve.

Trey Hudson did an understand job of presenting the history of terrorism, defining terrorist, who they are, how they think, how they operate, and measures a person can take for personal security. It was totally eye opening and I’ll never look at the world or media the same. Trey did a great job of giving the class a solid knowledge foundation to build on, and I’ve got a lot of research and study to fill in the gaps I have. Hopefully I get the opportunity to learn from Trey again.

In summary, this class far exceeded my expectation by a long shot and that was just halfway through the first day. Outstanding instructors and outstanding students made it an honor for me to be in their company. I highly recommend this class and would consider taking it again because I’m sure I would learn something new and beneficial.

[vlazlow]

Trey here, thanks for the kind words.

I love teaching the materiel to folks that have a thirst for learning and an open mind for reception. Hopefully you are looking at the media reports of the Brussels attack with a new understanding of the terrorist/terror paradigm.

[RobertM]

Indeed I am. But it is troublesome to articulate my new understanding to folks. They look at me as if I'm explaining a calculus problem in Swahili.

[Brightlightman]

I also attended and echo Robert's positive report. The head knowledge was a good balance for the physical.

[vlazlow]

Gentlemen for your own edification here is a link to the latest copy of the ISIS magazine DABIQ. We discussed this rag a bit in class, keep in mind it is pure propaganda. Nevertheless, it is worth reviewing due to the high quality and degree of polish of the publication. The battle for the hearts and minds of the self radicalized jihadist is alive and well in cyberspace. PS the website for the clarion project is a great source of info on the jihadist threat

http://www.clarionproject.org/factsh...he-rafidah.pdf

[Randy Harris]

Another great class with a great group of students. Trey did an excellent job (as usual) with expanding the way we think about "terrorism" and the new ISIS specific lecture was very informative. Between the lectures, the aggressive directed proactive shooting, the "pistol sniping", the disarms, knife work, empty hand work, and FOF this class really covers a lot of bases. I really appreciate everyone coming out and working hard and hope to see everyone again in class sometime.