Like many other classes, there is a mountain of info to process in two days. Randy even stated, and I think we all agreed, that this could easily be a three or even four day class. Nothing was breezed over or skipped, there's just a lot of info here. Of course the purpose of the disarms, FOF, and shooting is not to make you an expert in one day, but to give you a foundation of skills to go practice and enhance.
Class started with the usual intros, waivers, and safety routines. Everyone seemed familiar enough with their weapons, so no worries there.
Due to weather Randy switched our routine and we shot first to try and beat the rain; ironically enough it poured anyway, then cleared up when we broke for lunch and listened to Trey's lecture for the remainder of the day.
Day 1 take-aways:
Good sights are a must for longer distances. I ran a 19 with crappy stock sights. I do have an RMR'ed 19 but it had teething issues and while I brought it, I opted not to use it. In retrospect I probably should have tried it anyway.
Headshots! Randy had us (try to) make headshots out to 25 yds. I suspect we would have stretched it further had everyone been able to keep up; some of us (myself included) couldn't so it would've been sending ammo downrange and hoping for the best. But it did make us all aware of our personal limits, and the need to practice a whole lot more. Due to the nature of the other classes I've had, most of my training is geared towards fast COM hits, but due to armor and/or explosives you may need to shoot them in the eye.
Day two started with some basic strikes and defenses, and moved to knife and then gun disarms. I wish we could have practiced that more, but time was a concern; but once again when you know the basics, it's on you to find somebody to practice with.
We then moved on to more shooting with hostage targets, which just reinforced what we practiced the day before. Also briefly discussed and practiced "anchor shots", and then ran a drill where a shooter would fire 1 round through an AK then reload; the other shooter had to hit a steel plate as many times as possible before the AK shooter could reload and fire another round. This showed that if you pay attention, you've got a pretty good window to hose this guy down.
Another excellent lecture by Trey, then on to FOF. Most scenarios were a classroom setting, and we were assigned various roles unknown to other students. Some we "won", some we lost, but either way we analyzed each one afterwards to see why things unfolded the way they did and what we could've/should've done differently. If you've never done any FOF scenarios, it really shows how things can turn to total chaos in seconds. It also helped to have real cops role-play as themselves to make it much more realistic.
"Diplomas" were then handed out, the weekend was reviewed, and we said our goodbyes to new and old friends.
Day 2 takeaways:
Find somebody to practice sparring with. I don't do this as much as I should. And I know I should.
Active shooter situations turn into a s***storm in a hurry. And sometimes you're just SOL and get shot first.
I haven't even covered Trey's lectures. Very informative and well put together. I will make a separate post in those later.
Thanks to Randy and Trey for instructing, Jeff for hosting, and the officer who stuck around for FOF. It was another great weekend of training and like every other class I've had, I would recommend it.
"Charles, I shan't trust you aboard my ship, unless I carry you a prisoner; for I shall have you plotting with my men, knock me on the head and run away with my ship a-pirating."
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