From One Of Randy Harris' Students

[Gabriel Suarez]

Subject: DPS florala

Comments: I wanted to tell you that i appreciated the training, The DPS in Florala. I appreciated Randy and the fact he wasnt a range nazi and we had a real safe range.

I wish i had this training when I was in the army and as police officer. I recieved very rudimental training as a infantry nco, and just the bare minimum as a police officer.

I am county commissioner in small rural county and I have been trying to breach the subject with our Sheriff. We have our own range, its just getting the bureuacrats to move and believe. What is necessary to do so ? Schedule a class and how much lead time. We have 18 road deputies plus me ,as I would like to do it again.
Thanks again. I enjoyed it and I have some new tools to work on and with.

Thank you.

[Randy Harris]

I'm hoping someone from the Crestview/Florala class will pop in and put up a review.....;)

[Anthony]

Great to read but hardly surprising from WT/Suarez International.

Good effort Randy.

Regards,
Anthony.

[Bruce Piffel]

Good job Randy...:)

[Amperage]

First, just for context sake let me tell a little bit of my background and then I’ll get into the review. I’m a 24 year old college student who grew up in the Florida panhandle and who has been around guns and all things outdoors pretty much my entire life. For years my dad, my brother, and I have been going to shooting ranges where my dad has instilled basic rifle/gun handling, safety, and marksmanship skills, which he learned from his time in the military, in us. As my brother and I got older, our interest in field continued to grow as we discovered such sites WarriorTalk, where I was presented with an entirely different perspective (and mindset really) on pretty much every notion of a tactical scenario that I could think of, in a good way. We 3 had often talked about taking some tactical classes as we all understood that while the range was all fine and well, it has many limitations in terms of real world applications.

One day during my lurking around the WT forums, I noticed an advertisement for a class in Crestview. Amazed that there was a class so close to home, I felt compelled not to let the opportunity pass me by and I signed up. As the time approached, I began to get both excited and somewhat apprehensive in terms of not really knowing what to expect. For me at least, with this being my first formal training class, I was having visions of a bunch ghillie suit wearing ninjas who were going to immediately stare me down and size me up for signs of weakness which might be exploited if need be :D, but I just reminded myself that I was there to learn and it didn’t really matter where everyone else was, I just wanted to try and pick up any and everything I could during my time. This was not to be the case. Everyone was extremely friendly respectful and just there to have a good time and learn which really helped to put my mind at ease.

On the first day I met up with several other members of the class at Cracker Barrel where we exchanged pleasantries and just hung out until Randy and the host Randy arrived to lead us to the range.

As to not go into too much detail in terms of specifics because I really don't know the rule on that I'm just going to talk about a couple of things from each day that I really enjoyed:

Some of the things that made the biggest impression on me during Day 1 was the fact that we spent a good portion of time discussing pre-fight signs and methods which, if applied correctly, would probably prevent 95% of altercations before they even occur and the ones that do occur you will find yourself in a much better position and most likely ahead of your aggressor’s OODA loop thereby putting you in the dominate position.

Another thing covered during Day 1 which I found particularly useful was how we worked on a proper draw stroke. We worked on transitioning from the various positions for quite some time until we all felt very comfortable with the movements. The intricate detail that went into the discussion on griping the pistol and aiming all the way to methods of reloading were all excellent and are things that I’ve been practicing pretty much daily since the class. Another thing of note is the fact that we worked at a pace that kept things moving but never went too fast to keep up and questions were always discussed and answered.

During Day 2 we did a few drills which really made it clear to me that being able to take your time and get a perfect sight picture and squeeze off a smooth slow round is great when you’re shooting paper targets, but we soon realized that the compromise (from close distances) on ones sight picture in order to gain speed was far more important. At the same time we were told that being fast is one thing but shots on targets (and more specifically in key locations) was still the important thing so we were only to go as fast as we could while still guaranteeing solid hits.

I really don’t have a negative thing to say about the entire experience. I feel like in 2 days I was given the tools that I needed to have a solid foundation to grow on that I will be using from now on. Randy was a great guy who did an excellent job of getting his message across and was very helpful and insightful and answered any and all questions asked of him. I would and will defiantly be taking more classes with SI and Randy when the opportunity presents itself.

My only question is when are ya’ll coming back to Florida?

[stanmann]

01/30-02/01 Defensive Pistol Skills--Crestview/Florala

Instructor: Randy Harris
Location: The Cow pasture(by the hay bales)
Weather: Cold and windy, but dry

First things first, the big lessons learned

1. Shooting is easy(most of us managed hits at 50 yards, and all of us at 25, and consistently managed hits at social distances)

2. Gunfighting is fighting(more on this later)


Some of my background, I'm career Airforce Enlisted(comm weenie) 12 years now. Been actively shooting and training for about a year now, and discovered WT while getting my CWP for Texas at a small range in Bradshaw just outside of Abilene. The instructor mentioned WT and Gabe and recommended I look into additional training opportunities, don't ask how I got from Tejas to Florida to South Carolina and then back to Crestview :).


Saturday morning we assembled at the range by way of Crackerbarrel Crestview. 14 all told, including 2 married couples. We started off with quite a bit on the fighting part. Situational awareness, conflict avoidance, conflict resolution, and some basic hands free tactics to get some distance, or positional advantage in order to protect the draw.

After several hours of pre and post fight preparation we got into the fight time, starting with Grip and press(remember shooting is easy). IIRC tickling a baby was the gesture we practiced.

Finally we grabbed our pistols and ensured they were unloaded

Ah but first the safety brief,

1. ALL guns are always loaded.
2. ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger
3. Until you are sure of your target and what is behind it
4. Never point your weapon at anything you are not prepared to destroy or kill



mostly Glocks, but there was also an XD and a pair of DA/SA Autos. We started slowly, working on grip, draw and press, with unloaded pistols and magwells empty.

Once Randy was confident of our grip draw and press we split in half and alternated doing 1 and 2 shot drills paying careful attention to grip and press with Randy making sure to correct and identify issues bringing our shots off target.

Quick break for lunch and we picked up with more drills. still only working on the round targets(we did battle with a bay city roller gone bad on day 2). Did some after action troubleshooting, review, homework and questions as the sun set.

Homework, dry work. dime on the FS for 10-15 minutes and some baby tickling practice.

Sunday morning we picked up where we left off, we did some multi shot drills, including some head work.

We moved on to a plate and some distance work, starting at 7 yards and working out to 50 and then back in. Over half the shooters managed 1st round hits at 25, and everyone hit at 25 on the way out. Nearly everyone managed to hit at 50 yards, and Everyone scored first round at 25, emphasizing that if we pay attention to technique and use appropriate speed, that once again, shooting is easy.

Then we took a shooting break for some discussion of movement, including a review of some of the "fight" physics that we had covered the first day. This being a basic class, Randy made it clear that we would not be doing any moving while shooting or vice versa. There was more Q&A time,more review, and a break for lunch.

After lunch we did some line dancing with guns. Working to get quicker with the grip, draw and press, but not at the cost of accuracy.

We finished up looking briefly at multiple attacker scenarios including one where we simulated killing my wife(hopefully she'll post with some details), using a shooting and a nonshooting exercise.

The day ended with critique, more Q&A and a quick query as to what classes we wanted Randy to bring next time he comes down..

[Cartouche]

I apologize Mr. Randy Harris for the delay in my review of your DPS class in Crestview/Florala. FWIW, Gabe has a great asset in you as a instructor and representative of SI. My wife and I really enjoyed dinner with you and your lovely bride. I hope she is feeling better. I am also glad yall made it home ok.
This is my third class with SI, and my first with Randy Harris. However I had the pleasure of meeting him at a previous class. When I first approached Randy on doing a class down here in NWF, I was a bit worried about getting enough students in such a short amout of time. Well we had 14 attend, and that speaks volumes about the quality of training SI offers, and the caliber of the instructors. To be able to put a class together in such a short time period says it all.
The students who attended were all fine folks, and I am proud to have met all of you. The information Randy brought was very informative and can be used in everyday life. I also belive that with the instructions he taught could save someones life or family member someday. We had women, retired LEO, military, college student, and school teachers, and buisness men. Ages from 24 to, forgive me I will aim to high, to 60yrs old. It was a wide spectrum of students.
I am not going to get into step by step account of the class, but I will say this. The discription of the class on the website states that this teaches the BASICS of defensive pistol skills. I will be the first to say, yes it does teach the basics... on steroids. Yes you can go buy a handgun and show up never have taken any training and learn more in two days than you would in 6 months or longer by going to the range and bumbling your way thru learning how to shoot, draw, grip the gun and pull the trigger, The Wrong Way in most cases. Or having your Uncle Ned teach you how they did it back in 1959, standing erect in the perfect Weaver stance squeezing off a slow fire at 7 yards. I had one gentleman ask me before the class, is this just going to be like what we learned in my CCW class. I told him this takes that info, and carries you to the next two levels and then some. I think he would agree 110%.
For those of you who have not taken this class, because it states it goes over the basics and is below your level of what you think you know, I would say to most of you, take it. You WILL learn something. When I hear retired LEO, military, say they wish they had this caliber of instruction when they were being trained, that speaks volumes. Or when city officals try and get this type of training for their Police depts, well you tell me how basic this class is. On the other hand there were ladies who are just learning the finer points or actually the basics of handgun training, to give them the confidence they need for everyday CCW and protection, and feel confident, that if they are in fear for their life or have to defend themselves or family, well after this class and I saw this with my own eyes, that if I were a bad guy I would not mess with these two ladies. At the beginning of the class, if you had ask either one that they would be able to draw, in a quick manner align sights and shoot an 8x11 steel plate from 50yrds, and hit it, my guess would be no. Or 25 yrds for that matter, and hit it with regularity. I personaly, improved my draw, trigger control, and grip by 100%. I told Randy some of my problems I was having in my own shooting, and by the end of the first day I had corrected a problem I had for awhile. It boils down to just doing it the right way. Or someone to point out how to do it a better way.
I closing, Randy Harris is a fine teacher/instructor. Many students want him back for more. Actually it was unamious. They want CRG, AK, FOF, and anything else he can come down and teach. I belive given a little more time to post a class, the turn out will be two fold. Not only from the folks who attended, but also the friends and people they tell about the class. I know I will be there. The range we used is available for anything Randy or any other SI instructor wants to bring to our area. My hats off to you Randy, you did a great job, and I can't wait to have you back, and I know I don't speak for myself. Thanks Randy.
Oh and Randy, if there is anything that needs to be done as far as improvements to the range/facility let me know. Ladies I know what I need to do for yall.:o IE curtain.

[stanmann]

Ladies I know what I need to do for yall.:o IE curtain.

ON behalf of the ladies, Thanks Randy(host) and Thanks Randy(instructor) for everything.

[johnnyreb]

Dear Randy,

I am very happy with the comments. Well earned Sir. ( Speaking from experience of course;) ) These folks don't know yet how far ahead of the criminal element they are. However, If they dedicate themselves to study, especially at S.I.... They will. In time, with discipline and dedication, they will be all they are capable of;

And we will call them fellow warriors & brothers !

Sincerely, Your student, JohnnyReb

[Randy Harris]

Thank you for all the kind words. I would have responded sooner, but I have been a little out of the loop for the last 3 days,trudging through the woods of northern Alabamastan (:D) in the Small Unit Tactics class.

I really enjoyed teaching the DPS class and meeting everyone in Crestview. I am looking forward to getting another class together down there and am looking for dates in May. I'm thinking maybe a 2 day CRG class with an add on shotgun class on Friday, but not 100% sure yet.

Again, thank you for the kind words and I look forward to working with you again! Stay safe!