Chuck R.
Member
Took a 3 day carbine class MON-WED of this week down in Coffeyville, KS with Jason Long who's a SWAT Sargent on the Memphis, TN SWAT (16years) one of the few (only a couple) full time SWAT teams in the US.
BLUF: I learned a lot, and I would train with him again given the opportunity.
Background: This was my 10th or 11th training class I've attended (5th carbine) in addition to 23 years Army and a LEO academy (brief stint as reserve officer, went Army instead upon graduation from college).
Instructor: Extremely knowledgeable, no chit one of the best shots as an instructor I've ever seen. Literally demonstrated every drill, test etc. at under par time. Stresses it's "A Way", but can tie every drill, method, TTP back to his team's training and based off a real world situations and give a "why" he does it this way. Very, very, dynamic individual and very funny! Also gives credit where credit is due on origin of drills, methods etc.
Students: 16 in attendance, 12 were LEOs, 2 military (O5 & O4 Infantry types) and 2 retired military. I still work for the army and the other retired was SF is a long time shooter and instructor. Normally these classes are restricted to LEOs and active military. We were invited down after shooting a Dave Spaulding class with the same LEOs that sponsored this class. Interesting differences on how military solves a "problem" VS LE.
Training/Instruction: Not a basic class.........students were expected to show up fairly competent with both weapons.
Heavy emphasis on precision, both handgun and carbine, tiny targets. Has a unique way of diagnosing accuracy issues which was very effective. One of the guys I was with brought his training aid (Cardboard silhouette with steps written on it) back with us (yes, it was that good). The 1st day was primarily handgun, which was unexpected, but everything transferred over to carbine and helped with transitions.
Had a couple really, really good cadence drills to work split times and get a realistic assessment of exactly how fast you can shoot and maintain accuracy. Similar concept with using enough sight based on target size, distance and time allotted. We worked this hard both pistol and carbine.
Quite a bit of time spent working offsets at different distances, again ties back to precision. Long has a very well thought out step progression to his class, a crawl, walk, run methodology that took use from trigger control & sight alignment to 2 man leapfrog position shoots using VTAC barricades, blue barrels, picnic tables etc. This was tiring, challenging and a lot of fun.
He's also very, very, big on cognitive skills. Last instructor I worked with that stressed it this much was Rob Pincus. The class wasn't just shooting, it was shooting the right tgts, in the right order, from the right position, processing information and making assessments. One of these drills involved 16 different TGTs: shapes, people photos, colors, numbers etc. spread out across a 35-40yd front. Shot from the 3-7 yard line, a coach would call out the TGT and the shooter would move rapidly far enough right/left to engage. This went on for 45 seconds, at the end, most of us were smoked....
"On Demand" skill tests, nothing like a 50 yard sprint 1st thing and engaging a 2" tgt with handgun and carbine to remind you what you need to work on.
Lessons learned:
Physical conditioning! I'm in pretty decent shape VS age, but need to get better if I'll continue doing this!! The last day was the most physically demanding due to the nature of the drills, movement and position shooting. A VTAC barricade can be used as an effective torture device!
Weather and snivel gear: Be prepared, spend time shooting outdoors in some nasty chit. Shoot with gloves on!! This was an early MAR class, only an idiot signs up for an outdoor class early MAR in KS. We had below freezing temps with wind gusting to 50 mph on 2 of the days. It sucked, wore every piece of clothing that I could get on and still maintain the ability to move/shoot. Almost looked like that kid in Christmas Story....all of this makes weapon manipulation, accuracy, getting in and out of positions more challenging.
Gear: I used my home built "Gamer AR": Lightweight 16" Larue Tactical barrel, Leupold VX6 1-6X optic, Geisele SSA-E trigger, low-mass BCG & buffer. Worked great. After this I'm sold on the low power variable, I found it just as fast as an RDS, and when zoomed really helped with some of the thread the needle shots at distance. I would start the 50 at 6X, zoom down to 1X while moving FWD. Also the range holdovers can be used for offsets, my lower duplex junction is the aimpoint for 7yds, and the 350y index is spot on for 7y. So it's no longer hold on top of forehead for a head shot, it's now a question of which eye do I want to hit. Handgun, used my HK P30L with LEM trigger. No issues and we had some 35 yd pistol shots to start one of the drills.
For this class I wore a belt rig VS my normal chest rig primarily because I knew it was going to be cold and access to the pistol would be problematic. Get a belt that allows for expansion so you can still breathe with all the cold weather chit on.
In summary; Great class, great instructor and a really, really good bunch of guys. Large THANKS to the Coffeyville PD guys for having us down. I would train with Jason Long again, and that's about the best compliment I can give. IF you got any additional questions, feel free to PM me.
BLUF: I learned a lot, and I would train with him again given the opportunity.
Background: This was my 10th or 11th training class I've attended (5th carbine) in addition to 23 years Army and a LEO academy (brief stint as reserve officer, went Army instead upon graduation from college).
Instructor: Extremely knowledgeable, no chit one of the best shots as an instructor I've ever seen. Literally demonstrated every drill, test etc. at under par time. Stresses it's "A Way", but can tie every drill, method, TTP back to his team's training and based off a real world situations and give a "why" he does it this way. Very, very, dynamic individual and very funny! Also gives credit where credit is due on origin of drills, methods etc.
Students: 16 in attendance, 12 were LEOs, 2 military (O5 & O4 Infantry types) and 2 retired military. I still work for the army and the other retired was SF is a long time shooter and instructor. Normally these classes are restricted to LEOs and active military. We were invited down after shooting a Dave Spaulding class with the same LEOs that sponsored this class. Interesting differences on how military solves a "problem" VS LE.
Training/Instruction: Not a basic class.........students were expected to show up fairly competent with both weapons.
Heavy emphasis on precision, both handgun and carbine, tiny targets. Has a unique way of diagnosing accuracy issues which was very effective. One of the guys I was with brought his training aid (Cardboard silhouette with steps written on it) back with us (yes, it was that good). The 1st day was primarily handgun, which was unexpected, but everything transferred over to carbine and helped with transitions.
Had a couple really, really good cadence drills to work split times and get a realistic assessment of exactly how fast you can shoot and maintain accuracy. Similar concept with using enough sight based on target size, distance and time allotted. We worked this hard both pistol and carbine.
Quite a bit of time spent working offsets at different distances, again ties back to precision. Long has a very well thought out step progression to his class, a crawl, walk, run methodology that took use from trigger control & sight alignment to 2 man leapfrog position shoots using VTAC barricades, blue barrels, picnic tables etc. This was tiring, challenging and a lot of fun.
He's also very, very, big on cognitive skills. Last instructor I worked with that stressed it this much was Rob Pincus. The class wasn't just shooting, it was shooting the right tgts, in the right order, from the right position, processing information and making assessments. One of these drills involved 16 different TGTs: shapes, people photos, colors, numbers etc. spread out across a 35-40yd front. Shot from the 3-7 yard line, a coach would call out the TGT and the shooter would move rapidly far enough right/left to engage. This went on for 45 seconds, at the end, most of us were smoked....
"On Demand" skill tests, nothing like a 50 yard sprint 1st thing and engaging a 2" tgt with handgun and carbine to remind you what you need to work on.
Lessons learned:
Physical conditioning! I'm in pretty decent shape VS age, but need to get better if I'll continue doing this!! The last day was the most physically demanding due to the nature of the drills, movement and position shooting. A VTAC barricade can be used as an effective torture device!
Weather and snivel gear: Be prepared, spend time shooting outdoors in some nasty chit. Shoot with gloves on!! This was an early MAR class, only an idiot signs up for an outdoor class early MAR in KS. We had below freezing temps with wind gusting to 50 mph on 2 of the days. It sucked, wore every piece of clothing that I could get on and still maintain the ability to move/shoot. Almost looked like that kid in Christmas Story....all of this makes weapon manipulation, accuracy, getting in and out of positions more challenging.
Gear: I used my home built "Gamer AR": Lightweight 16" Larue Tactical barrel, Leupold VX6 1-6X optic, Geisele SSA-E trigger, low-mass BCG & buffer. Worked great. After this I'm sold on the low power variable, I found it just as fast as an RDS, and when zoomed really helped with some of the thread the needle shots at distance. I would start the 50 at 6X, zoom down to 1X while moving FWD. Also the range holdovers can be used for offsets, my lower duplex junction is the aimpoint for 7yds, and the 350y index is spot on for 7y. So it's no longer hold on top of forehead for a head shot, it's now a question of which eye do I want to hit. Handgun, used my HK P30L with LEM trigger. No issues and we had some 35 yd pistol shots to start one of the drills.
For this class I wore a belt rig VS my normal chest rig primarily because I knew it was going to be cold and access to the pistol would be problematic. Get a belt that allows for expansion so you can still breathe with all the cold weather chit on.
In summary; Great class, great instructor and a really, really good bunch of guys. Large THANKS to the Coffeyville PD guys for having us down. I would train with Jason Long again, and that's about the best compliment I can give. IF you got any additional questions, feel free to PM me.
