This is a clarification of this thread:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=796224
All of us train. Even if we don't acknowledge it, we are training every time we go to the range, even to plink. How do we efficiently manage our individual training programs?
Many of us enjoy taking classes. And classes are good, but they are not a complete training program. If you've taken retired Delta/SEAL/Recon Hardrock's Gunskool I-VII and passed all levels, do you now possess a PHD in gun fighting and are you ready to walk the meanest streets in America or lead a hostage rescue in Mosul?
With all due respect to retired Delta/SEAL/Recon Hardrock, no you aren't. Retired Delta/SEAL/Recon Hardrock didn't get his skills in a couple 3-5 day shooting classes a year. He got his skills in a formal training program that was designed to provide him with the basic skills he needed to do his job, and continually evaluate his proficiency in those skills, identifying and retraining on those skills as necessary.
Before retired Delta/SEAL/Recon Hardrock ever enlisted, someone sat down at a PC, or before that a typewriter and asked; "What do the people in Delta/SEAL/Recon units have to know so that they can perform their mission?" And that person or persons looked at past missions that were similar to those missions he expected the Delta/SEAL/Recon unit to perform and made a list of all the little tasks they did to accomplish those missions.
Those tasks were divided into individual tasks (done by the individual member of the unit unassisted) and collective tasks (done by two or more members of the unit in concert). Those lists were incorporated into a document (called different names in different services) that is a training plan for the unit and the individuals in it. This document isn't a "how to" manual that specifically says how to do the tasks. It is a tool on how to plan, conduct and most importantly, evaluate the training.
A document like this allows the leadership to know the training status of the individuals in the unit and the training status of the unit at any time. But most importantly, that knowledge allows them to allocate time and resources into training on the weaknesses, not the strengths.
When planning training, you look at the evaluations of the last training session, start with the tasks you didn't meet the standard on, then select additional tasks if you have enough time in the training session.
WHY IS ANY OF THIS APPLICABLE TO US?
Private citizens are responsible for their own training. The state may mandate some minimum standard of training in order to get a concealed carry permit, but after that, we're on our own. Few of us have any experience planning a training program. There are hundreds, maybe thousands magazine articles, books, web pages, forums, email lists and videos on how to perform the skills we want to learn, there are fixed location schools and itinerant trainers, but to my knowledge there is nothing that gives us any idea on how to put all of these different resources together to create a training program that meets our unique personal needs.
I started the other thread in the hope of getting some input into what tasks we all thought were important to learn. I''m hoping to do better in this thread.
TRAINING METHODOLOGY
Training is a continual process. When you walk out of retired Delta/SEAL/Recon's Gunskool VII course with your diploma in hand, chest out and confident that you are up to meeting any threat on the street from the overaggressive panhandler to an ISIS terrorist team, you need to be aware that without practice, your skills will start to deteriorate in a little over a week. The skills we use are perishable. We have to train, evaluate our performance and then retrain in order to maintain our proficiency.
We need to train to a standard. It has to be something that we can measure. Some of the training materials we have available to us will give us a standard to train to, say a 2.5 second hammer to a single target, but in most cases we are on our own. We also have to take a hard look at just what a 2.5 second hammer to a single target means. What does it measure? And how does it fit in with our goal of being trained to defend ourselves and our loved ones in the worst situations?
If a 2.5 second hammer to a single target fits our needs and the ability to perform that drill allows us to practice relevant skills, how do train on it effectively and evaluate it? What if instead of just using a shot timer and a couple targets, we had checklist of all the little steps we had to do to perform the task? One that looked like this:
A Training and Evaluation Guide as illustrated above breaks the task down into each individual step one needs to perform to properly train on it and to evaluate how well we are doing with our training. Now instead of "Dang it! I just can't get hits fast enough", we can look at it step by step and and train at the speed that is appropriate for learning.
We can use this Training and Evaluation Guide when someone else is evaluating us, or we can video our practice and do our own evaluation. But what's important is that we evaluate and then retrain on our weaknesses.
You will notice that the Training and Evaluation Guide also includes steps for performing the task in reduced light. Each Training and Evaluation Guide we develop should include the different conditions under which we can reasonably be expected to perform the task. Each guide lists the Task, conditions and standards for the skill.
You can take the Training and Evaluation Guides for several different tasks and combine them to create a plan for a training session. You can also develop them for use in Force on Force training.
Think about it, one document that we can use to plan, conduct and evaluate our training sessions with. Time is a valuable resource and by having a plan we don't waste it by training on our strengths instead of our weaknesses.
Long range shooters have been keeping records of their practice for decades. Maybe it's time the defensive shooting community looked into doing the same.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=796224
All of us train. Even if we don't acknowledge it, we are training every time we go to the range, even to plink. How do we efficiently manage our individual training programs?
Many of us enjoy taking classes. And classes are good, but they are not a complete training program. If you've taken retired Delta/SEAL/Recon Hardrock's Gunskool I-VII and passed all levels, do you now possess a PHD in gun fighting and are you ready to walk the meanest streets in America or lead a hostage rescue in Mosul?
With all due respect to retired Delta/SEAL/Recon Hardrock, no you aren't. Retired Delta/SEAL/Recon Hardrock didn't get his skills in a couple 3-5 day shooting classes a year. He got his skills in a formal training program that was designed to provide him with the basic skills he needed to do his job, and continually evaluate his proficiency in those skills, identifying and retraining on those skills as necessary.
Before retired Delta/SEAL/Recon Hardrock ever enlisted, someone sat down at a PC, or before that a typewriter and asked; "What do the people in Delta/SEAL/Recon units have to know so that they can perform their mission?" And that person or persons looked at past missions that were similar to those missions he expected the Delta/SEAL/Recon unit to perform and made a list of all the little tasks they did to accomplish those missions.
Those tasks were divided into individual tasks (done by the individual member of the unit unassisted) and collective tasks (done by two or more members of the unit in concert). Those lists were incorporated into a document (called different names in different services) that is a training plan for the unit and the individuals in it. This document isn't a "how to" manual that specifically says how to do the tasks. It is a tool on how to plan, conduct and most importantly, evaluate the training.
A document like this allows the leadership to know the training status of the individuals in the unit and the training status of the unit at any time. But most importantly, that knowledge allows them to allocate time and resources into training on the weaknesses, not the strengths.
When planning training, you look at the evaluations of the last training session, start with the tasks you didn't meet the standard on, then select additional tasks if you have enough time in the training session.
WHY IS ANY OF THIS APPLICABLE TO US?
Private citizens are responsible for their own training. The state may mandate some minimum standard of training in order to get a concealed carry permit, but after that, we're on our own. Few of us have any experience planning a training program. There are hundreds, maybe thousands magazine articles, books, web pages, forums, email lists and videos on how to perform the skills we want to learn, there are fixed location schools and itinerant trainers, but to my knowledge there is nothing that gives us any idea on how to put all of these different resources together to create a training program that meets our unique personal needs.
I started the other thread in the hope of getting some input into what tasks we all thought were important to learn. I''m hoping to do better in this thread.
TRAINING METHODOLOGY
Training is a continual process. When you walk out of retired Delta/SEAL/Recon's Gunskool VII course with your diploma in hand, chest out and confident that you are up to meeting any threat on the street from the overaggressive panhandler to an ISIS terrorist team, you need to be aware that without practice, your skills will start to deteriorate in a little over a week. The skills we use are perishable. We have to train, evaluate our performance and then retrain in order to maintain our proficiency.
We need to train to a standard. It has to be something that we can measure. Some of the training materials we have available to us will give us a standard to train to, say a 2.5 second hammer to a single target, but in most cases we are on our own. We also have to take a hard look at just what a 2.5 second hammer to a single target means. What does it measure? And how does it fit in with our goal of being trained to defend ourselves and our loved ones in the worst situations?
If a 2.5 second hammer to a single target fits our needs and the ability to perform that drill allows us to practice relevant skills, how do train on it effectively and evaluate it? What if instead of just using a shot timer and a couple targets, we had checklist of all the little steps we had to do to perform the task? One that looked like this:
A Training and Evaluation Guide as illustrated above breaks the task down into each individual step one needs to perform to properly train on it and to evaluate how well we are doing with our training. Now instead of "Dang it! I just can't get hits fast enough", we can look at it step by step and and train at the speed that is appropriate for learning.
We can use this Training and Evaluation Guide when someone else is evaluating us, or we can video our practice and do our own evaluation. But what's important is that we evaluate and then retrain on our weaknesses.
You will notice that the Training and Evaluation Guide also includes steps for performing the task in reduced light. Each Training and Evaluation Guide we develop should include the different conditions under which we can reasonably be expected to perform the task. Each guide lists the Task, conditions and standards for the skill.
You can take the Training and Evaluation Guides for several different tasks and combine them to create a plan for a training session. You can also develop them for use in Force on Force training.
Think about it, one document that we can use to plan, conduct and evaluate our training sessions with. Time is a valuable resource and by having a plan we don't waste it by training on our strengths instead of our weaknesses.
Long range shooters have been keeping records of their practice for decades. Maybe it's time the defensive shooting community looked into doing the same.
