I ran the class on Saturday and then went home and slept for 13 hours. (I'd only had 3 hours of sleep the night before)
Here's the After Action Report.
The class went well overall, but there were a few rough spots I need to work on for the next class.
We went WAY over the allocated time. The legal portion alone took three hours and the entire class ran 11 1/2 hours total. By the end, we were all getting fatigued, especially me.
I need to improve my preparation and organization for the next class. I decided to use a flip-chart to help cover the main points instead of relying on index card notes. I started working on the flip chart a few days before class and it took much longer to make then I planned and I didn't completefly finish it in time.
I used the flip chart for Lessons I, II (except for what we did on the range), and IV. The legal session, Lesson III, was entirely done by the attorney.
Lessons I and IV are the longest and most difficult of the classroom lessons. I'm glad I had the flip chart for them and they went rather smoothly. When I ran out of flip charts on the last couple of lessons and had to teach straight out of the instructor's manual is when I had some problems. I covered the material, but it wasn't as well organized and took longer to get through then it should.
Once I finish my flip charts for Lessons V and VI, I don't think I'll have any problems teaching the classroom sessions in the allocated time. I'll have to talk to the lawyer about the legal section.
The range portion went well overall, but could have gone a little more smoothly, especially at the very begining. I need to condense down the range drills from the instructor's manual into an easier to read format so I can quickly determine what drill I'm on, what drill is next and have students load mags and prepare accordingly. I'll keep the manual handy, but I need something simplier to work from most of the time.
I had nine students, eight of whom shot. One student injured his back a few days earlier and we'll do the shooting with him later.
Because of range restrictions, I only had two shooters shoot at a time, and for many of the drills I only put one student on the line at a time. I was the only safety officer as well, and this helped me keep control and keep everyone safe.
Everyone performed well and several improved significantly as the drills progressed. I had one experienced shooter tell me he did things he'd never done before and learned things he never understood before. That made me feel good.
There were no major problems or safety incidents on the range. I had a couple people anticipate the "Commence Fire" command, but I corrected them and they didn't do it again.
I had to loan guns to three of my eight shooters and assigning guns and explaining the function and controls to the students took longer then I thought it would. None of the students who used my guns had any problems.
Two students had problems keeping their own semi's running. One had a ASP (custom S&W 39) that wouldn't feed properly and the other had a 9mm Colt 1911A1 that also had feeding problems. Fortunately, they were two of the most experienced shooters and were able to fix the problems without help, keep shooting and finish the strings. They were on the same rely and it was kind of amusing to watch them struggle in turn to keep their guns going. I don't think we had a string where one, if not both, of them had problems.
One shooter had borrowed a 6'' Colt .357 (shooting .38s) from her dad. The gun was too big for her and she struggled the entire time. I offered to loan her a gun, but she declined. We finally had to pull her from the line after enough unburned powder collected to bind the cylinder up TIGHT. She was the one auditing the class though, so that worked out ok as she already has her certificate from another instructor.
Lessens Learned:
Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance: The areas where I had the flip charts and was more organized went smoothly. In the areas where my preperation lacked, things didn't go as well.
Adapt, Improvise and Overcome: I had to change a couple things "on the fly" as the class progressed. In one of the first range drills I mistakenly had the students load the wrong number of rounds in the mags. I figured that out right before the first rely fired, modified the drill slightly and then had the students make up part of the drill on the next drill. They never even knew there was a problem.
Have Somone to Assist: I did the class solo, but arranged for my wife to arrive around lunch time to bring anything I forgot and help at the range. She brought my boots I'd forgotten and stapled targets, etc on the range. It wouldn't have ran as smoothly without her there.
I'm glad it's over, but I can't wait to do it again.
(funny, but that's what I thought the first time I had sex as well)
Rob
(I don't even like to do HFS alone...)
