Ever since I was a child I was absolutely in love with weapons. Growing up I was fortunate enough to have parents that let me have guns and teach me how to shoot them safely. The passion never went away. In the early 2000s I started taking my first steps into becoming a responsible armed citizen. My first taste of structured firearms training came the way of Gunsite and Valhalla. I started to carry off duty and every time I had the chance I went to the range. My range time wasn’t as structured as it should have been, it was more fun based and spent blowing off the ammo I just bought.
Around 2007 the Army gave me the opportunity to be on a Special Reactions Team (SRT) and sent us to Blackwater and SRT School. I was instantly hit with the fact that the Army doesn’t always teach its Soldiers to shoot/fight with a gun, rather teaches us to qualify. I could not get enough of the knowledge these instructors were giving us. Not just in CQB but how to actually fight with a firearms. I took everything I learned with weapons manipulations and brought it back to the line to teach during PMI. My off duty range time started to change a little bit and become more focused.
After some overseas and deployment time the Army gave me the opportunity to become an instructor. Not only was I teaching young Soldiers the ins and outs of my job but I was also able to use all my firearms experience and run the marksmanship program. After about a year of nonstop work I was able to attend the Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor Course taught by the Army’s SRT instructors. It was an eye opening six straight days of nothing but shooting and instruction. Right off the bat we shot a qualification none of us had ever seen before with timed strings of fire all from the holster. The next few days were filled with drills, friendly competition, case studies, and more amazing instruction. By the end of the week I watched my times decrease, groups shrink tremendously and qualified expert. By far one of the best Army schools there is. This experience taught me I had to train more and train right.
While at LEFIT I met Jim Shanahan, who instructed and co-authored the course. Jim retired after 21 years in the Army, contracted, taught Hostage Rescue for the past 6, is a USPSA Grandmaster, and has owned Advance Performance Shooting since 98. After the course I started training with Jim at APS. APS’ training is more in depth and structured than anything I have encountered before but at the same time it’s much more laid back. I started to get the “Why” factor out of everything I was learning. I train weekly with Jim and when I can I take a one or two day course taught by APS. My EDC and my equipment started to change too. APS has its own holster/kydex line of product that was born from a vast knowledge and a lifetime of experience carrying firearms, both stateside and overseas.
APS’ latest adventure is in CCW training, which I help instruct. I currently hold permits in 3 different states and I have yet to see a CCW class this dedicated to actual firearms carry. While state mandated standards are ok, I’ve seen a lot of people with little or no actual firearms training attain a CCW. APS’ CCW course nails all the state standards and covers all the realities of concealed carry.
”If you’ve never stood in front of an Attack Target or had an attacker coming at you from 21’ away, you will never know the value of 1.5secs.”
The latest chapter in my training came the way of a Protective Services Course. I felt a little pressure to do well at this course, due to my past training and some of the instructors knew of me. We would be shooting dot drills, bill drills, 1-5drills(the fastest with all hits won a little award), transitions from rifle to pistol, and a required qualification. During the qual I told myself that my goal was to have all my rounds in the inner box of the Omaha Q target. I shot 40/40 only throwing a hand full out of center box while I was at the 25m meter line shooting DAO with the M9 Beretta. A few years ago I would have settled for a shotgun like group and 38/40.
I believe the point I’m trying to make is: get out and train! Spend a little money on the some quality instruction. Vet your instructors and their programs, the latest zip-bang muti syllable phase may not be what you need. Balance in your training is very crucial, we don’t like to practice the things we are not good at. Last but not least shoot some competition if you can. Competition is a great way to measure your training and depending on your club or type of match it can be training in its own way.
Shooter Ready?
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Originally Posted by glockmpw
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