We were also asked to post this AAR for the members of M4C as Scott does not have his login at this time. Thanks to Scott W for a great write up on the course.

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AAR: Redback One – 3 Day Home Defense and Personal Protection

Course dates. 4-6 Oct

Summary
Redback One conducted an advanced-level, 37-hour period of instruction, focusing upon defensive techniques relevant to the identification, interdiction and mitigation of threats associated with home-invasion/home-defense and personal-security scenarios. Training on both topics comprised of theoretical instruction for single and tandem operators, implemented via critiqued dry-training/rehearsal drills, culminating in assessed live-fire and force-on-force drills utilizing simunitions. Instruction was also presented on the criminal behavioral mindset and criminal methods of operation, specifically for sexual assault and home invasion. Furthermore, lectures where presented on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC)/pre-hospital casualty care, implementation of dedicated and improvised tourniquets, and finally Warrior Mindset/Aptitude. Throughout the course of instruction, the RB1 Cadre Staff displayed professionalism and competency with respect to their knowledge base and skillset proficiency; coupled with a determined and focused instructional technique to not only maximize knowledge transfer across the duration of the course, but more importantly to ensure students understood the basic fundamentals and principals underpinning the techniques – to help student apply the techniques across different training scenarios. This course of instruction exposed the students to a training facility (the ballistic house), training techniques (force-on-force utilizing simunitions) and finally training aides (rifle suppressors & level IV body armor), which aren’t frequently accessible to non-military/LE personnel. The incorporation of these features maximized training realism, as well as elevated the training tempo, allowing the student to more accurately assess how they perform under physical and mental duress. All training was conducted under a safety-first mandate, which is imperative considering the complex and dynamic nature of the defensive drills, within close confines. Overall, the RB1 Home Defense and Personal Protection Training Course provided students with significant insight and knowledge into the fundamentals & techniques necessary to mitigate and prevail against threats within home-defense and personal-security scenarios, which are becoming more and more common-place in our society.

Conduct and Content of Course
This being my second RB1 training course, I anticipated the focused, high-intensity, extended-duration format style of course, that is a characteristic hall mark of RB1 courses, and I wasn’t disappointed. I expect and demand a goal-orientated and logically structured course of instruction, professionally and motivationally delivered by individuals, who not only possess the relevant competencies and skills, but have the ability to instruct and convey the fundamentals & concepts to the students, minimizing ambiguity and maximizing knowledge transfer. With the individual always needing to be conscientious with respect to both time and total-course costs when selecting instruction (particularly if air-travel is involved), few of us can tolerate or justify a training course which is little more than a day at the range. Through my previous training with RB1, I’ve found their cadre staff possesses and display the knowledge, experience and instructional ability to achieve these training expectations, and do so with an approachable, down-to-earth attitude. This course was no different. As a side note, tips for new players attending RB1 courses in the future: prepare for the extended duration of the course by arriving well rested, maximize your fitness prior (note to self), always bring a notebook for formalized lectures and expect & embrace instruction/taskings undertaken with a ‘sense of urgency and purpose’ - RB1 courses aren’t about learning to play croquet.

ControlledPairs2 above captured the mainstay of the course content. Additional instruction within the Home Defense component included elements of stalking and observation of a target building, as well as priority of threats within a room during clearance drills – again the RB1 cadre staff reinforcing the fundamentals & building blocks to assist the student in fully comprehending and cognitively-owning the technique, to allow the student to transfer it to their particular home scenario. Within the personal protection/security component, break –contact drills for two-man security teams were instructed and rehearsed, the constant focus always being maintenance of situational awareness and the safe extraction of your loved one from the fight – rather than getting entrenched into a prolonged gun battle.

Another formalized lecture presented during the course was ‘the Warrior Mindset’. This topic wasn’t just relegated to lip-service only, with Jason detailing the critical characteristics and fundamentals that must underpin the combatant’s mindset for the individual to prevail against adversity – this is the glue that holds the individual’s suite of skillsets together to perform on demand , its importance can’t be underestimated, nor ignored in training. RB1’s response to individuals or teams missing shots on targets within the shoot house – a 200 yard run in full gear for self-reflection - is a clear example of RB1 applying aspects of the warrior mindset to their training doctrine – only hits counts, and the consequences of misses applied a further psychological duress to the shooter to focus their thinking on the fundamentals of accuracy and heighten the realism. I seriously doubt this ‘hit or run’ approach is rolled out blanket fashion across all of RB1’s courses, yet it was suitable for the advanced nature of this class – to encourage the individual to focus on the task at hand, balance out the induced stress and give further preparation for the force-on-force drills.

The stress-inducing and re-enforcement value of force-on-force training can’t be understated – engaging a live target that interacts dynamically – both proactively & reactively, adds leaps and bounds in terms of training value and self-assessment for the individual compared to paper targets. Knowledge and competency within the tested skill sets – or otherwise – is rapidly exposed in force-on-force, and is a more apt culmination of training than simply live-fire on a paper target. As mentioned above, home defense and personal security force-on-force scenarios were conducted. The scenarios were critiqued by the RB1 Cadre Staff, which along with self-assessment, clearly helped identify the individual’s strengths and weaknesses. This is a very necessary training tool when the defensive tactics being taught & assessed can’t easily be replicated by flat targets on a square range.

Conclusion
I concur with ControlledPairs2 above; the course had an outstanding, substantial and structured curriculum, the instructors were professional, competent & enthusiastic, and prepared to invest the extended time (37 hrs. of instruction in 3 days) to maximize the students’ opportunity to assimilate the training. The course presented fantastic value for money, in consideration of the training duration, the unique training facility and training aides. I look very forward to subsequent training with RB1 in the future.