After Action Review (AAR) by Rick T
Course: Victory First – SCAR Family of Weapons Lecture
Instructors: Matt Jacques
Dates: Sunday December 8, 2013
Location: F3 Tactical 13914 Metrotech Dr, Chantilly, VA 20151 (703) 378-3685

Class Overview:
This was a ~4hour in depth lecture on the SCAR family of weapons. The lion’s share of the block of instruction was a detailed description of the history and evolution of the platform with a focus on what drove the various requirements and why things were done (or not done). Matt is uniquely qualified to give this course because he not only worked on the system for FN during the development and fielding process, but he can lay claim to being one of only 4 men that taught the SOCOM new equipment training to the folks that the system was designed for in the first place: trigger pullers. It was evident from the very beginning of the class that there has been an incredible amount of internet conjecture on the platform from folks that have little to no frame of reference to comment (shocker I know). One of Matt’s stated goals for the class was to answer many of the most commonly asked questions our keyboard commando friends have brought up. A prime example is bitching about the colors the system is available in. Matt’s answer? “Because that’s what the government contract specified”, but Matt didn’t stop there. He seriously did his homework for this class and provided citation of the exact government document/requirement/color palate nomenclature that drove the end state. He did this for damn near every slide we went over and even offered to show source documentation from the masses of documents he brought to the class (before anyone cries foul, Matt only has what he was legally allowed to keep and show the public). Any question that anyone could come up with was answered thoroughly and with the kind of personal insight only someone that lived the development could have (ask Matt about the various evolutions of the 180 vs. 90 degree selector decision for a laugh). If you are at all interested in the whys and why nots or capabilities of the SCAR platform then this course is a helluva way to spend an afternoon.
The second portion of the course consisted of a hands on disassembly/assembly and capabilities discussion of the SCAR. I found this portion to be especially interesting as Matt gave many little trips and tricks that will make your life as a SCAR owner much easier. Example: Did anyone else think of using the location of the reciprocating charging handle as an indication of what issue your weapon is having in event of a stoppage? I know I had never thought of that. We were also able to lay hands on a whole table full of SCAR related unobtanium (Special thanks for FN for providing a whole smattering of really rare and cool versions of the SCAR for us to go hands on with during this portion, as well as the FN employee (whose name unfortunately escapes me) that sat in on the course to allow us to have fully automatic SCARs and the grenade launcher module on site. We were literally the first civilians to ever see and be allowed to manipulate some of these variants. If you are a gun guy, this alone was worth the price of admission
In conclusion, if you have any interest in any of the different flavors of SCAR, if you have any questions about anything even remotely connected to the SCAR, if you ever wondered why or why not FN did/didn’t include a certain feature/component/accessory on the SCAR, and if you want 100% accurate, undeniably fact based answers to these questions: there is simply no better place to go than Matt Jacques and Victory First.
Thanks go again: To Matt for putting together such an elaborately researched and informative course. To FN for supporting this endeavor (As a result you will be getting some of my hard earned money soon.) and to the 100% undisputed best tactical shop in the entire world F3 Tactical for hosting.