AAR: Mike Pannone / CTT Solutions Covert Carry - CB, IA 7/2016

AAR - Mike Pannone / CTT Solutions' Covert Carry

5W's and 1H -
• Who: Mike Pannone - CTT Solutions.
• What (Course): Covert Carry.
• When: July 30-31, 2016.
• Where: LHGK - Council Bluffs, IA.
• Why: Carry, Present, Use, Manipulate a concealed pistol.
• How: Discussion, Demonstration, Practical Application.

Instructor -
• Mike Pannone of CTT Solutions - Full bio can be found at WWW.CTT-SOLUTIONS.COM

Students -
• Numbers: 20
• Backgrounds: Civilians, Current/Former Mil, Law Enforcement.
• We had one student run the entire course strong side only due to recent bicep surgery.

Firearms -
• Glocks, Springfield XD, Sigs.

Topics Covered (abbreviated) -
• Purposes of Training.
• Types of Learning and how to learn.
• Human Body - How and why to use it naturally and efficiently.
• Marksmanship Training vs. Tactics Training
• Experience vs. Training.
• Techniques and Tactics as "Tools" - Selection.
• Equipment and Clothes Selection - Summer vs. Winter.
• Holsters - Types, Purposes, Designs.
• Shot Placement - Orientation of body to the shooter.
• Shooting - NPA / Stance / Grip / Breathing / Sights / Trigger Manipulation / Follow Through.
• Working from Concealment (Presentation) - Two Hand, Strong Hand Only, Weak Hand Only.
• Working from Concealment (Reloads) - Two Hand Only, Strong Hand Only, Weak Hand Only.
• Controlled Pairs.
• Multiple Targets - Close vs. Far.
• Target Distances - Close vs. Far.

Overview -

TD1 (Morning) - We started this one off with a brief personal introduction by Mike and then we jumped right into the reason we were there, to "learn", not "run drills". After the intro, we climbed into concepts on learning, safety, the fundamentals, and working from concealment. Mike really focused on showing us where we can make up time, where we can't and how to be efficient in our movements to and from the holster, and on the trigger. The fundamentals were continuously expanded on throughout the morning as we refined our presentations from the holster. Body positioning, diagnosis of what "Looks" and "Feels" right, Marksmanship and Tactics Training and "Looking" and "Seeing" was covered in depth with references to doing what is natural for the human body. As we wrapped up the morning, we continued to polish up our presentations from the holster and jumped into shot/cycling sequence, grip, trigger press and follow through. Prior to wrapping up for lunch, Mike covered in great detail how our eyes work, process sights, light, and how to diagnose and make adjustments based on lighting conditions. I personally could have walked away from the course at this point and been more than happy with the information presented, lots to process and work on...more than worth the time invested and we were only four hours into TD1.

TD1 (Afternoon) - Post lunch we jumped right into presentation from the holster again continuing to eliminate unneeded and inefficient movements. Mike pushed that we need to be able to present as naturally as possible from a variety of positions, from there we rolled into what was called the "Rabbit Drill" in which we had shoot offs against a partner(s). Up until this point everything had been done with two hands and now it was time to mix it up and work on presentation from the holster with one hand. Mike pushed us to look at what we were doing with two hands and tweak it to help us with one hand presentations. Several slight tweaks were added in and as the day and drills progressed we learned that the phrase "Speed is a magnifying glass for mistakes" was entirely true. Clothes selection and cover garments were covered in depth with some tips and tricks for everyone to consider. We wrapped up TD1 covering reloads to include why we should be carrying magazines, how to perform them efficiently and then we ran reps on the timer continuously fine tuning our efficiency and speed. TD1 proved to be a challenging, but outstanding training day.

TD2 (Morning) - Day two started with presentations from the holster for time. Mike then jumped into acceptable sight pictures, trigger presses and paces and how to diagnose what we were doing times wise. Controlled pairs were next on the list with an in depth discussion on grip and the difference between one shot from the holster and two shots from the holster. Target distances and need for precision were worked in as we continued to present from the holster. As we did on TD1, we dove into sights again, this time working on another sighting drill discussing acceptable sights pictures and distances impact on accuracy. One hand reloads, battlefield survivability, "tool" selection and lastly, weak hand only presentation from the holster were covered before lunch.

TD2 (Afternoon) - Natural Point of Aim and engagement of multiple targets followed lunch. Weak hand only presentation and reloads were worked in which led to a discussion on experience (combat) versus training. Multiple targets led to multiple shots along with more discussion on working from concealment and the goals of carrying concealed. We continued to work on two hand, one hand and weak hand presentation and reloads for the remainder of the day, eventually wrapping up with a winner take all drill where Mike handed out a CTT Solutions belt buckle to the winner!

Overall Thoughts - This was an extremely in depth course that hit on topics in ways that I hadn't heard before. We presented from the holster well in excess of 500 times over TD1 and TD2 and fired roughly 600 rounds. We were challenged mentally and physically from start to finish in this one with a huge amount of emphasis placed on us to be efficient in all that we did. Mike presents a great course that dives deep into topics from a variety of angles that include educated input from people outside the firearms community. It was obvious from the start that Mike is a passionate guy that wants to give people more than just skills, he wants to truly educate them on what they are doing, how they are doing it and how to do it better! Outstanding course, incredibly in depth, very beneficial.

V/r - Rob