James Yeager "of Tactical Response"

[SteyrAUG]

I have no problem with folks that take issue with his online persona and all that encompasses and the tactics and way TR runs training courses. There's plenty of that out there for people to sift through. I hold no opinion of him based on his time with Edinburg Risk and the Route IRISH ambush, which is where 90% or more of the hurt feelings about Yeager originates from and people are still talking about it. If he didn't have ALS and you went someplace like Reddit, FB gun groups, or Arf and mentioned him, hid in a ditch would be the bulk of what is spewed by people, some of whom were probably in diapers when it happened. They're just regurgitating what they've read online. It's old and tiresome, kinda like boomers that still think "well i lost all muh guns in a boatin' accident" is funny.

M4C, LF, P&S are really the only places where I've ever seen people take Yeager and TR to task over his/their training doctrine. Much of the controversial stuff like running the charging handle on a bolt lock reload instead of hitting the bolt release always seemed like it was born of a place from wanting to be different for the sake of being different, not because it's better or makes sense.

Honestly, I'm not even gonna give him shit about his time in Iraq. I give him credit for going, not everyone is a good candidate for combat even if they think they would be. Combat is horrible and it has humbled great men.

I also don't give a crap about persona, it's the name of the game. If you make your living that way, even if you aren't a jackass, people expect you to alpha dog. I've seen guys who have gone full on WWF with their persona because they think that is what attracts the money.

My only criticism of Yeager, and other instructors who espouse a 360 degree "real world" live fire range (which seems to come from a bunch of spetnaz wannabees) in gross violation of the most basic rules of safe gun handling is that their "mowr cowbell" nonsense puts everyone at risk and with no "real world" benefit.

If you want to practice the two way range, by all means gear up and grab some sims and go at it. Putting people in lanes of fire when shooting paper is just f'ing retarded. You want to run through the shoot house willy nilly...awesome, gear up and grab some sims and go at it.

We all know these guys we're trying to appeal to the gamer / larper crowd who want to learn "team clearing" tactics and things 96% of most shooters will never need to know when they should be practicing basic fundamentals that they are fully ignorant of.

I've been around firearm instructors for 45 years, I have never heard of anyone intentionally firing their weapon at any target that wasn't a 100% fully identified. That a person was actually shot under what should have been controlled conditions should demonstrate to everyone that this kind of training environment is a horribly bad idea that even the instructors cannot control.

That is my only criticism of Yeager, the rest really doesn't matter and few people deserve things like ALS. Serial killers, pedophiles and other monsters deserve that shit.

[Straight Shooter]

Hard to pinpoint the exact start date, but the red nose and slurred speech started in spring 2021. Going backwards from one of his videos where it is obvious, I could pick up hints of the slurring a month or 2 prior.

Think the muscle atrophy was showing about 6 months ago while he was indicating they were still trying to diagnose it.

The being fully aware part of it would have to be horrible.

He knew he had it, cause it also killed his father.

[Ed L.]

Not unique to TR, I've seen #1 a few places. Rationale is that any slide manipulation is a complete one to ensure it had full force and is in battery. #2 was a norm in more places than not for the "fInE mOtOr sKiLlz!!" nonsense, followed by some variation of never finding that tiny lever when you're stressed/bloody/etc.

I understand that. I can see it being easier to teach a new person to rack the slide than use the slide release.

My observation is that on one hand they teach racking the slide over the slide release since they consider using a slide release to be a fine motor skill. Well if that is the case, they should not be teaching letting the trigger out to reset because that is an even finer motor skill. It was more of a commentary on their inconsistency and lack of analytic skills.

[Ed L.]

Again, I feel bad for Yeager. Since the what he and Tactical Response teaches has come up, with some reservation I am contributing what I know and what I have personally experienced.

Here is another gem: One of the Tactical Response instructors stomps his handgun to prove that it is supposed to be a workhorse and the gun discharges and hits a tire of a student's car.

From: https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/....php?t=1168813

"During the recent (Feb 17-18) Tactical Response "Fighting Pistol" course near Sacramento, an instructor instructed the students to throw their pistols on the ground, then the instructor proceeded to stomp on the pistols to make some point along the lines of "these things aren't meant to be pretty, they're meant to be tools, so treat them as such" (quotes mine). He then threw his own pistol onto the ground and stomped on it--resulting in a round being fired parallel to the line of students, into a student's truck, with a possible ricochet towards who-knows-what."

[WillBrink]

Honestly, I'm not even gonna give him shit about his time in Iraq. I give him credit for going, not everyone is a good candidate for combat even if they think they would be. Combat is horrible and it has humbled great men.

I resemble that! I have mastered both Call Of Duty and Doom and my DPMS rifle has been through extensive testing, as least 300rnds. I'm ready.

[drsal]

Many years ago I took his Fighting Pistol I & II classes, this was when I first sought out 'professional' training. He was abrupt, callous, and most 'unlikeable'. A group of six of us avoided any social contact/interaction with him during the break/meal periods. He was just an ass wipe. And in retrospect, those classes were at best mediocre. The expression "you don't know what you don't know" applied to me at that point. Afterwards took classes with Pannone,DeFoor,McNamara,Vickers, SOB Tactical and similar instructors. These were actual learning experiences, especially SOB Tactical. Mr. Yeager will be suffering a most dreadful demise, and my condolences to him and his family.

[The Dumb Gun Collector]

I am going to lock this down. The man is dying.