James Yeager- Tactical Response

[SIMPLYDYNAMIC]

That's good advice. If your instructor insists on "his way" is the best way for all circumstances, then that instructor is not worth the money you're paying him.

+1

besides James instruction has nothing to do with (as far as I know) discredit... he had a "incident" in Iraq that has been following him around but that "shouldnt" make people automatically discredit his instruction ability.

[Neville]

I took 6 days of training when Andy Stanford and James Yeager were a team (Options for Personal Security) and for me it was really a huge boost in performance and mindeset. Andy is a very methodical and analytical teacher, while Yeager provided the reality input of a long serving police officer. But there is only so much time in a class and you have to choose want to bring across. So, while the OPS training was more focused on learning civilians how to shoot (with great mindset lectures in between), Tactical Response seems now focusing on providing contractor-style training and a "fighting"-mindset, which should be gained through stressful drills. My other 4day Tactical Response carbine class (in 2006) didn't spend much (if any) time on basics like trigger control or reload techniques.

So for an absolute beginner I don't necessarily recommend a TR class as the first one. A newbie may be overwhelmed by the team techniques and tactics and may not realize that for him as an individual, they may not be the universal answer (if it exists at all). What didn't fit me in the recent class was that now not only drills, but even most techniques seemed tailored for a team environment. The problem I see there is that you have to introduce certain new techniques in order to make larger team drills relatively safe. If I have to "unlearn" things as movement to the side (for cover) or low ready during the class, just to be safe at the "team drill test" at the last day, isn't this just as artificial as IPSC? Especially if one is told that its low ready again in CQB- which may be just "a bit" more relevant to the average civilian and police officer?
I have a MA in psychology and don't see the value of team drills at all as I don't buy the "learning through stress" thing, since according to the basic learning theory and stress inoculation training, you can't learn new skills under stress.

Imagine a civilian novice taking just this one class- would team drills, and logically the special skills set that go with it, really be on your list of priorities? Is announcing that he is emtpy or has a malfunction by yelling for cover really the thing you want the lone home defender or rural cop to train? In case of a home invasion, I am not going to call six buddies so that we can do an Aussie peel... Sadly the industry seems shifting towards guys that want to experience the contractor feeling for a few days and don't care if the tactics and techniques are realistic. Demand and supply...

What I really don't get is the character assassination going on. Armchair warriors, who don't have a clue of the details, take hours and hours to judge a split second decision. Reminds me of the courtroom when self-defense cases are judged. I have heard Yeagers explanation of his actions and IMHO his only fault was to stay on the team when the severe lack of professionalism was becoming obvious to him. But a single event- even if it was a turning point for him- can't be the sole ground on which to judge a man.

Best Regards

Cato

[NCPatrolAR]

Over the years I have done several courses with Tactical Response (Tactical Rifle, Tac. Pistol, Tac. Shotgun, Fighting Rifle, Fighting Pistol, attended an Aulmni shoot) and have found the older "tactical" era material to be better than the new "Fighting" material. Of course this is personal opinion. One of the greatest issues when training with Tactical Response is who you get as an instructor. I have done courses where the instructors were outstanding. I've done others were the instruction was marginal. All depends on who you get.

Tactical Response seems now focusing on providing contractor-style training and a "fighting"-mindset, which should be gained through stressful drills. My other 4day Tactical Response carbine class (in 2006) didn't spend much (if any) time on basics like trigger control or reload techniques.

I noticed the same thing. There is a much greater emphasis on doing team drills than working as an individual. It seems this occured once the "contractor" classes start getting pushed harder and harder. Also, it seems fundamentals weren't covered in any detail unless someone was having serious problems on the line.

What I really don't get is the character assassination going on. Armchair warriors, who don't have a clue of the details, take hours and hours to judge a split second decision. Reminds me of the courtroom when self-defense cases are judged. I have heard Yeagers explanation of his actions and IMHO his only fault was to stay on the team when the severe lack of professionalism was becoming obvious to him. But a single event- even if it was a turning point for him- can't be the sole ground on which to judge a man.

Seems a lot of people get hung up on what occured in Iraq and do judge Yeager on that. However, he has also done a fair amount of damage his own self through things he has posted and how his forum has been moderated. Hard to take someone serious when there are repeated calls to "do God's work" or you have posts moved and deleted because they are going against the product of the month being pushed.

[Snake RAH]

I attended Fighting Pistol and Fighting Rifle in Feb, 2006, and two things that were taught in Fighting Rifle were trigger reset and reloading the rifle.

Prior to this class I've had some instruction on trigger reset, but not to the point of building a cadence in using the reset. On James' Fighting Rifle DVD, he goes into instruction of shooting multiple targets, but with the proper use of trigger reset and cadence, you can learn to fire the gun faster and make your hits very well.

Also, my first experience in "tactical reloads" was in the local IDPA style pistol and carbine matches. It seemed that no one really had a good way of demonstrating how to change magazines with retention and not drop them or fumble about. Subsequently, when I began seeking my own training, I had been shown a way of changing mags, but nothing that worked for me. When James showed us his method of "flat to flat" for the AR mags, I picked that method up and it works well for me. I also learned during fighting pistol an easier way to do a tac reload as well.

James has this thing where he talks about mindset, tactics, skills, and equipment. I don't view his classes (except for Intermediate Rifle) that I've taken as primarily "skills" classes. You probably should be at a certain level for taking a class. Some skills are taught, but for the most part, if you want to improve your skills, taking an instructor's course (Paul Howe's tactical rifle instructor class) has given me more insight in what I've been doing, right and wrong, as a shooter, since I've first picked up a rifle.

As far as the team stuff goes, to me, it's the next logical step to have a fighting course.

[they]

I considered taking class there, but after a little research changed my mind.

Watched his rifle vid, and though he can shoot, he was winded after a simple drill, pretty pathetic (barring medical conditions).

Makes me wonder if he takes it seriously.


ETA, may be great guys though.

[TheDutchman]

I would take a Paul Howe or Pat Rodgers class, also doesn't SIMPLYDYNAMIC teach?

[markm]

I have never trained with Yeager, so I can't tell you about his training program. I can tell you that the advertised round counts for most of his classes seem very high in comparison to say, Vickers or Rogers.

Some would view this as getting a lot more shooting in, others would view it as making brass piles for brass piles sake.

I agree. I've not trained under Yeager either, but some of my better training experiences have been with instructors who had us doing less actual shooting and more thinking.

On a limited budget for training and ammo, I'm reluctant to sign up for a class that says bring 2000 rounds of ammo.