LOGIC

The military does a lot of things right. However, just like any bureaucracy, they are prone to critical errors, as well. When I am teaching fighting skills, vets will often remark how what I teach is not exactly like what the military teaches. This is not coincidental, it is on purpose.

Here are some of the things that I teach differently, and why:

Room entry
I teach Israeli limited entry. It is more effective, and only slightly slower. It is also much safer. Finally, it takes advantage of natural human instincts, instead of trying to train new Instincts by force.

Fire Team
The Infantry Squad usually consists of two or three fire teams, each with four men. I teach fireteams beginning at 3 men, and working up to five men. At 6 men, we will separate into a pair of fire teams. This is simply done out of necessity, given that civilian trainees are usually fewer in number.

Shooting from cover
It is generally advisable to shoot from a position of cover (people tend to shoot back and getting shot sucks). The military, as they do with many things, over-simplifies this.  Military doctrine says never brace on the cover.  Reason - someone might be behind it and grab your barrel.  I teach that of the target is engaged and shooting back from a distance, use the cover to brace for a steadier shot. Reason - if he is shooting at you, he doesn't likely have a buddy right next to you on the other side of cover.  

Not Cut Out

This is not a repo story, but it is from my days in car rental. It was a very unfortunate situation oh, that was totally preventable.

At this stage in my car rental journey, I was a manager of a location. As the manager, I had gained a reputation among all of the local branches. If they had a trainee that just wasn't cutting muster, they would send that training to me. Within 90 days, that trainee would be shaped up or shipped out. Nevertheless, I never fired a single person. When they shipped out, they did so of their own accord.

I started all new and rehab trainees with a specific training program - just to make sure they understood the purpose and processes of car rental. Just about every single trainee learned how to fill in the gaps in their car rental knowledge with that training program. Now some figured out the car rental just wasn't for them, and they left the company soon thereafter. Of the ones who stayed, almost all of them became much better employees after undergoing the training.

One trainee stood out. And not in a good way. She just never quite figured out the systems and the processes. Her sales numbers were abysmal - and this was the only time that a trainee under my watch could ever say that. My trainees sold well. Except for her.

The car rental company had specific processes and procedures for normal day-to-day operation. Most trainees caught on to these within a week or two. This trainee in specific, never did catch on. Even after 3 months she still was unsure of what to do in just about every daily operation.

The first time she got written up for failing to follow proper procedure was epic. Very nearly rented a customer a car that belonged to a competitor. Yes, she picked up the car of a competitor at the airport, drove it to our branch, and very nearly rented it to somebody. All the while, she complained that she could not find that unit in the system. When I went to look at the key chain it became clear why that unit was not in the system - it belonged to another company!

The second time she got written up for failing to follow proper procedure was even more bizarre. The office was located inside of a body shop, and it was a Friday afternoon. The Body Shop Lobby was full of body shop customers. Similarly, our lobby was full of rental customers. She came in with the keys to a freshly washed car, and shouted out to me for verification the combination to the safe! At this point in time, she had worked there over three months and had gotten in that safe multiple times per day every day of those three months. Without making a scene I asked her to meet me in the other room, and I wrote her up.

The following week I had to have the talk with her about how I felt rental was not really in her future. She was a nice enough person, but she just didn't get it.

Red Dot Magnifiers

From a reader -
I liked your article on  optics for fighting rifles. One thing not mentioned in the article, but I wanted to ask your opinion on, is a red dot sight coupled with a magnifier? What is your take on that? Useless, or good kit?

Excellent question!

Magnifiers behind red dot sights usually come in 3x and 5x varieties. As a rule, they usually have a flip to the side mount. If they did not have a flip to the side mount, there would be virtually no difference between this setup and a regular scope - with the advantage going to the scope because of a better reticle.

As with scopes, the advantage to the magnifier is not that it helps you shoot better - it helps you see better. The red dot sight is quite possibly the best optic for close engagements, with regard to fast target acquisition. In combination, you really can get the best of both worlds.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Keep the magnifier flipped out to the side.
In the event of contact close, you will not have time to flip it to the side.   In the event of contact from further out, you will have a second or two to engage the magnifier.

2. Know your holdovers.
This is true for any and all iron sights or Red Dot Optics. Zero the optic at 100 yards or 200 yards, and go from there.

3. Be prepared for longer snap shots.
A Rifleman should be able to, from a patrolling position, drop to prone and deliver accurate fire on targets at 200 and even 300 yards, in less than 10 seconds. If that means you have to incorporate flipping the magnifier into place during that time frame, then so be it. If that means that you just have to take the sudden shot without a magnifier, then so be it.


Verdict - Good Kit.
As always, know and train for your caveats. 

Do Something

Every time there is a mass killing, liberals in America predictably start the chant, "we've got to do something!"

Of course, they ignore the advice of the sage, Ronald Reagan -
"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions."

Liberals ignore that advice because they detest personal responsibility.

However, personal responsibility is not the only thing that liberals try to ignore. Specifically, liberals try to ignore the facts:
"In the past 48hrs, the USA horrifically lost 34 people to mass shootings.

On average, across any 48hrs, we also lose…

500 to Medical errors
300 to the Flu
250 to Suicide
200 to Car Accidents
40 to Homicide via Handgun

Often our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data."
- Neil deGrasse Tyson (via Twitter)

But should something be done?  For years, my reply to that question is a hearty "no." However, a recent YouTube video by  Gun Owners of America  has made me rethink that position. In short, I believe the following two things need to be done:

1. National constitutional carry.
All states, all the time.

2. Eliminate all gun free zones.
Carry allowed everywhere, all of the time, without restriction.


What say you?

Gun Control Analogy

After the recent mass killings, Warrior Poet  shared this video. Of particular interest in the video, he recounts this story:

In the 14th century, nearly one-third of Europe was wiped out by the Black Death - bubonic plague. As people were dying all around, some of the survivors mistakenly thought that the disease was being carried by cats. So they killed all the cats.

This worsened the problem, because as we know, the plague was spread by rats. Without the cats to kill the rats, the plague was spread even more. What we don't know is how many fewer people would have died, had the cats not been killed.

Gun control is like this - take the guns away from the good people, instead of the bad people. This will not help anybody in an active killer situation. Logic dictates that if there are fewer good people to kill the bad people, then the bad people will be able to kill more.

Furthermore, red flag laws and stricter background checks will not reduce the number of mass killings. They will only serve the purposes of bad people. It will only make it harder for good people to get guns. And, both will be abused, particularly against political enemies.

300

In my rifle classes, I teach Marksmanship out to 300 yards as part of the fundamentals. Many students will ask, why 300 yards? There are several good reasons for this distance.

Accuracy
An 18 inch Target at 300 yards is 6 minutes of angle. The standard battle rifle with ball ammunition is about a 4 minute of angle combination. A shooter who can hit all shots at 300 would, therefore, be shooting with a margin of error of 2 minutes of angle or less.

Practical
The parking lot of a typical grocery store or Walmart is usually around 300 yards wide. So a shot from this distance is very possible.

Practical II
A Rifleman who can make a shot on a 300-yard target, can make vital Zone hits at 200 yards, and head shots at 100 yards. 98%+ of all military and police sniper shots are taken under 200 yards.

Zeroes and hold overs
The most common zeros for the AR-15 rifle are the 100-yard zero, the 200-yard (also 50) zero, and the 300-yard zero (also 36). Holdovers and hold unders for these zeroes are very easy to teach side by side.

Wind
Even a strong wind is only going to have a minimal effect on the bullet in flight out to 300 yards.

Enjoyment
This is the most important one. You should see the smiles on people's faces when they hit a steel target at 300 yards.

Skill
Very few casual shooters ever shoot past 100 yards. For some reason, this is the longest that most ranges go. When a shooter knows they can engage out to 300 yards, the 100-yard target seems much easier.

Why not?
The only reason to not shoot out to 300 yards is if you do not have that much space available. The 300-yard shot can be made with a standard AR-15, a standard AK-47, and even AR and AK pistols.

It Starts At Home

A friend and good Patriot shared this via social media in response to the recent tragedies:

Fact:  There were 10,874 alcohol related fatalities involving a motor vehicle in 2017. Look it up. So, according to liberal logic, let’s ban all the cars to keep us “safe”. Pure ignorance. Nobody wants to address the root cause. Parents don’t parent anymore. No discipline and EVERYONE gets a trophy. Children aren’t taught how to handle adversity and learn from experience that life is not fair. Schools are no longer allowed to provide any meaningful discipline. In effect we are letting the inmates run the asylum, but no one will blame the parents because Johnny is special. Sure, there are legitimate illnesses in children, but I guarantee it is far less common in reality.  It starts at home!!

Fighting Back

Seen on social media - tips on surviving a mass shooting:

Here are a handful of considerations on what to do if you find yourself in a mass shooting. My opinion comes from decades as a cop, a couple years at war, and my experiences teaching active shooter response to cops for a few years.

1) Look for the easiest accessible *safer* place. In a place like Walmart there are multiple doors leading to back areas, stockrooms, freezers, etc. Every store or restaurant in a mall has an employees-only back area. Don't stampede with the crowd toward the main exits unless you're absolutely sure it's clear; mass shooters are looking for clumps of people to kill, so getting into a group makes you a more attractive target.

2) Remember that you're going to experience survival stress reactions like tunnel vision, auditory exclusion (you literally stop hearing), and critical incident amnesia (you forget major things that you just saw). Don't think that just because you gave your wife, children, or boyfriend clear instructions like "Run this way!" they heard or understood you. In a critical, lethal, dynamic, high-stress incident, your perception can become seriously flawed. This goes double if you're untrained or inexperienced.

3) In a critical incident about 75% of the population will experience "normalcy bias"; they'll see something insane happening right in front of them (like a guy walking into Walmart with an AK), and convince themselves that it has to be something normal. "Oh, he must be coming in to buy BBs for that airsoft gun," or something like that. Normalcy bias increases reaction time and can get you killed.

4) If you don't know exactly where the shooter is, don't blindly run for your life to get away. A better option might be to run to a covered or concealed spot, take a look around, choose the next spot, sprint to that, assess, choose the next spot, and so on, until you reach safety.

5) Do not assume that every mass shooter is an absolutely unstoppable Delta Force SEAL ninja. Most mass shooters are unskilled, untrained cowards who can operate a weapon and kill defenseless people, but can't and don't want to fight. Mass shooters tend to fold as soon as they face resistance. Many mass shooters have stopped their attacks because their weapons malfunctioned and they had no idea how to clear them. One of the Columbine shooters even managed to break his own nose when he fired a pistol grip shotgun at a victim. These people are murderous cowards, not brave warriors.

6) Mass shooters tend to show terrible situational awareness because they think they own the place until police show up. Their heads aren't on a swivel looking for threats, all their focus is on the victims they're hunting. The kind of guy who believes he's in complete control and enjoys murdering defenseless victims tends to get very upset if he's unexpectedly shot in the back of the head. So upset him.

7) If you carry a firearm, remember that if the shooter attacks and you're in his sights, you *have to* immediately fight back. If you're far enough away that you hear shots and screams but aren't under immediate threat, you *can* advance on the shooter and fight back. You decide what's best, but keep in mind that the best defense is a good offense.

8) If you choose to engage the shooter/shooters, take a moment to assess what you're up against. Do you hear multiple weapons, suggesting multiple attackers? Does the gunfire sound like it's from a large-caliber rifle, or .22 pistol? Is the shooter firing so fast that even with a drum magazine he'll have to change mags soon? Do you hear the attackers yelling anything? You might respond differently to a shooter slowly firing a .22 pistol and yelling "Where is she?" than to a shooter blasting rounds from an AK while shrieking "You will all die, traitors!" At least, I'd respond a little differently.

9) If you choose to engage, try not to go head to head. Maneuver. Flank. Circle around. Surprise him.

10) Stay low. There's a reason soldiers instinctively crouch when moving under fire: most people, especially untrained people, and especially untrained people firing fast, tend to shoot high.

11) Remember that all of us tend to search at head/eye level. The shooter probably won't notice the guy on the ground leaning out from behind a cooler pointing a pistol at him.

12) If you're going to engage, you have to close distance. Concealed carriers and off-duty cops generally carry a small or medium-sized pistol, often with no spare ammo. You're probably not going to put a mass shooter down with six rounds from your .380 from 90 yards away.

13) On that note, and I don't care what you hear from others, CARRY SPARE AMMO. No, you don't need it for typical defensive firearm use, but a mass shooting isn't typical. If you expect to fight, carry ammo to sustain a fight.

14) If you put down the shooter, do a fast threat scan for secondary shooters and then put your weapon away. If at all possible, DO NOT have a weapon in your hands when officers arrive.

15) Remember that any form of resistance can save lives. If you shoot at him and miss but stop him from advancing on potential victims, you've saved lives. If you miss and he runs away, you've saved lives. If you miss but force him into a restricted area and he stays there because you're covering the exit, you've saved lives.

That's all for now, maybe I'll post more later. We armed citizens, and good decent Americans are all in this together; let's flip the script on mass shooters, make them scared, and put them down the moment they try to live out their murderous, cowardly fantasies.

Stay safe, and stay ready to defend yourselves, your families and your fellow citizens.

Rifle Craft

The art and craft of the rifle is something every patriot should study well.  And while I advocate  certain minimum competencies, that's not where the story ends. 

When compiling ideas that became the following recommendations, many sources were consulted.  The two that became the greatest influence were the  USMC Table 1 and Table 2 courses of fire, and the Instructor Rifle Standards from  Valor Ridge.


Prone
Supported prone - magazine monopod, bipod, or rucksack - hit targets at 300 yards 6 times out of 10, minimum.  10 out of 10 is doable from all three. 

Snap shot in 10 seconds. 

Sitting
Use sitting when you would use prone, but you cannot get a clear line of sight from prone. 
Sitting - hit targets 6 times out of 10 at 200 yards, minimum.  10 out of 10 is doable. 

Unsupported prone - just resting on elbows - 200 yards is the effective range.  This is about as stable as kneeling.

Snap shot in 8 seconds. 

Kneeling
This refers to braced kneeling only. 
Braced kneeling - hit targets 6 times out of 10 at 100 yards, minimum. 10 times out of 10 is doable. 

Snap shot in 6 seconds. 

Standing
Standing /  Unsupported kneeling / Double kneeling - hit targets 6 times out of 10 at 50 yards. 10 times out of 10 is doable. 

Snap shot in 4 seconds. 


Caveats
For standing and kneeling positions - any time you can use an object to brace your shot - do so.  Bracing the shot can double your effective range. 

For standing and kneeling positions - any time you are shooting around cover and are leaning out, unable to brace - this is called turkey peeking. 
Unbraced turkey peeking cuts your effective range in half. 

"Snap shot" refers to starting from standing in a ready position and moving into position and getting a shot off.  A ready-up is a type of a snap shot. 

Outfit Your AR15

Your AR-15 rifle needs to have the following things:
Sighting apparatus.
Backup "iron sights," if the primary sighting apparatus is an optic.
A sling.

Although not needed, it is okay if your AR 15 has a forward grip of some sort.


Your AR-15 does not need:
A bipod.
A three-point sling.
Extended levers.
Other "tactical" equipment.


Caveats:
* If you know what a PEQ is, then by all means, use one.
* If you know how to use your AR-15 rifle in a Designated Marksman capacity, then use a bipod, if you want.