Practice Your Turns

During a recent training, several new persons were present. One of them was assigned the middle spot on the right side of the wedge formation seen below:

Also present was another participant who was also new, but also had experience as a US Army veteran. The veteran rightly took it upon himself to offer advice to the first participant. The vet suggested that the participant patrol with the rifle in the left hand, so as to present more quickly, should the team receive contact from the right. 

After awaiting for the advice to end, the author added to the thought, and this is the essence of that conversation.

Direct questioning revealed that the participant in question did not train often using the left hand. Truth be told, most right handed soldiers do not, either - including infantry and most other combat roles. Therefore, the question was asked: "in an effort to present more quickly, is the purpose to suppress, or to make a hit?" It is assumed that in either instance, the end goal is to do so more quickly. 

Suppress

If the purpose is to suppress, then what kind of time is saved by operating left handed? A few trials demonstrated that the time difference was less than a half second. This was demonstrated using correct left handed grip, and also right handed grip using the "head-body-weapon" turn. 

Make a hit

If the purpose is to make a hit on target, then what kind of time is saved by operating left handed? This became more tricky to measure - because most people cannot easily perform an up-drill with the nondominant hand and make a hit. Targets beyond 50 yards made 5 second par very difficult. 

So, with the goal of making a hit, the following demonstration provided evidence for a best-case scenario. A standard ready-up was performed with the strong hand, while already facing the target. Then a ready-up was performed with a turn. This was performed by someone who could consistently make a hit in under 5 seconds on a target 100 yards away. The time difference was again under a second. 

Conclusion

Patrol with the rifle in your dominant hand, and practice your turns. 

Use logic to dictate your actions, instead of dogma.