DrRansom
Instructor
AAR - EAG Tactical Intro To Shoothouse
12-15 June 2015
Instructors: Pat Rogers, John Spears, Steve Fisher
This was my second run through this course, I had previously attended in April of this same year. I had realized about halfway through the class the first time that one time (hell, 5 times) would not be enough for me to absorb and implement the subject matter...there is truly a ton of information here.
The instructor cadre for EAG is phenomenal. I can't say enough good things about these guys, and they truly care about safety and the level of instruction.
This class can be stressful, as there is a ton of information to process, a teammate to work with, and we're all walking around with loaded guns. This is not a class to be refining your mechanical shooting skills - as one of the instructors had said last time, gunfighting is only about 10% shooting. The rest is problem solving. If you are not switched on and have your mechanical shooting and manipulations skills in place prior to this application, it shows. A few guys learned this in the house. A few guys got a moosecock patch as well.
For gear, I used:
Daniel Defense Mk18 Upper, Aimpoint Micro T-2, Geisselle SSA-E, Surefire Fury Defender on VTAC mount, Silencerco Saker with Standoff
Glock 17 w/ ALG mount, Aimpoint Micro T-1, Surefire X300U, T4Research custom holster on Safariland mount
Ops Core ballistic with Iron Forged adapters on Sordin ear pro and GoPro with NVG mount
Mayflower APC
Liquid Player eyepro
Gear comments:
The suppressed Mk18 runs just fine if you don't feed it junk. I had some unnamed factory ammo with me that I thought would work just fine in the distances in the house; however, poor crimps let the bullets set back into the case a few times, and that was the end of that ammunition. Other than that, love this gun, and using the Fury Defender at 11 oclock is like coming home.
The Silencerco Saker is just plain awesome. The standoff end cap, which I got more to see what it would be good for, is surprisingly really nice for doing things like actioning doors. Whereas before the end of the the can would tend to slide on hard smooth surfaces like exterior doors, with the sharp points the can digs in a little bit, making the actioning of the door much smoother, and I liked that more than I'd thought. I also suspect, but haven't yet tried, that this devices will work well on glass.
The ALG mount on the Glock was also sort of a novelty, as I'd set it up to do some kit T&E for a friend; it has twice now deflected a shell casing back down into the ejection port, causing the Glock to malfunction. This could be extractor/ejector wear, I'll admit, and will research, but I wasn't thrilled with this. I also did not like how it changes the thumb placement of my other strong hand, and how it makes a tactile press check more difficult. The T4Research holster worked great with this rig, very pleased with that.
Armor and helmet setup is gtg. Running the GoPro w/NVG mount is simply an awesome training tool for these classes, if you're not videoing your runs when you're learning, you're doing it wrong. At night, while winding down, I watched all my runs for the day until I understood every instructor comment and saw every little retarded thing I'd done, and visualized how I would correct it. Issues that I could not see during the day became visible, and comments that were lost or taken out of context could be resolved. Seriously, can't recommend these enough as a training tool.
TD1
Weather for the whole weekend was hot and humid as it can get, with the exception of when it was raining, lightning, or tornado warning. Don't come to Alliance without extreme weather gear.
We started by getting paired up (if needed) and doing some dry runs on shapes. The shapes are an extremely effective way of visualizing tactical problems out of real-world topographies; this also allowed us to get some dry runs in with our new partners. I rocked this class with John Johnston of Ballistic Radio, a good dude and a solid shooter. He seemed to be happy with the pairing as well, so I guess that's good.
And shortly thereafter we headed into the house for our runs. Starting simple and working up. After runs, the fantastic catwalk is available to those still in their PPE to go up and safely view others' runs. This is one of the many reasons that the Alliance Police facility is one the premier training facilities available.
We got through a few runs on TD1, and were tired. Night monster had come out - with the exception of TD4, there are night run(s) every TD - and guys needed to decompress and get out of the heat and humidity.
TD2
Started out of the gate at 1300, giving us a lot of time to sleep, drink beer, get harassed by Alliance natives, etc. We headed right into the house.
TD2 morning, after shaking the cobwebs and sleep out of our eyes, the runs started getting much better. Settling down and starting to work through the problems helped immensely, and as people started to get used to working with their teammates, the movement and fluidity drastically improved.
We got in a couple night runs TD2, which is fantastic. Pat et al stress efficient and effective use of light, and give students the bonus of always adding in low-light scenario training, which is another feather in the EAG cap. Guys who don't train with lights - everyone can tell.
TD3
After getting through a great deal of the class without getting hit by the local weather too bad, that all changed. We started at 1300 on TD3 and spent a good amount of time either soaked to the bone in the shoothouse or huddling under roofs waiting for it to clear.
We got an absolute ton of rain TD3, and when it finally let up in time for our last night run of the day, there was up to 10+" of rain in some parts of the shoothouse. And of course, those were the parts of the shoothouse that we used for that run. This was awesome until the water level was higher than the level of your waterproof boots, and they became water-bearing instead of waterproof...
Today, I think the runs were getting more polished, and so subsequently started to get harder. Targets hiding in corners and obstructed by obstacles, lots of discrimination, unknowns, and obstructed movement. As the students start to understand the "finding work" part of the training, the work becomes more challenging to do.
TD4
Last day, and the runs for the most part leveled out. We got three runs in the last day, then called it for some handshakes, hugs and fist bumps and said goodbye to our friends and mentors. One of the things I love about a 4 day class is that you really get to know your training partners and buddies more than you do in just a day or two - Alliance draws in some absolutely solid guys, and that's part of the draw for me.
I would (and will) take this class again, in a heartbeat, though I will be also moving toward the EAG/Alliance CQB and CEC courses. I feel a little more confident now than before, but I can't stress the value of this training enough. It's not about whether you'll "ever actually need it", it's about learning the fundamentals of using your equipment in the real world and around other people. Once you get off of the square range, a lot of things become apparent, especially that all that square range training is really just table stakes for the real world.
Thanks goes to:
- Alliance Police Department and Alliance Police Training, for being awesome.
- John Johnston, for running the house with me and being a solid guy with a good attitude. Check out Ballistic Radio, it's his deal.
- Joe Weyer, for making this all happen and for getting in there and helping with the instruction. If you're in Alliance, also check out Weyer Tactical.
- John Spears, for just being an all-around phenomenal instructor and human being. There are not a ton of people in the world who care enough to tell you what they really think. In the house, John is one of those people.
- Steve Fisher, for the same reasons and for being great at helping us break down the problems without adding anything to our self-esteem. Check out Sentinel Concepts and train with this guy.
- Pat Rogers, because just because. If you're not hip to EAG Tactical, you're missing out on some of the greatest training this country has to offer. Pat, seriously, thanks. I hope I'm out with armor and a helmet on when I'm you're age...
12-15 June 2015
Instructors: Pat Rogers, John Spears, Steve Fisher
This was my second run through this course, I had previously attended in April of this same year. I had realized about halfway through the class the first time that one time (hell, 5 times) would not be enough for me to absorb and implement the subject matter...there is truly a ton of information here.
The instructor cadre for EAG is phenomenal. I can't say enough good things about these guys, and they truly care about safety and the level of instruction.
This class can be stressful, as there is a ton of information to process, a teammate to work with, and we're all walking around with loaded guns. This is not a class to be refining your mechanical shooting skills - as one of the instructors had said last time, gunfighting is only about 10% shooting. The rest is problem solving. If you are not switched on and have your mechanical shooting and manipulations skills in place prior to this application, it shows. A few guys learned this in the house. A few guys got a moosecock patch as well.
For gear, I used:
Daniel Defense Mk18 Upper, Aimpoint Micro T-2, Geisselle SSA-E, Surefire Fury Defender on VTAC mount, Silencerco Saker with Standoff
Glock 17 w/ ALG mount, Aimpoint Micro T-1, Surefire X300U, T4Research custom holster on Safariland mount
Ops Core ballistic with Iron Forged adapters on Sordin ear pro and GoPro with NVG mount
Mayflower APC
Liquid Player eyepro
Gear comments:
The suppressed Mk18 runs just fine if you don't feed it junk. I had some unnamed factory ammo with me that I thought would work just fine in the distances in the house; however, poor crimps let the bullets set back into the case a few times, and that was the end of that ammunition. Other than that, love this gun, and using the Fury Defender at 11 oclock is like coming home.
The Silencerco Saker is just plain awesome. The standoff end cap, which I got more to see what it would be good for, is surprisingly really nice for doing things like actioning doors. Whereas before the end of the the can would tend to slide on hard smooth surfaces like exterior doors, with the sharp points the can digs in a little bit, making the actioning of the door much smoother, and I liked that more than I'd thought. I also suspect, but haven't yet tried, that this devices will work well on glass.
The ALG mount on the Glock was also sort of a novelty, as I'd set it up to do some kit T&E for a friend; it has twice now deflected a shell casing back down into the ejection port, causing the Glock to malfunction. This could be extractor/ejector wear, I'll admit, and will research, but I wasn't thrilled with this. I also did not like how it changes the thumb placement of my other strong hand, and how it makes a tactile press check more difficult. The T4Research holster worked great with this rig, very pleased with that.
Armor and helmet setup is gtg. Running the GoPro w/NVG mount is simply an awesome training tool for these classes, if you're not videoing your runs when you're learning, you're doing it wrong. At night, while winding down, I watched all my runs for the day until I understood every instructor comment and saw every little retarded thing I'd done, and visualized how I would correct it. Issues that I could not see during the day became visible, and comments that were lost or taken out of context could be resolved. Seriously, can't recommend these enough as a training tool.
TD1
Weather for the whole weekend was hot and humid as it can get, with the exception of when it was raining, lightning, or tornado warning. Don't come to Alliance without extreme weather gear.
We started by getting paired up (if needed) and doing some dry runs on shapes. The shapes are an extremely effective way of visualizing tactical problems out of real-world topographies; this also allowed us to get some dry runs in with our new partners. I rocked this class with John Johnston of Ballistic Radio, a good dude and a solid shooter. He seemed to be happy with the pairing as well, so I guess that's good.
And shortly thereafter we headed into the house for our runs. Starting simple and working up. After runs, the fantastic catwalk is available to those still in their PPE to go up and safely view others' runs. This is one of the many reasons that the Alliance Police facility is one the premier training facilities available.
We got through a few runs on TD1, and were tired. Night monster had come out - with the exception of TD4, there are night run(s) every TD - and guys needed to decompress and get out of the heat and humidity.
TD2
Started out of the gate at 1300, giving us a lot of time to sleep, drink beer, get harassed by Alliance natives, etc. We headed right into the house.
TD2 morning, after shaking the cobwebs and sleep out of our eyes, the runs started getting much better. Settling down and starting to work through the problems helped immensely, and as people started to get used to working with their teammates, the movement and fluidity drastically improved.
We got in a couple night runs TD2, which is fantastic. Pat et al stress efficient and effective use of light, and give students the bonus of always adding in low-light scenario training, which is another feather in the EAG cap. Guys who don't train with lights - everyone can tell.
TD3
After getting through a great deal of the class without getting hit by the local weather too bad, that all changed. We started at 1300 on TD3 and spent a good amount of time either soaked to the bone in the shoothouse or huddling under roofs waiting for it to clear.
We got an absolute ton of rain TD3, and when it finally let up in time for our last night run of the day, there was up to 10+" of rain in some parts of the shoothouse. And of course, those were the parts of the shoothouse that we used for that run. This was awesome until the water level was higher than the level of your waterproof boots, and they became water-bearing instead of waterproof...
Today, I think the runs were getting more polished, and so subsequently started to get harder. Targets hiding in corners and obstructed by obstacles, lots of discrimination, unknowns, and obstructed movement. As the students start to understand the "finding work" part of the training, the work becomes more challenging to do.
TD4
Last day, and the runs for the most part leveled out. We got three runs in the last day, then called it for some handshakes, hugs and fist bumps and said goodbye to our friends and mentors. One of the things I love about a 4 day class is that you really get to know your training partners and buddies more than you do in just a day or two - Alliance draws in some absolutely solid guys, and that's part of the draw for me.
I would (and will) take this class again, in a heartbeat, though I will be also moving toward the EAG/Alliance CQB and CEC courses. I feel a little more confident now than before, but I can't stress the value of this training enough. It's not about whether you'll "ever actually need it", it's about learning the fundamentals of using your equipment in the real world and around other people. Once you get off of the square range, a lot of things become apparent, especially that all that square range training is really just table stakes for the real world.
Thanks goes to:
- Alliance Police Department and Alliance Police Training, for being awesome.
- John Johnston, for running the house with me and being a solid guy with a good attitude. Check out Ballistic Radio, it's his deal.
- Joe Weyer, for making this all happen and for getting in there and helping with the instruction. If you're in Alliance, also check out Weyer Tactical.
- John Spears, for just being an all-around phenomenal instructor and human being. There are not a ton of people in the world who care enough to tell you what they really think. In the house, John is one of those people.
- Steve Fisher, for the same reasons and for being great at helping us break down the problems without adding anything to our self-esteem. Check out Sentinel Concepts and train with this guy.
- Pat Rogers, because just because. If you're not hip to EAG Tactical, you're missing out on some of the greatest training this country has to offer. Pat, seriously, thanks. I hope I'm out with armor and a helmet on when I'm you're age...
