06June05
NTI 2005
We'll all now recovering from the 2005 NTI in Harrisburg, PA, nursing the customary cuts, scrapes, and Simmunitions bruises. Bruised knees, elbows, and egos go with the territory at the NTI, and this year provided it all, in spades!
Our sincere thanks, once more, to Skip, Jim, Hersh, and the entire NTI staff for a wonderful and enlightening event.
Live-fire events were entitled:
Don & Kenny's Hard Luck Café, Dueling Banjos Medical Clinic, Skills Demonstration, Harmony House, ASTA Old Folks' Home, Subway Madness
Simmunitions/role-playing events were:
Underground Parking Garage, Tattoo Parlor, Pawn Shop, Bank Robbery, Gang Rumble, House/team problem, Restaurant/team problem,
As always, live-fire targets were three-dimensional mannequins, dressed, reactive (when hit), and mixed in with "non-targets." There were hostages, hostage takers, moving targets, moving non-targets, building mockups, periodic explosions (complete with falling/flying debris), people screaming, loud music, and smoke. Targets were armed, menacing, and some were obviously wearing body armor. Not all were facing you. Side and quartering shots were sometimes required. They were holding pistols, rifles, knives, claw hammers, RPGs, and, in one exercise, there was an M26 hand grenade rolling around on the floor which apparently belonged to no one!
In the Subway Madness Event, you find yourself in the middle of a terrorist attack at a downtown, urban intersection. Your goal is to rescue an infant in a baby carriage (mother has been shot to death and is lying next to the carriage) and get to a subway egress which has a concrete entryway, providing cover and an escape route. Panicked bystanders are everywhere, holding cameras, handbags, at al. Terrorist suspects have guns, are holding them in a menacing manner, and clearly represent active threats. With others, it is less clear.
There are several items of useable cover: cars, mail boxes, etc. Target identification is difficult, as some people are as far away as one hundred meters. An apparently loaded and functional Kalashnikov rifle is lying on the street, next to its slain (previous) owner.
I quickly gunned down several obvious terrorists while moving to the nearest object of cover. With distant figures, I could not confirm if they represented a
threat or not, so I did not engage them, nor did I pick up the Kalashnikov (never saw it). Others did pick it up and use it. Still others intentionally left it where it was, considering that it may well mark them as terrorists.
Still others (like me) left it where it was, because they never saw it. My persistent problem is that I often fail to see items for which I' not looking. So, when I'm looking only for threatening people, I don 't see things like unattended Kalashnikovs!
Moving from cover to cover, I finally rescued the baby, but I had trouble getting him out of the carriage, as he was strapped in. In retrospect, I could have taken the entire carriage, but I never thought of it.
Lessons: You must zig-zag when running directly toward or away from threats. Otherwise, from their perspective, you're standing still and thus present a useful, and not particularly challenging, target.
Your defensive handgun skill set must include a well-established ability to hit human targets at relatively long ranges, as far as fifty meters. Close threats are most likely, but when you're routinely armed only with a pistol, you must have the ability to effectively deal with a wide spectrum of threats.
Along that line, Express Sights on pistols present a sight picture that is too coarse to be useful past ten meters. Several participants discovered this to their frustrated dismay. Express Sights are wonderful on shotguns, but, in view of the foregoing, I don't recommend them on pistols.
In any life-threatening emergency, you have to keep looking for, and considering, options. That way, you can tweak your basic plan in an instant. Always have a general blueprint (plan) but retain flexibility. However, once you make a decision, don't look back! Do one thing. Don' try to do several things at once, as your focus will become divided, and you'll start to dither.
Whatever you decide to do, understand that neither your plan nor your execution will be perfect. Afterward, someone will always point out where you could have done it better. None of that is important! Worry less about finding the perfect solution and more about good, aggressive action. Don't become a victim of "The Paralysis of Analysis." A banal plan, executed in the nick of time, is better, by far, than is the perfect plan executed a moment too late. In a fight, think less; act more!
The Old Folks' Home Event was staged in the 360 degree range, and each participant was required to go in alone. With all other life-fire events, you have a member of the range staff with you, but with this one, you're on your
own. Once in the problem, you're free to move and shoot as fast as you wish, and in any direction!
You find yourself at an old folks' home, visiting relatives who are residents there. As you enter the building trying to find them, there is a loud explosion. Flying debris comes cascading down on you. Simultaneously, gun shots are heard as well as threatening voices, and you then see a hand grenade on the floor in front of you. When you try to retreat back out the door through which you entered, you discover it is now locked. Your task is to live long enough to rescue your (two) relatives and escape, with them, out the back door.
Most threats are not immediately visible, but they lurk everywhere! I had to move quickly, but not too quickly. It is a balance. Stay one place too long, and you'll find yourself outmaneuvered. Move too quickly, and you'll
blunder into a trap.
As always, I moved aggressively from cover to cover, gunning down threats as fast as I could perceive and identify them. Reloading had to be accomplished quickly, and I dared not look at my pistol in the process, lest a threat sneak up on me. I ran out of ammunition at one point and was compelled to transition to by backup gun. My main gun had to be jettisoned, as there was no time to reholster it
At one point, I was confronted by a terrorist who had explosives strapped to his chest. Range was two meters, and I had sparse cover at the moment. I elected to shoot him in the head, which I did without hesitation. In retrospect, I could have moved to better cover instead of shooting instantly, but I selected the former course of action.
Exhausted and out of breath, I finally rescued and evacuated my relatives!
Lessons: When moving in a dangerous environment, within a building or anywhere threats can be close but unseen, you must practice retention gun-handling techniques: retention draw, retention reload, and retention movement. Your pistol needs to stay close to your body, particularly when you're holding it with only one hand. For example, when you move while leading with your gun , you may find yourself suddenly blind-sided and forcibly disarmed. Worse, you'll telegraph your presence to all looking your way. They may not see your entire body, but they'll see your hands and gun sticking out from behind a corner.
Convenient way for you to alert them to your presence and prepare them to confront you effectively!
You must learn to continually identify, seek, and use cover to your best advantage. Otherwise, you'll find yourself in the open too much of the time. Always present threats and potential threats with a difficult target.
Movement must be swift, smooth, and planned. The best tactic is to move from cover to cover, pieing corners as necessary, and remaining in the open only for brief periods.
Much of your shooting will be one-handed, unsupported. Carrying injured relatives and holding doors open will tie up at least one of your hands more or less continuously. You must be practiced and proficient at one-handed shooting, with either hand!
Doors and other subtle clues are easy to miss when you're not looking for them.
Threats must be dealt with, of course, but don't forget your goal. Your goal is not to chase after and kill every bad guy in the area. Your goal is to disengage and escape with minimum damage to yourself and your relatives.