That's a great read...

Glad to see he's still shooting.

Freakin Costa looks like he want to kiss him.

Fantastic post. I've seen more of his pics over probably where you got this one from and it never fails to make my heart swell a little to see someone doing so well after so large a sacrifice.

God bless you, RetreatHell.

Well said.

will read after final

TAG!!

Great post.

Semper Fi

Thank you.

God bless that Marine.

PS - I was kind of surprised that he was equipped with an M-16 with iron sights as late as 2003.

I've requested this thread be moved to the Training forum and tacked.

Thank you mods for moving this, and thank you Paul for your service, sacrifice, and reminding us why we need to train, and train correctly.

AWESOME!

Great read. Glad I got to share Paul's experience. Wish it would have had a better ending though he has his life.



Thank you to all service men and women.



 

Marine.

I have read and I have heard what you are saying.

I will not forget.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

All of Paul's points are now being incorporated in the Army's Short Range Marksman course as well through out the training pipeline. I have been taught and practiced high speed mag changes since Infantry OBC along with squaring to the target and using an isosceles or modified isosceles stance. Shotting on the move, moving to cover, shooting around barriers, controlled pairs, hold off, and lethal zone hits are ingrained in you. But it's a perishable skill and with out a command that's willing to accept the risk of running the ranges that allow these skills to be maintained they are lost.

There is two kinds of shooting, the kind that allows you to qualify expert on the range and the kind that keeps you alive in combat and while they rely on the same principles of marksmanship they are very different.

ost

wow.  very inspiring.  

If the photos alone fail to inspire training, nothing will. Thanks for sharing this man's marine's hard earned experience.

The state of the Marine Corps' shooting program has moved forward since this occured. Starting in OIF II, Marines units starting shooting a program of fire similar to a standard civilian carbine course of fire.  Whether it was Enhanced Marksmanship Program (EMP) for East Coast units or Mission Oriented Combat Shooting (MOCS) for West Coast units, Marine were taught:  Mechanisms of small arms lethality, shooting while moving, speed and tactical reloads, shooting at off axis targets,  Hammers, Controlled Pairs, Failure Drills and non-standard responses, shooting and moving from fighting Stance, shooting in confined spaces and in urban obstacles, a change in the immediate and remedial action procedures, weapons manipulation and more importantly the combat mindset and combat triad.

During the week long EMP course a East Coast shooter would fire 944 rounds, while an West Coast shooter would fire 705 rounds not including remediation rounds and Special Effects Small Arms Marking System (SESAMS)-formerly: simunitions fired.  This shooting was part of the basic Predeployment Training Program (PTP) for all Division Marines and select Marines from the Marine Logistic Group and Marine Air Wing.  Marines conducted this training as part of their overall PTP certification, in order to deploy. Beyond the basic EMP or MOCS most units conducted much more extensive weapons training as part of individual or collective training.

In the intervening period the Marine Corps has adopted the Combat Marksmanship Program (CMP) that is built upon 4 tables of fire.  Table 1 of fire is the standard KD course that Marines have been shooting for generations.  Table 1 focuses on position shooting at the 200, 300 and 500 yard line.  Table 1 for non-entry level Marines covers the first 3 days of the rifle range and will have the Marine firing 220 rounds.  On the fourth day of the rifle range Table 2 is fired. Table 2 covers the intermediate fight from 25 meters to 200 meters with the majority of the 220 rounds fired during Table 2 being shot at 25-50 yards. Both the table 1 and 2 scores are used to determine a shooters final rifle qualification score, which shooting badge the Marine rates to wear and for junior Marines the score is used to compute their "cutting score" for promotion purposes.

The next table of the CMP is table 3.  The focus of this table is on the close fight from 50 to 7 yards; however if range availability and conditions permit also includes engagement of unknown distance targets to a distance of 500 yards. Table 3 instruction and qualification allocation is 360 rounds per shooter. This table is a standards based training course and not time based.  Most units can conduct a table 3 shoot in 1 to 2 days depending on the size of the unit and availability of ranges and CMP coaches.  Table 3 also is the first table the Marines use their night optics and IR lasers.

Outside of the annual training requirements, units individual augments are required to conduct table 3 of the CMP as part of their PTP replacing the previous requirement to conduct the EMP/MOCS.

The final table, Table 4 is considered the immersion of Table 3, with more iterations and repetitions are conducted in order to refine skills and build efficiency. Table 4 is similar to table 3 as is standards based training and qualification program, there is not a time standard associate with it. Shooters are allocated 464 rounds to conduct the table. Often in lieu of the annual requirement infantry units and select divisional units will conduct CMP table 4 as part of their PTP certification.

First, Thank you Marine, for your service and sacrafice for your country. You have a great sense of expression and writing skills. I'm sorry you got cheated on good training. I'm glad you're alive and able to still defend yourself and/or family. Keep it up. I am also glad you boldly and honestly critiquited your own "errors" in hindsight, as this gives us something to ponder and improve ourselves with, whether we are Patriots or LE or MIL. The only things I could debate, respectfully, (aside from the understandable excitement of putting wasteful shots into the first sob), is that if the #2  had the "drop" on you, it wouldn't have mattered that much at that close of a range whether you were "bladed" to him or not. You going down may have saved your life if he thought you were dead. Had you been "squared" to him, with full auto and 7.62, he would have knocked you on your ass anyway as a bigger target, and had just as much of a chance to take a head shot on you. Lucky he didn't anyway. Did the fucker escape or was a brother able to dispatch him? I hope they have improved the side protection on the current vests as I still think presenting a smaller target is the best way to go, at least out in the open, better while moving. A hallway is a different story. Keep up your skills, and you're young enough that hopefully modern medicine will put you on your feet with Godspeed. I hope they are teaching to drop the $5 fucking mag on the ground until the area is secure. That did cost you that 5+ seconds that could have made the difference. Great lesson for all. You have the skills to write a book and I hope you get rich from it. SF

I took a handgun class from FrontSight and they stressed similar things. Keep your eyes downrange, toss the mag if its empty, make sure you stay moving and never assume the guy is down... Also making sure you hit with that first shot is pretty important and that comes with practice, practice practice!

Thanks for the story, it is a good motivator for doing more practice.

My prayers to that brave. kick ass fucking dude.

He's a real patriot and hero.

Wow...

A True Warrior...

Thank you.

Great thread and info. Sometimes some neglect this info and do not realize how important it really is. I am glad and proud to see that he is still in the game and not giving up like some sheep. I respect him.

one of the best stories I've read so far. no bs just the facts. and a lesson for us all.

First thread I read on this forum (not counting pictures and some off topic stuff) and it has really encouraged me to get some good training and be the best I can be with my guns. Thanks.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE! no man can thank you enough, unless he has been in the trenches like you. keep inspiring man, and good luck.

A true Marine!  As much as I love shooting, I was not brave enough to enter the armed forces.  This Marine should be a true inspiration to all armed service personel, and more importantly all Americans!  A great story, and VERY well written.  I agree with others here by saying I would read the long story.

This Marine is mentioned by Travis Haley in the Magpul Art of the Tactical Carbine.

This Marine is a true American Hero!

Sad to hear that.  But thank God we have people like him willing to sacrifice to protect our country.

God bless the Marines.

Bump.
 

I'm looking forward to reading this book, even if it's not very long

Damn!

Glad I read this. I came upon this LITERALLY immediately after I inquired at my local range about Advanced Personal Protection with a Gun classes. I have some VERY capable guns at home, both for CCW and others, and now I really want to learn how to use them properly, like this post illustrates, which could potentially save my or someone's life.

You have my full respect Sir. Thank you for defending this nation.

As a fellow LEO I read this post and remember your story everytime I tend to "relax" when it comes to training.... No words through a text/post can even come close to admiration and praise you deserve but THANK YOU for your service and courage and thanks to every member of the armed services for protecting this great country.

RedFox

Tag for later reading.

Tag!

Just read the entire thing.  Really brings everything into perspective.  Gives reason to train.  Not to mention a moving and powerful story.  My thanks go out to the original writer and OP for quoting him.

Dunno if this has been mentioned already but he actually has a youtube channel I subscribed to before reading this post.  Some great training videos, gear reviews, and advice.  Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/retreathell?feature=results_main

I always enjoy someone in his special circumstances overcoming his problems and going on to be a fine example to the rest of us.  I used to help teach a father/son self-defense program at my old church years ago, and we had one student who had been in a wheelchair since I believe 7 years old (he was 13 at the time of the class I was helping with).  He never once complained, and he trained hard, and with a better attitude then some of the other teenagers, and children I was teaching.  People like RetreatHell, and that student are fine examples of the attitude of Never Give Up!

Agree 100%

This is a true hero that we can all thank for his courage and sacrifice.  God bless you and thank you for being the inspiration and warrior that you are.

Excellent read. Thank you for sharing, and thank him for me please. Amazing.

To Paul - thank you for the reminder and sharing your story Devil Dog.

This post always makes me sad. In my school of infantry in 1997 we learned to always drop a mag in your cargo pocket. I never ever even thought to put it back in a mag pouch. How this kid didnt get that kind of training is inconceivable to me.
Dont read this wrong. I'm not dinging him. I'm just saddened by this and confused as to when and how that got so lost this kid ended up shot. I wonder if the war time training got...sloppy and then better.

Paul, thank you for your service and thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom. From your pictures it is good to see your back in the saddle shooting. phipp13