Instructors-Travis Haley & Brannon LeBouef
Date-1-3 June 2012
Location- Rocky Creek Ranch, Myakka City, Florida
Review by-Tory Summer Jordan-(Female Shooter)


IMG_5411 by eyeagainsteye, on Flickr

1-3 June 2012- I took the opportunity to attend Travis Haley’s Disruptive Environments Handgun, Darkness, Vehicle course. Training was taught by 2 instructors; Travis Haley and Brannon LeBouef. For those of you not familiar with or who don’t know either instructor here is a brief background on each:
Travis Haley has a 15 year Marine Corps background with Special Ops/Force Reconnaissance and Combat/Training experience. Haley has also worked in private contracting, was CEO of Magpul Dynamics and owns his own company called Haley Strategic Partners. Haley Strategic Partners has 3 divisions: Training, Product and Marketing. The training side of the business is the core of Haley Strategic and is what he has become most known for, which is what brought me (and I suspect most shooters) to take this course. The above mentioned credentials do not even begin to scratch the surface or describe who Travis Haley is and what his core values are. There is not a doubt in my mind that every person leaving this course after 3 days of training with him knew without a doubt what Travis believes in & stands for.

Brannon LeBouef is Travis Haley’s partner in the Training Division of Haley Strategic. Brannon has a long list of credentials, certifications, training and professional associations he is affiliated with, along with a crazy little New Orleans, Louisiana accent that comes out as he speaks. He is an 11 year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and has been a member of local law enforcement in Louisiana since 1996. In addition to training and instructing a variety of specializations in Law Enforcement, Brannon also works on a private government contract in Afghanistan. Brannon has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Criminal Justice and is working towards a second Master’s degree and a Doctorate degree in Criminal Justice/Administration. Brannon is fun, funny, intelligent and very passionate about what he believes and stands for. Both Travis and Brannon have rock solid core values (which I suppose is how these two instructors came together).

Both Brannon and Travis are in this for all the RIGHT reasons. Look either one directly in the eyes and you know they both genuinely and truly want to help us students be better. Better not just at shooting, but at decision making, at thinking, at learning from our mistakes!! The entire course was centered around these things …almost with shooting secondary. (We still shot over 500 rounds a day) but the focus was different than other courses–– this is evident & apparent on day one, then becomes definitive and obvious by day 3.

The Disruptive Environments Course that I just took is one of several training classes offered by Haley Strategic. For some reason this course really intrigued me long before I had met either instructor. It really seemed practical in my mind. DE (Disruptive Environments) Handgun, Darkness, Vehicle is taught in such a manner that it introduces the idea of being a THINKER before being a SHOOTER. The super hyper critical nature of this abstract concept was brought to light NUMEROUS times during the course. Both Travis and Brannon are both so passionate about what they are teaching us, who they are, and what they believe in & this became more and more evident as the course progressed.

DE is more of a critical thinking and weapons manipulations class set in realistic environments that you could potentially actually find yourself in. We worked and operated in both daylight and darkness. I have never shot under low light/no light conditions before so it was very new and different to me, yet very relevant to an actual real life situation/scenario ––-If you think about it, the majority of rapes, attacks, break-ins and crimes (in general), that we may actually find ourselves in happen at night…(yet I had never trained or been exposed to shooting/engaging targets at night or in any type of disruptive environments.

This Class is not a beginners handgun course. Knowledge and basic handgun manipulation/training is a MUST prior to taking this course.

The course opened with introductions, why we are here, handgun fundamentals/ refreshers and safety brief.

Travis and Brannon told stories throughout training (really good stories), all relevant to us taking something away from every one of their stories and learning something from each one told. They encouraged story telling amongst all of us saying we can learn something from everyone there… and they are correct! I did pick things up and learn from everyone’s talks and stories–– it was great!!
Day 1 First exercise- Combat Effectiveness Qualification- we were told if we can’t pass with a score of 80 or better we were not allowed to remain there for the course. YIKES!!!
The class consisted of 18 EXPERIENCED shooters (competition shooters, LEO’s, Civilians, Firearms Industry workers, prior military etc.) all Male shooters except for myself and one other female shooter.
It was pouring rain. (Personally I was freezing cold)
NO ONE PASSED!
Not even 1 person.
Travis said he had NEVER had a class where literally NO ONE passed!
Did I mention this class was comprised of 18 experienced shooters!!!
We all felt like shit! Travis made us go down range and look at our targets and he asked us why we did not pass??!!! …Why none of us passed??!!
Several reasons were thrown out:
“We suck, it’s raining, we didn’t know there was a combat effectiveness qualifications test, pressure, distractions, not focused, etc ...etc… etc…” This was when it started. This is when we truly started—this is when we all began to “learn from our mistakes and learn from our failure points”. Travis said if we sit there and say we suck––- then we suck! If we say we can do better then we can do better. He introduced us all to a firm belief of his “the universal law of attraction” and how it is right 100% of the time! If you think negative thoughts they will come true, if you think positive thoughts they will come true – Travis further explains that this law of positive and negative attraction is right 100% of the time.
Hmmmmmmmmm…..
Travis and Brannon teach us to shift our mindset to positive. ☺
From that point forward the class undertone was positive and of good mindset. Travis and Brannon drove these concepts of positive mindset home throughout the entire 3 day course both on and off the range, and everyone was on board. We then moved into some more shooting and moving drills, advanced techniques for low light weapons manipulation, use of lights in darkness and weapons manipulation in and around vehicles.

Travis and Brannon took time out to give individual focus to all shooters having any questions or issues w/ equipment, weapons, light systems or with technique. They fielded all questions asked and ALWAYS explained to us why we are doing drills a certain way, not just telling us to do it or barking out range commands but actually why we do it this particular way. If you messed up the drill, they would help you figure out why you made the error(s), then help you work through how best to correct it, and then you would have the opportunity to run the drill again and learn from your failure points. I found this very interesting. I loved it!! I am one who always likes to know the mechanism by which something happens or how and why something works a certain way, but often times we aren’t given that information. This was very enlightening and makes you truly understand the “why” before the “what”. It really makes sense and we can apply this lesson in all things we do in life. This brings me to my next point—EVERYTHING we learned through out this course can be applied in our day to day life, not just in shooting! So if you think about it, this course goes far and beyond learning and doing some cool new shooting techniques and drills, it actually helps in all aspects of life & in all situations.

Day 2 & 3 We did CET Quals again and some different shooting and moving drills.
We worked on and discussed Light theory, Light/handgun manipulation, reactive light shooting, lighting and movement, vehicle cover & concealment, vehicle weapons manipulation, and individual problem solving (Daylight, Darkness & Vehicle).
We were each individually called over the berm alone, one at a time, so no one knew what was going on until it was your turn. We were stripped of our handguns and ammo and given a mask and a simulation handgun with a full magazine of simulation ammo loaded and told to get in the vehicle.
This drill was run by Brannon. I got in the vehicle and he placed a towel over my face and had me sit back and relax. I was told that I will need to decide whether or not to engage the targets presented to me, and that the targets may be shoot or don’t shoot targets so I will need to THINK and decide…. OK….Right!... Got it!.....I laid back & got into my relaxed mode… then all of a sudden a mad man came out of nowhere with a baseball bat beating on the car, smashing the windshield in with no shit glass breaking in all over me, he was rocking the car back and forth and circling the car screaming at me, Branon was there with his hands up (indicating he is not a threat)––- The initial body alarm reaction kicked in – I froze for a second- Brannon yelled at me; “what are you doing???” ”Why are you just sitting there????” …” FUCKING DO SOMETHING!!!!!!” It felt real!! I took way too long to get the weapon out. I was looking around trying to figure out if there were any other innocents, or bad guys. I reached for the gun at that point and engaged the moving, bat swinging, psycho that was circling the car through the broken glass in the windshield. I shot 3 rounds (I got at least 1 good hit)….OH MY GOD!!!! It felt so real!!! This was probably one of the most realistic examples of how quickly something could go wrong and how I may have reacted to a stressful situation in which I may be forced to draw a weapon and actually shoot someone!!
This was a great exercise- ––Surprising, chaotic and threatening!!! I know the scenario was not at all complex but it took me a long time to get past the body Alarm response. We had to use instinctive reaction to the threat stimuli and intuitive response that worked well with the natural body alarm reaction.
We debriefed the scenario- I shot the guy, no innocent people were killed. I took too long to get the weapon out and way too long to decide to act… We discussed the OODA loop, body alarm reaction, etc.
I learned so much from this exercise!! Travis teaches us the 1% theory: This is the 1% of our lives that we may actually be in a situation and have to pull the trigger on another human being. The other 99% is everything else in our day to day life. Travis asks us “Why is this so important” lots of answers are given. Travis says it is that 1% of our life that we can never get back. It is that 1% of our life that we just can’t mess up because there is no return from it! “You will never get a second chance at that 1%”. This is why we train. We train to think and train to learn from our failure points, and train to address our failures so we can move past them and properly learn from them. We need good mindset we need to be critical thinkers we need to be positive. All this is what makes this course so unique and so different from other courses. It is also what sets Travis and Brannon apart from so many other instructors. They are true believers in what they are teaching us. They both have long standing history and a track record that proves and backs themselves and their beliefs, they CARE, they have compassion, they love their families, they contribute to society, they know what is REALLY important in life. They have true character and integrity that is so rare to see in people these days. They teach us these qualities. They tell stories and you can see their true character shine through while they speak. Travis & Brannon say shooting starts in the mind… you know what…they are right! (who knew??)… but not just shooting … EVERYTHING in life. That is what was so great for me to take away from this course. What they are teaching applies to EVERYTHING.

It was amazing how quickly the course flew by. Both Travis and Brannon created a lot of food for thought. Having never met either instructor prior to this course, I was impressed with both instructors excellent presentation style and ability to convey their message to all of us (male and female alike), they are both dynamic & well spoken with quick wit and humor (on and off the range). They work incredibly well together. It is obvious that both Travis and Brannon have spent a great deal of time and effort designing the Disruptive Environments Course and backing it with their core values and core fundamentals. I recommend this course to all experienced handgun shooters.

This course was held at Rocky Creek Ranch in Myakka City FL. Over the 3 day course everyone got to know each other on and off the range. Everyone basically lives at the lodge together and gets to interact with each other like a big family… we eat together and hang out together. It is a lot of Fun. The environment at this venue is AWESOME and is another aspect I REALLY liked about this course.
Critique & Criticism- I have nothing negative to say about this course because it was AWESOME! I did somehow think we may actually be driving and engaging targets (but I really have no idea where I manifested that idea from in my head)… that is not to say they wouldn’t possibly incorporate that – but they may not have had the ability to set that up at this particular range or for this particular course. The only other thing I would mention is I would have liked to have spent just a little more time on the light demos and some examples of the effects of each on us (in other words maybe partner up and have everyone experience back light effects, direct front light effects, strobe light effects etc…and see what each looks and feels like from the predator/attacker’s perspective….and then talk a bit more about the 3 phases of light photopic, mesopic, scotopic. In other words, a little more classroom detail and lighting scenarios because I wanted to understand that just a bit more.

Ladies- I am a civilian female shooter with no prior military or LEO background. Travis and Brannon were respectful and treated myself and the other female shooter in class the exact same as they treated all the male shooters in class. The course was physical but not at all difficult to where you could not keep up with the drills. You should be in good enough physical condition to be able to maneuver in and around the vehicles. I recommend this course to ALL women (with basic handgun skills/training) because of the practical aspect of the drills, the reality of lighting conditions and what it may feel like to one day actually find yourself in a compromised life threatening situation where you actually have to think & defend yourself or a loved one. Ladies…If you have been going to the range and taking practice shots on a still paper target downrange and thinking you are “good to go” if something were to happen to you…Think again!!!… This course is a must do!!!!


IMG_5523 by eyeagainsteye, on Flickr

Awesome AAR, thanks for sharing. I've heard nothng but good things about HSP.

Sweet first post