Green eye Tactical
Night Vision Operator Course

12-13 Oct 2013
College Station, Texas
$400

I won't be going into too much detail for the exact drills and scenarios.

The purpose of the Night Vision Operator course was to train the user to properly set up and employ Infared Optical and Laser devices. This was a 2 night/ 2 half day course. The plan for the course was modified due to the low turnout for the course, which effectively let us spend much more time on individual feedback and cover more ground than a full course. The pace of the course was also very relaxed and not rushed, which was nice.

TD1:
The day sessions began at 3pm and were designed to give a good refresher on skills and safety. Building block skills that would prepare shooters for the night time iterations were covered. After the requisite safety brief and signed waivers, we moved directly to the Diagnostic/ Zero check eval. This was a 600pt aggregate that incorporated variable ranges and positions, using both pistol and rifle. No feedback was given before or during the shoot. The results of the shoot dictated the skills that received the most emphasis throughout the weekend. The focus of TD1 was rifle skills. We moved from close range shooting techniques to short range barrier techniques. The end of the day focused on medium range shooting at 200 yds.

TN1:
After a dinner break I gave a classroom session consisting of a video and presentation the fundamentals of night vision. We had a good discussion on setting up your gear. We also had the opportunity to try out a number of IR and Thermal devices provided by Summit Night Vision from Plano, Texas. Each attendee received individual feedback and recommendations to set them up for success. The night session consisted of training conducted at close, short, and medium ranges. The weather conditions (rain, 100% humidity, warm temps) gave the shooters the unique opportunity to see how their individual gear performed in less than ideal conditions. The advantages of using optical sights instead of lasers, especially at medium distances, were clearly demonstrated. Quality of intensifier tubes came into play greatly.

TD2:
Showtime was at 3pm again. Because of some zeroing technique conversations from TD1 and one of the shooters bringing multiple rifles, we had a chronograph session. The 25/300 and 50/200 zeros were explained and the importance of choreographing each of your rifles AND each of your ammo lots was demonstrated. We plugged all of our data into a Ballistic app on the iPad and played around with our zero ranges to show what was the ideal individual zero. We then trained pistol skills at close range. After pistol we moved back to medium range and employed our new bullet drop data.

TN1:
After dinner we moved directly to pistol. Techniques for iron sight and lasers were trained. One shooter had an RMR on his pistol and the advantages of an optical device over lasers were demonstrated again. We then had another grouping session at medium range. The humidity seemed to move from 100% to 150% and provided its challenges. We then moved to a short bay to a scenario shoot that would put things together. The scenario was geared to the shooter finding himself in a home defense situation alone, so the techniques differed from full on CQB. This was a "cold" shoot. The scenario was set up and the shooters ran through it with no preparation. Feedback was given as a group after everyone ran through it.  Discrimination targets were used. The shooters enjoyed this exercise, so we switched it up a couple times and ran rifles and pistols using IR and White light. Training wrapped at midnight.

That's the brief summary, I'm copying over one of the shooters AAR from the training thread. I would encourage anyone considering any purchases to ask the attendees about their experience and impartial recommendations. They definitely found out what does and doesn't work.

I didn't have too much time to take a lot of pictures, but I did manage to shoot some video and cut a quick video of the class.

Moved from training thread

I was also in this class.  I won't rehash the specifics of the course, as most of that info has been detailed above.  But I would like to share my thoughts on the quality of instruction and the overall value of the course.

One quick correction from the post above: there was actually a very low student to teacher ratio, which allowed for a ton of individualized attention and advice.

Our instructor Eric is a guy who obviously has a lot of real world experience.  He was able to evaluate the gear we brought and make suggestions as to how to get the most out of our setups.  Going through the drills he set up for us, we were able to compare different setups and see what worked best for us.  Eric made available to us a wide range of NV and Thermal devices, as well as IR laser and illumination devices to check out, supplied by Summit NVG.  At no point did I ever feel like he was trying to sell us on anything, just making sure we knew what options were available.

The course really felt like two separate classes in one.  During daylight hours, we ran pistol and rifle drills and Eric was able to help us refine our technique at both close and medium ranges (out to 200yds with rifle).  Skills included positional shooting, use of barricades and transition drills.  He really watched us closely and helped us refine our technique by tweaking everything from stance to grip to weapon manipulation and malfunction clearing.  Even without the night-shooting portion, this part of the course alone would have been worth the price of admission.  The ability to then run similar drills at night took it to the next level.  None of the students in the course had any prior experience with NV, and Eric was able to take us from complete noobs to being very comfortable with it in no time.  He obviously has the ability to tailor his approach to the level of the students in his class, as opposed to sticking to a preconceived curriculum.  In fact, he added on a fantastic CQB/home defense scenario at the end of the second night, because he knew it was something we would enjoy and learn from, even though it wasn't something he had originally planned.  Now that's a great instructor!

On a final note, we were each given a valuable gift certificate at the completion of the course which was not expected.  Subtracting the amount of the gift certificate from the price of the course made this an even more incredible value.

I would not hesitate to recommend Eric at Green Eye Tactical to anyone looking to improve their skills, objectively evaluate their equipment and become more confident in their abilities.  And I am definitely planning to take more courses from Eric as they become available.