Lighthorse Tactical AAR – Tactical Firearms-GUNS4

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Lighthorse Tactical AAR – Tactical Firearms-GUNS4 – 1-18-2014

Posted: 1/21/2014 7:39:24 PM EDT

Lighthorse Tactical AAR – Tactical
Firearms-GUNS4 – 1-18-2014

Morning temperature – 18 Degrees
Fahrenheit

Conditions – Frozen ground,
Cloudy-sunny

About me

Having put in over 200 hours of
firearms/tactics training in 2013, I consider myself to be somewhat
of a professional student. I have trained with the USAF, FBI, ABI,
Civilian, and LE, among other groups. So you can imagine how excited
I got when LHT put the GUNS4 course on the schedule.

Course Description

From the Lighthorse Tactical
Website:

This advanced 8-hour class covers
tactical concepts, weapon manipulations, "move, shoot, &
communicate”, ammunition management, mental awareness, distance
shooting with the carbine. This class incorporates team problem
solutions requiring physical activity and mind work. Attendees should
be in good physical shape and have a thorough knowledge of their
weapons and equipment. This class will incorporate short, medium and
long distance marksmanship with the carbine. Magnified optics are not
required. We will work with the sights you bring on your gun.

In a nutshell, GUNS4 is intended to be
the culmination of your weapons and tactics training. This is not the
place to learn firearm fundamentals, as you are expected to have
these dialed in. This is also not a class to try new gear, although
it will test your gear to the extreme. You should show up, be dialed
in, mentally focused, be prepared to be challenged.

Overview

I have taken, I think, 5 or 6 LHT
classes in the last year, and have come to know the core instructors
quite well. Each instructor brings a unique view to the table, and
the folks at LHT seem to like bringing in additional folks with a
wide array of past experience. Some of the instructors are LE SWAT,
some are .mil SF (or prior?), etc. What I thought was interesting is
that each instructor would take time with smaller groups, and give
his own perspective on the subject at hand. (As an example, a sniper
was brought in for discussions of MOA and other precision shooting
topics)

The class had 11 students (one last
minute cancellation knocked off the full 12 man roster), which is a
great size, but the way the class was driven made it even better. The
class was initially split into two groups, so while one group was
working the course of fire, the second group had an opportunity to
top off magazines, eat a quick snack, and get squared away. Further,
each secondary group would have partners to assist with spotting
where necessary. This would be a great class to bring a dialed in
friend. Down time was extremely minimal, due to great planning by the
instructors.

The class was broken up into 4 basic
sections, which will allow me to segment the AAR nicely.

Be Safe, Shoot Right

The first portion of the class included
a safety briefing and a zero confirmation. The safety briefing was
thorough, but primarily included "you are expected to have your
shit together”. I’ll say it again; this is not a class for
retards or inexperienced folks.

The zero confirmation was setup for a
50 yard zero, mainly because the 50 yard zero is excellent at
distances from 0-350 yards, which are the minimum distances for this
class. We were not forced to use the 50 yard zero, and each zero
distance was weighed on its advantages and disadvantages.

Most students were already zeroed, and
the ones that aren’t, were squared away. I had a 25 yard zero on my
DD Carbine, and was quickly re-zeroed to 50.

To wrap up the first section of the
class, the instructors briefly covered distance shooting, precision
topics, and proper shooting positions to ensure hits out to longer
distances.

Distant Thunder

The second
portion of the course was designed for you begin making hits at
distances from 100 to 400 yards. Initially, we were shooting prone
one at a time, with guidance from the instructors until we were
reliably making hits at the distances that our weapon setup was
capable of doing so. Some students had magnification, and were able
to make hits out past 400 yards. Those of running unmagnified red
dots were making hits out to 300+. I was able to reliably hit a 10
inch steel target at 300, while others were going even further.

At this point, we knew what our
capabilities were with our carbines, and were placed into real-world
scenarios to push our limits.

The Real World Doesn’t Shoot from a
Pad

We split back up into two fire teams,
and one team shot from various fire positions, including roll over
prone, junkyard prone, etc, using cover such as cars, tires, etc. The
idea was to make long range hits, while properly utilizing cover.
This required unusual positions, and learning how to maximize
stability techniques in those positions. It is an eye opening
experience to be required to make 200+ yard hits from underneath a
car, or through the car’s windows. After we were good on this, we
were given scenarios that required all of the training so far in the
class. For example, you must move between awkward positions, and make
x number of hits at various distances, including reloads in these
positions where necessary.

The second team was moved to a CONNEX
building with an upstairs platform and windows. The basics of
shooting from inside a building were covered, including when to shoot
from deep cover and when to ride up on the cover. We were required to
make shots from various positions at various distances, using
whatever we could find inside the CONEX building. Benches, windows,
walls, etc, were all used to great effectiveness to make hits at the
maximum distances our skills/equipment would allow.

We were then instructed briefly on hold
under for angles, and then moved up on top of the platform to make
hits at maximum distances.

When each fire team finished their
respective courses of fire, we switched, and this kept the tempo of
the class at full speed. At this point we have had almost zero down
time.

Basics Rule the World

The third portion of the course started
off with a brief flat range session, where our transitions and
malfunction clearing were challenged. Note that this is not the place
to learn how to perform malfunction clearing and transitions. We were
expected to know this in great detail before arriving.

Transitions were timed and drilled hard
until everyone was properly refreshed, and they set into inducing
malfunctions of all types, while we had to clear them and get back
into the fight.

We were pushed hard to ensure these
techniques took minimal time.

At this point, we covered application
of tourniquets as well as placement on the gear, and basic medical
information regarding IFAKs.

Let’s Go to Work

The fourth section of the class took
the longest time, probably 6 hours or so. It was by far the most
intense portion of the class. It would involve a series of tactical
problem solving scenarios. Each scenario was vastly different, and
built on the skills learned on the previous drills.

We were placed into four man teams, and
given a brief on working in a stack/team, to include moving,
shooting, and muzzle discipline.

Our first drill was designed to get us
accustomed to moving together covering front and flank threats, when
required. All the while pushing forward to assist a "victim”.

We moved up "street” that was
intersected on the right side by "alleys”. The alleys had a
combination of steel and paper targets that required putting down.
You had to work the tactical angles of the alleys holding your area
of responsibility. Each team member was required to peel off covering
the team’s flank, and the other members continued pushing the
fight. After the flanker engaged his targets, performed a magazine
swap he then moved to rejoin the team. This required constant team
communications. We worked our way up "Main Street” dealing with
shoot/no shoot targets, setting up security and then applying medical
aid to the "victim”. The teams then split; two guys would move
the dummy (affectionately called Captain Goodyear) while the other
two team members were engaging various targets called out by the
instructors from their cover positions. Each two man pair would
rotate moving the dummy, while covering the other pair, throughout
the extraction. Note that the bad guys ranged in distance from 5 to
200 yards away. You basically had to know when to change
position/cover and move, using communication and solid fundamentals
to make hits.

This is really where the class peaked
out, because you don’t have enough brain power to focus on reloads
and fundamentals, because you have to give everything you have to
team work, communication, and the physical exertion of hauling a 12
foot long "victim”. This is where you will discover your weak
spots. All of them.

The next courses of fire required the
four man team to run from cover to cover, while engaging distance and
close targets, and communicating while the instructors induced
malfunctions. Lighthorse Tactical makes good use of their nasty
invention called the PAW. The PAW imposes the instructor’s will
over your carbine. It’s important to know where you are in
relation to the threat and opting to transition or fix your
malfunction and communicate so you don’t have multiple guns out of
the fight. It was very tricky, and this stage started to show a lot
of weaknesses in gear. People were losing mags, dropping parts, and
breaking gear. I shattered my surefire flashlight mount driving my
long gun into a shooting port on this stage. Nearly every team lost
gear or equipment in this stage. Even worse, the icy ground had
melted, and created a muddy soup that you were working in. All of the
positions were low cover positions and we came out covered in mud.

The final stage of fire really pushed
our limits.

Half of the team was set up on the
elevated platform, while the second pair started in a disabled
vehicle with a downed driver approximately 50 yards away.

The truck crew was required to engage
close targets with pistols from inside the truck, then bail out and
putting their long guns to good use. The pair in the platform ran to
the truck, provided medical aid to the driver, drag him to safety,
while the vehicle pair engaged targets varying in range and location.

Once the disabled driver was safe, the
truck crew bounded to a hard cover position and continued to engage
the threats. The platform team laid down long range hits on targets
pressing the truck crew.

This was a very complex drill that
required everyone to be dialed in, and communication had to be
strong. Yet again, gear and equipment was failing left and right, and
those running slack gear ran out of rounds due to magazines hitting
the deck during the chaos.

Summary

Wow. I was absolutely blown away at the
pace of this class. It was intense as hell. If you are looking to be
seriously challenged with your skills and kit, this is the class for
you.

I’ll say it again… you should come
to this class squared away. All students were all previous
Lighthorse Tactical students. The LHT cadre is pretty serious making
sure these classes are attended by shooters who are "ready” for
it. The students in this class came well prepared and with a strong
skill set. Thanks to the solid nature of the students, the class was
able to be pushed on, and pushed hard. I call BS on the "8 hours”.
This was more like 11 hours, and with no breaks. If you want to eat
or piss, do it while you lube up your carbine and top off your mags.
This class hardly stopped at all.

Many classes claim 8 hours, but start
late, have a long lunch, and leave early. NOT THIS CLASS.

I feel comfortable saying that we
easily covered what could have been two or three days worth of
material in one intense day. This means that you don’t need to be
switching pouches, or dicking with your gear. It’s game-on, from
the start.

I’d give this class a rating of
BADASS for intensity, quality of training, and skill of the
instructors.

My equipment

DD LWLEv4 Carbine with an aimpoint
pro.

Mayflower PC with tacos

I will post up some pics when I get them.

Posted: 1/22/2014 6:34:23 AM EDT

[#1]

Well that's a hard AAR to follow, but I'll do my best...

I attended my first Basic SWAT school under Curt and Chuck (now two big pieces of the Lighthorse puzzle) way back in 2006, and I have maintained a professional relationship with them ever since. I am also a firearms instructor at my own agency, and Lighthorse will always be on my short list of folks to train and sharpen my own skills with.

As the Penguin mentioned, GUNS4 was billed (and delivered) as a "culmination" class, and is meant to test skills already possessed much more so than it is to impart skills on you the shooter. It is an advanced class and the basic/ intermediate classes offered by Lighthorse would certainly be a must for prospective students who did not have significant or otherwise equivalent training and' or experience on the range. The class size was very appropriate for the materials presented and drills conducted. It was COLD... Stupid cold for Alabama.

I will not reiterate the class schedule, but it is suffice to say that the pace was fast, and once the class split into two groups, down time was minimal. Coming from a LE background, it is worth mentioning that there is a lot to do at GUNS4 that you will simply not get to get reps with on a given police range day. We ran carbines from numerous off hand and makeshift firing positions, and we ran them at range (close to 400 yards). Then we ran them at range, from makeshift positions. As already mentioned, the cadre for this class was diverse, and if one of them was speaking on a topic, you could rest assured he was in his lane.

The day ended with a lot of shooting, moving, and communicating... We moved across the terrain of a large, long range bay by way of bounding overwatch, all while maintaining fire on two fronts. Stress was induced during this phase in several ways... Shooters had to relay their target information to one another, we were held accountable for hits on the given targets, and lastly by the instructors making sure we had some "issues" with out equipment. I don't think I saw anyone's carbine malfunction on its own all day, but thanks to the devious little creation that is the PAW (Problem Activation Wand) we all suffered many times to exercise immediate action drills throughout our respective runs.

Lighthorse Tactical's GUNS4 is a great class, and is a fantastic measuring stick by which one can measure their skills and their gear. I know of few classes where you are able to run and gun, and engage targets out to 400 yards all in one day, but this is certainly one of them. I highly recommend this course for LEO's, SWAT dudes, .mils, and the vigilant citizen alike. It is money well spent.

My gear consisted mainly of a Daniel Defense V7 topped with a Leupold VX-R Patrol 1-4, and a Glock 34. Soft gear was a Shellback Banshee Plate Carrier and HSGI Suregrip Battle Belt.

Posted: 1/22/2014 10:34:50 AM EDT

[#2]

Good stuff shooter_john!!!

Good times.

Posted: 1/22/2014 11:13:53 AM EDT

[#3]

Damn, beat me to the punch! Oh well, I might throw up my AAR anyways.

Nice writeup man.

Posted: 1/22/2014 11:17:26 AM EDT

[#4]

Quote History

Quoted:

Damn, beat me to the punch! Oh well, I might throw up my AAR anyways.

Nice writeup man.

View Quote

Hell yea man, the more the merrier!

Wonder how many arfcommers we had in that class?

Posted: 1/22/2014 3:44:36 PM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
Hell yea man, the more the merrier!

Wonder how many arfcommers we had in that class?

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Damn, beat me to the punch! Oh well, I might throw up my AAR anyways.

Nice writeup man.

Hell yea man, the more the merrier!

Wonder how many arfcommers we had in that class?

Not sure, I had that thought at one point on Saturday. If I was a betting man, I'd say quite a few.

Posted: 1/22/2014 5:04:58 PM EDT

[#6]

Pics.

Posted: 1/22/2014 5:08:17 PM EDT

[#7]

Working the Junkyard Position (JYP). A few of your collective ARF's.

One of the artsy shots...

Posted: 1/22/2014 5:15:43 PM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:

Working the Junkyard Position (JYP). A few of your collective ARF's.http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a357/sabre07/GUNS4penguinpratherJoeJYP.jpg

One of the artsy shots...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a357/sabre07/GUNS4whiponthemove.jpg

View Quote

The guy over the hood of that jeep is one ugly mug.

Posted: 1/23/2014 1:38:57 AM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
The guy over the hood of that jeep is one ugly mug.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Working the Junkyard Position (JYP). A few of your collective ARF's.http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a357/sabre07/GUNS4penguinpratherJoeJYP.jpg

One of the artsy shots...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a357/sabre07/GUNS4whiponthemove.jpg

The guy over the hood of that jeep is one ugly mug.

Whoever owns that Jeep is gonna be PISSED.

Posted: 1/23/2014 1:57:28 AM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:

Whoever owns that Jeep is gonna be PISSED.

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No Parking means NO PARKING.

Posted: 1/23/2014 2:50:13 AM EDT

[#11]

I will take those rims and tires along with the front bumper

I will give you some stock honey comb wheels and tires.

Thanks,

Let's go to work sounds like a lot of fun! How many rounds thru the course of the class?

I'm dying to get some training I have taught myself how to shoot and you can only teach yourself so much. How's their "beginner" class? And lastly how much does a class run dollar wise?

Thanks for your write up it is motivating to say the least.

Eta; what's up with the ghetto shooting position over the Jeep hood and thru the rear passenger side window?

Posted: 1/23/2014 3:47:53 AM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:
I will take those rims and tires along with the front bumper

I will give you some stock honey comb wheels and tires.

Thanks,

Let's go to work sounds like a lot of fun! How many rounds thru the course of the class?

I'm dying to get some training I have taught myself how to shoot and you can only teach yourself so much. How's their "beginner" class? And lastly how much does a class run dollar wise?

Thanks for your write up it is motivating to say the least.

Eta; what's up with the ghetto shooting position over the Jeep hood and thru the rear passenger side window?

View Quote

The front bumper is spoked for. The tires and rims…we can talk. Especially if you know how to de-lift it. It tows horribly with no engine or transmission.

Our Basic Carbine is step one towards this level of training. If you haven't had formal training of some type, we recommend a basic. We teach all of our basic classes with "tactical" in mind.

The Junk Yard Position (JYP) is designed to present as a low a profile as possible when using cover. It is also a diminished capacity (i.e. hurt or fatigued) position.

Feel free to send a message, hit the website www.lighthorsetactical.com or on the Facebook thing. Round counts, equipment, etc are on the webpage.

Posted: 1/23/2014 6:12:36 AM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:

Feel free to send a message, hit the website www.lighthorsetactical.com or on the Facebook thing. Round counts, equipment, etc are on the webpage.

View Quote

Sabre is the instructor, folks.

Made the link hot.

ETA: I think we probably shot 400 rifle rounds and maybe 150 pistol? Sabre correct me if I'm wrong.

It really depended on you. If it takes you 30 rounds to walk your shot on target, then you'll burn more rounds than if you can make early hits.

Some students probably shot less than I did, and some more.

You could easily burn up 500 rounds in the class, depending on how bad you suck.

(kidding!)

Posted: 1/23/2014 7:47:27 AM EDT

[#14]

I believe 400 is indeed about right for what we did. I may have gotten a little trigger happy on the scenario runs, but then again none of us signed up to NOT shoot.

One huge thing I missed in my AAR was the medical aspect of the class. It was nice to actually work with TQ's and then later implement them into scenario's which were already busy with other problems to solve. Just one more thing you won't find in typical classes.

Posted: 1/23/2014 9:18:10 AM EDT

[#15]

Quote History

Quoted:

I believe 400 is indeed about right for what we did. I may have gotten a little trigger happy on the scenario runs, but then again none of us signed up to NOT shoot.

One huge thing I missed in my AAR was the medical aspect of the class. It was nice to actually work with TQ's and then later implement them into scenario's which were already busy with other problems to solve. Just one more thing you won't find in typical classes.

View Quote

Agreed!

I think the medical aspect was huge, especially considering people usually get shot in gunfights.