This was, once again, the best rifle BRM course I have ever attended.  There are many reasons for this which I will attempt to explain here.  This was an open-enrollment class, although practically everyone in it was either former/active duty law or military, so the caliber of student was quite high.  I believe this is a course every qualified armed citizen should look at attending, and here's why.

Northern Red is relatively new on the scene, and has primarily been training active duty police and military personnel.  They do not do much advertising, to date, so it's basically been word-of-mouth advertising.  I just happened to know one of the instructors so I learned from him.  As a disclaimer he is a good friend, but that in no way, shape, or form changes the fact that these guys are running an awesome training group.  If they sucked, I would just keep quiet.  

Gunfighter Carbine is designed to teach you the very latest T,T,P's for handling and shooting your carbine rifle, from CQB, to 100m, and beyond.  It is the distillation of the last 10 years of continuous combat, in various theaters, and will update what you know/don't know about shooting carbines, with an emphasis on what it takes to kill people.  That last part is the zinger, and we'll get to that later.

The weather was variable, from overcast w/sprinkles, to sunny and humid.  Mostly sunny and humid.

The range facilities were quite good, although there were issues with on-going improvements, specifically grading in-progress that impacted training time.  

The instructors were both SF veterans, with current active-duty time, including over 30 months combat deployment, and over 100+ gunfights, in which people were killed.  That last part is important.  These were not you-tube engagements, taking go-pro footage of you and your buddies hiding behind cover while tac air was called in.  These were fire and maneuver gunfights which ended up with enemy casualties.  

The COI covers zero, and different positions from 100m, then teaches CQB techniques in the 7m range.  It starts with stationary shooting, then goes into simulated moving targets, then adding in your movement.  It is a solid progression. which teaches you how to dial your rifle in at 100m, and make sure you, and it, are working properly, then gets into what it takes to shoot at close ranges and with movement thrown in.  Each day builds upon the previous, so you take it a little farther, in accuracy and speed as you progress.

My weapons and equipment were pretty simple, as was the rest of the class.  BCM uppers with various lowers.  Glock-19 carried although not needed or used.  Basic M-68 CCO RDS, which performed flawlessly as usual.  Viking Tactics Padded, metal hardware Mk 1 sling, which worked very well.  Magpul Gen II mags, with no issues.  Godless commie steel-cased ammo, 1K+ with zero issues.  Peltors with gel inserts which are the shit.  Mechanix gloves, awesome as ever.  New AKU Pilgrim DS boots, which are starting to impress.   And of course, crew-served-sized Monster drinks, which along with Copenhagen are required NR re-supply.  

Issues at class.  There were some custom rifles that had problems.  Custom after-market parts that were either not fitted properly or just came loose with use.  There were some mag issues.  GI metal mags which failed.  Although I think the learning point here is that ALL mags can and will fail.  They are expendable items and should be treated as such.  Other than that, they're were very few issues, as this was a pretty squared away class.  Most problems were from equipment wearing out from hard use, which is just a sustainment and maintenance interval issue.

The key take-away here is learning what worked, and didn't work, in a high-stress combat environment.  As in the pistol class, many T,T,P's, as told by old sarge, or your training buddy, or internet forums, etc. were de-bunked, and what really worked was explained and practiced.  Again, the distilled knowledge from this training group is really impressive.  They are currently expanding to meet increased demand, and have the most qualified bench out there, to my knowledge.  I know of no other training group, with this many former SF, CAG, and Jarhead vets, with so many months deployed, and 100's of gunfights.  The reason I think this is so important is because there have been significant changes made to gunfighting SOP in the last 10 years.  And to take nothing away from the many instructors out there, but I think this is the first time this depth of knowledge of the very latest T,T,P's has been offered to law enforcement and qualified civilians.  You are getting the distilled knowledge of the last 10 years of continuous gunfighting, which I think has re-shaped and re-fined the techniques, by sheer volume of gunfights and what it took to prevail.

I think this is very important for the armed civilian, first responder.  We live in an increasingly violent and uncertain world.  The active shooter incidents have risen exponentially in the past few years.  To learn the very latest in T,T,P's, in both rifle and pistol are critical to us, as well as law enforcement, and military.  

What I learned here, and in the pistol class, will form the basis for my re-vamped gunfighting program.  The training I received gives me the framework to go out and practice these techniques to mastery.  In addition to the POI, they give you training tips and drills to do, to improve and sustain the techniques taught in class.  So I now have the training program I need to prepare myself for the day.

Once again, the mental and spiritual aspects of being a warrior were covered.  Examples of both cowards and valor were given.  Preparing both mentally and physically for combat were covered. Again, worth the price of admission alone.  

Sustain:  The quality of cutting edge T,T,P's, the instruction, and the quality of students I was privileged to meet.

Improve:  The access to POI to qualified civilians.  Although their main mission focus is to get this info out to law enforcement, I also think many of us, as first responders may need it as well.

Once again, thanks to all the veterans, who stood on the line for you and me.  And thanks to all the LEO's who protect us here at home, from increasingly savage threats.  And thanks to all armed citizens who have decided to join the fight.  I would be honored to stand on the line with any of you.

Excellent review, I'll be sure and keep an eye out to see if Northern Red shows up close to my AO.

I know their open enrollment sked is tight right now, but I would highly encourage you to travel if necessary to get this training.  It's that good.  I had to go up to PA to get the rifle course.  And met some fine gentlemen (and lady) to boot.  A lot of you may be thinking, who are these guys, but they are legit.  See the latest BCM ad on Tom Spooner and Northern Red for further info.

Have heard many good reviews, am on the lookout for an open enrollment course relatively close to me.