TNVC recently conducted its first scheduled training class for the year, Nightfighter 101, at the Alliance Police Training Facility in Alliance, Ohio. The class had six students--one federal LE, and the rest civilians; many had prior military service.
Of course, the current COVID 19 pandemic affected the class. We had several cancellations due to the pandemic before the class started. After much deliberation among the cadre, we decided the responsible decision was to get the students and staff back home to their families. As a result, we ran only one night of the class.
Because of this decision, the students can either get a full refund or transfer their class to another one. If they do transfer the class, they will also receive a discount on an Armed Professional class. So this night of training was a free event for them to account for their time and expenses traveling to and from Alliance.
Early into the class hours, it started to snow--what would a TNVC class at Alliance be without precipitation? The weather did not affect training as much as the rain did in our last class, so we were able to get some good low light, IR laser and passive shooting drills in.
Getting to work in the snow
Of course, risers rule the day with NVGs. Generally, the higher, the better. You can see the difference here:
Shooting an Eotech without a riser
Different shooter, with a riser--so much easier with NVGs on
When using a pistol with NVGs, either an optic or laser makes it so much easier!
After some flat range drills, we moved over to the rifle range side of the facility, and did some work with asymmetrical positions, barrier work, and limited buddy team work. This is shooting that we normally would do on night two, but we wanted to make sure to get this in--it generally is the most exciting part of Nightfighter 101 with regards to shooting, and certainly highlights the capabilities of night vision as well as the challenges of the technology.
An interesting challenge we saw in this class centered around slings--more than one student encountered difficulty with their sling setup. They faced everything from positional/comfort challenges to stoppages as a result of their slings. We confront this problem occasionally in classes, but not normally at the ratio we saw that night. Should the class had gone a second night, I am positive that we could have improved their setup.
All in all, the class was successful. The students performed very well in tough conditions and understood the decisions we made about the training. Most of the their gear withstood the weather. This is a class where students are encouraged to try their gear out, make changes, and adjust accordingly. Unfortunately, we were not able to help as much as we would like to fine tune equipment setups like we would normally do in a full class.
This year, there will be multiple Nightfighter 101 and Armed Professional Classes at the Alliance Facility. The dates and for both classes are on the website and we expect these classes to fill rapidly. For those interested in taking a TNVC class, but don't have night vision, they do offer rental gear to get you started. Information is available on the website.
We always thank Joe Weyer and the Alliance Police Department for their generous support for training. If you are looking for a great place to train, on almost any firearms discipline, check them out--they are sure to offer a class that you would be interested in.
Additionally, several companies stepped up to offer students swag and such for their attendance. We really appreciate their generosity and are proud to have them associated with our classes.
Ops-Core
Unity Tactical
Thyrm
Geissele Automatics
Blue Force Gear