GREEN OPS DEFENSIVE CARBINE I AAR

I’ll try to keep this review concise (it’s not), however if you are just here to get a general gist of my experience with the class here is a TLDR:
Instruction and course material was spot on, with a good mix of personalities and backgrounds. Students experience ranged from proficient, to shooting an AR platform for the first time. The class covers the basics up to intermediate level drills. Highly recommended class for beginners and experienced shooters.

For the record, I am not being paid, nor am I affiliated in any way with Green Ops Inc. This is my own opinion of the Defensive Carbine I course and I felt a review was warranted.  

Class: Defensive Carbine I by Green Ops Inc., June, 25 2022, Culpeper, VA

Class Description (pulled from Green Ops website, Defensive Carbine I):

This 8 hour class covers the basic defensive use of the carbine (AR platform 5.56/.223). It will begin with the fundamentals of marksmanship and move into more advanced drills. Students will improve their carbine handling skills with a strong emphasis on executing the fundamentals correctly, and efficiently applying the correct amount of urgency into your gun handling and shooting as required for defensive firearms. Students will improve their carbine handling skills with a strong emphasis on the fundamentals.

Topics Covered
•Equipment setup
•Zeroing & mechanical off-set
•Professional carbine handling
•Shooting and ready positions
•Tactical & emergency reloads
•Malfunctions
•Mechanics of the shooter
•Personal performance and fundamentals review


Equipment Needed
•Rifle and 3 magazines
•Sling
•Be able to retain 2 magazines on your body
•400 rounds of 5.56/223 ammo (minimum). No steel core, no armor piercing, no tracer.
•Knee pads (optional, but recommended)
•Water for hydration
•Eye protection, hearing protection (electronic recommended) and baseball cap


My Background:
Without getting too deep into professional career it will suffice to say that I have no MIL or LE experience. I have been shooting firearms since I was about 5 years old (now in my 30’s) and have been around them quite a bit my entire life. I’m a huge gun nut, I love the mechanics and engineering behind how they work, and the science of ballistics that comes along with that. This specifically applies to the AR platform as it has been a fascination of mine since I was a child. I purchased my first AR a little over 12 years ago and since then my collection has grown, as well as my proficiency in the platform. I’m fortunate enough to have private property to train on, which has provided me good trigger time behind various weapon systems. Saying all that, I have had no professional training. All training I have done has been from watching a metric crap ton of video media and then applying what I learned into dry/live fire with no actual on site instruction (keep this in mind for further in the review).


My Equipment:
•All engagements for this class are within 50 yards. I ran my SBR’d 11.5 BCM with an Aimpoint T2 zeroed at 36 yards. Worked exceptionally well for this class.
•Battle/gun belt kitted with holster (pistol not needed for this course), IFAK, dump pouch (I used this often), and 2 mag pouches (an absolute must have).
•I brought my full PC kit out with me and did not use it other than it had 2 liters of ice cold water on board. For this class it is recommended by the instructors to ditch the plate carriers and just keep it simple with the battle belt. You will be going over fundamental stuff and there is no
 need to complicate these things with plate carriers for what is a beginner to intermediate course. I run my plate carrier at times for training purposes at my private range and will use it in future advanced classes. As I mentioned it served as an awesome mobile water source and a quick
 stop for loaded mags for this course. Bring it if you wish, it’s certainly not prohibited.
•Sling is an absolute must, don’t show up without one.
•I brought 500 rounds of M193. I wouldn’t bring any less as I about burned through the entire half case. I would recommend against running steel ammo, one student decided to do so and had malfunctions for the entirety of the 8 hour course.
•It was a 93 degree, humid Virginia day. I wore a short sleeve shirt and a pair of Tactical Distributor combat pants with no knee pads inserted. In the future I will be running some kind of sleeves, not only for UV protection but also for elbow protection. I have some nasty strawberries from diving to the deck into prone a few times during one of the later competitions the instructors have you run. Some sort of hat is a must for sun and sweat (at least in the summer months).


Instruction:
As I mentioned previously this was my first professionally taught class. When I arrived I saw that there was what I thought to be a very full class of a little over 20 people. However, Green Ops was squared away with 4 instructors on site to handle the class load. I had the pleasure of receiving instruction from Luke, Chris, Josh, and Fred of the Green Ops instructor roster. I’m happy to say that the instruction I received was above and beyond what I was expecting. All 4 guys had various backgrounds. 2 were USPSA Master Class competition shooters with no MIL or LE background. The other 2 were ex-Army, one SF, and the other an MP with quite a bit of deployments under their belts (all instructor bios are on Green Ops website). The mix of personality added to the enjoyment of the class, and kept you engaged for the entire 8 hour affair. With their being 4 instructors the teacher to student ratio was high, this was an exceptional experience. At just about all times you had an instructor critiquing your actions and providing instant input and feedback. I personally loved the competition approach to defending yourself and family. It was a fantastic blend of movement and positioning from competition style shooting that is extremely effective in winning a gunfight, which is the main focus of this course, making yourself harder to kill. Although the heat was stifling the instructors kept us focused and even had us all laughing regularly with a good dose of humor. Above all else Luke, Chris, Josh, and Fred emphasized SAFETY, and it remained a focus point throughout the course.


Experience and Feedback:
The class structure was exactly what it needed to be and nothing it didn’t. Prior to live fire we went over safety, safety, safety. We went over the medical emergency plan should an accident occur and from there went over a crash course in ballistics, zeros, and hold overs. From there we moved into live fire drills starting with confirming our zero (don’t make the mistake of arriving with an un-zeroed optic). The instructors recommended a 50/200 zero, however they work with everyone’s zero regardless of what zero you choose and why. Next we worked live fire hold overs at varying distances to 25 yards. Despite the fact that many of us were running various optic systems with various zeros the instructors took the time to work with the students who were newer to the platform. We then moved into magazine reloads and malfunctions, and followed this with various other live fire drills, including the Green Ops Rifle Standards drill. We took lunch and listened to further light instruction while eating, which I thought made very good use of the time we had. After lunch we moved into more advanced type shooting positions and class competitions. This is where I had the most fun. The great thing about this course is they use competition against your classmates and time as a stress inducer. As mentioned in my background section of this review I shoot/train at a private range with no one really around and under no stress. This should come as no surprise to anyone, but stress was an absolute game changer to my training. It was a great, eye opening experience. I was forced to not only work on my shooting fundamentals but also maintain my mental acuity and focus while having an instructor over my shoulder adding to the pressure. To me this was the most important takeaway. I will be purchasing a shot timer and inducing as much stress on myself in my own training as possible, including dry fire work. I learned that a shot timer also helps you track your progress as a shooter, something I had never really thought of previously.

Conclusion:
Defensive Carbine I from Green Ops was an outstanding first experience to a professional training class. From the course material to the great instruction. I really found out what I am currently capable of and what I need to work on. I’ll be picking up a shot timer, taking all the knowledge I gained to my range and practicing it. I am truly looking forward to working on my new found skills. I am also extremely excited to sign up for another course with Green Ops. There are several paths I can take now to include Defensive Carbine II or their LVPO course. Although, I could use some pistol training which they also provide. I would like to thank the instructors for providing a fun, safe, and informative learning environment, great work fellas!
For those of you in the VA or TX area, or really anywhere for that matter, don’t hesitate to go get some training with these guys. They are great, you will be happy you did.

Quick video linked below.


Attached File




Defensive Carbine I Drill

WOW! That was a pretty thorough AAR and well written. Thank you for taking the time to share!

Even with the heat it was a great time!

Great AAR! Thanks!