I went to my first "real" tactical class this weekend (Adler & Associates Advanced Defensive Carbine Class). It ran from about 10 - 5 & 7:45 - 10 on Saturday, and from 9 - 2 on Sunday. It was a bit short because everybody was an experienced shooter, most of us had shot together before, and there was zero downtime due to pauses for lectures generated by violation of safety rules (trigger discipline, muzzle discipline, et c.).

Here's what I learned:

1. I am not the badass I secretly thought I was.

2. I can nonetheless do some pretty amazing stuff - I have potential.

3. I raised a hell of a kid (took my 22 yo with me).

4. My X thousand rounds a year down range for these many years (decades?) built nothing more than a basic skill with about the same relationship to threat response as knowing left from right has to driving a car: it is necessary but nowhere near sufficient.

5. I am in crappy physical shape, but I can run on willpower if necessary.

It was a very humbling and very valuable experience. I have had difficulty expressly the simultaneous realization that my secret name isn't Chontosh but it isn't Shitbird, either. If you haven't taken a course from a pro, you really, really should. I am still digesting the experience, but I can tell you that if you haven't had professional training, you are not what you think you are in terms of preparation for protecting yourself, your family, and your way of life. Have somebody recommend a good one, sacrifice if you have to to get to it, and GO!

Going to add an oxygen tank to your LBV?

I am going to take my first in the fall,  I am also a LOW SPEED HIGH DRAG kind of person,  but I need more skill,  I have shot all of my life,  I hope I can break all bad habbits I have taught myself over the many years of shooting !

Quoted: Going to add an oxygen tank to your LBV?

I'm thinking golf cart.

Quoted: 4. My X thousand rounds a year down range for these many years (decades?) built nothing more than a basic skill with about the same relationship to threat response as knowing left from right has to driving a car: it is necessary but nowhere near sufficient. It was a very humbling and very valuable experience. I have had difficulty expressly the simultaneous realization that my secret name isn't Chontosh but it isn't Shitbird, either. If you haven't taken a course from a pro, you really, really should. I am still digesting the experience, but I can tell you that if you haven't had professional training, you are not what you think you are in terms of preparation for protecting yourself, your family, and your way of life. Have somebody recommend a good one, sacrifice if you have to to get to it, and GO!

Ahhh, the difference in training how to shoot, and how to fight.

PS the golf cart is a great way to carry extra ammo.

Quoted: Here's what I learned: 1. I am not the badass I secretly thought I was.

Most gun enthusiasts are enthusiasts about equipment, but have very little practical skill in employing a weapon effectively in combat.

Now that you have actually had training, you can realize that.

This is, incidentally, why I reccomend 5 day courses for people who have never done them before. By the end of day 2, you will be convinced you suck hosewater. But on day 3 you will make DRAMATIC improvement. On day 5 you will be shooting drills so fast and accurately that at some point you will do something so perfect you will actually think outloud:

"Holy sh*t! Did I just do that??"

In a 5 day course you can get into a zen-like place of happiness on day 4 or 5 where you and your weapon become one, and where it seems like the weapon begins to do everything by itself. It is a pretty frickin' sweet place to be.

2. I can nonetheless do some pretty amazing stuff - I have potential.

If you had done a 5 day course, you would know what your potential is.

3. I raised a hell of a kid (took my 22 yo with me).

Bah. Enough with the mushy stuff....

4. My X thousand rounds a year down range for these many years (decades?) built nothing more than a basic skill with about the same relationship to threat response as knowing left from right has to driving a car: it is necessary but nowhere near sufficient.

Indeed. What happens on the range on a sunny Sunday afternoon is BY NO MEANS sufficient for actual combat style training. Shooting is NOT training, as everyone with real training knows.

Shooting stuff is fun, but rarely does it qualify as training.

Training is WORK, and there is a lot of shooting involved. But it is the most fun kind of work you can do.

5. I am in crappy physical shape, but I can run on willpower if necessary.

Being in shape when going to a training class is often overlooked by many. Being on range for 8 plus hours a day for an entire week toting weapons and ammunition CAN be a very tiring experience, and that is before any stress courses or difficult drills show up.

Spending a couple of months before a training class getting in shape is a good idea. It can also help prevent injuries on the range.

It was a very humbling and very valuable experience. I have had difficulty expressly the simultaneous realization that my secret name isn't Chontosh but it isn't Shitbird, either. If you haven't taken a course from a pro, you really, really should. I am still digesting the experience, but I can tell you that if you haven't had professional training, you are not what you think you are in terms of preparation for protecting yourself, your family, and your way of life. Have somebody recommend a good one, sacrifice if you have to to get to it, and GO!

Truer words have never been spoken.

It is not arrogance speaking here. It is TRUTH.

If you haven't really had professional training from people who know their sh*t, you don't have a clue how much you are missing. Solid training has a way of getting rid of all that extraneous crap that is floating in your head from all those movies and all those gunstore commandos, and gives you the ability to start thinking like a pro. You see things different. You think different. It is a fantastic effect.

Yes it is expensive. I am going to Blackwater in May to do the Bushmaster Carbine Operator's course again. It is going to cost me 800 bucks in ammo alone, not to mention the 995 for the course, the lodging fees, etc. But I am doing this because Blackwater has demonstrated to me a high level of competence, and I have ALWAYS learned something important and improved my skill with every trip there.

The problem FLA1A will now discover is that once you have taken one good training course, you can't stop there. The desire to take another and another and another grows on you to become an even worse obsession than BRD. Not to mention that in all the good training courses you meet fantastic people whom you would never meet at any other time, and you can get a bite to eat with them and get to be good buddies in a very short period of time.

There is a comeraderie of arms that develops among those who attend with the right attitude, and an exceptional training session can become an exceptional personal experience to boot.

I have hundreds and hundreds of hours in these courses under my belt, and I am still eager for more. Why? Because I want to be more skilled, and I want to have more fun.

Quoted: Ahhh, the difference in training how to shoot, and how to fight.

Or, to put it bluntly....

Quoted: I'm thinking golf cart.

Real men load all their rounds without any devices.

Real men don't use medical tape on any appendages.

Real men stuff at least 700 rounds in a backpack that they lug with them from range to range on foot.

The SWAT guys and me watch the real men do all this while we drive all of our gear and ammo in our vehicles, and we salute them.....

Quoted: Quoted: Ahhh, the difference in training how to shoot, and how to fight. Or, to put it bluntly.... i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/jwayne_777/motivator19340af0306905fd4f4a513927.jpg

Hey now, that guy doesn'y know either. But at least in case of a flood he is prepared.

Quoted: Real men load all their rounds without any devices. Real men don't use medical tape on any appendages. Real men stuff at least 700 rounds in a backpack that they lug with them from range to range on foot. The SWAT guys and me watch the real men do all this while we drive all of our gear and ammo in our vehicles, and we salute them.....

There's a fine line between hard-core and stupid

aa

Professional training is the last priority for most gun owners.  They don't know what they don't know.

Quoted: Professional training is the last priority for most gun owners.  They don't know what they don't know.

Sad but true.

Quoted: There's a fine line between hard-core and stupid aa

Shh!

Don't let people know that!

You will rob me of one of the supreme pleasures of attending training!