Saturday Morning Coffee Break:
Coffee Break:
Coffee Break:
Interesting.
What I have seen is that rookie cops and those who have been around a long time are equally at danger, but for different reasons. One because of lack of experience and the other for what you have so appropriately stated above, complacency kills!
Thanks for the great answer.
Zeb
I remember doing that for the first time and thinking there had to be a better way. Having a gun barrel resting on your shoulder is not a good feeling. Later, I was shown a different/better way. The difference was being trained by someone who never did it for real and someone who had experience doing it for real.
I knew a sergeant who would have said that’s what grenades are for.
Motivational Monday (1):
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Motivational Monday (2);
From Nate Morrison:
Dear fellow human being,
Of all people, I understand what you’re going through. I get that you’re embarrassed about your current physical state. It’s uncomfortable, sometimes soul-crushing to realize that in the grand scheme of things, you’re little more than a Tiger snack. I get it. I’ve been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. However, if your goal is to continue to be nothing but Tiger snacks, keep it up, you’re doing great!
You’ve got complaining and whining about things that are your fault down to an art form; and by focusing on what you can’t physically do today, you are guaranteeing that you’ll never be able to do it. You’d rather whine like a coward than stand up and do something. This is the kind of behavior a 4-year-old exhibits because they still think that if they cry enough, someone will come along and make everything better. Unfortunately for you, life doesn’t work like that.
Life on planet Earth doesn’t give a damn about you or your feelings of inadequacy. Life is a wolf, looking for the weak, the wounded, the slow and the infirm to cull them from the herd. Like the wolf, it doesn’t care. It clamps its jaws around your throat while you cry and simultaneously strangles you while bleeding you out. Why? Because screw you, you weak, pathetic drain on the rest of society. If you can’t keep up, the wolves get you every damn time. It’s their job. What are you going to do about it?
If there is one rule in life it’s that you have to fight for absolutely everything. Every inch of ground, every step you take, every achievement you seek is contested ground. You have to fight for it. That’s why it’s an achievement – because you had to overcome something or someone actively denying you the prize! Nobody is ever going to come to you with a silver platter just because you didn’t commit a crime or because you helped someone out one time. The only person who got you out of shape is you, and the only person who can get you back in shape is you.
Instead of putting one foot in front of the other, you’re standing on the starting line looking for an excuse to quit, hoping someone will give you a pill to make it all better. Those are the traits of a coward, a quitter, a loser, and a liability. And in the end, life will sort you out as you go quietly into the night, not taken, but on your own volition.
@idaho, I just saw the news about the hotel attack in Afghanistan this morning. I hope you’re safe, and nowhere near.
Thank you for asking, no, I was in Kandahar province at the time that went down. No problems for me. I appreciate you asking. The KM class seems to be progressing well for you, glad you are enjoying the instruction. I am going to post an article today written by a woman on her experience in starting competitive handgun training/ shooting. She makes some good observations.
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Tuesday’s Tactics: JUMPING INTO SHOOTING: A WOMAN’S PERSPECTIVE
By J. Linn:
I am an Army veteran with two deployments to Iraq (92A supply specialist and a 32B military police). I got out of the military as an E5 and in 2011 I joined the Department of Homeland Security, first as a CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officer and now as a CIS (Citizenship and Immigrations Services) officer. Although my past seem as though I should be an experienced shooter, sadly in the military and as a federal officer we only shot and qualified quarterly at most. Throughout my career I have noticed numerous women who love to shoot, who are awesome at shooting, often better and easier to train than most men, but do not know how to enter the world of shooting.
I started shooting competitively about a year ago, and if you’re a woman who wants to get into shooting but are intimidated or nervous about being judged or looked at like an outsider, i’m writing this to tell you not to worry! You honestly have nothing to worry about, i know from experience. The men and women you will meet on the range are the coolest, nicest and funniest group of people you will ever meet and who will be more than willing to GLADLY help you or show you the beginning steps. If they’re watching you it’s only because they care and want you to get better, they’re seeing where and how they can help you improve.
If you’re currently asking how and where you begin, look no further than your computer or mobile device. Unless you already have a friend or a significant other who is already into the sport, I understand that it is intimidating to go into this alone. With that in mind, this is how i broke into the shooting world from ground zero:
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Social media (Facebook): I simply searched for “gun club” in my local area and joined their group.
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Once I was accepted into the group, I made a public post to introduce myself: “Hi my name is ____ and I want to start competitive shooting, when is your next match? I would love to show up and observe!”. You will likely get quick responses and questions from directors and other members to see your level of experience and interest, so just be honest. (When I first started I didn’t have a gun, I just showed up empty handed with no idea where to begin, it’s like being lost in Home Depot – yikes!)
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Next step is to buy a gun. I had the hardest time choosing, so before I made an investment I borrowed other people’s guns- just ask, don’t be shy. Most of the competitors and shooters you will meet have guns just laying around collecting dust, especially their first competition gun they bought and have since upgraded.
**They love bringing their toys out to play, they love to show them off as a mom would with their first born, it’s pretty funny.( LoL, How True) Everyone has a favorite, but their favorite may not work for you depending on your hand size and the length of your fingers. It’s like buying a pair of shoes-you have your favorite brand that you like for your feet, but which may not work for others, so be careful not to jump at the first recommendation without doing your own research and evaluation. Keep an open mind of course, but try to test out different guns.
For instance, I dislike the ergonomics of Glock pistols for my hands. They are great, reliable guns, however due to the bulkiness of the gun it feels uncomfortable for me. I ultimately chose to shoot the Smith and Wesson M&P platform of pistols, and i chose the 5” M&P Pro. Glocks are bulky and feel like a brick in my hands. My palms and fingers are all short and stubby and I am unable to get a tight grip around the Glock frame. The M&P pro has a longer barrel but a slimmer grip, so there is no gap between my hands when I am gripping the gun, making it easier to control the recoil.
- Once you purchased your gun, you still need gear- all the accessories that go along with it. Ahh so much money! Again you can lean on your social media shooting community for quick answers, but you should still do your own recon of other peoples gear at the range to see what seems to be working well (and what doesn’t). All you need to do is ask your new friends in the gun groups you just joined: “Hi i just purchased xxx gun does anyone have used spare belt holster magazine pouches you would like to sell/borrow Or know of anyone who may want to sell?”
This is an expensive sport, so when you’re starting out its smart to manage your money and save for ammo and training whenever possible. Many shooters have tons of extra gear they don’t use anymore just laying around, so don’t be afraid to ask.
- HAVE FUN is the last step. The word “competitive” definitely sounds intimidating, but it’s all about having fun and being safe, and at this point you’re only competing against yourself. Every time you get out to match should be a learning experience, and you can always build on your performances and improve on the next go around.
Don’t try to compare yourself to the regulars right off the bat, and they won’t judge you for being new to the sport. Many of them have been shooting for years or decades, and they will be glad to see new shooters getting introduced to the sport. Enjoy meeting good people, smile, laugh and have fun!! You will only regret you didn’t start sooner.
For me the bottom line is that you are responsible for your own well being and safety. Your husband or boyfriend can’t be there for you 24/7 to protect you and your children, you have to be just as strong mentally to protect yourself and your family when the man of the house isn’t there. **Or if he’s injured what are you gonna do? Call ghost busters? Scream? Cry? No you pick up the gun and protect what you love.
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Thought for the day:
Complexity is the killer of execution, it is the mastery of the basics that leads to advanced applications
“Shooting is a martial art, meaning it is an art/sport centered around war. Becoming good at shooting under mental and physical stress involves mastery of the basics of shooting accurately and quickly from a static position. It is important that as a student of shooting you don’t outrun your headlights. If you are developing advanced skills using training wheels, you’re likely going to burn in bad habits and be unable to implement these skills effectively if you ever have to use them practically. Shooting is also a highly perishable skill. If you aren’t training it regularly, you will lose your proficiency. If your budget allows for one shooting course a year, make sure that it is targeted at the skills you need to be working on, then train those skills in dry fire practice after the course is complete to burn them into your neuro-pathways”
I’m kind of a professional lurker on this site as I don’t comment very frequently but, I almost daily follow the discussions on this forum and especially on this thread. The practical application of various martial skills is something that has always interested me and the wealth of experience and information that exists on this thread is a great resource for this. IDAHO, I know that in the past you have mentioned working with or encountering in one form or another various countries’ armed forces personnel and especially special forces operators. I was wondering if you’ve ever had any experience with Canada’s JTF-2? Being a Canadian, I’m interested in them but, like all things with our military, our media never really reports anything on them unless it’s some scandal. Obviously I’m not asking for details re: operations etc. I’m just interested in how you think they stack up in comparison to other allied special forces eg. SEALs, SAS etc.Thanks for the thread and the very detailed and thoughtful posts you regularly provide.
100%. Always training over tools/toys. People seem so much keener to invest in stuff than to invest in themselves. Weird. Of course it’s a lot easier to buy some tricked out tacticool thing and feel like a badass than it is to go to the range and send round after round drilling fundamentals and facing up to your weaknesses and inadequacies. Bought a $700 M&P-15 chambered in .22lr and put a $300 Vortex SparcII red dot optic and a Magpul single point sling on in.
Have since run 100’s upon 100’s of rounds through that bad boy. ‘Boring’ stuff. Clean pistol transitions, turns, off cover shooting, standing, kneeling, seated, prone. Had enough cash left over to invest in a couple of practical pistol courses and buy 1000 or so practice rounds for my service pistol and run those through as well. Again, boring stuff. Clean drawstroke and presentation, tactical and speed reloads, the occasional malfunction drill. Can’t do as much movement as I’d like as I train at a civilian range and they get a little excited about that … Getting good reps is actually really mentally taxing, but then so is getting shot at, especially if you can’t shoot for shit.
Use ‘@’ before the name and it will show up on the poster’s avatar that they have been mentioned.
@idaho is good to respond, but out of pocket often and sometimes delayed.
I have only had several brief encounters, mainly because I spent a lot of time in Iraq, when the Canadian SF was primarily in Afghanistan. When I was first transferred to Afghanistan, I encountered some units in the southern provinces. I never did any operational work directly with them, but, the Canadians have always had a good reputation, especially the snipers.
As far as I know now, a Canadian sniper holds the longest kill record. My closest contact actually was meeting this unit for coffee at a Green Beans coffee shop, which you will usually find on any FOB’s and major bases. Good Guys, friendly, and their kit was always in order, which is a sign of a true professional.We also did some informal shooting together, they were good. I would go through a door with them any day and I hope they felt the same about me.
As far as comparison to other units, I have found out through trial and error that no matter what name you have attached, it comes down to the commitment of the individual for honing his personal skills and his loyalty to the unit and mission. As with everything in the professional life, there are good ones and not so good ones.
In my personal opinion, based on my limted expereince, they are as good as any other unit I have encountered.
Good Post, brother. I agree , its always amusing to me that I encountered this issue primarily in the tactical world. When you would think that drilling in basics is the most important issue, “tactcool guys” will always buy more toys and gadgets… I have seen this many times, but, the more operational experience you have ( either LEO or Military) the less equipment and crap you lug around. One of the reasons I THINK training in some type of martial arts is so important, you cannot buy a toy to help you out in sparring and I think it teaches the importance of a base foundation. Forced to learn the basics in one discipline , will hopefully transfer over to another skill set.
A little side note:
Was involved in trying to locate and apprehend one of Saddam’s ministers. Doing the typical hurry and wait drill, I was outside our little meeting place when you were joined by three guys. It didn’t take long to realize they were working for the three lettered agency. One of the guys was fairly small, about 5/6 / 150 lbs. He was wearing a tactical harness with just a chest plate with nothing attached. He was carrying all his spare magazines, med kit, etc. on a wide tactical belt, with everything position around his sides and back. An unusual setup.
After talking to him a few minutes, I asked about his setup. He looked and me and said:" Hey bro, I am a runt, one round from one of the assholes will fuck me up, so, I get as low as I can to the ground. "You got your shit on your chest, which means you can’t get as low, so they will shoot you first”. I had to laugh at that, but, later on, thinking about it, he had a point. So, I rearranged some of my gear))
Thought for the day:
Shooting is a skill a warrior must master but warriors are not built on gun ranges.
Some more thoughts on building a good Foundation:
On a personal note, I don’t like the word" master" and I don’t want my students to be in "awe’ , but, I understand the author’s point. Mastery of the basics, in any discipline.
Is it better to live in a land where everyone is a wolf or a land where most are sheep protected by wolves.
There is no such thing as a land where everyone is a wolf. The overwhelming majority of people have a pathological aversion to violence and will never be able to effectively protect themselves.
Wolves don’t protect sheep, sheepdogs do.
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