Earlier this year, I made a personal goal to take notes and write a proper after action report for all of the training classes I take. I stated on a couple forums that I would post those AARs. So far, I’ve missed the mark. I’ve been to a few training sessions already this year and have not written one AAR. I will correct that deficiency starting with this post. I will post them in the order the courses were taken. Several more AARs will be coming in the next couple weeks.
The Basics
School: Mindset Laboratory
Course: Introduction to Force on Force
Date: 2/9/13
Duration: 1 Day
Location: 1850 Oliver Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46221
Instructor: Shay VanVlymen (Shay)
Role Players: Evan (esrice), Chuck (OneBadV8), and Nate (forgot his handle, hope I got his name correct)
Stated Course Objective:
“You will learn better ways to carry and draw a pistol and be introduced to useful tactics for before, during and after a deadly encounter. Intro to Force on Force is built around the philosophy that the best way to retain defensive concepts is to learn them in context.”
Summary
This course is roughly half classroom and half interactive activities culminating in a final scenario. The course met the stated objectives. This course serves as a good introduction to scenario-based, Force-on-Force training with firearms. Most of the lecture and demonstration topics were pretty basic. Concepts from lecture were effectively reinforced with demonstrations or drills. The mindset lecture, 360 degree gun handling exercises and the final scenario were the highlights of the course from my perspective.
Details
Introductions and Safety:
The training day began at 0900 with introductions and safety instructions. Instructors and role players were introduced, and then students were given an opportunity to introduce themselves. Student’s experience levels were varied. Some students had attended several training courses in the past. Others were fairly inexperienced with firearms in general, let alone Force on Force training. I brought my girlfriend along; whose only previous training experience was the NRA Basic Pistol course and a handful of range sessions with me. On the other end of the spectrum, I have attended a few hundred hours of firearms training, including a few Force-on-Force classes. There were students with varying training experiences in between.
After introductions the general rules for scenarios were presented: 1. Obey cease fire command; 2. No hitting, choking, tackling, biting, or striking; 3. No horseplay; 4. No live weapons in the training area; 5. No running. The four rules of firearm safety were also discussed. It was noted that “gun handling breaks down under stress.” These ideas were reinforced with some photos of injuries resulting from poor gun handling and negligent discharges. The photos certainly made the point. When the rules had been laid out, Shay explained the medical plan should a training injury or accident occur. The safety plan was sound and included a medical bag, a set of written instructions for directing EMS to the site, and naming of primary and secondary care givers.
Mindset Lecture:
As you would expect of a company named “Mindset Laboratory”, there was a lengthy lecture block on mindset. I don’t want to go through all of their material, but I will outline some high-points that stuck out to me. The overall theme of the lecture was understanding the difference between fantasy and reality. Your training and your preparation should be focused on the things you are most likely to encounter. If you look at it from a statistical standpoint, you are far more likely to die of a heart attack or in a car accident. If your real goal is to mitigate risks overall, your actions and lifestyle should be structured to address those more likely risks (i.e. eat healthy, exercise, take care of yourself, pay attention while you’re driving, etc). The rest of the mindset lecture included things you’d expect like never quitting, understanding the reality of a fight, having a realistic expectation of what effect your bullets might have on your target, understanding your fight will likely be reactive and not proactive, etc. However, it was the overall theme of reality vs fantasy, addressing the real risks in your life, and having a strong mindset that pervades all aspects of your life, rather than just fantasizing about winning gun fights, which stuck out to me about this mindset lecture.
Before, During, After:
The mindset lecture blended pretty smoothly in to the rest of the lecture material. The rest of the topics could be broken up in to three areas: Before the fight, during the fight, and after the fight. Many of the ideas from the mindset lecture were carried in to this part of the lecture. The ‘before the fight’ section starts before you have even identified a threat. Students were encouraged to get in shape, maintain good habits, lock doors, wear seatbelts, etc. All of these are things that would improve your chances in a fight (or incident), buy you time to react, or possibly help avoid a fight altogether. The Cooper color codes were discussed alongside situational awareness. Awareness equals distance and distance equals options was the theme.
The ‘during the fight’ portion was discussed next. I took the fewest notes here, as most of this was really worked with exercises rather than lecture. The highlights include a discussion of skill-based training vs scenario-based training. It was noted that decision making, a primary focus of scenario-based training, is typically a gap in people’s training regimen. Most people focus on skills-based training for in-fight skills. There was a short piece on movement and improving position. The “Wyatt Protocol” (F-A-S-T-T-T) was also presented as the preferred after-action routine. The ‘after the fight’ block naturally came next. This included a self-check for injuries, some notes and advice on calling for help, and a recommendation about what to say. There was also some discussion on how best to prepare for the arrival of police and what to say (or not say) to them when they arrive. After the lecture we broke for lunch from 1100-1130.
Skill-Based Exercises:
After lunch the group moved to “Pleasantville”, Mindset Laboratory’s simulation area. The simulation area includes a mock-up of a street with several store fronts. Some store fronts have useable spaces. There are also a couple vehicles for use in vehicle scenarios. Prior to entering Pleasantville, all of the students were disarmed and checked for weapons via a frisk and a metal detector wand. All live weapons were locked up in a room and out of reach during all activities in the simulation area.
I would probably describe the afternoon activities as “gun handling 101” with some light desensitization exercises. All drills were performed with blue guns or Glock 17T training pistols. The gun handling exercises presented a preferred method of drawing the pistol with two hands and then with one. Basic movement was incorporated in to the draw stroke drills. Distance to target versus extent of press-out during draw stroke was also presented. This demonstration was capped off with a light “protected retention” drill using an assistant instructor with boxing gloves. Contact was light, but some resistance was applied to reinforce the concepts. This is one of two drills I am categorizing as “light desensitization”.
After the draw stroke drills, a lengthy and well-presented demonstration on muzzle awareness was given. This demonstration made a case for the gun-up ready position. It demonstrated the importance and also the difficulty of maintaining muzzle discipline in tight spaces. This is the most specific and lengthy treatment of muzzle awareness I’ve seen in a training class.
The second desensitization drill was the final skills-based drill of the class. This drill brought most of the previous skills together. It included drawing from the holster with some basic movement, pressing out, firing two aimed shots at a live person, improving position, performing the F-A-S-T, and calling for help. I categorize this as a “desensitization drill” because I believe the primary goal of the drill is to get students used to shooting at a live person with something that feels like a real gun.
After The Fight (cont.):
Around 1430 we moved back to the classroom for the final lecture which covered the “after the fight” topic in a bit more depth. A short medical lecture was given with a recommendation to seek medical training and carry medical gear. The procedure for calling 911 and dealing with police arrival was covered again in more detail as well.
The Scenario:
This, in my mind, is the meat of the class. It’s where the rubber meets the road, as it were. I will not discuss any specifics, as it would ruin the class for subsequent participants. Basically, the Mindset team puts you in a simulation of a possible real-life scenario and you have the opportunity to make decisions and test your skills in real-time. Overall, the scenarios were well-run. Role players did a good job and the stress level was high. All of the students made mistakes and everyone learned something about themselves and their tactics.
The Basics
School: Mindset Laboratory
Course: Introduction to Force on Force
Date: 2/9/13
Duration: 1 Day
Location: 1850 Oliver Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46221
Instructor: Shay VanVlymen (Shay)
Role Players: Evan (esrice), Chuck (OneBadV8), and Nate (forgot his handle, hope I got his name correct)
Stated Course Objective:
“You will learn better ways to carry and draw a pistol and be introduced to useful tactics for before, during and after a deadly encounter. Intro to Force on Force is built around the philosophy that the best way to retain defensive concepts is to learn them in context.”
Summary
This course is roughly half classroom and half interactive activities culminating in a final scenario. The course met the stated objectives. This course serves as a good introduction to scenario-based, Force-on-Force training with firearms. Most of the lecture and demonstration topics were pretty basic. Concepts from lecture were effectively reinforced with demonstrations or drills. The mindset lecture, 360 degree gun handling exercises and the final scenario were the highlights of the course from my perspective.
Details
Introductions and Safety:
The training day began at 0900 with introductions and safety instructions. Instructors and role players were introduced, and then students were given an opportunity to introduce themselves. Student’s experience levels were varied. Some students had attended several training courses in the past. Others were fairly inexperienced with firearms in general, let alone Force on Force training. I brought my girlfriend along; whose only previous training experience was the NRA Basic Pistol course and a handful of range sessions with me. On the other end of the spectrum, I have attended a few hundred hours of firearms training, including a few Force-on-Force classes. There were students with varying training experiences in between.
After introductions the general rules for scenarios were presented: 1. Obey cease fire command; 2. No hitting, choking, tackling, biting, or striking; 3. No horseplay; 4. No live weapons in the training area; 5. No running. The four rules of firearm safety were also discussed. It was noted that “gun handling breaks down under stress.” These ideas were reinforced with some photos of injuries resulting from poor gun handling and negligent discharges. The photos certainly made the point. When the rules had been laid out, Shay explained the medical plan should a training injury or accident occur. The safety plan was sound and included a medical bag, a set of written instructions for directing EMS to the site, and naming of primary and secondary care givers.
Mindset Lecture:
As you would expect of a company named “Mindset Laboratory”, there was a lengthy lecture block on mindset. I don’t want to go through all of their material, but I will outline some high-points that stuck out to me. The overall theme of the lecture was understanding the difference between fantasy and reality. Your training and your preparation should be focused on the things you are most likely to encounter. If you look at it from a statistical standpoint, you are far more likely to die of a heart attack or in a car accident. If your real goal is to mitigate risks overall, your actions and lifestyle should be structured to address those more likely risks (i.e. eat healthy, exercise, take care of yourself, pay attention while you’re driving, etc). The rest of the mindset lecture included things you’d expect like never quitting, understanding the reality of a fight, having a realistic expectation of what effect your bullets might have on your target, understanding your fight will likely be reactive and not proactive, etc. However, it was the overall theme of reality vs fantasy, addressing the real risks in your life, and having a strong mindset that pervades all aspects of your life, rather than just fantasizing about winning gun fights, which stuck out to me about this mindset lecture.
Before, During, After:
The mindset lecture blended pretty smoothly in to the rest of the lecture material. The rest of the topics could be broken up in to three areas: Before the fight, during the fight, and after the fight. Many of the ideas from the mindset lecture were carried in to this part of the lecture. The ‘before the fight’ section starts before you have even identified a threat. Students were encouraged to get in shape, maintain good habits, lock doors, wear seatbelts, etc. All of these are things that would improve your chances in a fight (or incident), buy you time to react, or possibly help avoid a fight altogether. The Cooper color codes were discussed alongside situational awareness. Awareness equals distance and distance equals options was the theme.
The ‘during the fight’ portion was discussed next. I took the fewest notes here, as most of this was really worked with exercises rather than lecture. The highlights include a discussion of skill-based training vs scenario-based training. It was noted that decision making, a primary focus of scenario-based training, is typically a gap in people’s training regimen. Most people focus on skills-based training for in-fight skills. There was a short piece on movement and improving position. The “Wyatt Protocol” (F-A-S-T-T-T) was also presented as the preferred after-action routine. The ‘after the fight’ block naturally came next. This included a self-check for injuries, some notes and advice on calling for help, and a recommendation about what to say. There was also some discussion on how best to prepare for the arrival of police and what to say (or not say) to them when they arrive. After the lecture we broke for lunch from 1100-1130.
Skill-Based Exercises:
After lunch the group moved to “Pleasantville”, Mindset Laboratory’s simulation area. The simulation area includes a mock-up of a street with several store fronts. Some store fronts have useable spaces. There are also a couple vehicles for use in vehicle scenarios. Prior to entering Pleasantville, all of the students were disarmed and checked for weapons via a frisk and a metal detector wand. All live weapons were locked up in a room and out of reach during all activities in the simulation area.
I would probably describe the afternoon activities as “gun handling 101” with some light desensitization exercises. All drills were performed with blue guns or Glock 17T training pistols. The gun handling exercises presented a preferred method of drawing the pistol with two hands and then with one. Basic movement was incorporated in to the draw stroke drills. Distance to target versus extent of press-out during draw stroke was also presented. This demonstration was capped off with a light “protected retention” drill using an assistant instructor with boxing gloves. Contact was light, but some resistance was applied to reinforce the concepts. This is one of two drills I am categorizing as “light desensitization”.
After the draw stroke drills, a lengthy and well-presented demonstration on muzzle awareness was given. This demonstration made a case for the gun-up ready position. It demonstrated the importance and also the difficulty of maintaining muzzle discipline in tight spaces. This is the most specific and lengthy treatment of muzzle awareness I’ve seen in a training class.
The second desensitization drill was the final skills-based drill of the class. This drill brought most of the previous skills together. It included drawing from the holster with some basic movement, pressing out, firing two aimed shots at a live person, improving position, performing the F-A-S-T, and calling for help. I categorize this as a “desensitization drill” because I believe the primary goal of the drill is to get students used to shooting at a live person with something that feels like a real gun.
After The Fight (cont.):
Around 1430 we moved back to the classroom for the final lecture which covered the “after the fight” topic in a bit more depth. A short medical lecture was given with a recommendation to seek medical training and carry medical gear. The procedure for calling 911 and dealing with police arrival was covered again in more detail as well.
The Scenario:
This, in my mind, is the meat of the class. It’s where the rubber meets the road, as it were. I will not discuss any specifics, as it would ruin the class for subsequent participants. Basically, the Mindset team puts you in a simulation of a possible real-life scenario and you have the opportunity to make decisions and test your skills in real-time. Overall, the scenarios were well-run. Role players did a good job and the stress level was high. All of the students made mistakes and everyone learned something about themselves and their tactics.
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