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After Action Review (AAR) of Sentinel Concepts Vehicle CQB Course

By: Clarence Banez, Field Editor – MASF Member

AAR Sentinel Concepts, Vehicle CQB Course
May 29-31, 2015
Location: Alliance, Ohio PD Training Facility
Instructors: William Petty & Steve Fisher

Course description:

Live fire problem solving course focused on fighting around vehicles. Also included was a ballistics demonstration of various caliber ammunition in pistol, rifle, shotgun to assess effective cover locations on a car. Identify weak areas to avoid while engaged in a violent encounter. Test the ballistic protection of windows, sections of the car, front/rear windshields and doors. Live fire drills consisted of single and two person partner scenarios. Fighting outside around the vehicle as well as fighting from inside the car to outside. Daylight as well as low light scenarios drills. Stress induced exercise (alphabet soup) designed to track threats and practice shooting above, around and under the car, while maximizing use of cover. We took breaks watching dash cam video of actual shootings that occurred from the LEO perspective. On the last training day, we finished with force on force UTM practice against each other to summarize cumulative lessons learned. This was an open enrollment class consisting mainly of LEO’s, military veterans, contractors, and civilians like myself. It was my first time training with cars so I was happy to be learning from the SME’s of this course.

 

Weather: TD1 morning was sunny and hot in the high 80’s. Held throughout the day. TD2 was overcast in the morning then fluctuated with sun and sporadic showers. At night time it cooled down a bit to around the mid 60’s and 70’s that ended in a downpour around midnight. TD3 was sunny in the morning in the 80’s with sporadic showers. In the afternoon it was overcast.

Gear: Glock 30s, M&P pro series, Surefire ultra WML, Blackbeard Tactical kydex holsters, Raven Vanguard 2, HSGI taco mag pouch.

Goals: To learn how to effectively fight around and in vehicles.

TD1: After getting our paperwork and intros out of the way in the classroom, we geared up, stepped on the line for basic warm ups/draw strokes. Eventually we progressed to shooting in unorthodox positions. From squatting position, to knees, proned out on our backs and stomach. Eventually the “urban prone” would be an unorthodox position that we all were familiar with by the end of the training session.

We took a break to discuss the physical design of the vehicle. The protective functions of cars, safety purposes of protecting occupants. The body of the vehicle from the front of the car (A) to the rear (C or D) was dissected and broken down into pillars. The engine block, tire and rims and the chassis areas between doors were designated to pillars A,B,C, and (D if a van or SUV). These areas would be essential throughout the course as primary cover areas against incoming rounds. A critical area to take cover, maneuver around, do administrative work, reloads, remedial action if necessary, etc.

After setting up paper targets around multiple cars, we started dry practicing movement from pillar to pillar, squatting, kneeling, and urban prone position. Then went live, took turns engaging targets above, to the front and rear of the car as well as underneath with 2 pant legs simulating a threat. After, we headed back in the class room to watch dash cam videos, debrief on the drills thus far, questions, concerns, etc. At this point since I was very new to this, I felt really awkward and sloppy. Eventually I would get more comfortable with more repetitions and practice.

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After lunch, we had the ballistics demonstration. A paper target was set up parallel to the passenger side of the car. William and Yeti alternated, shot on pillar A with various fmj and jhp, bonded as well as non bonded ammo. We started with 380 auto going all the way to 45 cal, then 1 oz slugs, then 5.56, blackout, up to 308. Throughout each test, we examined if penetration occurred through 1 or 2 pillars, through the car completely and onto the paper target. The results were astonishing. Most did not even penetrate through one pillar. I was certain at least the 308 round would hit paper, but only managed to break through pillar 1 and stop at pillar 2. Within the car, most projectiles were trapped inside the first pillar, or broke through 1 pillar and hit the front windshield or the rear view mirror. Next, we focused on ballistic protection of doors. A target was placed in front of an opened door about 4 meters out. Yeti shot through the driver side door. First spreading a group around different locations of the door, then stacking rounds in one hole. The door failed miserably as pistol rounds easily penetrated through. Stacking rounds increased effectiveness in connecting accurate hits on target. After we tested front and rear windshields. I was thinking rounds would cut right through. Especially since we used 1 oz slug for this portion. I was wrong again. From our results, shooting rounds from the front to the rear proved sufficient cover. Rounds going in the front windshield tended to deviate trajectory towards the front seat. Meaning very good to be behind the rear of the car, very bad to be fighting seated against an armed threat. Overall we were all in shock of the results of this tests. Practically all of my guesses were incorrect.

After the ballistics demo, a small hydration break, we went back into live fire drills with 2 man partner drills. Doc was my partner and helped me greatly throughout the drill. We had a smooth run communicating and effectively clearing each car. Targets were located in the same manner as the first exercise. Use of temple index to ensure safe muzzle discipline was of the highest importance during this drill. Overall we all did fine, some mistakes, indexing while kneeling, or indexing too much while approaching the next car where potential threats were. We ended the day around 5pm, debriefed in the classroom.

TD2: We started the day at 10am. Getting back into live fire, we were introduced to the dreaded “Alphabet soup”. I had no idea what I was getting into, and was curious as to why we were setting up multiple targets and steel with letters and numbers around the van. The primary objective was to track threats, above, below and around the vehicle. William or Yeti would yell out the letter or number indicated to engage. And change the location sporadically. And if the wrong target was hit or the student was not in urban prone when shooting the parallel targets to the front and rear end of the car, you would be DQ’ed. This drill required extreme focus, compartmentalization of information as well as stamina. For most of us, we completed the drill fine. It was mentally and physically stressful, failure points were reached, marksmanship declined. Although I finished, I could feel my body mechanics getting sloppy. Marksmanship degraded as fatigue increased. I had to force myself to breath and slow down to get effective hits on target. After finishing the drill we were all exhausted and out of breath. We took a break, debriefed, re-hydrated, and carried on.

Next, we did a dry fire run from inside the car with a partner. One driver and one front side passenger. We were reminded to stack rounds through one hole to make positive hits on target. 2 steel targets were placed about 3 yards from the front windshield. Going live, we each had 2 runs, alternating as a driver and front side passenger starting seated inside the car, seat belt on. Once the audible signal of “threat” was given. We engaged the steel targets in front of us through the front wind shield, unbuckled, exiting and shooting on the move to the rear or temple indexing (moving) to the rear of the car using pillars and the rear windshield as cover, switching sides while maintaining muzzle discipline, temple indexing when appropriate.

We took a long meal break before getting into low light drills. Night runs were more difficult in addition to rain. Overall we all did fine working from one car to the next. Some students used support side lights while shooting strong side. Most students used wml’s on their pistols. An extra step of lumens was added to the equation in order to obtain visual situational awareness, information gathering in order to solve the problem. I made the mistake of tac reloading before clearing the rest of a car. I was getting more used to urban prone, and less sloppy on my body mechanics. At this point, I got better using pillars for scanning, reloading, malfunction clearance, etc.

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TD3: We started the day reviewing lessons learned so far. Use of cover, ballistic protection in the pillars, windshields, more mindset tips, etc. We began live fire drills with a partner clearing cars, communicating with each other and then moving on to the next car. I was happy to have Doc help me out again. I started to rush most of the time and had to force myself to slow down. After break, we had another session of alphabet soup. I felt better the second time around took deep breathes throughout the drill. I felt more improvement second time around, able to track targets audibly by William. I had trouble getting the steel targets in the middle. After the first minute, fatigue had already started affecting shot placement. I was just trying to remember using the pillars while reloading or squatting low to transition from target to target. Focusing on maintaining muzzle discipline, staying behind the gun, constantly scanning, and staying low. Even though it was about 2 and a half minutes, it felt like 30 minutes of hell. Just mentally and physically frustrating to the point where I was completely out of curse words to yell at myself in order to press on. Drill ended, and I was just happy to have fished. Overall we all did great.

After debriefing and a break. We packed up our pistols and ammo, got briefed in the classroom about the force on force drills to finish the course. We put on extra layers to absorb the utm rounds, frisked each other to make sure no back up pistols or knives were on our persons. Then got to it. One student would start at the front right tire, other student at the rear left tire. We alternated use of helmets and with our face protection took turns engaging each other, practicing use of pillars shooting above and around the car. Once hit, the winner would stay, those defeated would allow another student to challenge the winner. At first my utm pistol wasn’t in battery. I went up against Ollie and got tagged pretty good. We went again and the second time around we both knocked each other out. After this final exercise, we cleaned up the range, swept all broken glass and debris, moved steel targets back. Debriefed outside on the benches, received our certs, said our good byes and headed home.

Lessons learned: William and Yeti pretty much explained the whole curriculum at the start. It really didn’t make sense until all the videos, dry/live fire exercises, force on force and especially the ballistics tests put everything into context. Adding on to what I learned in previous classes with Yeti, in particular the handgun shoot house. It is essential to compartmentalize information, especially when the SHTF combined with adrenaline, tunnel vision affecting the decision making process. Obtaining information is already difficult under stress, without composure and focus, critical mistakes could be made, moving too fast outside of cover, muzzle discipline deteriorating, improper identification of threat/non threat. A million things can go wrong at a second’s notice and then you are faced with a snap decision. Inaction or the wrong action could be fatal or degrade further.

Just like in hand gun shoot house. It’s all about using angles to your benefit. You may not like where you are when SHTF, but you must respect the geometry of the fight. Use angles to your advantage. Positioning yourself with optimal cover behind pillars, minimizing your exposure, positively identifying threats and acting decisively with the information available.

Muzzle discipline is of the highest priority. From observing others and taking note of myself. There were times where muzzles came too close to feet in urban prone. Or with fatigue grabbing onto the vehicle and muzzling an arm. Or while practicing temple index. I know I was guilty of indexing once or twice on my knee. But as the training progressed I got more comfortable using it. Yeti reinforced it best. “Stay behind the gun. Gun first, it always takes priority.”

Photos by: Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design
Photos by: Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design

Act “sooner rather than faster”. This was repeated frequently. You don’t realize how fast you are moving under stress, with adrenaline, the unnecessary motions and exposure could be costly. What I got from this phrase and this class is, you can still be proactive, maximize your movement to your advantage and be efficient provided you have the necessary information to act. Not to be mistaken with rushing. But more or less capitalizing on time rather than wasting time making the wrong snap decision, then wasting more time trying to correct your mistake. A couple seconds may seem like a lifetime, but acting too quickly without thinking leads to bad decisions. Every movement should have a focused objective. If not by necessity to evade, deliberate action should always lead to a position of strategic advantage, ie, better cover, line of sight to obtain more information or engage, or important territory to control.

Fight from high to low. I was also wrong at first scanning low under the car, then to above. Always identify threat from above and engage under if that is your best option to minimize exposure. If the only available target is the feet, legs. Chop that tree down and go to work until the threat is stopped. I questioned when to maintain close distance to the vehicle. It is when threats have the advantage of an elevated position.

Body mechanics was something to take note of in others as well as myself. With fatigue inevitably coming to us all. It was easy to see sloppiness, moving sluggishly, keeping the head too high, not staying low behind cover, marksmanship deteriorate, muzzle discipline degrading. Doing administrative functions, reloads, remedial action behind insufficient cover such as behind doors, in between pillars etc. So much is already going on. I made critical mistakes going beyond the pillars. I got better towards the end with my movement, keeping my core tight, taking deep breathes throughout, squatting low and moving side to side. I eventually figured out a more efficient way to get into urban prone. By judging the distance to the end of the car, staging my knees first at a certain reference point on the doors, then elbows in order to lay parallel behind pillars with just my head and pistol protruding enough around the front or rear tires. But importantly, doing so with minimal exposure of the torso. The first time doing alphabet soup, fatigue had gotten me to misjudge my distance and urban prone too far out exposing my upper torso. The second time around, I felt better, more fluid in my movement and this helped me focus on using the pillars more efficiently. This would prove to be essential during force on force.

Photos by: Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design
Photos by: Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design

Train with the gear that fits your needs and your daily EDC. Utilize your own customized setup, either a LEO with body armor, duty belt, or a CHP holder concealing IWB, appendix, strong side, etc. Too often, and I admit I have been guilty in the past of this, training with different gear and not the current EDC tools that we live our lives in. This time, I made sure to give honest trigger time with my Raven VG2 appendix. Did some draw strokes, got used to the mechanics, etc. After I felt comfortable, I switched over to my kydex holsters for winter time carry. Made a sincere effort to run them hard like I would be in a fight for my life, scratched them up, making sure my every day gear does not reach unacceptable failure points.

Evolving beyond square range mentality. From watching the dash cam video. The definition of a violent encounter is displayed. An altercation that happens in seconds notice. In a short time frame, usually very violent in nature. William emphasized fighting from the position you are in, rather than a position of comfort. I think many of us, especially civilians become complacent with square range mentality. It’s one thing to have a timer and be set in your fighting stance, shooting comfortably at paper targets. It is a completely different animal when that paper target is shooting back at you. Depending on the mission at hand, whether you are a LEO doing a routine traffic stop with too many unknown factors, or a civilian like myself going from point A to B, where violent encounters have occurred, road rage, armed robberies, kidnappings, etc. Train with your own personal setup and get used to shooting from positions where you are in your daily life, sitting (car, at a restaurant, movie theater), on your back, lying down, squatting, kneeling, urban prone. It would be nice if bad guys gave us the opportunity to get comfortable, in our fighting stances, press check, then begin the fight. But the real world just does not work like that.

This was reinforced during our final force on force exercise. All that square range crap goes out the window. I wasn’t in battery when we started. Even though I asked. I should have made sure to confirm the condition of my pistol. When we started, Ollie within seconds closed distance and shot me even before I could respond with remedial action. We restarted, second time around I did better staying low behind the pillars. Even though we both knocked each other out at the same time, had a draw. It raises important questions for those who take self-defense seriously. Observing the utm hits on my body. I was struck the first time on my upper left chest, two to the abdomen. Second round I got hit on the left wrist and shoulder. Would I be able to fight with just my strong side? If there were more problems after this altercation, such as multiple threats, would I be able to fight injured? Have the focus to scan loved ones and myself for serious injury? Is my EDC sufficient for this? Can I apply a tourniquet to myself or a loved one hit and maintain composure? I sincerely hope I would.

I am humbled to have realized how easily it is to be shot at within such a short time frame. As said above. From common sessions on the square range, qualifying for a job, or just doing drills on the clock. Most of us only train to shoot at paper targets but rarely think about how easily it is to be shot back. William said it best. “Assume your threat is more skilled or just as prepared as you.”  I am glad I went up against an aggressive skilled opponent like Ollie. Because it was an important moment of learning for me. That just because you have the tools, train with them, do you honestly challenge yourself enough, treat it seriously as if your life and those you love depend on it? Is your current training regimen sufficient enough to survive against one or multiple bad guys? I’ve never really done force on force, but I now see why it is so damn important to participate in.

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In conclusion:

I could easily write more on this AAR but did my best to organize my thoughts on such vast information. In short, this has been the most eye opening, mentally/physically stressful course I have ever taken. I came with the expectation to learn an essential skill and didn’t expect to be so overloaded with important information. So many damn light bulbs happened, my notebook was just filled from page to page. On the first day, William marked 18 points of effective cover on a van. At the beginning, many of us completely underestimated a car’s protective capability. I thought for sure AK rounds cut through cars like a hot knife through butter. But the ballistics demonstration put all the false Hollywood assumptions to rest. Basically, for those serious about defending loved ones and yourself, as a civilian, especially LEO’s, this class should be a requirement. You will leave with very odd looking bruises and cuts on your torso, elbows, knees, but the lessons taught are priceless. I will take the course again just to get more repetitions in. It’s not often we get to shoot at cars and train around vehicles. So I have nothing but positive opinion from this course. Come humble, have gloves, knee/elbow pads, have decent cardio, and definitely bring a notebook/pen.

Finally, I can’t thank William and Yeti enough for the knowledge bombs they dropped on us. Not just the science and strategic information but also the mindset. Controlling emotions under stress proves to be extremely difficult, but training can at least mitigate the bad decisions often made during chaotic violent encounters. We can’t control when we get ambushed by belligerent violence nor can we control when we have to punch that card. But what we can control is using this knowledge and quality training, repetitions to fight our way out of bad situations into better ones, mainly to protect our loved ones and live another day. We have no choice but to perform our best under extreme duress, the worst conditions thinkable and hope we default to the extra knowledge gained and repetitions practiced. William said it best. It’s easy for anyone to Monday night QB an opinion watching dash cam video, but say it again when you actually are in the situation, under stress, adrenaline, clouded by tunnel vision. Do some alphabet soup, then give an opinion after that. It isn’t sufficient amount of training that is lacking, but the type of training one receives. I pray to God that I will never have to use this knowledge in an actual fight, but I feel enriched with the knowledge gained from this course. So that’s it for now. God bless, stay safe and keep on rocking friends!

 

Clarence (Big Larry)

SOURCE ARTICLE: http://masf.co/2016/03/20/after-action-review-aar-of-sentinel-concepts-vehicle-cqb-course/

TAP-RACK-BANG

By Josh Crosby

When a shooter, regardless of level of instruction, experiences a simple malfunction, she or he should go through standard correction steps. These steps are simple and effective, and above all, the safest and fastest way to put the gun back in battery. Just as you know your firearm safety laws, you should know your rapid malfunction steps.

The TAP-RACK-BANG drill, also known as the immediate action drill, is a simple process to effectively deal with a minor malfunction, such as a fail-to-eject or failure-to-feed. TAP-RACK-BANG has three steps, covered below:

  • TAP  The “Tap” is hitting the bottom of the grip to seat the magazine. A failure-to-feed is possible when the magazine was not securely seated into the weapon when the chambered round was fired and ejected. The next round in the magazine is too far below to be fed into the chamber, so the slide closes on an empty magazine. “Tap” the weapon by firmly gripping the frame in shooting grip, indexed trigger finger, muzzle down range. Using the heel of your support hand, pop the magazine base plate with a firm, solid strike ensuring the magazine locks into the frame.
  • RACK – The “Rack” is exactly that. Pull the pistol back into your torso and canting slightly inboard, still in a firm shooting grip, with your trigger finger indexed. Firmly grip the slide with your support hand, four fingers on the outside of the slide and thumb on the inside. Using a push-pull method, quickly push the frame with your strong hand and pull the slide with your support hand to fully rack the slide. Hopefully with the magazine seated, you have now chambered the round that the slide missed before and the weapon is back in battery. *NOTE – DO NOT RIDE THE SLIDE. LET IT SLAM HOME!
  • BANG – The “Bang” is the bang. Assess that your gun is in battery and safe to fire. Keep your firearm extended with a solid, forward-leaning stance and proper grip. Take a sight picture, focus on the front sight post, and complete your trigger press.

TAP-RACK-BANG works to clear malfunctions, such as stove pipes, missed empty cases, failure to feed, light strikes, etc. It will not clear a double feed; however, when you release the slide on the “RACK” you will notice the slide is not fully locking or “short.” At this point, you can lock the slide to the rear, observe the jam in the chamber, drop the mag, clear the round, and reset the magazine. For more serious malfunctions, such as a squib round, do not use this drill; it is important that your training includes assessing malfunctions so that you can quickly and appropriately manage any problem.

While not a fix-all for every problem and aside catastrophic failure, the TAP-RACK-BANG is the easiest way to get your weapon back in battery and get you back in the fight.

SOURCE ARTICLE: https://www.agirlandagun.org/tap-rack-bang/

Friday Fun Time: Det Cord

I like explosions.

You like explosions.

We treat ourselves today with explosions.

Specifically detonation cord in slow motion

Science!

DRY FIRE SAFETY RULES

Dry Fire Practice can be a great way to improve your skills. You don’t have to be outside in 10′ of snow, or have the expense of range fees or ammo, and you can improve your muscle memory for trigger control, follow through, and speed of mag changes.

However, you must exercise extreme caution when pulling the trigger in your home. It is critical that you follow these dry-fire safety rules:

1. Make sure gun is safely unloaded.
2. Remove all live ammo from practice area/room.
3. Ensure you have a safe direction for unloading — and then reloading when you’re done.
4. No distractions. If you get a phone call or visitor to your space, stop. If you want to continue dry firing, start back at Step 1.
5. When you have made the decision to stop dry firing, stop. Do not go back and shoot again.

Do not allow any live ammo in the practice area and/or room. If there are ANY distractions, STOP. Sometimes people forget that they have loaded a live round and they will do just one more dry-fire drill. This is how they accidentally shoot their ΤV set.

Dry fire is a training tool that lets you focus on the fundamentals, which can save your life if the situation arises, impress your friends with tight groupings, and even win competitions. Need ideas for dry-fire drills? Our Shooting Journal has 12 months of dry-fire drills. We also offer Dry Fire Training Cards that have more than 50 dry fire exercises and drills contained in the Dry Fire Training Card Deck, you’ll always have another fun, powerful and exciting dry fire drill to look forward to!

SOURCE ARTICLE: https://www.agirlandagun.org/dry-fire-safety/

Wednesday on the Workbench

Do you modify your firearms?

How much?

What is your ‘necessary’ modification to any firearm or subset of firearms?

On handguns most people pick sights. Night sights are a near mandatory upgrade and picking a set and adding them before leaving the store is common. I’ve only personally avoided that upgrade on my last 3 handguns because they came standard from the factory.

SIG Legion P226 & P229
G19X

The cost enveloped in the purchase, sometimes with a savings.

 

How about triggers?

Do you stay stock or do you modify?

Currently all my sidearms are factory stock. The Legions are a Gray Gun’s specials of the Sig SRT’s but still unmodified from out of the box.

My rifles however, almost universally run upgraded two stage triggers. Only one remains stock at present and that is on the list to upgrade. I’ve come to consider this my ‘necessary’ upgrade for rifles and carbines.

I’m still of the mind that factory stock triggers are fine. They work fine. But now when plotting a modification plan of a given platform, swapping the trigger has become a natural part of that plan.

 

What else?

Grips?

Cosmetics?

How about an NFA Title change?

Making a pistol firearm into an SBR or another such modification to Title II? Or revoking the stamp and reverting to Title I?

This is an idea I’m toying with currently and to satisfy my modification itch I’m adding the Maxim Defense CQB to my LWRCi PSD, shortening the length a bit more and placing it closer to the intended role I’m asking of it.

This poor rifle has endured more of my tinkering and experimenting than any other and as I would expect from it… it continues to run just fine. More optics, triggers, muzzle devices, grips, lights, and lasers have been given to this weapon to chew on than anything else. Likely this will continue.

GIVE MY CREATION LIIIIIIIIFE!

This is what happened when I didn’t listen to my gut instincts

By: Kacey Lester, college student – MASF Member

Originally Published in MASF Quarterly Online Magazine Fall 2015 issue

My name is Samantha Harris. I’m a 23 year old college student living in California with a part time job. I live with my doting boyfriend and have a wonderful family. I have four siblings, 3 of which are older than me, and one who is younger. My mother and father are separated and my step-families have all departed from my life.

I grew up in a small, tight-knit community on the outskirts of Bakersfield, California. Having older siblings, I had the privilege of meeting some of the older children from the neighborhood. These individuals all became a family of sorts, with all of us supporting one another and maintaining contact even after everyone had packed up and moved on with their own, new families. After my father left, my mom remarried and I gained four additional siblings, but after 7 taxing years of marriage, this too came to an end.

FINAL Warrenton Arms Proof

When I was 17, my life revolved around my friends and school. I had dreams of going into culinary school to be a chef and was both excited and anxious to set out on my own. After school one day, my mom announced to me that my step-brother Anthony would be moving back in with us. She explained that we were tight on money and needed extra support and that Anthony was in need of a home. I had never been fond of Anthony, as he was always loud and short-tempered but I kept my thoughts to myself.

Anthony moved in the following week, and we worked quickly to unpack his belongings. He mentioned in passing that he had been laid off from work at a children’s hospital in Chicago and wanted desperately to go back to work. One evening, after finishing the unpacking process Anthony set out to contact old friends and managed to get a hold of his friend, Josh. I had known Josh throughout my entire life, longer than I had known Anthony. My family was close with his, and Josh’s house became a place of comfort and relaxation for many of my siblings. Still, I was always on edge around Josh knowing his short tempered personality and affinity for substance abuse.

Anthony excitedly told me that Josh had invited him over to his house for a beer and asked if I would like to join the two. I quickly declined the invitation, knowing this could either be the potential for disaster or ensuing boredom. Anthony urged me to come along, insisting that we would only be there for “5 minutes.” Those 5 minutes became the longest 5 minutes of my life. Anthony and I loaded into our barely running Ford Expedition and took to the backroads of our neighborhood. Josh lived with his parents, less than two miles away from us. We arrived within minutes and parked on the back acre, next to his work trucks.

WSEG black

Anthony and I got out of the Expedition and found Josh in his shed, hard at work. As we approached Josh, it appeared as though he had not noticed our arrival and continued about his work. We walked over and greeted him, only to be ignored. I asked him if he would rather us come back later, to which he replied, “No.” Anthony, seeing Josh lent a helping hand. The two of them made small talk while they collected wet brush and tumbleweeds, placing them into a small burn pit. I stood away, texting my friends while the two worked.

I noticed Josh walk into his shed and grab two gallons of gasoline, presumably for the fire. The two worked to ignite the fumes, standing close to the pit and pouring endless amounts of gasoline into the pit. As the two struggled to ignite the fire, I walked a distance away from the pit so as not to get burned by the ensuing fire. Finally, the fire grew at the bottom of the pit leaving the two men to celebrate their small success. I began walking away from the scene when I noticed Josh still had a canister of gasoline in his hands. Josh and I stood opposite of one another and briefly made eye contact before he sprayed me in the face with gasoline. I was instantly engulfed in a raging fire and quickly inhaled. I don’t remember much but my head hitting the cold, wet ground, my face still burning. Anthony and Josh worked to put out the flames, but I was quickly losing consciousness. Anthony rushed me over to a water hose and removed the debris from my eyes.

99Being the middle of January, I shivered under my wet clothes and quickly went into shock. I looked around the property to find Josh but was disgruntled to see him casually drinking a beer. I quickly realized that neither Anthony nor Josh would be seeking medical assistance and I assumed that I was fine. Anthony quickly rushed me over to the Expedition and told me to wait while he gathered our belongings.

As we drove down the back roads, Anthony told me to not look at my reflection, afraid of what my reaction might be. I remained silent when Anthony suddenly told me not to tell anyone what had happened. Confused, I asked him what I should tell my mom to which he replied that he would handle it. My mom was waiting at the front door when we arrived. Startled, she asked what happened. Anthony explained to her that there had been a freak accident and that I had been caught in a nasty gust of wind when Josh worked to ignite the small fire.

That night, I was rushed to a nearby hospital where it was determined that I had sustained first, second, and partial third degree burns to my face, neck, and lungs. It wasn’t long before a sheriff entered the room and explained that he was called by the hospital staff and was suspicious of the underlying circumstances of my burns. He requested that my mother and I file criminal charges against step-brother and Josh. I refused, explaining that these were two men that I had known throughout my entire life and that they would never do anything like that. The sheriff gave my mother his card, insisting that we take time to reconsider our decision.

After the sheriff left, I was immediately transferred to a Burn Hospital where I underwent 3 grueling surgeries in an attempt to save my face and lungs from further damage. Upon my release from the hospital, Josh was waiting for me. I remember him sitting beside me as he explained why he wouldn’t be offering an apology. He explained that he simply did not know that I would be so badly injured by his actions and the entire situation was nothing more than an accident.999Josh left the house and was not seen again until my mother and I filed a lawsuit against his parent’s Home Owner’s Insurance. There was a brief moment of hesitation from my attorneys as they explained that my situation appeared to be an assault rather than an accident, and that the insurance company would not offer any compensation if the claim was an assault. Still, my mom and I pushed forward with the lawsuit.

Days later, Anthony left the house in search of a place for better employment leaving an open room for my younger sister to move into. One afternoon Josh showed up at my mom’s house threatening violence against us for filing the lawsuit. I left the house, urging for my mom to call the police department in an attempt to escape Josh’s rage.

The situation escalated when Josh and his father started following my younger sister to local stores when she traveled along, cornering her and taunting her until she broke down in tears. Fearing for our safety, I filed for a restraining order against Josh. Unfortunately, due to my failing of following procedures the restraining order was struck down. In court, Josh claimed that I was “sue happy,” and humiliated him to the point where he could no longer function with his day-to-day life. He insisted that he was the victim and I the predator, the perpetrator of his pain. Furious, I stood and urged for him to stop and leave my family out of the situation, begging him to come to me if he had a problem so that we could set aside our differences. Still, Josh refused.

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After we left the court house, my mom, younger sister and I made the decision to go in different directions to further deescalate the situation. My younger sister moved back to Texas and me with a close friend. The contact between Josh and I became less and less, with years passing before he would make an attempt to contact me.

Still, the totality of the situation left me with severe Post Traumatic Stress. I became afraid to leave my house without the constant fear that he would be there, watching and waiting for me to be alone. I stopped talking to friends and family out of fear and embarrassment that he would somehow find me, or worse; he would find them and hurt them to get to me. I spent much of the last 7 years fearing for my life and safety.

I’ve spent 7 years reviewing every moment from that incident, wondering if there was anything I could have done differently and, if there was then what could it have been? I was young, naïve, and took situations for granted, and this is where the answer lies. Had I trusted my instincts telling me not to go with Josh and Anthony, there’s a possibility that none of this would have happened. I failed to utilize basic survival instincts, such as situational awareness or self-defense tactics.

Over time, I came to an understanding that I had the correct instincts but failed to use them. With this, I transformed myself from a victim to a fighter. For the first time in years, I felt like fighting for my life rather than taking a back seat to my survival.

Now, I see an opportunity for survival. I have a solid understanding that my life is in my hands, and that if I utilize situational awareness and self-defense tactics that I can fight for my life rather than simply survive. I’m no longer upset over what happened, and I’ve made it a point to discuss the situation with others in hopes of sending a message of survival and inspiration to those that find themselves struggling with difficult situations. I urge others to use their instincts and to learn about situational awareness, as it could be the defining line between life and death.9999Today, my life is bursting with positivity. I’ve made it past my personal darkness and am now pursuing a dedicated career in Federal Law Enforcement with hopes of someday joining the military. I’m completing my BA in Sociology and will go on to pursue my Master’s Degree in Homeland Security. I have a wonderful boyfriend that takes absolute care of me, and we have hopes of one day starting our own life together. The truth is, my life didn’t end that day in the fire; it simply just began.

SOURCE ARTICLE: http://masf.co/2016/03/13/this-is-what-happened-when-i-didnt-listen-to-my-gut-instincts/

If You Had to Have One Only…

Optic

There are a plethora of valid arguments people have put forward for their ‘one’ rifle or handgun.

But what about an optic? It’s usually easy enough to get someone to pick a favorite optic given a category. For example…

Category: Value Cost Red Dot

Sig Sauer Electro-Optics Romeo 5

This little RDS has been on for 14 months without a single complaint. I wanted an MRO but one could not be acquired in time to attend my MP5 Operator’s Course. I ‘settled’ for this budget sight and it has given me no cause to complain. It has been jostled, bumped, wet, left on, and I have actually passively wanted it to die just to give it a hard limit. The MOTAC ‘move to turn on’ feature always seemed sketchy to me but.. it’s working, still. I want to find a reason to knock the sight down a peg but I cannot and so it’s the budget red dot I would recommend.

Category: Value Precision Optic

LUCID OPTICS MLX

This Front Focal Plane 4.5-18x optic can be acquired for a very modest $550-$600 and has pleased shooters looking to scratch at the premium feature field of precision optics. With milliradian reticle and controls, side parallax adjustments, and lifetime warranty the MLX is batting a very high game per dollar. I know several shooters with them on a variety of rifles with great praise for this scope.

Category: Best All Purpose/General Purpose Optic

This is the ‘if you could only have one’ question and in my opinion it is a harder question to answer than the ‘one rifle’ or ‘one handgun’ question.

What do you need an all-role/multi-role optic to cover?

  • The rifle’s full effective range
  • Durability, its and yours
  • Maintenance/Up Keep

 

 

Trijicon’s TA31 ACOG

This 4x32mm Dual Illuminated optic has one of the most extensively documented combat pedigrees, including across the board adoption by the United States Marine Corps for the M16/M4 platforms with the TA11 and TA648 holding slots for the M249, M240, M27, and M2.

Does it hit the 3 categories?

Full Effective Range: The TA31’s 4x fixed power and wide field of view make engaging targets much quicker and simpler than with iron sights. The dual illuminated portion of the reticle, courtesy of the fiber optics and tritium, allow easy engagement from 0-300 yards/meters using the Bindon Aiming Concept (BAC) under 50m or so and conventional sight picture further out.

The ACOG was so effective in increasing the individual shooter’s abilities to take full advantage of weapon accuracy the DoD investigated the USMC wondering if they were executing enemy combatants (nope, just head shots).

Even on 7.62×51 platform estimating shots to 600 and 800 meters can be accomplished and 4x gives a far better observation capability than the naked eye.

Durability: The TA31 does not use an electronic component. It cannot run out of power and the tritium component only has to be replaced once in a decade plus. The 7075-T6 housings are incredibly strong and the sight weighs 10oz, lighter than any variable power optic and several competing red dots. This keeps the weight you’re hauling low too, saving you upwards of a pound and taxing endurance far less.

The TA31 is a hard sight to phase. Damage that would cause the sight to fail will just as likely bust the rifle too.

Maintenance/Up Keep: The battery devoid design makes it a nearly non perishable sight (the tritium is the only exception and it dimming does not nullify the sight operating). It’s waterproof to 100 meters (in case you feel like chilling 300+ feet underwater) and won’t risk loss in the rain and mud.

Basically check that screws are tight, look for obvious damage to the housing and fiber optic, dust it off. End of maintenance.

Reticle choice?

I was raised on the RCO Chevron.

I own an ECOS crosshair.

But my favorite would have to be the ACSS

In my opinion, nearly half way through 2018. The ACOG is still king.

Suppressors from Thermal Defense Solutions

This week, Brian takes a look at Thermal Defense Solutions. They were exhibitors at the Big 3 Media event this past March.

I wanted to do a quick write-up on a really innovative company we saw at the Big 3 Media Event. Thermal Defense Solutions or TDS for short is a new company making suppressors. As we often hear in the industry they have their roots in aerospace manufacturing. What makes them stand out is not so much the fact that they 3D print their suppressors, because they aren’t the first to use 3D printing technology, but the designs they are employing can only be economically created by a 3D printing process.

The design incorporates a traditional baffle stack is surrounded by a spiral structure. It is definitely a different design and according to them it eliminates the secondary ignition seen during rapid fire or full auto bursts. This is increasingly important for military applications as suppressed fire becomes more and more common for them and that secondary ignition is an obvious problem for our night-time war fighters. In my own shooting it did mitigate some of the gas to the face you typically receive shooting a suppressed DI system.

They have a wide variety of models so far but the one that really stood out to me was the Bantam. It is a centerfire 5.56 suppressor with a 1.25 inch outside diameter and 4.7 inches long weighing in at only 6.5 ounces!!! It is just not quite hearing safe however I did fire it without once just to see how bad it was. I wouldn’t recommend making a habit of it but in a hunting or home defense situation it is manageable. Combine that with the $699 asking price and I think I found my next suppressor purchase.

You can check  out TDS at their website for more details about their product offerings.

Things You Hear in a Gunstore: MrGunsnGear Edition

I know I’m far from alone in hearing absurd things while I’m visiting my LGS’s but there are certainly some diamond grade gems of wisdom floating about.

My most recent was

“What dude comes in and buys all these pink guns?”

The man was astonished to learn that they were, in fact, targeting a FEMALE gun market. He was floored to learn there was a female gun market. He finally was baffled that yes, some men do in fact buy pink guns for themselves.

If any of these were you, or similar… well now you know better. We hope you’ve learned your lesson (s).

3 SAFE PLACES FOR YOUR SELF-DEFENSE PISTOL

By Tammy Hunter, Cypress TX

There are three safe places for your self-defense pistol: (1) in your hand, (2) in your holster, or (3) locked in your safe. Once you’ve made the decision that a handgun will be part of your self-defense plan you must learn new habits and routines to ensure the 24/7 safety and security of that tool. The consequences for failing to do your part in ensuring that your handgun is secured from anyone and everyone that shouldn’t have access to it is always worth double checking when in doubt; it is never something you shrug and say to yourself, “well, I think I locked it.” The life of a loved one, family member, child, or innocent stranger is at risk the split second a responsible gun owner becomes lazy or complacent about his or her job.

Hand. There are times you will take your guns to the range for practice and training opportunities, after all, it is a diminishing skill that will deteriorate over time if not practiced. Your gun will be safe in your hand. There will be times you have to handle your firearm to re-locate it around the house, maybe at the end the day after carrying the firearm on your person and it’s time to get it secured for the night, maybe your dog has alerted to something at your front door, or maybe in your back yard. Your gun is safe in your hand, assuming you are following the 4 Rules of Gun Safety.

Holster. Hopefully, the majority of the time your gun is safe and secured in your favorite holster (likely not be the first holster you purchase). When your gun is in your holster, you go on about your day without touching or fidgeting with your firearm. A safe holster ensures that the trigger is completely covered to ensure an additional provision of safety. Your daily activities should not be affected much by the presence of this tool. Your holster should keep the gun stable and be comfortable for the time and activity level you need.

Safe. When you aren’t actively carrying a firearm for self-defense or using it for training, it should be secured in an appropriate safe. An appropriate safe means that the gun isn’t on a shelf, stuffed in the bottom of drawer, definitely NOT under a pillow, or anything careless like that. The market is saturated with a wide variety of truly secure handgun safes and lockable options to keep unauthorized people (young, old, and in between) away from them. Kathy Jackson did a fantastic job addressing “little hands” and there are so many things parents trust as “child proof” that kids seem to figure out when we least expect it. When you’re choosing a safe for your firearms, make sure you do it with proper diligence — and keep up with the abilities of those around you, so changes will need to happen. Your job is to keep EVERYONE (not just kids) from having access to them: it’s the AC repair person, the exterminator, the new neighbor you invited over last minute when you saw them outside, etc. It also includes our aging family and loved ones, too. Abilities grow and change, mental states ebb and flow over time, and so should your routines for securing guns around your house.

SOURCE ARTICLE: https://www.agirlandagun.org/3-safe-places-self-defense-pistol/

Sunday Sermon: What Should You Be Doing!?

If you aren’t actively engaging or addressing the threat what is your new priority?

Reload

Run

Communicate

The face that says… “More cardio”

Reload.

Get ready to reengage the current threat when it reappears or to engage the next threat, which may be a greater one depending on your circumstances. You don’t want to be in the position of having fewer rounds in your gun when a greater number of bad guys appear or the first comes back for more.

When given time and opportunity fill that gun back up. Even your sidearm should (seriously) have a second magazine to top you off. If not though, next step.

Run.

If there is still any risk where you are, be elsewhere. Get out of the kill zone, off the X, away from the danger area, and any other cliche phrase that has you moving from where the attack just took place to an area safer for you and your’s

Get inside. Get in the car and go. Book it down the street. Harden down close by. Whatever form it may take get distance from the place where it was determined that ‘this is a good place to attack you’. There are reasons the spot was chosen and now that the fight is on, or was on, there is all the attention in the world on that spot, good and bad.

You can talk to the authorities from a place of safety and any LEO, dispatcher, or whomever would advocate you stay in a location you do not feel safe and secure is not doing you any favors. “It is not safe there/here. I am not safe there/here.” are all the encouragement they should need to start setting alternatives.

Communicate.

Especially if you have anything resembling a team or persons in your care. Keep accountability, get confirmed head counts and injury checks. Check each other. Call out directions. Call out movements. Keep everyone, if not on the same page, in the same ballpark.

Start any necessary communication with authorities. Have a plan on what you are saying and how you are saying it. Necessary is very important, your focus should be the fight, not dialing 911

Communicate your needs. Ambulance, Additional Officers, Special Medical Concerns for injuries and/or conditions.

Communicate the scene, guide your help to you. Give them cardinal directions, address,  land marks, description of you and your group.

Remember this is NOT the time to start talking about what happened. Your priority is getting help to you. It is not your ‘It happened so fast…’ narrative time yet, and when it is that had best be your legal counsel.

YOU and only YOU are responsible for your life and safety

YOU and only YOU are responsible for your life and safety. One of the reasons I founded MASF – Modern American Shooting & Firearms is to spread and evangelize that doctrine and to get people to wake up, understand take ownership of their own safety. Please take heed, go out and get the education, the training you need to learn from a reputable, vetted trainer/teacher/instructor and learn how to defend your life and the lives of the people you Love and care about. Sometimes that just means paying attention and avoiding danger.

MASF SAFETY REVISED

You can ultimately only count on yourself to save yourself from harm, no one is coming to save you. If you must die. then die fighting, not fleeing and getting attacked from behind…. be prepared, able and capable of fighting to the death if anyone tries to take your life or the lives of people you love.

We all want to live peacefully and happily but you must acknowledge that there is Evil in the world and people who may try to harm you for no reason. I am not saying be scared and live in fear…. I am saying be prepared so if that day comes that you must fight, you fight the good fight, leaving that fight alive and returning home to your loved ones.

Please stay safe and remain vigilant. Godspeed -B

SOURCE ARTICLE: http://masf.co/2016/06/13/you-and-only-you-are-responsible-for-your-life-and-safety/

RECON Drill: Do you set up shoot and move?

Shooting and moving is an important skill to dust off every once in awhile.

Sadly it’s raining today so we will live vicariously through YouTube.

I did a variation of this early this week and I was… dusty. But by the third run the fail duster had done its job and I was shooting where I wanted to again.

Pro Tip: Just because you have done it does not mean you can do it on demand. On demand requires continual maintenance.

Review: AR500 Valkyrie Carrier System, UHWMPE

“Testing Armor” is a bit of a misnomer. Modern armor is a system with a series of components each doing a specified job.

In most rifle armors there are three components to the system. What we’re testing is how these function together.

-Hard Plate: Designed to take the rifle round impact on the strike face, will withstand rounds per it’s NIJ rating. This establishes the ballistic threat credibility.

-Soft Plate/Layer: Designed to distribute impact energy and soften kinetic energy transfer to the body and limit injuring effects thereof, may also be rated for shrapnel and handgun round protection.

-Carrier: Designed to hold the armor properly to form an effective protective layer.

These three form the protective system for the body’s core and are usually utilized as load bearing in order to carry magazines, trauma kits, comms equipment, and gratuitous amounts of morale patchery.

The system has to work together to accomplish that goal and be both comfortable (relatively) and convenient for the user.

First let’s talk about the Valkyrie.

In the Norse mythos the Valkyrie are female warriors who select those who may die in battle from those who may live.

In AR500’s modern carrier the Valkyrie is chosen to keep you alive. It is a modern cummerbund design securing to the front armor pocket by a Velcro flap and can optionally be converted to side buckles if the user wants to ditch cummerbund real estate of the carrier for speed and weight savings.

Unlike the older interceptor carriers that you had to self swaddle to put on and removed via a struggling Lou Ferrigno impression, the front flap of the Valkyrie wraps neatly underneath and has a nylon assist tab to help pull it open and tuck it away over the cummerbund.

The shoulder straps are adjustable, padded, and the quick release buckles are sheathed in nylon webbing, protecting against inadvertent or mischievous release and providing mounting space for a mic, a handheld, or other equipment convenient on the shoulder.

In short the Valkyrie laid out and configurable like a respectable modern carrier aught to be.

I shelved my Banshee in order to work with Valkyrie more. The similarities are are obvious as the Valkyrie is AR500’s in house evolution of the carrier. I will say I think the improvements are all well in place and the Valkyrie rides even more comfortably. That might have something to do with the UHMWPE plates too though…

Now the armor.

I’m running AR500’s newest SAPI, Small Arms Protective Insert, the Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) NIJ III. Soft layer is their Hybrid IIIA soft inserts. It’s a much lighter than usual ensemble.

On The Range

Moving and shooting in the carrier is very comfortable due to the room in the carrier, design of the shoulders, and aided by the lighter polyethylene armor.

Changing positions was quick, even wearing a battle belt strapped on didn’t cause any notable interference.

At 3.3lbs each, the PE Plates in the Valkyrie aid movement, but are still rated to stop rounds from that SCAR 17 I am shooting at close distances. No hate for NIJ III

The cummerbund isn’t bulky and won’t disrupt belt worn gear unless you place gear on the carrier in conflict with the belt, and that’s your problem not the carrier’s. Check your placement.

Sidearm transition to the Sig P229 Legion from the Zenith Z5

Losing 10 lbs on the move by having the UHMWPE Plates in the Valkyrie made the entire warm weather training event more pleasant.

Some off hand barrier Galil ACE

Where the system showed some welcome extra performance was in the HEAT.

The H.E.A.T.

H.E.A.T or HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer

H.E.A.T.’s are a tool utilized by the armed forces to familiarize troops with how it feels when one of their heavy high center of gravity vehicles tips over. These Egress Assistance Trainers allow the trainer operators to roll the actual vehicle body multiple times in either direction while troops are in any position in the vehicle and giving direction to the vehicle occupants on their jobs while the vehicle is rolling.

Rolling inside a vehicle isn’t fun. I’ve done so in an Impala and do not recommend it. Rolling while wearing armor and gear is rough too, strapped in and now upside down you have find a way to crawl out of the vehicle and then extract the rest of the riders/driver. Oh yeah and avoid being shot while doing so…

While running a H.E.A.T. we were short on vests for occupants so I grabbed my Valkyrie for my ride and several ANG soldiers who would follow me. What we found out during this test really had to be experienced.

Plates are usually an absolute pain while rolling, almost 9lbs each shifting up and down and being thrown around during the process and then weighing you as you hang upside down or sideways belted to the seat. You’re quite well juggled when it stops.

The polyethylene plates by contrast, combined with the range of motion of the Valkyrie, made the experience more akin to wearing a rigid air bag instead of controlling free weights strapped to you. The armor didn’t shift nearly as much and getting out of the seat restraints before moving around to find the exit was greatly simplified as a result of the lesser weight. Furthermore, if the vehicle had hit water (as is one of the training scenarios) the plates are buoyant.

 

 

As a carrier on its own the Valkyrie is in good standing. Comfortable, configurable, and bearing standard III, III+ steel or IV Ceramic plates will leave the end user plenty well equipped.

The Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene  SAPI’s make it a system I have yet to feel replicated or surpassed at any price point.

Last time I checked it was also on sale.

The deadliest shooting in US history

The deadliest shooting in US history was the “Wounded Knee Massacre” which occurred on December 29,1890.

1024px-Woundedknee1891On Wounded Knee Creek near the Pine Ridge agency, the Seventh Cavalry of the U.S. Army opened fire on an encampment of Big Foot’s band of Miniconjou Sioux. When the shooting ended, Big Foot and most of his people were dead or dying. It has been estimated that nearly 250 of the original 350 men, women, and children in the camp were slain. Twenty-five soldiers were killed and thirty-nine wounded.

Soldiers with the Hotchkiss guns used at Wounded Knee
Soldiers with the Hotchkiss guns used at Wounded Knee

The Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota were murdered by federal agents and the members of the 7th Cavalry who had come to confiscate their firearms “for their own safety and protection”. The slaughter began after the majority of the Sioux had peacefully turned in their firearms. The Calvary began shooting, and managed to wipe out the entire camp. 200 of the 300 victims were women and children.

Wounded Knee was among the first federally backed gun confiscation attempts in United States history. It ended in the senseless murder of 250 people.

The Second Amendment, the right of the people to take up arms in defense of themselves, their families and property in the face of invading armies or an oppressive government. The Second Amendment was written by people who fled oppressive and tyrannical regimes in Europe, and it refers to the right of American citizens to be armed for defensive purposes, should such tyranny arise in the United States.

Wounded Knee is the prime example of why the Second Amendment exists and why we should vehemently resist any attempts to infringe on our Rights to Bear Arms. Without the Second Amendment we will be totally stripped of any ability to defend ourselves and our families.
  • Sources –
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wounded-Knee-Massacre/138997342786304?fref=ts
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre
    http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/momaday/knee.htm
FINAL Warrenton Arms Proof