Bluez
Full Access Member
Quoted from:
http://maxvelocitytactical.com/2013/11/taking-tacticool-transition-dogma/
Well, this is interesting, but highly predictable. Forums! Oh yes, Forums! Aren’t they wonderful places, that develop little hierarchy’s of their own, with certain posters establishing themselves and controlling the groupthink.
‘F’, otherwise known as ‘BlueZ’ on the preparedsociety.com/forum, sent me an AAR after he attended my latest CRCD class (HERE for the AAR).
As ‘BlueZ’ he also posted the AAR on the preparedsociety.com/forum: HERE.
In the AAR, he makes some comments about ‘transition’ training, and its context. This is an extract from his review:
I had been in the military for quite some time but with only very sporadic tactical training.
Recently I decided to up my game and was looking around for some tactical classes.
Looked at the ubiquitous Magpul videos and some other “big name” classes and they just bothered the heck out of me.
They were mostly about becoming an AR driver and transition dancer, not a tactically proficient and rounded individual.,
Those others seemed to be focused on a PoU (Philosophy of Use) that might be good for a SWAT team but not for a civilian 1st Defender.
In my mind it is laughable that some of those schools make practicing transitions from rifle to handgun a mandatory part for their students, most of which have not yet even maxed out on the Rifle.
I myself even though I am <quite> good with a handgun wouldn’t think of making a training effort for transitions until I can no longer improve anything with my rifle skills AND I get driven to wherever I go, so I don’t have to worry about the handgun displacing needed magazines or water…
I am not an experienced Infantryman but I know a thing or two about training troops and using the right PoU ….and in my mind the mainstream, Carbine classes that are currently taught often use a PoU that fits the instructors needs better than those of the students.
Whoa, whoa whoa there fella! How dare you! Criticize the mainstream of tacticool training! This of course caught the ire of another poster, ‘Sentry18′, who attempted to take BlueZ to task for his heresy (policing the forum, how apt!). I don’t know anything about Sentry18, but he appears to be some sort of SWAT, CQB, high speed tacticool, kind of guy. In other words, he knows what he knows but doesn’t know any better – can’t see the woods for the trees.
OK, so on to my point. This is kind of a hard one, because it involves applying reading comprehension and seeing things in shades of gray, rather than black and white:
Both BlueZ and I are not saying that training in weapons transitions may not be useful to you. The point is that you have to train right, and get competent, before training in some of these techniques. It’s a question of targeting correct training in order to maximize your survivabilty. Work on the good solid basics before you try and work on the niche stuff.
On my ranges during team drills it is fairly common that someone will ‘transition’ to their handgun due to a weapon malfunction, usually in a buddy team drill when both weapons go down at the same time. It will be temporary, until they get an opportunity to get their rifle back into the fight. What does this mean? It means that they rapidly get their pistol out and engage the target. But notably, usually from the prone position, which is not usually trained as part of tacticool transition training. Why? Because the prone position is where you survive, and the standing is where you die. However, I prefer that they concentrate on clearing their rifle and getting it back into the fight, because that is the focus of the training. Until you have done field firing out on real live ranges under combat conditions you may well think you are a great ‘AR driver’, and really into transition training and all that, but the fact is that your probably aren’t, and you are probably living in a false comfort zone.
The use of the handgun is not the focus of my combat rifle class. Running your rifle in realistic combat situations, both as an individual and member of a team, is the crucial lesson. I know that BlueZ is a good pistol shot. It is also important to train with a pistol in case you don’t have a rifle on you. Also, in case you are carrying a rifle and that stops firing at a crucial moment where your life may be saved by taking out your pistol rather than clearing the stoppage on the rifle (‘i.e. ‘transition’ – yawn).
The vital point here is that if you go straight to concentrating on square range shooting and transitions and all that, you are not developing competence in rifle soldiering in light infantry combat – which is what combat is. If you try the tacticool stuff in combat, you will die. BlueZ’s point is that you need to get competent at the rifle stuff before moving into the tacticool stuff. I mean, bottom line, ‘transitioning” is simply getting your pistol out when your rifle stops firing – let’s not cloak it in tacticool mystique . But if you don’t correctly learn all the other things before that, you will die. Things like correct reaction to enemy fire (RTR); primarily initial reactive combat shooting followed by TAKING COVER in an effective way and then continuing to return fire.
http://maxvelocitytactical.com/2013/11/taking-tacticool-transition-dogma/
Well, this is interesting, but highly predictable. Forums! Oh yes, Forums! Aren’t they wonderful places, that develop little hierarchy’s of their own, with certain posters establishing themselves and controlling the groupthink.
‘F’, otherwise known as ‘BlueZ’ on the preparedsociety.com/forum, sent me an AAR after he attended my latest CRCD class (HERE for the AAR).
As ‘BlueZ’ he also posted the AAR on the preparedsociety.com/forum: HERE.
In the AAR, he makes some comments about ‘transition’ training, and its context. This is an extract from his review:
I had been in the military for quite some time but with only very sporadic tactical training.
Recently I decided to up my game and was looking around for some tactical classes.
Looked at the ubiquitous Magpul videos and some other “big name” classes and they just bothered the heck out of me.
They were mostly about becoming an AR driver and transition dancer, not a tactically proficient and rounded individual.,
Those others seemed to be focused on a PoU (Philosophy of Use) that might be good for a SWAT team but not for a civilian 1st Defender.
In my mind it is laughable that some of those schools make practicing transitions from rifle to handgun a mandatory part for their students, most of which have not yet even maxed out on the Rifle.
I myself even though I am <quite> good with a handgun wouldn’t think of making a training effort for transitions until I can no longer improve anything with my rifle skills AND I get driven to wherever I go, so I don’t have to worry about the handgun displacing needed magazines or water…
I am not an experienced Infantryman but I know a thing or two about training troops and using the right PoU ….and in my mind the mainstream, Carbine classes that are currently taught often use a PoU that fits the instructors needs better than those of the students.
Whoa, whoa whoa there fella! How dare you! Criticize the mainstream of tacticool training! This of course caught the ire of another poster, ‘Sentry18′, who attempted to take BlueZ to task for his heresy (policing the forum, how apt!). I don’t know anything about Sentry18, but he appears to be some sort of SWAT, CQB, high speed tacticool, kind of guy. In other words, he knows what he knows but doesn’t know any better – can’t see the woods for the trees.
OK, so on to my point. This is kind of a hard one, because it involves applying reading comprehension and seeing things in shades of gray, rather than black and white:
Both BlueZ and I are not saying that training in weapons transitions may not be useful to you. The point is that you have to train right, and get competent, before training in some of these techniques. It’s a question of targeting correct training in order to maximize your survivabilty. Work on the good solid basics before you try and work on the niche stuff.
On my ranges during team drills it is fairly common that someone will ‘transition’ to their handgun due to a weapon malfunction, usually in a buddy team drill when both weapons go down at the same time. It will be temporary, until they get an opportunity to get their rifle back into the fight. What does this mean? It means that they rapidly get their pistol out and engage the target. But notably, usually from the prone position, which is not usually trained as part of tacticool transition training. Why? Because the prone position is where you survive, and the standing is where you die. However, I prefer that they concentrate on clearing their rifle and getting it back into the fight, because that is the focus of the training. Until you have done field firing out on real live ranges under combat conditions you may well think you are a great ‘AR driver’, and really into transition training and all that, but the fact is that your probably aren’t, and you are probably living in a false comfort zone.
The use of the handgun is not the focus of my combat rifle class. Running your rifle in realistic combat situations, both as an individual and member of a team, is the crucial lesson. I know that BlueZ is a good pistol shot. It is also important to train with a pistol in case you don’t have a rifle on you. Also, in case you are carrying a rifle and that stops firing at a crucial moment where your life may be saved by taking out your pistol rather than clearing the stoppage on the rifle (‘i.e. ‘transition’ – yawn).
The vital point here is that if you go straight to concentrating on square range shooting and transitions and all that, you are not developing competence in rifle soldiering in light infantry combat – which is what combat is. If you try the tacticool stuff in combat, you will die. BlueZ’s point is that you need to get competent at the rifle stuff before moving into the tacticool stuff. I mean, bottom line, ‘transitioning” is simply getting your pistol out when your rifle stops firing – let’s not cloak it in tacticool mystique . But if you don’t correctly learn all the other things before that, you will die. Things like correct reaction to enemy fire (RTR); primarily initial reactive combat shooting followed by TAKING COVER in an effective way and then continuing to return fire.