After action report for A & S Training
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:10 amI completed a 1 day Civilian Advance Handgun Course taught by A & S Training on Friday 8/22/08. Course cost $150.00. Lead instructor was David Sohm and President of A & S Training, Pete Dahl and Cabot Welchlin were assistant instructors. The instructors have impressive training and real world experiences that they bring to the class. There were 10 students signed up for the class, 9 attended. According to David this is the first all civilian course he has held and based on the skill level of the students he is interested in holding additional future courses.
I originally heard about this course here http://www.mnguntalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4020 I have been trying to attended as many of the local training venues as time and money allow and there is still more I would like to attend. The intent of this report is to give forum members feedback to the different training options in this area and if a particular course will benefit them. I personally try to take something home from any training I have taken, this is easy starting at a beginners level.
We started the day in the club house at Bald Eagle Sportsman Club with donuts
. The first thing David did was make sure there was no firearms in the classroom, just blue guns and a Air Soft. After introductions by instructors and students we received handouts of the power point and outline of the course. In the classroom we covered handgun safety, range rules for the day, training with reason (the basic point here is you can't train enough or be good enough alway train and challenge yourself), deadly force requirements, 4 point draw from the holster, proper handgun grip, good shooting stance, proper sight alignment, mag changes and malfunctions. A lot of this material was touched on and some of it he went in more detail. David was reading the class to gage the experience of the students on where he focused. I believe we spent about 1.5 hours in the classroom and off to the range.
We were set up on the 100yd range. Again the first thing David confirmed was that there was no loaded firearms and then we geared up. Moving to the firing line David ran us through the firearm clearing and buddy check to confirm the firearms were unloaded, we would perform this through out the day. Then we loaded the firearms and from that point on it was a hot range.
We started with the four point draw from the holster, moving on to the draw and firing at the target, drills for accuracy, timer drills for added stress, malfunction drills and then breaking for lunch. If you have had prior training covering these it was a good refresher and warm up.
The afternoon session we did shooting on the move, side stepping to the right and left, turning right and left, move forward and backward and then the final movement drill was the diamond drill. This was set up with orange cones in the shape of a diamond and we moved around the outside of the diamond pattern always facing the threat with a instructor yelling gun as the command to put two rounds on target. We then completed with a man v man competition on steel drop plates. I needless to say did not take home the trophy. We ended up shooting about 375 rounds for the day, a good round count.
The ratio of instructors to students was very good, if a student needed help they had a instructor to help them work through it, A & S does a excellent job in running a safe range. David is a good communicator and is able to convey what he wants his students to do and why.
Is this a course for you, I think it is a very good first advance or refresher course after your P2C course. It is designed for self defense and not training for IDPA or IPSC. If you have been through Rob Pincus, John Farnam, Defensive Edge or the national schools this is a good refresher course. David mentioned there could be a more advanced course then this one in the future. I have no problem recommending this training company as another option in this area.
There was a couple of other forum members who also attended and maybe they could add their thoughts or if you have additional question about this course please ask.
I originally heard about this course here http://www.mnguntalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4020 I have been trying to attended as many of the local training venues as time and money allow and there is still more I would like to attend. The intent of this report is to give forum members feedback to the different training options in this area and if a particular course will benefit them. I personally try to take something home from any training I have taken, this is easy starting at a beginners level.
We started the day in the club house at Bald Eagle Sportsman Club with donuts
. The first thing David did was make sure there was no firearms in the classroom, just blue guns and a Air Soft. After introductions by instructors and students we received handouts of the power point and outline of the course. In the classroom we covered handgun safety, range rules for the day, training with reason (the basic point here is you can't train enough or be good enough alway train and challenge yourself), deadly force requirements, 4 point draw from the holster, proper handgun grip, good shooting stance, proper sight alignment, mag changes and malfunctions. A lot of this material was touched on and some of it he went in more detail. David was reading the class to gage the experience of the students on where he focused. I believe we spent about 1.5 hours in the classroom and off to the range.We were set up on the 100yd range. Again the first thing David confirmed was that there was no loaded firearms and then we geared up. Moving to the firing line David ran us through the firearm clearing and buddy check to confirm the firearms were unloaded, we would perform this through out the day. Then we loaded the firearms and from that point on it was a hot range.
We started with the four point draw from the holster, moving on to the draw and firing at the target, drills for accuracy, timer drills for added stress, malfunction drills and then breaking for lunch. If you have had prior training covering these it was a good refresher and warm up.
The afternoon session we did shooting on the move, side stepping to the right and left, turning right and left, move forward and backward and then the final movement drill was the diamond drill. This was set up with orange cones in the shape of a diamond and we moved around the outside of the diamond pattern always facing the threat with a instructor yelling gun as the command to put two rounds on target. We then completed with a man v man competition on steel drop plates. I needless to say did not take home the trophy. We ended up shooting about 375 rounds for the day, a good round count.
The ratio of instructors to students was very good, if a student needed help they had a instructor to help them work through it, A & S does a excellent job in running a safe range. David is a good communicator and is able to convey what he wants his students to do and why.
Is this a course for you, I think it is a very good first advance or refresher course after your P2C course. It is designed for self defense and not training for IDPA or IPSC. If you have been through Rob Pincus, John Farnam, Defensive Edge or the national schools this is a good refresher course. David mentioned there could be a more advanced course then this one in the future. I have no problem recommending this training company as another option in this area.
There was a couple of other forum members who also attended and maybe they could add their thoughts or if you have additional question about this course please ask.
