Mine:
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AAR EAG Tactical Carbine Operator Course
19-21 SEP 2013
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Range
Des Moines, IA
WX
T1: 80’s and sunny until the major storm rolled through at the end. It was nice because it washed the bugs off the front of my car from my trip down the night before. A couple bugs looked like pterodactyls.
T2: 70’s, sunny and windy. Cold morning was nice
T3: 70’s and a light breeze, with another cool morning.
STUDENTS
This was a restricted LE/MIL only course, and there were 10 students consisting of 8 LE and 2 MIL guys. Everyone was on the ball and had a high level of proficiency. All the fellow cops were gunfighters and the sort of officers that I love working with. They are guys that you know will get the job done and win a fight no matter what. The MIL guys were squared away shooters who had a lot of experience under their belts, regardless of time in service. If they ever decide to leave the Army, I hope they consider LE because they’d make some solid cops that I would be proud to have as partners.
INSTRUCTORS
Pat Rogers was in fine form and always on the ball with everything. He had Suzanne “Muleskinner” to help him out, and big thanks to her for helping to make things go round.
GEAR
Pistol: S&W M&P9 w/ Apex DCAEK and RAM upgrade, and Streamlight TLR-1S weaponlight.
Rifle 1: Frankengun with LaRue lower, VLTOR upper with Daniel Defense barrel and rail, PWS Triad flash hider. Optic was an Aimpoint CompM4s w/ LaRue mount and an Aimpoint 3x magnifier in LaRue mount. By the end of the course the rifle had around 9000rds down the pipe since I last cleaned it, and it still has never had a mechanical malfunction.
Rifle 2: 16” frankengun with Noveske Gen2 lower, BCM upper and BCM BCG, Daniel Defense LW barrel and DD MFR 12.0 tube. A BC 1.0 on the end of that. Topped it off with an Aimpoint T-1 w/ LaRue mount.
Ammo: I did the dropship option of ordering Magtech 5.56 through EAG and I was impressed with it. Aesthetically, the ammo is clean and has a much better appearance of quality than the Federal XM193 I normally shoot. In shooting the ammo, it was consistent and accurate (when I did my part). I’ve used Magtech in the past in both 5.56 and 7.62, as well as numerous pistol calibers. I’ve always been happy with it and never had issues, and I still continue to be happy with them.
Vest: Mayflower R&C Assault carrier w/ Mayflower and BlueForceGear pouches, SKD PIG hydration carrier and Source 2L bladder, and BFG Tourniquet Now! Holder with CAT tourniquet just in case.
Belt: VTAC Brokos w/ ITW FastMag pistol pouches, EMDOM-MM dump pouch, CTOMS Slimline IFAK and Safariland ALS holster.
TD1
We started out with the usual introductions and the same base information as with every other class. This included the safety brief and whatnot. Following this, we discussed when shots were taken, and how for us professional gunfighters, there is never just one shot taken unless it’s a precision shot or you manage to have an ND. You can’t depend on one single shot, nor can you depend on two. We discussed when and how we shoot, with a comparison of faster speed to slower speed to meet the engagement range. The skill of the shooter will affect this distance.
Pat discussed an incident where a cop was shot multiple times and shot the perp multiple times, and how it took continuing shots and a drive to win for the cop to survive and kill the POS. This included two head shots. This cemented home the understanding that a gunfight is not over until the bad guy decides it’s over. It’s never on our own terms.
We started out zeroing at 50yds, and then moved in for shooting drills to do pairs, failure drills, NSRs and the lot. Throughout the morning it was obvious that all the shooters on the line had their wits about them and that everyone was on the same page for skill level and the desire to learn. I’ve been at a couple courses elsewhere in the past where there were students who were significantly behind the power curve, so the pace of the course was lower. In this particular course, all students were at or above the power curve.
I also managed to make Pat look like a bad instructor by doing an insufficient Push/Pull of my magazine. I went to pull the trigger and shot one, then pulled the trigger again and had a click. I went to do immediate action and there was no mag there. Then there was a leprechaun hand that reached out and grabbed my arm and I realized that the Hand of Rogers had located a visual aid for the benefit of the class. Sure enough, Pat called me out and did the Call of the Moosecock, which was certainly well-deserved on my part. It was even more deserved because I was inside 25yds and I neglected to just drop the rifle and transition to pistol.
Positional shooting was next, and we went through multiple positions. The major theme throughout the course was the reiteration that the kneeling position is one of the most unstable, and it certainly is one that I struggle to be consistent with. We kept hammering on kneeling positions throughout the three days.
From there it was turns and other skills that were the building blocks of the rest of the weekend. We ended with reconfirming BZO and then wrapping up before the storm hit.
On TD1, it became apparent that my shooting this year is not where I want it to be. Skills are perishable, and my lack of shooting in my off-time this year has hurt my skill level. I was no where near where I wanted to be, and I know that I have a lot of make-up to do now that ammo is becoming more available again.
We wrapped it up with dinner at a nearby restaurant, and it was a great time with some hilarity and great stories. Always one of my favorite things to do.
During shooting, the ejection port cover pin came loose, and I saw that the retaining clip that holds it in place was missing. I yanked the retaining clip off my backup rifle and put it on my primary. This is a benefit of always bringing a backup rifle, which I have always done and will always do.
TD2
The day started with reconfirming BZO, and then immediately getting into malfunction clearance. It started with immediate action, and the progressed to remedial action. Transition to sidearm was always the primary option inside 25yds, but outside we needed to keep our rifles up and running. Remedial action can either be complicated or simple, but a lot of it depends on how you think through it. A couple years ago I’d have a spaz attack trying to do it. Now it’s a matter of understanding that you have to think through what needs to be done and then just do it. Doing it by yourself in front of the class should not be a point of stress, because it shouldn’t matter. Your goal is to do it because it needs to be done, not because you’re trying to break a land speed record and score style points. It’s because of this that I told myself that when I did it, I just need to use my brain and think through it. As I progress and continue to practice I’m sure I will speed up, but at least I was able to slow myself down to do it right the first time.
I mention all of that because it segues into a major point. I always say that I need to slow the hell down at the end of class, so before class I resolved that I would take more time to do things right. I managed to stick to this and run things slower than I normally do. My accuracy was not where I wanted it to be this week, but at least I worked to do as much as I could correctly the first time. Lessons from TD2 were that I needed to maintain that slower, deliberate intent and not attempt to speed up unnecessarily, simply for the sake of going faster.
Shooting on the move was a larger portion on this day, and it continues to be something that I need work in. Still, my decision to take things slower paid dividends by allowing my hits to be more consistent than they were in the past. My consistency is increasing, and now I just have to tie in the accuracy by tightening things up a bit.
My fellow shooters continued to be on the ball and rock solid, so we wound up getting a lot of trigger time. The final round count for the day was somewhere close to 600rds.
It also bears mentioning that I was awarded an oak leaf cluster for my Moosecock, which is placed proudly on my gear.
TD3
Another BZO was completed before class, and then we moved into a continuation of the skills we’d been working on. There was a lot of moving, which I has glad to keep doing. The more practice, the better. The main theme as you progress through training is that every skill you learned on the previous day(s) will be back, and combined with another skill. Multiple skills together make a skill set, and the ultimate result by the end of TD3 was that we were developing whole skill sets instead of just knowing individual skills. It’s nice to be able to make a standing failure drill, and it’s nice to be able to walk with a gun, or turn with a gun. What ultimately matters for us professional gunfighters is that we need to be able to turn, identify a threat, advance and engage the threat and use whatever force is necessary. This is why, by the end of the training you are doing dynamic turns followed by shooting a failure drill or NSR on the move, but then transitioning to sidearm if you have a stoppage. In my world, individual skills mean nothing if they cannot be integrated into my operational environment. EAG makes sure that these skills become usable skill sets.
My shooting overall was not where I wanted it to be, but as much as I wanted it to be the gun, I know from zeroing that it can put down decent groups. It was ultimately me, and I know that I need to make the effort to pick up a gun everyday. When I work I generally have my hands on a gun daily, but when I work I do not. That needs to change, and it will.
I was shocked to learn I got the High Shooter award, so I will have to make a much more concerted effort now to retain and improve my skill to prove to myself that I earned it. More than anything, it’s a motivation to myself to keep progressing and never be satisfied with where I am. I want to keep getting better.
By the end of TD3, we had close to 1600rds downrange. It was one of the highest round count courses I’ve had, but it certainly was not ballistic masturbation. The benefit of having all students on the same level is that you don’t slow down. The pace remained fast, and everyone was quick to learn and assimilate. This made the course the most enjoyable one I’ve ever taken, because it was honestly so fluid and consistent.
Huge thanks to all that attended. Also, a huge thanks to Sgt Keith Romp who made things go so smooth. He’s a solid shooter and a great guy, and I’m honored to call him a friend.
Thanks also to all the companies that support EAG Tactical. I always am honored to support those that support what I do, and it means a lot to know people care about helping us to be the best students and professionals that we can be.
