The CSAT Way

THE CSAT WAY
THOUGHTS ON WEAPONS, SHOOTING, TRAINING AND

INSTRUCTION FROM A FORMER SPECIAL OPERATIONS
SOLDIER AND TRAINER
MSG PAUL R. HOWE

Copyright 2020 by Paul R. Howe
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or

transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or
other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and
certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Foreword
My History
Training and Combat (student) Mindset
Safety
Handgun Basics
Handgun training
Handgun tactical drills
Handgun Low Light
Rifle Basics
Rifle Training
Rifle Tactical Drills
NVG and special skills/equipment
Instructor classes
Instructor Development
Class Development
Travelling Trainer
Static Trainer
My Tools
Summary of instruction and lecture accomplishments
Publication
DEDICATION: AMERICA AND ITS PATRIOTS
I was fortunate to be born into a free and wonderful environment, a

place that allowed me to maximize my life and energies. I would not
have accomplished what I have in regards to firearms, shooting and
instruction without being in America.
Law enforcement and the professionals within our country gave me a

role model to follow, to include guidance and direction. The LEOs
(law enforcement officers) I was able to interact with inspired me to
push further and harder in life. The law enforcement community is
the glue that holds our country together. Generally underpaid,
undertrained and overworked, they continue to protect and serve for
the right reasons.
The army provided me a home where I could learn and grow for a
great deal of my life. Its mediocrity pushed me to personally improve
and special ops gave me a home to refine my skills. Special thanks
go to the noncommissioned officers (NCOs) who set the example
and taught me to push farther and faster with greater precision, not
because it was required, but because it was the right thing to do.
Also, thanks for the confirmation in doing what is right versus what is
popular. Also, I want to thank my wife, Connie, and my instructor
staff for all their support.
Finally, thank you to all those in the history of our nation who have
picked up a weapon to defend the country, the public, one another or
themselves.
Introduction
My accomplishments, which I consider important to write this book,
are as follows:
Law Enforcement Officer from nineteen to twenty years of age

US Army Soldier/Infantryman for twenty years involved in
multiple combat operations
Special Operations Assaulter, Sniper, Team Leader and Senior
Instructor
Overseas Contractor
Law Enforcement/Government and Civilian Trainer for over
twenty years
Small businessman who fed his family on his ability to instruct
and teach
Master’s degree with the attitude that I am a life-long student
Within this work, I will relate to my experiences in my training and

tactical life, what I thought was important and finally what worked
and did not work or work so well. Enduring a technological jump
(computers/video) in our recent history, I will let you know how it
impacted me and my profession and how I dealt with it on a personal
and professional level in regard to shooting and training.
I took what I learned from those who came before and built upon it.
Sometimes starting over, sometimes just tweaking what was given
me. With the unlimited supply of tactical trainers, I will get into the
reasoning and theory behind what I do and why. This is critical, as
more often than not, current instructors only regurgitate what they
learned and sometimes only bring 50 percent to 75 percent of the
knowledge given to their classes, accepting mediocrity.
One of my goals was to set a new standard in this profession.

Foreword
The CSAT Way is the story of my tactical and training life, how I
made it from point A to point B, and what decisions I made and why.
This is my training manual of sorts. I hope to aid the reader on their
tactical journey and give them the ability to sort out what is BS and
what is not in the tactical world. This ability is priceless.
Another reason for this work is it will be a manual of arms and

teaching techniques directed at my cadre. At the time of writing, I
have a cadre of ten from mixed backgrounds who comprise an
exceptional shooting staff. I will share my guidance to them and what
I think is important. I will also relate the “why” we do things a certain
way and how I helped them on their shooting and instructor journey.
The book will cover everything from beginning to advanced problem
shooters and how to make them technically, tactically and mentally
proficient.
Special thanks to Coy Harry for his seamless transition from martial
arts to shooting. As my “sergeant major,” he sets the standard for
being a great instructor. Also, a shout out to Reid Heindrichs of Valor
Ridge who is leading the next generation of trainers.
Current Instructors:
Nick Stewart
Andy Bayston
Bryan Wilkinson
Coy Harry
Mark Busbee
Cheston Thurman
Joe Swann
Don Johnson
Rick Basagoitia
Bob Whaley
CHAPTER 1
My History
“There are no shortcuts in evolution”
—Louis D. Brandeis, speech in Boston, April 22,
1040
AN IGNORANT STUDENT
I had a love for guns from the get-go.
My “captured” sister was my first training audience. I came from a

generation of trainers/instructors who had a training mindset of “shut
up, sit, watch and learn.” I never liked the approach, but bit my lip.
Never was the “why” taught first. Most of the time you learned by
how much you were exposed to, and that was dictated by how much
you saw and retained. Many an instructor had the shirt, the respect
from unknowing students, but did not have the know-how to deliver
concise, structured and relevant material. They never put any effort
into refining what was given to them. You as a student had to
logically sequence lots of out-of-sequence and disjointed
information. Structure, methodology and proper sequence was
lacking much of the time.
QUEST FOR MORE KNOWLEDGE
I did not get my first .22 until I was around thirteen years old. We did
not have a routine place to shoot it, and it was a chore to get trigger
time, being from San Diego. I would read as much as I could from
articles in the “gun rags” and magazines. I jointed a smallbore club
for a short time, but my parents’ work schedule limited my
attendance.
I joined the Sheriff’s Explorers when I was sixteen and started my

formal learning. Most of the deputies were Vietnam veterans. Some
would just look at us as we were, dumb kids. Others would
understand that we were beginning our journey and we needed help
and direction. The program directors were not as much of meat-
eaters as the road deputies, but they helped broker knowledge of the
law enforcement world—and that of firearms.
I had a couple of good guys take me under their wings and let me
shoot a little. But not knowing what to ask, most time and knowledge
was lost. These were positive memories that helped stoke the fire.
LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPOSURE
I carried a gun when I was eighteen to nineteen as an evidence
guard for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office in the late ‘70s.
There I would travel around and pick up evidence and log it in the
storage buildings.
I moved to Colorado to live with an uncle when I was nineteen and

got hired in the jail and then on the road with the local police
department. I carried an S & W Model 28 six-inch revolver as my first
official weapon, as that was the platform of the day. Living on a
budget, I could not afford the nicer Model 27. I would shoot with an
old WWII vet who had been in Iwo Jima, and he was a great shot.
He said he threw up after killing his first “Jap” and then tried to kill as
many as possible. He was a great shot, but could not articulate the
finer points of shooting when we practiced, and “do as I do” was the
teaching point of the day. The thought process was that you just had
to shoot more to get better. No dedicated shooting structure was
inferred at this time.
In the day, you could work for an agency, and they had one year to
send you to an academy. I went to the West Slope State Law
Enforcement Academy and was trained by the regional FBI agent on
their course of fire in both pistol and shotgun. I didn’t get much in the
way of detail about shooting, but lots of practice, so it worked out. I
fired a 299 out of 300 on my final qualification. I was still learning.
THE MILITARY CONNECTION
I went into the US Army when I was twenty-one, three years behind
my peers. Many a day, life was a test of patience. The firearms
training was the standard “hit the big green pop-up target from fifty to
three hundred meters. We would zero at twenty-five yards and then
shoot the qual course. I did this for six years before I went into
special operations. In short, I practiced wrong for six years. If you
had it in your mind you could shoot low and spray dirt on the pop-ups
and they would fall over as if hit, it was not a precision drill by any
means.
SPECIAL OPERATIONS
This changed my life and shooting perspective. We dry fired for over
eight hours a day for two weeks before we fired our first live round.
They would video us and we would review the video until sometimes
seven o’clock in the evening. The pistol, rifle and MP5 were the
weapons of the day. I rotated between my two 1911’s and the rifle, a
M4 Carbine predecessor. The MP5 was the standard of the day. It
would go away in a couple of years as the rifle filled the void. It is
similar to the shotgun of today, it had limited missions.
In special ops I had unlimited ammo, guns and armorers. It was

heaven for the short term until you found out that shooting was one
of many skills you have to be proficient at. Some had a passion for it
and did it on the weekends. I did IPSC for a short stint, but did not
like the game attitude of matches and training. I wanted to follow one
path: combat. Much ammo was still being wasted learning to shoot.
During my time in special operations, I was able to go to schools,

then go on real-world missions, come back, go to more schools, go
to more combat, and did this a few times. I was able to quickly sort
out what training was good and applicable and what was BS. I was
also able to look at many an instructor and school and determine
who was credible and who was not. Some instructors came in to us
only one time, generally because they had little to offer. They could
shoot, but you have to be able to teach others to do what you do or
you are useless. Most had never worn body armor and were not in
shape. They did not know the impact equipment and holster had on
your performance as they shot “slick,” or should I say without
equipment. This is why to this day, when I see an instructor trying to
teach tactical guys and they are in an IPSC rig, it sends up an
immediate red flag.
During my operational time in the army, I used iron sights on my rifle platforms.
In the day, we were looking for techniques to make us better

shooters and trainers. We were also looking for structure in
developing and refining our shooting programs. We had to teach the
next generation of operators.
CSAT
I started CSAT—Combat Shooting and Tactics—in 1999 during my
last tour in the army while assigned to the ROTC program at
Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas. I did my first class for a
small department just south of Dallas-Ft. Worth and then gave a
class on advanced hostage rescue at the state’s tactical police
officer yearly training conference, and the rest snowballed on me. I
would end up doing thirty plus classes a year, traveling across the
United States. I have taught over 100 forty-plus-hour classes, some
as many as ten days in length, by myself. It was tiring, to be blunt,
but rewarding in the same light.
CONCLUSION
Have a life plan. Mine was this:
Go into law enforcement or the military and let them train me.
Serve and give back while learning a profession.
Work, learn and refine.
Become an instructor and fix all that you did not like along the
way.
Give my students a better product than I received.
STUDENT KEY POINTS
Everyone starts somewhere.
Keep your head down and keep the faith.
Learn something everywhere you go, even if it is what not to
do…
INSTRUCTOR KEY POINTS:
Everyone starts somewhere.
Keep your head down and keep the faith.
Learn something everywhere you go, even if it is what not to
do…
THE GREATEST CHALLENGE AS AN INSTRUCTOR IS NOT
FIXING STUDENTS, BUT FIXING YOURSELF…
CHAPTER 2
Training and Combat (student)
Mindset
GENERAL
We are raised in a society of competition. This starts with brothers
and sisters and transfers to school and your peers. It moves into the
job world or military. At one point you will realize that it is not the
world you are competing with, but yourself. Once you learn to drop
your ego, you will feel much stress being lifted off, and you will start
to enjoy the journey. While this competition helps shape us, we can
learn to shape ourselves in other positive ways. Shooting and
competition are two of those ways. As a new shooter, you will
compete with others in accuracy and time. How you learn to treat
yourself and develop your mindset of understanding will take you a
long way. Learning patience and understanding how much effort and
when to apply it is critical in your development. Slow, deliberate,
methodical and consistent practice will polish your skills the fastest.
Finding a superior training system before you go down a lot of rabbit
holes will also help.
YOUTH
It is tough to attack life when you are constrained by youth (age) and
money. Society puts age brackets on when you can evolve and truly
get on your journey. With these constraints, we must learn patience
and fill our time with positive experiences.
Search for activities that build you mentally, physically, tactically and
technically.
Mentally
Start working on disciplining your mind with positive activities that

require commitment to learn and practice. Any skill or discipline will
help you on this journey.
Physically
Starting building a strong body to compliment your mind. If you are

unable to work out at this time, just work on keeping your body
healthy so you can work on your physical at a later date.
Technically
Technical skills require thought and precision to master. This builds

discipline, as you must learn to apply yourself and overcome your
mental frustrations when you become tired, fatigued, bored and
burned out.
Tactically
Learn how to perform this technical skill around others and learn how
to cope with yourself when in groups. Learn how to focus on yourself
and what you need to do to bring the technical skill out in public. You
will learn to draw a mental curtain around yourself and just focus on
what you are doing and to keep the outside world from interfering
with your thought process and focus.
This is critical, as we must accept and focus on what we are doing.

Focus on success, and do not worry about what other people think.
This is one of the biggest problems for our youth and especially for
the shy youth: confidence. Confidence comes from experience, but
also from understanding the true nature of people and where we fit.
This simply means it is okay to fall short. That is what the journey is
all about, falling short and then self-improving. Figure out what you
need to improve on and don’t watch what the guy or gal next to you
is doing unless you are looking for technique and know-how to break
it down.
If we mastered everything on the first try, we would find no joy in

hard work and would soon become bored with this existence.
INEXPERIENCE
Again, time limits and surroundings contribute to our inexperience.
Our parents can also contribute to this. Overprotective parents can
shield us from the real world and not allow us to grow and mature.
Understanding the real world is critical to growing, and a parent can
stifle your growth by keeping you in an uninformed bubble.
Learn from others’ mistakes and from history. Each generation I see
evolves technologically but fails to raise the teaching/educational
bars.
PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS
Physical limitations are what they are. With that, there is always a
physical way around them. Wheelchairs and crutches are ways we
can continue our movement in life. If impaired or injured, you may
not run for the near future, but you can work on your upper body
through exercises from swimming to weights to bodyweight
exercises. One day the technology may be there to help you
overcome your limitation. Keep the faith and good attitude. I have
watched soldiers lose a leg and continue to serve. I have watch law
enforcement officers lose a hand and learn to shoot with the other
one and continue to serve as well.
MENTAL LIMITATIONS
This is where it must start. The toughest battle lies in ourselves with
ourselves. We are all given a mental and physical package that is
uniquely different than all others’. We are not given an owner’s
manual when we are born, but rather an environment we must
contend with and parents who we hope will guide us. This is the
tough part where we must make decisions about the environment
and also about our parents.
You might be born in a ghetto and have to deal with all the illegal
drama and people it produces. You might be born with a silver spoon
and realize that your parents are knuckleheads as are most of their
friends. You might have a crappy environment and great parents that
push you out of the cesspool you were born in. With luck, you can
pull them out with you—if they want to come. Neighborhoods can
change for the better, and sometimes parents are comfortable and
just like to stay put. Be flexible and understanding.
I have not mentioned the Bible and religion. The Bible is the Good
Book. The problem I see is that many interpret it via their ego, for
profit or just for their personal interpretation. With that, be suspect of
those who preach but do not live the example and preach. They do it
for their own purpose and not God’s.
STUDENT 101
Note-taking 101
It has been twenty years since I earned my graduate degree, and

note-taking 101 is still crucial for capturing information for later use,
review and implementation. I went green a couple of years ago and
stopped producing expensive manuals that were left on the table
when students exited the course. Many did not have one note taken
in them.
As a new shooter, when I was developing my shooting skills, I went

to various courses, captured what I thought was important and
brought it back to insert into a “master manual.”
These master manuals were simply titled Rifle, Pistol, Sniper or
Patrolling. I consolidated the various school data to be reviewed so I
could put it in a logical sequence for me to remember. Many
instructors fail to logically sequence information and put it out
haphazardly in their courses, and students do not logically learn it
and apply it.
As an instructor, I took data and formatted it in a skill-building, logical

sequence to deliver to my future students. I also review my courses
and drills from time to time and add, modify or keep the same
delivery and sequence.
I see many students in current classes who arrive to class without a

pen or pencil or notebook. They expect to be given everything, to
include writing utensils, notes and notebooks.
Many schools have enabled students to become lazy and

academically sloppy.
Students coming to class should bring:
A notebook
Pen, pencil and highlighter
Video/photo recording device (cell phone)
Audio recording device
Use all of the above equipment in accordance with the school rules.
Do not video without permission or video other students without their
permission.
Once class has ended for the day, capture key points you liked from
the course to be used later. If you do not take the time to do this, you
will lose them.
When driving back from the course, use the voice recorder to
capture additional thoughts to be transcribed later so you do not
wreck your vehicle trying to write stuff down.
These simple techniques will make you a better student and one
day, an instructor. I will take you seriously as a student if you come
prepared.
WORKING THROUGH AND AROUND PROBLEMS
The following section

contains excerpts taken
from my book Leadership
and Training For the Fight,
which I wrote immediately
after my time in special
operations, and my
mindset was taken directly
from that time. I shaped my
life and being for that
time/challenge and have
moved on and matured
since then. It is okay to
evolve and grow. That is
what life is about.
Take and use what you can
for routine and scenario-
based training, which is the
next step from live-fire drills
and tactics.
Develop your personal “beast” for these times. Everyone has that
switch they can throw that will take them to another level or fighting
plane. Go to a place where you can become emotionless and totally
focused. You must have the ability to be aware so you can wade
efficiently into multiple threats and be successful. Still keep the
emotion harnessed for that little “umph” you may need should the
situation become desperate.
I was able to develop this extra drive at a young age and then
harness it for future use. You can use it while doing live-fire CQB
(close quarters battle), ramping yourself to a mental level where you
are conscious of everything going on around you, explosive charges
going off, shooting, shotgun breaching, flashbangs, assaulters
screaming and putting people down in the next room. You can learn
to focus through this and do your job and turn it on when you need
to. Your job may be as simple as clearing a single empty room or as
complex as dealing with a room containing multiple friendly
innocents, who at the same time are running, bleeding and
screaming. You must maintain your focus and composure while
swiftly and efficiently putting surgical rounds into the right target.
One mindset that I kept firmly implanted was that of the layered
offense. Everyone and their brother wants to talk about being
defensive. Generally, defense does not win personal or collective
battles. In my mind, I always wanted to stay focused and in the fight.
I used the knife on my belt as a useful cutting tool, but it served a
dual purpose. I would mentally program it as part of my layered
offense. I had my rifle to employ as my primary weapon. If it
malfunctioned or I was out of ammo, I would go to my pistol. Once
my pistol was out of action, I would try and then pick up an enemy
weapon to use. If none were close, I would then go to my knife.
The knife I carried was virtually indestructible, and it was kept sharp.
The only part of it that could fail was the person wielding it—me. I
knew deep down that I had to maintain my belief, my skills and my
physical condition to survive. This kept it simple and in perspective
for me. Fortunately, no one has ever made it past my rifle in combat,
but should I have needed to, there would be no hesitation in
transitioning to my next weapon system. This mindset could be
termed a “weapon loop,” where I always knew where to go and find
my next lethal system to employ. Keeping it simple kept me fluid and
efficient.
Once I developed this layered offensive mindset, I had to weigh

being fast and sloppy or methodical and precise in my tactical ways.
I chose the latter, erring on the side of being methodical and precise
versus fast and sloppy. Instructors I had in the past always reminded
us that “smooth is fast.” We were continually pushed to be precise
and in control.
Furthermore, I developed one mindset for all tactical situations.

Special operations and law enforcement tactical teams usually have
four or five standard high-risk missions they are tasked to perform. In
the law enforcement arena, they are hostage rescue, high-risk
warrant, search warrant and barricaded persons. What is the
constant for each mission? They are dangerous, and you can get
shot at while doing them. I recommend that you develop a simple
and aggressive mindset that will work for each mission. I developed
my personal combat mindset to help me deliver efficient lethal force
on demand. I went into every mission with the belief that someone
was going to shoot at me, and I expected it. Failure to do this will
leave you in a mentally unprepared condition to deal with the
violence of action that someone might bring upon you. You will also
be too late to ratchet up your aggressiveness once the bullets start
flying.
“I am going to fucking destroy you,” is the thought I firmly and quietly

placed into my mind along with a game face of focused
determination when I was preparing for a combat mission or doing
rehearsals with role players. I treated both rehearsals and combat
the same for simplicity’s sake. As for role players, they come in two
types, professional and standard. The professional role players are
the ones that have been role players before and like to try to get the
drop on an assaulter or good guy. Some will push you and try to
control a situation during an assault, creating additional chaos for
you to deal with. This can be as simple as acting out a script of a
panicking passenger or a smart ass that wants to verbally challenge
you during the scenario. It is important to gain physical, emotional,
and mental control of the situation as rapidly as possible. Once you
get security and neutralize any obvious threats, you need to
immediately deal with these kinds of people. Failure to do this will
make your job much more difficult. If you “educate or tune up” the
problem child as rapidly as possible, especially in front of their peers,
you will make believers of nonbelievers.
Aggressiveness is the key
I usually begin my combat mindset module with a talk about

aggressiveness. This is the key to success:
ACT vs. REACT
Your mindset and attitude SHOULD NOT be:
Passive
Reactive
Neutral
Your mindset and attitude SHOULD be:

Proactive
Aggressive
I preach in my classes that there exists a pool of aggressiveness in

any combat situation. Either you will take it and use it, or your
opponent will. The choice is yours. Chaos exists on the battlefield
and has more effect on the mind and perception than on reality.
Chaos can be used to describe the combined sensory overload that
affects you during raids or combat operations. Our job is to bring
order to chaos. Sometimes we need to bring our own brand of chaos
to help establish order. This same thought applies to training and
training aggressiveness.
Imagine, if you will, an environment with brilliant flashes and the

concussion of explosions going off near you, people shooting, doors
being shotgun breached, distraction devices flashing and booming.
This is chaos—induced chaos. This chaos helps you do your job
safely and efficiently. You must learn to understand it, be aware of it
and let it pass by your senses. You use it to control everyone on your
target. Once you gain control, you can ease back as your target
audience dictates.
In a hostage rescue scenario, everyone will be physically,

emotionally and mentally dominant from the instant they lay eyes on
the team. I want them scared to death upon our entry, with
individuals curled into a fetal position. This quickly sorts out who is
serious and who is not. Fetal positions are a good indicator of
compliant hostages. I joke in class that they can always get therapy
later, but they are alive to get the therapy.
Most of the time the chaos you bring in will take the fight out of the
most hardened opponent. I remember other men recounting
instances where all the bad guys on the target were stretched out
prone after the first explosion went off. They did not want to play
against guys who were serious about doing business. I also
remember a raid where the father had his family lined up in front of
the breach point in a line and held their infant out as a shield in front
of them. This happened not once, but twice during one operation.
These guys were supposed to be high-ranking officers in their militia.
In effect, they were low-life cowards. Americans wonder what
separates us from other countries, races and ethnic groups. It’s is
how we cherish and protect our children.
Occasionally, you will assault into a hard target where everyone will
not surrender and throw their hands up. For this, I always believed in
developing and going in with one mindset, the mindset that it is going
to be a hard fight. I always prepare mentally for that one guy that is
going to fight back and try to fight through you, the guy that you are
going to have to shoot to pieces in order to stop him. It has
happened before, and it will happen again in the future. Law
enforcement officers occasionally run into an individual with a fixed
combat mindset, and they literally have to shoot these folks apart to
get them to stop their aggressive actions.
Tactical confidence
By developing simple and effective drills that will apply to a majority

of your missions, you will develop a confidence that is instilled in
everyone from the lowest team member to the team leader. Why is
this important? Simple, if your men do not believe in the tactics they
are going to employ, they will generally fall apart once the shooting
starts. Also, if your tactics are based on the best-case scenario,
versus worst-case scenario, your men will have too much to deal
with mentally once things start going wrong.
All of us have the talent, expertise, experience and resources to

develop simple and effective battle plans that will work on all
missions. For example, moving from a drop-off point from a van or
moving to a target on foot is basically the same wherever you go. If
someone is going to shoot at you, your tactics should address this,
and it should work for all missions. Simply put, getting shot at is
getting shot at. It is the same whether you are on a hostage-rescue
mission, a high-risk warrant, search warrant or barricaded-person-
type mission.
Generally, I see movement formations to the initial breach point of a
target consisting of a line of ducks where only the first man can
safely shoot. Should they encounter a suspect or take fire, the team
is relying on the lead officer to solve the problem. This, in effect, is a
one-on-one gunfight. For starters, I put a minimum of two men up
front with two guns and two sets of eyes for faster response time.
Once verbal or nonverbal communication (shooting) is initiated by
the point personnel, the remainder of the team deploys into offensive
firing positions.
This does several things. First, it encourages men to respond

aggressively forward and to not react or to maintain a neutral “wait
and see” posture. Next, it gets the team spread out and out of the
bad guy’s cone of fire. Further, it mentally overwhelms the threat
because now he is not facing one lone officer; he has multiple
aggressive movers to contend with as well as several weapons
pointed at him. You create a reactionary gap in the subject’s mind,
and then you exploit it. There is nothing like good old-fashioned
aggressive action. Using this technique, the officers will have a
better visual angle, and should the officers decide to shoot, they can
all do so safely. I learned long ago that more guns will make the bad
person go away faster, either mentally or physically.
Let’s throw a variable in to the above scenario: an officer has just

been reported down. If an officer gets shot during the drill, what
changes? Nothing. The team will neutralize the threat and then
recover the officer once it is safe to do so. Too many times I’ve seen
where officers try and strong point the downed officer. By doing this,
they become a bullet magnet, and all the bad guy has to do is shoot
into a clump of officers. By retreating, they will also have to deal with
the threat again. I hate paying for the same ground twice. In my view
it is safer and more efficient to solve the problem the first time and
recover the officer once you own the turf.
To fight through the problem, we have one drill that will work on all
missions. It is simple, safe and easy to learn and does not change
from hit to hit. The key point is who we should be designing this drill
for. Should it be the twelve-year special ops or SWAT veteran or the
new member of the team? It should be the newest and weakest link
on the team. Keep it simple. We now have a drill for exterior
movement with few variables. Once practiced and mastered, we
need to now focus on developing a simple drill for your breach point,
hallways, rooms, etc. By keeping it simple and easy to remember, it
will transition to other tactical situations with ease.
Developing scenario-based drills will also help combat the fear of the
unknown. Fear of the unknown is one of the biggest problems
encountered when training new team members. Their mind is racing
with all the possible scenarios they can run into. It is controlled by
training on realistic worst-case scenario contingencies and having a
plan to deal with them. First, expect to be shot at, and have the
confidence that your basic battle drills will adequately handle the
threats. Next, make fear of the unknown a nonissue by knowing what
you’re going to do in a positive, aggressive manner. This is termed
anticipation mindset. For example, once officers practice the flare, I
run five or six different basic worst-case scenarios with role players
and see if the drill will effectively manage them. I video each drill and
review it in a classroom environment. We then practice our problem
areas again and smooth out our actions.
I learned long ago when I was deployed overseas that many times
we are going to come across people with guns. We can’t shoot them
all, but we can figure out the ones that plan on using them against
us. These are the real threats we need to be concerned with, and we
need to have a plan for dealing with those individuals. I know that
action is faster than reaction, so start by developing a tactical
package that will give your team tactical confidence and an edge in
how they perform a mission and deal with these individuals, both
mentally and physically.
Individualized mentality – “fight through mindset”
Coupled with the points brought up earlier in this chapter are few
more points that need to be added to your survival toolbox. First,
believe in the cause, yourself and your team. Probably one of the
greatest fears is that of letting down your buddy or your team in
combat. A proper mission focus along with having the proper tactical
confidence in your battle drills will help eliminate this fear. If your
tactics are sound and you believe that they will keep you relatively
safe while delivering devastating fire to your opponent, you will have
less fear and apprehension when going into harm’s way.
Next, there is no problem with being scared. It is natural. How can

you channel that fear? Easy. Look at the technical aspects of the
battle and do the math. For example, let’s look at getting shot. If you
have done any amount of range fire, you know how hard it is to hit a
stationary target, let alone a moving target. You must first ensure
your rifle is zeroed and practice. The same rule applies to the bad
guys, and they generally don’t have the training and marksmanship
abilities you do. Next, if you use cover, it makes the bad guy work
hard at getting an accurate shot at you. So use cover and decrease
your chances of being hit. Most importantly, develop a “fight through”
mentality. Do not dwell on dying. Focus on your training and what
you are going to do to ensure your survival. So you get hit? Big deal.
Look at the statistics of those dying from gunshot wounds. They are
not that impressive. Generally, you can reach some type of definitive
care in a few minutes or it can reach you. Before you reach this care,
who is the best person to start treatment on you? You are.
Start by getting your mind right and being pissed off that some low-
life turd shot you, and focus your mind toward survival. Do this by
ensuring the bad guy is dead, and then start your self-aid. As a
realist, I carry medical scissors and several bandages readily
accessible on my belt. I know from experience that I can get shot by
the enemy or by friendly personnel. Should this happen, I will do my
best to fight through, neutralize the threat and let my buddy know
that I am hit. I am then going to cut my own clothing, expose the
wound, and come to grips with my own injury. I will pack it or tie it off
with a tourniquet if time permits so as not to take team members
away from the team and their ultimate goal of securing the target. I
know they will come back for me once the area is secure. The more I
can do to treat myself, the less they have to do for me. Implementing
this thought process will start kicking your survival mindset into high
gear.
You can always take the other approach and roll your eyes back into
your head and go toward the light. I prefer not to take this approach.
You might make it to the light sooner than you expect. When you get
hit while training with simulations or paintball, fight through. Why?
We have trained our soldiers for years to fall down, quit, give up
once they are hit during training scenarios. This is self-destructive
and will cause you problems in combat. You’re actually training
soldiers to give up at the slightest pain or discomfort. I have
witnessed soldiers with minor wounds mentally shut down in combat
because they have trained that way during years of battle drills and
rehearsals. For medical training, you can induce casualties, but do it
by telling a soldier ahead of time that he is part of a medical
scenario. Never allow a soldier or law enforcement officer to quit on
their own. This will start a bad habit that may cultivate hesitation or
result in a soldier or officer giving up in the heat of battle where they
generally could have survived. Finally, if you think you’re going to
die, get pissed and plan on taking some of the bad guys with
you. Do your best to ensure this happens.
Individuals
Strong individuals build strong teams. Don’t be the weak link in your
family, school, church or whatever job or profession you pursue.
Have a thirst for excellence in a manner that is positive, sends out
positive vibes and does not trample others along the way.
End goal
We must be able to apply the appropriate degree of force and

discrimination demonstrating a complete business-like attention to
detail, and if necessary, we must be able to kill with ruthless
efficiency.
STUDENT KEY POINTS:
Develop a positive combat mindset and keep the “why” in focus.
Remember, it is a long-term journey.
Develop one combat mindset for all situations. Apply this to
training as well.
Develop and practice your layered offense.
Practice fighting through and never giving up.
Have confidence in your drills and tactics.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. It is okay to “miss” every so often.
Constantly review lesson plans and update as relevant material
comes available.
Update and review relevant videos to ensure you are on the
cutting edge of training and tactics.
CONCLUSION
When I was young, I did not think I would make it past forty, then fifty,
and I am now sixty. Sometimes we set short-term goals, attain them,
and then reorient our thinking goals and dreams to another future
time. This is okay. Short bursts of directed life are better than an
aimless wandering and regret. If you have the intensity, channelize
and use it efficiently. If you don’t, cultivate and grow it.
CHAPTER 3
Safety
“One aw-shit will wipe away all the atta-boys.”
The above picture was taken in an LE (law enforcement) classroom that led to an
Instructor Shower Room. Fortunately, no one was in the shower when the student
dry fired a live .40 caliber round.
GENERAL SAFETY RULES
Safety rules are to be lived and not generally recited for
entertainment or to impress students. As a student and instructor,
you must constantly be mindful around firearms. Disaster can be
right around the corner if you are not.
Safety Rules/Universal Safety Rules
1. All guns are always loaded.

2. Keep your finger off the trigger until sights are on target.
3. Never let your muzzle cover anything you are not willing to
destroy.
4. Know your target’s foreground and background.
CSAT ADDITIONS
1. Weapon is kept on safe with straight trigger finger in a low or
high ready until a target is identified.
2. Once a target is engaged, the sector may be swept with the
weapon on fire and trigger finger straight.
3. The safety will be engaged prior to any movement or once
“clear” is given.
4. The shooter in front has the priority of fire.
CSAT CQB safety procedures
1. Engage your safety prior to working on injured personnel

(hostages/downed officers), to include the manipulation of
suspects.
2. Engage safety of downed officers’ weapon prior to working on or
moving them.
3. Never run behind any target.
4. WHEN IN DOUBT, DON’T PULL THE TRIGGER.
Major Safety Violations
Shooting yourself, another student or an instructor

Pointing a weapon, loaded or unloaded at another student or
instructor without their consent
Accidental discharge in an area other than a designated
load/unload point
Accidental discharge downrange in an unsafe manor
Emotional outbursts when armed
Firing a live round when it dry fire
Minor Safety Violations

Bending over to pick something up with handgun in your hand
Not using the mechanical safety on the rifle/pistol when
appropriate
Not looking right or left before bending over
Not clearing your backspace before standing up
Breaking a weapon action not in a designated area
CSAT corrective behavior
Major safety—dismissal on instructor’s recommendation for

several minor safety violations or rude or unprofessional
behavior
Students can be instructed to unload and sit down.
Students can be instructed to unload and leave the range.
Students can be required to do dry runs while others students
are shooting live fire if the instructor deams it necessary for
anyone’s safety.
SAFETY–GENERAL
The Big Four safety rules are great, but times have evolved, and I
have added a few more to fill in “gaps” that I have seen in safety. Flat
ranges have evolved into live-fire shoot houses and complex tactical
situations inside and outside structures.
I have found that the first ten minutes of any class is the most
dangerous, and students must be calibrated in the safety protocols
of the range. A safety briefing is always good, but it should be short
and to the point, probably two to three minutes; otherwise you lose
the students’ attention.
Students have to get their gun from their car/person to the firing line
safely, and as an instructor, we must understand this. At CSAT, I
have designated LOAD/UNLOAD points on every range. These are
points where a student can “break” an action, clear the weapons, dry
fire, load or unload.
Load/Unload Points are located around all ranges.
I use blue poles in certain areas where students can come on line
between them and break and action or check their weapon with it
pointed to the ground. The ground or soft dirt will capture an
unintentional discharge. Pointing a weapon in the air is dangerous,
and I don’t recommend it, as you don’t know where the bullet will
land. I want the bullet captured if a discharge does happen.
I have put these load/unload points on behind the firing lines facing
wood lines and also on the sides of berms both right and left.
The third load/unload area is on the firing line with no one

downrange. A student must look right and left and ensure no one is
going past them to hang or tape a target.
Always point the muzzle down when working an action. The ground will capture
any rounds that are discharged.
Instructors can help new students with the process of getting their
weapon from the car/case to their holsters safely. The same applies
to rifles. We use a chamber blocking device at CSAT for rifles.
Chamber Blocking Device
Never go past a load/unload point.
INSPECTING STEEL
Before you shoot steel, inspect it. Also know the ammo, caliber and
distance to shoot it from. A club member at CSAT lost his mind for a
moment and engaged this steel from seve to ten yards with an AR
.223/5.56 platform. Using standard pistol rounds, it would have been
serviceable for life.
This damage makes the plate unserviceable and dangerous.

Another shooter shooting this with a pistol up close may cause
serious ricochets, as the bullet is going into a U and may come back
out at the shooter at significant velocity.
The above plate is both a pistol and rifle plate. We use them to shoot
at eighty-plus yards with a rifle and ten with a pistol. Any closer with
a rifle will cut down their life expectancy.
This plate shows signs of wear, chipping, and cracking. We can keep
it at a hundred yards and further, and it will not cause any problems.
Many times, we migrate the plates starting to show excessive wear
to our long-distance ranges.
INSTRUCTOR POINTS
As an instructor, I go home after a class mentally fatigued. This is
from being constantly aware and scanning all directions all the time.
It is a relaxed scanning, but a scanning nonetheless.
As an instructor, you must strategically place yourself where you can watch
individual shooters and those on standby. Your distance away from them is
dictated by the individual shooter’s skill set. If they are competent, I will be further
away. If a student has issues, I will be an arm’s length away so I can immediately
correct or stop a problem.
If I am working the line, I have a span of control of one to five new

shooters. Maybe more if it is an experienced line, say a law
enforcement group of seasoned shooters. With my one to five new
shooters, I will generally always have one that needs more help at
first. I may need to watch one a great deal but be aware of the other
shooters under my responsibility.
Other line instructors can help out and even the lead can step in
from time to time. As a lead instructor working the speaker system, I
see all and am aware of the location of students who need more
attention at first. I generally see problems before or at the same time
as the line coach. If needed, I jump in and help with an overlapping
coverage of students to get them on the correct weapon handling
mechanics.
SAFETY VALVES
“Safety valve” is a term I use for instructors to ensure a training class
runs safely.
First, everyone is generally at a different level, with different

experiences. They must be calibrated and brought up safely at the
same level to ensure that ALL students have a safe training
experience.
I generally use the following equation:
Dry
Sims
Live
This is a training progression along with safety valves. If a student

cannot perform a drill “dry,” they do not get to load their gun and do it
live. Sorry, they “earn” their right to go live in my school. The next
level is “sims” or paint-marking rounds. By using this training tool,
students get weapon manipulation practice, movement and even
shooting a reactive target (human) if they so choose.
If an individual SWAT student could not perform the skills needed to

do it live, the rest of the team could shoot live, and the problem
student could use paint-marking weapons / rounds.
The positives are the training still continues and no one is held back
or more importantly, endangered during the training. When the
student earns their right to shoot live, they get live rounds.
Another way to continue training is to have the team go live and the
problem student dry fire during the exercise. They are building
positive repetitions, and again, no one is endangered. I have used
this technique in many, many schools with positive results. The
individual pressure one puts on themselves to get it “right” is more
positive than any instructor can generate by yelling at them.
USE OF FORCE
I am including use of force and safety in one chapter, as this part on
Use of Force is short.
First, I am not a lawyer and have heard many definitions over the
years. Next, every state is different in regard to laws and
conservative/liberal views by potential juries and grand juries.
A police officer is generally going to arrest/detain you after a

shooting, and in some states, you will get charged with homicide and
will have to have a grand jury no bill you, which clears you of
wrongdoing.
My suggestions are as follows. You can ask a police officer about

use of force and get their opinion. However, it is the DA (district
attorney) who will charge you. In short, talk to your DA or assistant
DA and get their views on the issue.
Now, safety. When you take a firearm into your possession, you bear
the responsibility for its safe use and handling. This means, control,
storage, transportation, etc. We can write all the safety rules in
stone, but it is up to you to learn and practice them. Seek a qualified
instructor to get you on the right track. Homework (reading) must be
accompanied by fieldwork in this case. The fieldwork/hands-on is
more important than reading about guns. They will not accidently go
off when reading about them, but when handling them.
FINAL POINTS
All firearms are inherently

dangerous. Seek out a
qualified instructor before
you read a book or watch
YouTube and decide to get
some range time.
STUDENT POINTS
Follow range safety protocols.
As you become more fatigued, take more breaks.
Drink water when you load mags.
If you become overwhelmed or tired, sit down and take a break.
INSTRUCTOR POINTS
Immediately look at a student’s weapon in their holster or rifle
when you meet them and fix any holster issues before they get
on line.
Size up students by talking to them and by watching them on
the 5/1 drills.
Keep your head on a swivel during training.
Instructors should take breaks as well as students.
At lunch, take a short drive

to pick up chow and
decompress. If you don’t,
students will pin you down,
and you won’t get a mental
break that helps you the
rest of the training day.
CHAPTER 4
Handgun Basics
OVERVIEW
I prefer a firearm training system that works across the tactical
spectrum for 95 percent of the problems you will encounter. After
seeing many, many systems, I believe this system does this. Your
training system should go from a flat range to a shoot house, to
vehicle assaults, to aircraft and buses (tube targets) with no change.
It should work with a single person, two people, a team and a multi-
team CQB with no changes. It should work in the civilian, law
enforcement and military world seamlessly. For 5 percent of the
situations, you would have “techniques” that can be used. One
example is that of the high ready with the rifle. If I am covering
across a street on a team movement, above another team, I would
use either a high or mid-high ready. This includes covering a door
that has not been processed in room clearing. Everyone can see the
position of my weapon is not “normal”, and it sends a nonverbal
message to people that it is covered.
If I were to focus on the 10 percent to 20 percent of the individuals

who want flashy or “Gucci” training, I would be a salesman instead of
a professional trainer.
STANCE
The stance of a boxer is what I would use to describe my shooting
stance. I already know the direction in which the energy of the pistol
is going to “push.” I am setting up for that and multiple shots, as it
may take several rounds to solve my tactical problem.
I shoot with my firing foot about three inches behind my nonfiring

foot, and my feet are shoulder-width apart. I teach to bend your
knees slightly and get your hips over or slighty in front of your
ankles. I bend slightly at the waist and get my shoulders in front of
my hips. I get my head slightly in front of my shoulders. I do this, as I
know which way the recoil is going to push me. My centerline is
facing the threat or target.
To get a natural point of aim or NPOA, I push the pistol to the target
and align my sights, locking both my right and left arms. If the gun
does not lie on target after I close my eyes for a few seconds, I
adjust my feet right or left until it does. In reality, I can pull my firing
foot back a little or push it forward and it will move the weapon and
how it lies on target. NPOA is important so we do not fight muscle
during our firing sequence and push or pull the gun.
Next, I want my skeletal alignment in such a manner as to absorb

the recoil. We know the force or pushing is going to be straight back.
The more structurally aligned I am, the better I will handle the recoil
and follow-up shots.
Your stance will vary a little, as your legs are shorter or longer and
your upper torso and arms are a bit different. So don’t sweat it if you
don’t look exactly like me. The line drill will help you establish the
proper natural point of aim and grip pressure.
As a right-handed shooter, my left foot is touching the firing line. My right foot is
generally shoulder-width apart in a heel-to-toe configuration as seen above.
High ready position
Interview stance
Our starting position or “fighting position” is the interview stance. It

originates from a law enforcement position used when talking to
people and especially suspected threats. We do not do this with our
hands down by our sides, as we cannot block or strike efficiently
from this position. I have captured video in my database of
individuals being punched with their hands down by their sides,
getting knocked out, and then hitting their head on the concrete and
dying. You cannot fight when you are unconscious.
Start with your fingers lightly touching.
THE DRAW
From the interview stance, we generally teach two methods to draw
your weapon. One is the top down, and the other is the bottom up.
Holster to gun technique

Top of gun technique. Using either method, be careful not to dip or lift your
shoulder.
Once your hands meet in the high-ready position, you can address the trigger and
firm up your firing grip on the push out.
Speed is attained from the

interview stance and back
to the high-ready position.
When you push out from
the high ready, the speed
has to be the same as a
high-ready one-shot drill. If
you push out too fast, you
will overdrive the gun and
likely miss.
GRIP FIT
With the outpouring of new weapons, sizes and removable
backstraps, everyone can now find a grip that suits them. Grip
choice is based on two thought processes. The first is how your
hand fits the gun. The next is how your finger indexes the trigger for
the trigger press.
I like the back strap or frame of the gun facing directly down my firing
arm, as I want the recoil transmitting down my arm instead of against
my thumb. I see this happening with many a new shooter who has
small hands or short fingers.
I advise students to find the gun/backstrap which feels good and

gives surface contact with their hand the entire length of the grip. I
generally dry fire all the backstraps to see which one makes contact
with my entire hand. I also watch the front sight during dry fire to see
which backstrap/grip gives me no movement when the trigger is
pressed.
I like the pistol grip deep in the web of the hand and the recoil pushing back down
my firing arm as much as possible.
Forward view of firing and support hand positions. Indexed trigger finger and
support hand under the trigger guard.
Trigger fit
While a grip may fit, the gun’s design might leave a less than
acceptable trigger placement. I prefer my trigger finger to make
contact with the frame to the trigger and will use up to the first joint to
pull the trigger. I find it stabilizes the gun better.
How to check fit?
Get about twelve feet off a reduced target on a wall and dry fire,
focusing only on the front sight. As you dry fire, watch the movement
when you press the trigger and the striker moves forward. Do that
with each of your backstraps and find the one with the least amount
of front sight disturbance.
SUPPORT HAND GRIP
The thumbs forward grip on the semi-automatic pistol is what we
teach. See the photo and the note the “stippling” on the frame that
can be used as a reference point. Besides stippling, once the proper
grip is attained, a line can be drawn across the support and firing
hand to ensure the same grip is attained each and every time.
Students can self-check their grip after draws, reloads and firing to
see if the lines match up.
Note the support thumb on the frame of the pistol and not the slide. The slide will
move with every shot, and you will constantly change your grip pressure when it
does.
I have also “stippled” reference points on the forward frame to

ensure my support thumb indexes the same spot each time.
GRIP PRESSURE
Grip pressure is how much pressure you apply to the guns with both
one and both hands. I have heard 60/40 in the day to 50/50. This
means 60 percent pressure with your support hand and 40 pressure
with the firing hand. Why less pressure with the firing hand? Too
much pressure in the firing hand causes the muzzle to move during
the firing process, and for a right-handed shooter, it means a low and
left shot. It also has an impact on how you press the trigger.
In the past, I have marked my training gun so students could visualize where I
want pressure from their support hand.
LINE DRILL
The line drill is simple, and you can use a hard, vertical line on a
target or put a twelve-inch piece of masking tape on the target
running up and down. Start shooting the line/tape and adjust your
grip pressure so the fired bullets fall on the line. This may require
backing off your firing hand pressure 10 percent and adding 10
percent to your nonfiring hand until the bullets fall on the line or tape.
It is a drill I always go back to, to ensure I always have the correct
grip pressure.
Generally, I start with four rounds and walk the line down and then
fire four rounds back up, each time realigning my sights and
resetting my trigger. That is, I let my trigger move forward until it
stops (not losing contact with it) and then taking it back to the Glock
bump, or 1/2 on other guns.
Pre-shot or in high-ready position trigger placement
I prefer a straight indexed trigger finger before firing.
BREATHING
Prior to the first shot, I take a half breath in and blow it out. When
shooting, I shoot on a dead chest or, better termed, a “relaxed
chest,” with no air. Trying to shoot on a full chest of air is not
comfortable.
TRIGGER PRESS
As I have mentioned, I prefer a full trigger placement, even if it is up
to the first knuckle.
I believe you have better stability when using this technique.
I don’t like any space or gap between my trigger finger and the pistol frame.
TRIGGER FOLLOW-THROUGH
Trigger follow-through or “reset” is important for follow-up shots.
Letting the trigger out to where it stops and then pressing to the
“bump” is what I prefer. It sets you up for follow-up shots. Using the
short reset technique to reset your trigger is a perishable skill and
can cause another round to be fired. If your pistol does not have the
Glock “bump” or resistance, take about half the slack out. In the end,
never lose contact with the trigger when firing.
SIGHT FOLLOW-THROUGH
Realigning the sights after each shot will ensure they are there for
follow-up shots, no matter how many it takes to put down your threat.
Realigning your sights and prepping your trigger is the fastest way to
re-engage the threat if they are still upright.
SCAN
Scan or scanning refers to breaking “tunnel vision” after engaging a
threat. It is normal to get “target lock” after a shooting and not look at
the bigger picture of possible additional threats to CHL (concealed
handgun license) holders or a police presence.
Once the threat is down, my finger comes off the trigger and
indexes the weapon frame.
I drop the weapon down several inches under my vision so as to
see a person’s hands by their waist if they were standing next to
the threat I terminated. “Muzzle follows eyes” is the term I use
as the muzzle tracks my vision.
You can scan right to left or left to right.
Once no immediate threats are identified, the weapon comes
back into a high ready.
I then glance over my right and left shoulder for additional
threats or presence (police/CHL holders).
I can now move on the threat or displace to cover.
SUL POSITION
SUL Position is used when working around other officers or innocents, when
reaching forward to open a door, or when moving a person with a weapon in your
hand. I use the cross-thumb method and keep the gun flat against my stomach.
My elbows are in and relaxed.
With SUL position, you can move through crowds, displace people,
reach for doorknobs, and do hand combat without flagging/pointing a
weapon at one of your own body parts.
MICROMECHANICS OF A SHOT
Take a half breath in and blow out to a dead chest.
Lock your right arm.
Lock your left arm.
Firm up your grip.
Align your sights.
Press your trigger.
Realign sights.
Reset your trigger.
This is the start position of the trigger when your finger

comes in contact with it.
This is the end point, when you fire a shot.
The muzzle is always slightly elevated under your shooting eye, and your arms are
relaxed.
When the timer goes or you are ready to take a life, you begin your
push out of the gun.
As you begin push out, your finger makes contact with the
trigger. You take it to the bump on the way out (see next photo).
Next, you begin to drop your front sight into your rear sight, and
then you firm up your firing grip just prior to locking out the
pistol.
I fire a shot and then let my trigger reset to the start point and
not the mechanical reset or “click” or Glock bump. The short
reset, as I call it, is a perishable skill, and under high stress, you
may send another round unintentionally downrange.
The above photo is where I load the trigger on the push out.
HANDGUN SELECTION
Without going into too much detail on handguns, there are many
quality handguns that work. The key is to find the one that:
Fits your hand

Fits your body style for carry
If the weapon does not fit your hand, you will struggle with it every
shot. It needs to fill your hand and all contact points. Your trigger
finger needs to reach the trigger comfortably.
You must want to carry the weapon because it is the right size,
weight and length. Holsters come in all shapes and sizes. If you are
too heavy, you might not want to appendix carry, and might stick to
right-side carry.
If you are planning on carrying deep concealment, your weapon

probably needs an external safety, or maybe a hammerless revolver
is what you are opting for.
With all handguns and holsters, you must think about holstering after
each drill, many, many times in the day. I prefer Kydex for this. Now if
you are doing the deep concealment carry and not drawing and
holstering many times, your holster can vary. You simply must
ensure that your trigger and safety are covered.
TARGET SELECTION
The CSAT Target is our training and evaluation target. We use the
top left pasty to work several drills, from the five dry fire and one live,
to strong hand and support hand. Normally we have a student do a 5
and 1 from the high ready while we are cleaning them up. We then
do a 5 and 1 from the holster on the right pasty.
We can do strong hand right pasty and support hand left pasty to
see how our hands alone are impacting our shots.
The heavy outside black body box lines can be used to shoot the line
drill, which shows a student how much grip pressure to apply to the
gun.
The MK target was initially developed as a sniper target and was

shot from one hundred yards and with various positions (bipod, ruck
and from inside a building).
I have adapted it for several different drills, such as the movement
drill later discussed, with both a pistol and rifle. I also use it to slow
students down when initially teaching CQB to give them repetitions
and to shrink their group size. I can give each individual their own
head and hold them accountable and then issue a head to a team,
such as “middle left” to hold the team accountable for their accuracy.
It is easy to set up and change out as needed in a shoot house.
I can also use this target for low-light engagements on a flat range
and in a shoot house. We use these for marksmanship when using
handheld lights. I let students know that if they cannot consistently
make the shot on a flat range, not to attempt it real world.
The bull target has many uses. I can shoot a different technique on
every bull to see which technique gives me the tightest group. I can
do the same with ammo and shoot a different load on each bull to
see which one my gun shoots best. We can also use this target for
competition and point scoring or aggregates (who gets the highest
score).
The target on the left was shot with two different types of ammo from the same
pistol. The one on the right was shot with a rifle and optics only to see if the
shooter (me) could come back and replicate the zero. I have kept both hard targets
and also put the pictures into a PowerPoint for future reference.
STUDENT KEY POINTS:
This is a system like many. This is what I teach and what I
preach.
Start slowly and methodically. Do the steps. Do them enough,
and they will stick with you and you will do them on demand
under high stress.
Know your system by using your system.
Live the example by shooting what you teach.
Perfect your delivery and demos (rehearse).
When watching a student, walk around them either right to left
or left to right and see all components of their shooting plan from
strong hand to support hand.
Give them positive feedback on their shooting on one point at a
time if possible.
Start with big points and then move to the micromechanics.
CHAPTER 5
Handgun training
GENERAL
The above pistol is an out-of-the-box Glock 19 with a standard
trigger. If I am working an LE (law enforcement) or government
class, I will have the light on it. If it is a civilian class, I leave the light
off. I feel it is important for instructors to shoot the same equipment
as their students. I add a bit of stippling to the contact points for a
firm grip.
When you begin your accuracy/speed journey, you will spend 90

percent of your time shooting to get to a certain standard and 10
percent on scenario-based training. Once you get your shooting
skills up, you will invert the formula and spend 10 percent working
accuracy/speed and 90 percent on scenarios.
PISTOL STANDARDS
Pistol instructor standards
The drills below drills are designed with three purposes in mind:
1. A measurable standard to maintain.

2. An efficient stair-stepped workout program that covers all the
bases.
3. A diagnostic test the of individual shooter at various times to
show areas needing improvement.
Only score shots in the center box and head of the CSAT target. If
an enemy turns sideways, that will be all the shooter has to engage,
resulting in the appropriate-size kill zone.
-All stations shot at 7 yards except #10.

Instructors must pass 8-10
standards in one course of
fire.
Pistol instructor standards—the why
The below listed drills are designed with three purposes in mind.
1. To give you a measurable standard to maintain.

2. To give you an efficient stair-stepped workout program that
covers all the bases.
3. To give you a diagnostic test at various times to show areas
needing improvement.
Only score shots in the A zone of an IPSC target. If an enemy turns

sideways, that will be all you have to engage, resulting in a worst-
case scenario.
This drill sets the base for all other drills incorporating lock,
firing, follow-through, cover, scan, weapon retraction and clear
to the rear. The one shot has been taught since I began
shooting, and the additions have been added over the years.
Another school of thought is to track the threat to the ground
while engaging it.
This drill was developed for the Safariland 6004 holster with a
hood. Other holsters may be faster. We begin it in the interview
stance, hands in front, fingertips touching, as we do not talk to
potential threats with our hands down at our sides.
This drill focuses on multiple shots, recoil management and

additional sight pictures.
This drill focuses on controlled rapid fire into a determined

threat. Originally taught a “rhythm” drill by Jerry Barnhart, I
incorporated the headshot on the 6th shot. It teaches you to
develop an aggressive stance and to see the front sight with
every shot. Further, it reinforces trigger reset. If five to the body
does not work, take out the computer (head).
This drill focuses on dealing with multiple threats. Eyes move

and trigger finger comes out of the trigger guard during weapon
movement. This drill has been taught since I started shooting.
The reason for the trigger finger coming off between targets is in
case you move across a hostage.
This drill focuses on transitioning hands should a hand or arm

be injured, and I remember learning it from Mid-South.
Individuals have died with a loaded gun and a downed strong
arm.
This is the first and fastest remedy for a malfunction. I
remember learning it or a version of it from Mid-South.
This drill focuses on doing a speed reload in a fast and efficient

manner all while making hits. This has been a standard drill
since I started shooting autoloaders.
This drill focuses on close-quarter weapon transitions to

eliminate a threat when one’s primary weapon fails. Learned in
special ops.
Kneeling is a long-term and stable position. Originally learned

going to prone at Mid-South, but prone is not a good assault
position. I changed it to kneeling for speed and mobility.
INSTRUCTORS MUST
PASS 8-10 STANDARDS
IN ONE COURSE OF
FIRE.
Sequence of training the standards (training schedule)
DAY 1
DAY 2
2 day sequence expanded
DAY 1
Welcome
Medical Briefing
Safety Briefing
Training Flow
Take Questions
Short and to the point

What is safe and allowed today
Draw efficiently, holster slowly
Give them a shooting plan from bottom of their feet to their head
and out to the gun.
Show them a safe load and unload procedure.
Shoot a live demo for the class.
Allow them to shoot it. During this time, only one live round is
fired for a total of five dry fires. The five dry fires are performed
between each live round, which is time to allow instructors to
make many student corrections with minimal rounds being fired.
The same 5/1 is done for the holster.

The holster can be dangerous.
No speed holstering is allowed, and if you miss the holster one
time, you look to reholster as we are putting the gun away
because the threat is no longer there.
Correct civilian and LE holsters. Civilians may put it too far to
their rear where they cannot see it. LE may have theirs too low
where they have to break position and lean to access it. They
may also have pouches interfering with their draw stroke that
need to be moved.
Three mags of eight are

We talk about the drill and shoot the drill for students.
We teach them how hard to grip their pistol so the bullets fall on
the line ensuring a natural point of aim and neutral grip
pressure.
Further, we want them to reset their sights and trigger with each
shot.
This is a student’s introduction to the timer and command,
“Shooter stand by, beep.”
Three mags of eight are loaded.

We want them to shoot center mass of the body and high in the
box for the most lethality they can produce.
We do a slow-fast-slow demo to show them the perfect
mechanics we are looking for.
We do it eight times, and when their first mags hit the ground,
we stop, holster, and talk about reloads.
Three mags of eight are to keep all students on the same
shooting sequence so they all go dry at the same time. It also
keeps single-stack weapons in alignment with double-stack
magazines. Finally, twenty-four shots with a follow-through,
cover, and scan will require a mental and physical break if
students are doing it correctly.
The reason for placing this info here is because they will be
reloading all day and we want them to practice their reloads
each time from hand position to magazine orientation.
We continue to shoot the one-shot drill. This is a verbal demo
only.
The instructor demo is given.

If we see needed corrections, we teach a ball-and-dummy drill
at seven yards on a pasty.
Snap caps do not work. It is better to have a second shooter
watch them so they start to learn how to diagnose shooter
problems.
They shoot a total of five rounds at the pasty and then switch
over.

This begins multiple-shot training and three sight pictures.
We start looking at structure and encourage students to get
aggressive in their stances.
Three mags of twelve are loaded.

This drill teaches an aggressive stance, trigger, and sight reset.
This is also a failure drill for an opponent who continues their
attack.

We want students to get their guns back into action if they
fail/malfunction.
We do the instructor demo first.
We each proper setup and to look before picking a magazine off
the ground.
Notes: A student can
generally focus for no more
than three hours before
they need a physical and
mental break. During the
safety briefing, we
encourage all to drink
water and use the latrine
after loading magazines.
Portuguese for “south,” SUL is our preferred method of carry

when moving in confined spaces or when friendly people are
ahead of you.
It is a good weapon retention position, and hand combat can be
applied from this position as well.

We teach students to engage the first target with two rounds,
move eyes first, take finger off trigger and move gun. Re-index
the trigger and engage the second target and then conduct a
follow-through.

This is taught in three phases, dry on the dots, two shots each
dot (right and left) and then to the body.
Taught dry first in case a student drops a gun.
Dots are shot with the first set of mags—right dot right hand, left
dot left hand—to see groups.
Students reload mags and then shoot three mags to the body on
the timer.

Students dry fire a few times on the timer.
Students load and live fire.
Students have been able to practice their draw a good portion of
the day.
Use a mag of two, two of eight, or fully loaded and loose rounds
in pocket.
New target is used.
The instructor demo of four kneeling positions is given.
Show students where to hold.
Do drill ten times, one shot each from standing holster.
We video students at the end of the day from the high

ready/holster and the 5 body-1 head drills.
We can shoot bulls if we have time to prepare for the next

morning’s course of fire.
DAY 2
We watch and critique student shooting video in the classroom

while they are fresh.
We encourage them pick out three things they want to fix during
today’s session.
You will find humorous moments, but do not belittle students.
Show students how to dry fire.

With notes from the video, we do ball and dummy at twenty-five
yards to work on individual skills.
Three full mags minus one bullet are used so mags seat on a
slide forward.
We teach students how to move around people safely with a
weapon drawn.
The instructor gives demo and demos SUL position.
Surgical targets are used.
slide forward.
We do standing right and left.
We do kneeling right and left.
We don’t do prone, as it is not an assault/mobile position.
slide for
We use a line that is three steps off the vehicle, and white and
red dots as firing positions.
Fellow students can spot for other students.
We talk about tac reloads and getting into the next fight with a
fully loaded gun.
Three mags of ten, nine, and six are used.

We shoot shirts on time using the standards.
We show students how to quarter a human wearing clothes.
Three mags of ten, nine, and six are used.

We shoot standards for time and score.
Notes: What is outlined

above is the safe
sequencing of information
and live fire. This is the
most effective way to do it
in my opinion. I have used
the same basic outline for
over 20 years with few
changes.
INSTRUCTOR POINTS
Start with a short orientation and move right to weapon handling and
load/unload procedures. I use a chisel-tip Sharpie to draw on targets
and show students where to aim. Once that is accomplished, I show
them how I want them to load the weapon with a press check every
time and how to unload the weapon every time with precise hand
movements on the slide.
These techniques will be also used during malfunction drills along

with shoot two, reload, shoot two, and by having one hand mechanic
on the gun, students will become more efficient faster.
Further, for safety, students are allowed to pick bullets off the ground
to include empty magazines, but they first must look right and left to
ensure shooters are not point guns at them. This is part of teaching
situational awareness on the line. Once their gun is in the holster
and they are finished firing, they can take two steps back. As an
instructor, I can quickly determine who is still shooting or having a
weapon issue.
For reloads, we teach to keep the gun in your work space (high-ready area), and
that it is okay to take your eyes off the target to get your gun loaded on a slide
forward or slide locked back.
Use the CSAT target for multiple diagnostic and training drills.
The left dot can be used for the five dry fire and one live drill to
initially assess students with the high-ready position.
The right dot can be used for the same purpose with five and
one from the holster to establish draw mechanics.
The vertical heavy black lines on the right and left, and the body
box lines can be used for the line drill, where we work on grip
pressure and trigger reset. The above picture was shot by a
right-handed shooter. The rounds to the right of the line show
too much right-hand grip pressure “pushing” the shot. The ones
to the right of the line indicate not enough grip pressure with the
firing hand. I tell students to back off 10 percent of their firing
grip and add 10 percent with their support hand when
shooting/pushing left.
The left dot can be used for the strong hand/support hand drills.
I have students shoot two rounds at the right dot with their
strong hand only and then two rounds with their left hand only to
see what their hands/grip pressure are doing to the shot.
Another drill that can be done on the dots is to shoot with the
handheld flashlight in the left-hand barricade position on the left
dot and the right-hand flashlight barricade position on the right
dot.
To track what drills I had problems with, I put an H on the misses to note that I
need to work on the holster a bit more. I try to keep up on appendix, a right-side
holster and a tactical Safariland 6004, which are perishable skills.
STUDENT KEY POINTS
Buy a timer.
Have measurable standards to practice and self-evaluate.
Work on one to two drills at a time and master them and then
move on.
When on the line during live-fire drills and the class is still
shooting and you run out of ammo, dry fire with the class/timer
as you are building positive muscle memory.
INSTRUCTOR KEY POINTS
Have a checklist on you.
Practice what you preach.
Remember, each student is struggling with something different,
and they will not master it in a day.
Fix one issue at a time that will have the most impact on their
shooting.
Don’t give the student more than one point to fix; otherwise they
might not process the information well.
Keep a Sharpie handy for marking targets or students.
CHAPTER 6
Handgun tactical drills
GENERAL
The above picture is an out-of-the-box G26 that I use for tactical
classes. It has the standard trigger, and the only added parts are
Ameriglo Hackathorn sights and a bit of stippling on the contact
points. I do like the Gen 4 Glocks and the finger grooves, as they
give me additional reference points on the gun.
Drills or hard skills are routine training sets that we practice which
will help us resolve any tactical situation on the street. While
shooting drills in today’s age are limitless, below are what I use and
why. I either teach barricades or Mary-Katherine (MK) surgical first,
as they are the baseline skills for all other tactical drills.
MK SURGICAL
I still cringe when I watch the LAPD Patrol response to a homeless
man who they bean bag into a hostage scenario. Where one shot
should have been fired, eighteen total were sent downrange with
sympathetic fire occurring and the hostage dying before the bad guy.
The MK Surgical drill teaches the following:
SUL Position – A depressed high ready used when moving

around friendlies. This means other officers, family member or
anyone you do not want to muzzle or point your weapon toward.
The drill teaches to look before you leap – Identify your next
position before you move, and swing your muzzle to it.
The drill teaches to shorten your step as you close on your firing
position – This means, take shorter steps and end up in your
natural firing/point-of-aim stance when you stop.
Imprinting a push out and one-shot sequence – Each shot is
performed from the high ready, and you engage a head target
starting at the top right with a follow-through, cover and scan.
Ammo awareness – If your gun becomes over one-half empty,
tac reload it before you get into your next engagement/move.
Always get into the next contact with a full gun.
Figure out your skill set and if you can make the shot – Real
world, if you cannot make the shot, do not pull the trigger.
Do not increase grip pressure as the target becomes smaller – If
you do, you will push the shot. (Right handers push left, and
lefties push right by overgripping.)
Variables to the MK drill:
The drill can be run right to left or left to right.

It can be run strong hand only.
It can be run weak hand only.
It can be run with a handheld flashlight.
I can be run with a weapon-mounted pistol light.
Sul position
Again, SUL position is used when working around other officers or innocents,
when reaching forward to open a door, or when moving a person with a weapon in
your hand. I use the cross-thumb method and keep the gun flat against my
stomach. My elbows are in and relaxed.
Barricades
I teach barricades in four positions:
Standing Right
Standing Left
Kneeling Right
Kneeling Left
To begin with, I generally start an arms-length off my cover and no

closer. I like practicing up to three steps off my cover. Barricades
teaches the use of cover off ninety-degree angles. I use steel chest
plates at twenty-five yards to practice this drill.
Teaching Points:
All positions start high ready.

I step back and to the right when standing to get in a natural
seven- or twenty-five-yard firing position.
I step forward to the left when standing to get in a natural seven-
or twenty-five-yard firing position.
Once practiced, I like my muzzle to be one to two inches offset
of the cover to maximize my protection.
I generally start a foot width inside the cover, or off a line on the
ground drawn straight back from the edge of my cover with
marking paint. This way an elbow or equipment will not be seen.
When starting kneeling, I start with my outside knee high so I
can drag my rear leg for maximum stability. I may not get into
my firing position on my first step out because of physical/visual
blockages downrange.
It is easier to creep further out using this technique.
I require two hits per position before moving to another position,
as it builds a good follow-through for students on steel. One shot
may not build good habits.
I use a coach/spotter behind each student to see hits and to
keep students on line and from bumping into each other.
Tac reloads can be done in the open or behind cover. Your
battlefield will dictate this.
Avoid shooting your gun dry and tac reload from the second
magazine in your pouch if you have a double mag pouch so that
your “sweet spot” always remains uploaded.
I do not teach prone, as it is not an assault position. It is limited
in use, slow to get into and out of.
Do a follow-through, cover and rear scan before moving or
displacing upward.
Variables to the drill:
Shoot static.
Shoot with handheld light.
Shoot with weapon-mounted light.
Shoot after moving to from several yards away
Start drills with students one arm’s length off cover. We use wood in barricade
construction, so in the case that a student accidently shoots cover, it will not frag
back on them.
The back of the box can be used for students moving up and engaging threats
from a distance, so they know they don’t have to be on cover to engage.
The view from the barricade (twenty-five yards). Each student has their own piece
of steel to engage.
OUTSIDE CONTACT
We can move via foot or leave a vehicle and make contact on the
outside of a structure.
Students need to be prepared for both.
During our initial movement, the shooter is masked in the pile. Students need to
move to make the shot.
By moving and opening up the angle, you can create a shot. Only you know if you
can make it safely. We have you do it at CSAT, but in real life, you will have to
make a decision to shoot, not shoot or move closer for the shot. The
hostage’s/innocent’s movement in real life will hinder you making a safe shot.
As an instructor, sometimes you need to see what a student sees so you can
ensure they are clearing the hostages and can articulate they saw a weapon.
F & M LATERAL
Lateral fire and maneuver is an expanded MK drill generally shot
using vehicle cover. It can be started from in the vehicle or from
behind it. A steel chest plate is the target, and the range is generally
twenty-five yards. This drill teaches a student how to parallel a threat
and neutralize it.
Lateral fire and maneuver teaches the following:
Kneeling right and left – This drill reinforces kneeling on either

side for the side of the vehicle you are engaging the target from.
Barricades must be taught before this drill
Starting from standing and displacing to a knee of choice
depending on the side you are engaging from.
Clearing your battle space before you stand – This means clear
to the front and to the rear before you stand and move.
Going SUL if friendlies are to your front direction of travel – The
MK drill must be taught before this drill.
Using dots on cars to control student movement. White dots one
way and red dots the other.
Increasing in engagement distance. Surgical shooting and
breathing required; one shot per breath is suggested.
How cardio will come into play. Don’t outrun it.
Getting into the next fight with a full gun. Again, if over one-half
empty, reload.
Not crowding cover – Stay in a straight line when moving down
the row of vehicles and stay three steps off to avoid ricochets.
Do white dot first.

Do red dot next.
Do white and red.
Come back the opposite way in the above sequences.
Start from inside a vehicle and fight from the V until you get on
line.
Do the drill with a handheld flashlight.
Do the drill with a pistol-mounted light.
Do the drill with a second person and leapfrog.
Do the drill with a team and leapfrog.
The above shooter is working white dots on the row of vehicles and will do a left-
side barricade pop out each time. This drill/technique has to be preloaded in the
instructor’s teaching sequence.
F & M FORWARD
Fire and maneuver forward teaches a student how to aggress a
threat and push to and through. The start position is generally fifty
yards away. This drill can be shot on steel or paper.
Paper can be scored, taped and reused.
Forward F & M learning points:
Scanning 360 before you move

Breathing with each shot at distance
Position required to make the shot and clear cover –
standing/kneeling
Ammo management and tactical reloads
Not crowding cover
Blue lane starts by the shed, and shooters move forward to the blue dot, which
shows them a new firing position. The lane can end at the last car or two or in the
shoot house.
Red lane starts off the first vehicle and ends at the white car, or you can extend the
lane to or into the shoot house.
PIE ROOM OPEN
A student learns to pie a room to solve a tactical problem using
cover, distance and stealth to address threats.
Pie Learning Points:
Students can either sidestep or walk short steps and pivot on

the threat.
Students learn to step into their natural firing position.
Students learn not to telegraph by putting a muzzle in the
doorway or beyond.
Students learn to clear 95 percent of the room from the outside.
Students learn to do a controlled entry of the room and address
what they could not see from the outside first.
Students learn discrimination.
Students learn to go SUL before reaching for a doorknob.
Variables:
Open door right and left

Closed inward-opening door right and left
Outward-opening door right and left
Handheld flashlight
Weapon-mounted light
Generally, we start student with an MK target to slow them down, and work on
precision mechanics before speed. The instructor will dictate which target to shoot
prior to entry.
A single no-shoot target can be used to check discrimination.
Rooms can be set up with multiple discrimination targets with “props” in the hands
to make a student go through their discrimination process on each individual
target. We put badges on targets from time to time to ensure that students do not
shoot a police officer in civilian clothes.
Targets are purchased so a student has to scan, whole person, hand, hand and
waistline. If a target has both hands on a gun, it makes it easier to determine
good/bad. We want to make it tougher here, so real life will be easy.
We can get as complicated as closed doors, a body on the floor with a weapon to
represent the bad guy you just engaged, or a hostage that is bleeding and requires
medical aid.
T INTERSECTION
T intersections are a common tactical problem generally found in all
structures and when exiting structures. This is where I begin to use
discrimination-type targets.
T Intersections learning points:
Processing a little at a time

Discriminating
Clearing using as much cover as possible using angles
Working on your footwork and not taking too big of steps. With
excitement/adrenaline, we tend to overstep.
Variables:
Handheld flashlight
We will find T intersections in buildings and when exiting a building. As you
approach, we can have it set up with stimuli or without. The above is an advanced
scenario with a body and open rooms beyond the T that a student also has to clear
before bringing the body in once the T is secure.
Looking right at the T, the student will have to discriminate three targets and
determine the threat.
Looking Left at the T, the student will have to discriminate three targets and
determine if there is a threat.
As an instructor, I look at the total student package including movement, hand and
trigger position prior to the shot and after, footwork once contact is made, and a
few other items that will help them be successful.
DISCRIMINATION
After a student learns the mechanics of a drill, we add in
discrimination. Generally, it is done when we teach the T
intersection. It is important not to overload students with too much
trivial information while they are trying to learn basic movement
fundamentals with their feet and weapon systems. In short, there is a
lot of information for them to process before they get to
discrimination. First get down the basics of safe movement.
Discrimination Process When Scanning a Person
Whole Person: Make sure it is not a police officer or security

person.
Hands: Look for an obvious weapon.
Waistline: This is the fastest way to retrieve a weapon.
Immediate Area: Determine what is in their “wingspan,” or what
can they reach.
Demeanor: How are they looking at you and processing
information (anger/fear)?
Discrimination is crucial for everyone carrying a gun.
Hand props can be made by all instructors and adhered to the target with a tape
loop. They aid each student in developing their scanning sequence. The circle I
drew was a reminder for students to put their bullet in the high thoracic area of the
target. Finally, I painted over all the guns, so I can add props.
MOVING PEOPLE WITH A HANDGUN
The real world involves moving around live human beings with a
handgun. I prefer to move around people rather than touch them.
This includes family members, innocents, victims, etc.
The problem is people will stop, freeze up, mask shots you need to
make. For this reason we teach people how to move someone
forward, backward, right or left. This way you can “displace” them if
necessary if they are blocking your movement or a shot. We do not
allow students to shoot past an innocent in class, and require them
to get on line with hostages or move past them.
For this drill we use the “Bad Bob” dummies with the wide water-
filled bases (minus the water). We put shirts on them and work
students on a flat range, dry first. We teach students to use two
hands first, simulating their weapon is holstered.
We then move to one hand with the handgun in a SUL position

anytime they are reaching past a muzzle, to include reaching for
doorknobs. This is an advanced-level class for students who find
themselves among masses of people (police, teachers, church
security, dignitary protection).
People will freeze during all portions of a shooting. Your job is to sometimes move
them safely with a pistol in your hand forward, backward, right or left.
We might see the threat, but you cannot shoot past this innocent. You must move
past or displace them to make a safe shot.
This includes outside doorways leading into interior rooms. While students are
tempted to make a shot, they need to move Bob.
Students must learn to move in rooms at individual, two-person and team levels to
see the threat. We encourage students to move right or left first, before moving
forward.
This shot could be made if you knew what the innocent was going to do. The
headshot requires a bit more time, and your hard focus will make you lose your
visual on the Bob.
DRY FIRE
I was once told that the “big dogs” of the shooting world dry fire 70
percent to 30 percent live fire to maintain their skills/performance.
While deployed overseas, I would dry fire twenty minutes every day,
and as a team leader, require my team members to do the same.
Every drill that is covered in this book can be dry fired, and it is
incredible how much proficiency can be attained by doing this. This
includes footwork, movement speeds, gun handling and mechanics.
Dry fire is huge and cannot be underestimated. Dry fire every day. I put a target on
the back of my business cards and tape them to a wall. I get about twelve inches
off and dry fire all my drills.
By taking a piece of cardboard and taping a full head on one side and a smaller
head on the other, you have a portable dry fire target you can move around and
easily store. I use clear kitchen contact paper to seal the target. The above is from
the MK target sold by Action/LE Targets.
The above head is the tightest shot of the series.
Gloves can impact your mechanics by 20 percent or more with the pistol. Dry fire
in them as well.
AFTER ACTION THOUGHTS
There are an infinite number of drills that can be worked with
weapon systems. Some are skill builders that work on an isolated
technique, and some are multi-point drills that practice many tactical
drills in one. This is what I focus on to save time and effort.
I want to practice one drill that will hammer home several techniques
so I can train efficiently and reinforce positive skill sets. By
performing the above drills, we can clear a room or take a hallway, T
Intersection, or any problem on the outside of a target.
Finally, beware of the

flashy, feel-good, high-
volume drills that do not
build sound skills but rather
reinforce bad habits and
simply wear out your guns
and “make brass.”
Develop your own set of hard skills that you practice to set you up for
the fight that will come one day.
STUDENT KEY POINTS
Hard skills should focus on several key basics when you
practice, to maximize training time and effort.
Keep your own personal training list for your mission (police
officer, guardian teacher, guardian church security).
The above student points applies to instructors.
Know how to talk, demo, explain the “why” of each drill and
shoot the drill or a portion of it.
Know how to safety the drill by doing dry runs first, and then to
know where to put your safety valves and instructors.
Rehearse all of your actions.
Use the dry runs to identify problem shooters and assign
instructors to them.
Give students one item at a time to fix when possible so they
can organize their thought process more efficiently.
CHAPTER 7
Handgun Low Light
GENERAL
We don’t change tactics or many techniques for low light. We try to
use the same simple techniques that work in the daytime for low-light
encounters. We simply add a handheld flashlight to the equation,
which requires practicing strong-hand shooting and light
manipulation.
I prefer to run low-light modules/training from November through

February, as it gets dark early and there is no lag time from
afternoon training to evening sessions. I term these training sessions
AIT—advanced individual tactics.
The below is a sample schedule for a low-light class.

ADVANCED INDIVIDUAL TACTICS COURSE—
PISTOL
Day 1 – Short-distance shots
Day 2 – Long-distance shots
Day 3 (1/2 Day) Scenarios
DAY DRILLS AND NIGHT DRILLS AND TEACHING
SEQUENCE
As with other courses, we give an overview in the classroom with
video and then head to the range for weapon calibration. Prior to
leaving the classroom we break down the students into shooting
teams/relays so they can start shooting together. An admin team
leader is also appointed in the classroom for help with accountability
and control. Students may not have been to CSAT before, so we
review basics of load/unload and range safety procedures so
everyone is on the same page. This routinely takes a couple of
hours.
Once calibration is done, we take a lunch break and return for

tactical modules. If we have three teams, we generally have three
instructors who run three stations. Students run through three one-
hour stations in the day and then the same station at night. If they
have not done a drill before, they do it dry, then live with both hands
and then dry with a flashlight and then live with a flashlight.
Instructors have the latitude to run the students hot on the first runs
at night depending on their skillsets and how they did.
HANDHELD LIGHTS
I teach a technique with any handheld light (end switch, middle
switch, front switch), but prefer the end switch to keep it simple for
carry and use. Surefire has a multitude of techniques for handheld
use, but we teach two different ones that work for us. The first is a
right-hand barricade, and the other is a left-hand barricade. I will
show a high over-the-head position, but it is for special
circumstances.
We teach several skill builders as there are several complex tasks

that students are not used to:
Strong hand only shooting

Light recovery from pocket
Light storage to pocket
Reloads with lights
Malfunctions with lights
Draw with light in right/left barricade position
Working doorknobs with a flashlight
In addition, we have students do multiple repetitions dry before they

shoot live rounds.
Generally, students are dealing with poor strong hand only accuracy
and now having to manipulate a handheld light independently. This
includes having to do reloads with it, clear malfunctions with it and
open doors with it. Many of these are fine motor skills.
During daytime practice, we see flashlights pointing in all directions

and generally not at the target. Night fire on the same range will
correct this. I don’t get too hung up on this, but would rather have
good mechanics and thumb/button positioning.
Both Fenix and PowerTac make exceptional lights. Some have aggressive
knurling, some are smooth. Lanyards are used with shooters new to low light. A
lanyard allows them to work reload and malfunctions and turn doorknobs without
dropping or fumbling with the light. Once they get the handheld light down, we
wean them off the lanyard unless they like it. The lanyard length allows the light to
fall to the beltline of the student.
We try to get the handheld lights away from our bodies for barricade work and
breaking angles. We prefer to lock our firing arms when engaging for consistency
in our shots.
For right-side engagements, I rest the flashlight on my forearm and then press to a
full lock when engaging.
Compressed right-hand barricade position.
We try to get the light away from our centerline and are able to lock our firing arm
using either flashlight position.
Left-hand barricade.
WEAPON LIGHTS
Weapon lights are, in my opinion, just like shooting in the day with
two hands. The only addition is the use of the nonfiring thumb to
activate the light switch.
Scanning with the weapon-mounted light is another tactical problem

students run into. They end up sweeping any and all targets with a
gun. For a civilian in their own home, this means sweeping other
family members with their gun under high stress. In my opinion, a
handheld light is the way to go in most situations. You will simply
have to practice a bit more with your strong-hand-only shooting.
MARKING STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS
During low light operations, you can mark instructors, holding areas
and students. Generally, I just mark instructors with a low light strobe
on their shoot lace so students can find and report to the instructor.
Marking holding areas or holding points for the next run is an option,
and you can use a different color strobe to do this.
ADDITIONAL SAFETY POINTS
Accountability
This where I use student team leaders to keep all of their students
ready for the next run. If one needs to use the bathroom, they go and
report back to their team leader. If we lose accountability, we stop
training.
Spare equipment
Flashlights will not have enough lumens to be ergonomic. Batteries

will die. Have both
ready so students can continue with class.

STUDENT KEY POINTS:
The use of cover day and night should not change.
Always start with dry fire reps at the student speed and only
push them as fast as they can master the techniques. Your
impatience can cause safety issues.
Shoot with your flashlight during the daytime from time to time.
This will keep your skills sharp.
Rehearse your day and night actions.
Keep accountability.
Keep spare lights on you and batteries handy. It will keep a
student shooting without much downtime.
Start students with a lanyard if they are new to shooting with a
flashlight.
CHAPTER 8
Rifle Basics
RIFLES, CARBINES AND PISTOL CARBINES
The above rifle is an S & W M&P basic rifle which I use for a training
rifle. It is pretty close to the original $500 rifle with the exception of
the stock and the MIAD Grip. The trigger is the same, and I use old-
school 550 cord leaders as attachment points to the front sight post.
By using a common and inexpensive platform, it does not send the

wrong message to students that they need an expensive rifle to
shoot and train. This especially holds true for LEOs in your class
who are issued a common purchase rifle. They must feel
comfortable that they are the driving force behind the speed and
accuracy and not a “Gucci” rifle. I will shoot the standards any day
with this rifle and use it for my “training beater” rifle.
The rifle world has exploded with various options and gadgets from
the industry. Options are what I consider enhancements to the
weapon, while gadgets or fads make you feel better, but don’t really
help you shoot and often just cost you money.
In general terms:
Rifles = Sixteen-inch or longer barrels, full-length handguards

are full-length guns
Carbines = Fourteen- to sixteen-inch barrels and generally
shorter handguards
Pistol Carbines = Six- to fourteen-inch carbines with the pistol
brace stock
First, all shoot well. In my experience, shorter barrels shoot as

accurately or more accurately than longer barrels due to less
harmonics in the barrel. They simply lose more velocity. Many times,
they are louder than their counterparts because more powder is not
burning in the barrel, but rather outside of it. In addition, you get
more flash.
I feel that shooters should begin on a carbine- or rifle-length weapon
and learn iron sights first, which requires points of reference.
Shooting requires
consistency in how you
address the gun. It needs
to be the same every time.
I build my rifles, carbines and pistol carbines with the same
reference points in the same positions, so if I grab one platform one
way, I grab a different platform the same way. Next, I grab the rifle
the same way in the standing position, kneeling position and prone
position. It is one system that does not have changes and gives me
repeatable performance in each firing position.
IRON SIGHTS
I believe in co-witnessing irons and optics with a center hold.
Iron sights have been called the “stick shift in the AR world.” I grew
up on them and will always revert back to and favor them. At this
point in my life, I shoot them faster than a red dot, as I have
practiced with them more, and they have never failed me. I do shoot
red dots from time to time, but generally turn them off during the day
and only turn them on at night. That is the only weak point about
irons.
OPTICS
Zero-magnification optics is what I will discuss in this section. Being
around when the first generation were operationally deployed
overseas, I could tell you a few stories on how they have been
upgraded. The current models are generally reliable, waterproof and
shockproof and have long battery lives. The first generations not so
much.
As I stated, they are reliable if you take care of them. First, Loctite
(glue) the bases and mounts with Blue Loctite. Next, carry spare
batteries and date on the optic when changed or change them on a
schedule, say every four to six months if operational.
Since you are now putting two pieces of glass between your eye and
the target, carry anti-fog lens wipes to keep them clean and fog-free.
If you cannot see, you cannot shoot. Some people like scope caps;
just remember to remove them before trying to engage targets.
Shooting with them is no different than shooting with iron sights, as

all your index points on the gun need to be the same. Your head and
eye need to be in the same spot every shot, or your group will vary
or shift. You can use the full dot or the tip of the dot for precision
aiming. I prefer the tip as it will give me a more precise group.
Remember, “Aim Small, Miss Small.” Up close, you can throw the
entire dot on a target if rushed for time and you will hit.
At distance, the otd may cover two to four MOA (minute of angle),
referring generally to two to four inches at one hundred yards. The
more precisely you aim, the smaller your group will be.
Remember to cowitness your iron sights with red dots. This means if
your dot does not appear, your sights will be there to make the shot.
This is critical, or you will end up using the “force” to make hits.
MAGNIFIED OPTICS
Magnified optics come in two types generally: fixed and variable. If
you choose a variable scope, zero it on the highest magnification
and run it on the lowest. This means you do not know what distance
the target will appear, so it is easier to engage a close-up target on
the lowest magnification. If the target is at a greater distance, you
can shoot it on low power or you generally have time to increase the
magnification, but you have to take your hand off the weapon to do
this.
I have seen fixed magnification optics come in 1x, 1.5x, 3x, 4x, etc. I
like a fixed 3x if I am going to run one for several reasons:
I can do distance shooting or CQB without taking my hand off

the weapon.
I can “glass” threats and tell what is in their hands at distance
(discriminate).
3x will not slow you down when doing CQB.
REFERENCE POINTS ON THE GUN
Front hand, back hand, head/eye position is a phrase you will
always hear at CSAT. This equation will work prone, kneeling,
standing or sitting. It sets up the same index points on the gun every
time for consistent and accurate shots. You “look” at the target
through your sights or optics the same way each time you address
the gun. Important stuff.
With the front hand, I grasp the front of the gun from underneath as
the picture describes. I learned this on a carbine-length weapon and
would pull back on the front of the handguard area. I use this same
position and distance on all rifles I fire. One system, all weapon
systems. I put a bolt or reference points on mid-length or long front
handguards.
This is a self-made hand stop.
This hand stop is put in the same place on all my rifles.
With the back hand, I grasp high on the pistol grip and see where
my trigger finger lies on the trigger. I do like ambidextrous safeties,
as they cause my trigger finger to compete for space and many
times require me to loosen my grip on the weapon when taking the
safety off.
I establish my grip first and then use all my trigger finger.
My finger rests on the side of the weapon with no air gap. I don’t like ambi-safeties,
as they create an abnormal trigger pull and many times the shooter has to regrip
the weapon after putting on the safety, as it bumps the top of his firing hand.
My head/eye position is the same with a standard charging handle.

I put the tip of my nose in the recess where the charging handle
release slot is. My cheek is against the buffer tube. With the coming
of age of all the new extended- and fly-swatter-type charging
handles, the gun has become less reliable. The problem is that most
people are right-handed shooters, and with the gun lying across your
chest, an extended charging handle can “break” your action open
and cause a malfunction when carrying it. The other issue is that
some charging handles curve forward, and if you have different ones
on different guns, your head/eye will be a bit different. How much?
four to six inches at one hundred yards.
I use the tip of my nose on the charging handle. My stock is fully extended, which
fits me.
FITTING THE GUN
This is where we have the most problems with new shooters, as we
want them to be comfortable, but they don’t know what comfortable
is. They are stretching new muscles, ligaments and tendons, and it
takes a few days or sessions to settle in on the gun.
I look for one stock position that you can shoot in standing, kneeling
and prone. The reality is that you cannot continually shift your stock
in combat for the various positions. You will forget, and it will affect
your zero.
We accomplish this by teaching the prone position and then having

students dry fire all the positions to find out where they can put their
stock. I can shoot with mine all the way out, which is easy. If a
student’s stock is in between all the way in and all the way out, put a
paint line so the student can do a PCI (precombat inspection) and
quickly adjust it from carry to combat mode.
Sight pictures and aiming

I prefer the center hold method/mounts, as I find my eye goes better to the center
of a circle than the lower one-third. As I say, the center of every circle is the same,
not so in my opinion of the lower one-third.
I prefer to use a co-witnessed red dot when mounting optics. This

means that I want the center of the dot in the center of the circle.
Some folks like the one-third lower aiming, but I have found that our
eye likes things in the center for reference. This is a personal
preference.
ZEROS. THE BATTLEFIELD ZERO 2016 (BY PAUL
HOWE)
General
I have heard many explanations and thought processes as to the

best battlefield zero for the M16/M-4-type weapon system. Some
explain how the knobs should be turned and the sights flipped to
best accommodate hits. Some of these explanations require a
college degree to decipher. Others use graphs and charts to justify
their claims. Nothing confirms a zero like walking the actual ground
and checking the hits on your target. So put away your graphs,
charts, knobs, etc., and let’s look at some holds and shots.
For the record, I zero at

one hundred yards, point of
aim, point of impact...
This is the drop at one hundred, two hundred, and three hundred yards holding the
same spot with a .223/5.56 mm bullet.
Weapon and Ammo:
Rifle Optic: Wilson Combat 16” Lightweight Barrel

Optics: Leuplold 4.5 x 14
Ammo: 75 Grain Hornady Match
Wind: None
Position used: Bipod
Point of Aim/Point of Impact Method on Human Targets

Gives you accurate hits to one hundred to three hundred yards
Falls off target after three hundred yards
Humans are vertical targets. This zero will get you a hit on a full-size person to
three hundred yards. Aiming at one hundred, the bullet will drop as indicated
above.
One Hundred-Yard Point of Aim/Point of Impact
My zero here was to have the bullets cut where my front sight post
met the target. The group dropped a little lower than the offset
method from one hundred yards and in. No real change in overall
group.
What my sight post would look like on target with a point of aim /point of impact
zero . . .
Zeros and how to get yours...
Several different targets are available to get a solid zero. I use two.
One is the LE Targets PHT –LD or long-distance target, and the
other is an LE Targets triple bull target or SR-21C3A.
PHT-LD
I can either put my front sight post where the black meets the white or use the tip
of the dot in my optics. Both will give me a precision zero. I adjust the strike of the
bullet to where the black and white meet on the target or have a two- to three-inch
offset high. Bull type targets provide an easy contrast for your eye to see.
I prefer to zero where the
sight cuts the white/black
line.
CSAT Bull Target
Headshots:
Using iron sights, the two- to three-inch offset can help you make headshots at
one hundred yards. It is difficult to do a center hold at one hundred yards on a
head because the head is tough to see and split in two with the front iron sight. By
simply “lollypopping” the head, the rounds go to their mark.
In addition, I have found that after the first round is fired in combat,
people start moving. They use cover. By aiming where the ground
meets their body using the above offset, you will get a good center
face hit at one hundred yards.
At two hundred yards, the rounds would be dead on. At three

hundred, they would drop about twelve inches, still on a man-sized
target. If I want to shoot bulls for score and hit the center with a six
o’clock hold, I will use this zero/technique.
Other points:
One Hundred-Yard Zero

I prefer zeroing and training at one hundred yards for several
reasons:
It makes you a better shooter.

It is a realistic distance for combat and the capability of your
weapon.
It gives you a versatile zero out to three hundred yards with a
realistic expectation of a first-round hit.
As a side note, I can never recall anyone coming to a tactical rifle

instructor or tactical rifle course with a fifty-yard zero and shooting it
across my standards or ranges. Most, if not all, had to adjust their
sights. Many did not know where their round would strike at one
hundred yards and beyond using the twenty-five- or fifty-yard zero.
Field Fire/Hold Offs
I first picked up the term hold offs during my time as a sniper. Having
a zero and knowing your hold offs for targets within the appropriate
range of your weapon is important to know for combat shooting.
Below is a hold-off chart out to three hundred yards to hit the same
spot/one hundred point.
Combat Targets and Point of Aim/Point of Impact

Not all targets will be a full-size man. Most will be partial targets after
the first shot is fired because everyone takes cover. If I knew the
distance to this target, I could hold off. But what if I don’t know the
distance? What will my one hundred-yard zero do for me? Using the
above target out to three hundred yards/meters holding off, I can
drop the bullet to my desired impact point.
When engaging the above target with a center hold with a point of aim point of
impact zero at unknown distance, the bullet will most likely “skip” into the target if it
is at further ranges than one hundred yards. I would rather shoot short and skip it
into a threat than shoot over and totally miss.
If the above person is at one hundred yards: center hit.

If the above person is at two hundred yards: low hit or skip in.
If the above person is at three hundred yards: skip in.
Using a center hold zero or a deliberate two- to three-inch offset is a

personal choice. Much will depend on how much you want to think
and calculate under high stress. There is not much of a difference,
but I default to the point of aim/point of impact zero. If I am not
making hits at distance, I can always “favor” up a bit and drop the
shot in.
Deliberate Offset of Two- to Three-Inch Holds

Deliberate offset works. It just requires you to think a bit more.
Optical Sights
I have witnessed optics fail in competitions, training and combat. In

one law enforcement situation, a battery-powered optic failed and
the officer killed a bad guy with his iron sights five minutes later. In
combat I have witnessed soldiers with optics that clouded up with
moisture have to pick up a new weapon because they could not get
the optic off and could not see through it.
Also, I have seen it take one to two minutes for an optic to defog
after being taken out of an air-conditioned patrol car and brought into
a humid environment. The officer could not make shots because he
could not see.
Next, I believe you need to learn how to shoot iron sights. Above is a
picture of an Aimpoint T-1 that was hit with a paint marking round
during training. This could have just as easily been a bullet,
shrapnel, debris, mud, etc. You need a quick-release mount when
using optics, and I suggest that you co-witness them with your iron
sights. Establishing reference points for consistent shooting is critical
for consistent accuracy.
These “index” points will transfer to weapons with optical sights.
Summary:
I do occasionally shoot optics and have some that I like and use.
When I do shoot them, I have them co-witnessed and mounted with
throw lever mounts whenever possible should they fail. I also prefer
a 3X Burris, as you can do CQB, distance work and discrimination at
further distances. It is moderately priced and holds a zero.
In my experience of fast-
moving urban combat, I
never had time to turn
knobs or flip sights. I had to
use what I had on the gun
for the shot required when
the target presented itself.
The window of opportunity
opens and closes in a
flash, and you either make
the shot or you do not. You
might have time in a static
position, such as was
found in WWII, but not in a
fast-moving urban
environment.
Further, you now have a light-caliber weapon system that requires
more accurate hits to put the target down in a rapid manner. In this
case, you must know where your bullet strikes to do this.
Finally, in my former special operations life I learned that you might

get a full-body shot on one opponent in a gun fight, but as soon as
you shoot them, their friends will take cover and probably only give
you a head or weapon system to shoot at. I used to make team
members practice shots on full and partial targets at one hundred
yards and beyond. This is reality. Bad guys use cover just as we do.
You must be able to hit them when they get small.
ACCESSORIES
Hard Front Sight Post: At the time of this writing, I use a Daniel
Defense front sight post.
Hard Rear Sight: At the time of this writing, I use a Daniel
Defense Solid Rear sight with a CSAT aperture.
Sling: I prefer the V-TAC nonpadded sling for tactical work, as it
will not hang up on body armor when doing transition drills. I use
the padded V-TAC for my hunting and sniper rifles.
Light: At the time of this writing, my preferred light is a high-
lumen handheld with a push-button rear switch attached with a
scope ring. To keep from having white light ADs in your back, I
simply back off the tail cap a one-half turn.
Red Dot: At the time of this writing I use the AT3 red dots and
shoot through them during the day and only turn them on at
night or during low-light operations.
STUDENT KEY POINTS:
Don’t be afraid to change your stock position after a session or
two of shooting and experiment on which gives you the tightest
group.
Remember, you may get a group shift after a few range
sessions as you will find your personal sweet spot on the rifle.
Conduct a hasty zero and get them on paper at one hundred
yards.
Teach prone, but have them work all the positions to set their
stock.
Carry a paint pen to mark their stocks.
Know iron sights and how to adjust them. Know optics as well
and how to adjust them.
Leave your “Gucci” gun at home and train with a simple
platform. It will bring you credibility in the long run.
CHAPTER 9
Rifle Training
OVERVIEW
The rifle is the “bow” of this generation, a weapon capable of
engaging threats as far as the shooter is capable. As with the pistol,
we must master ourselves and the basics to master the platform or
rifle.
STANCE AND LOW-READY POSITION
I use the low-ready positions at all times except when I am in a
swamp and the water is chest deep and I don’t want to get my rifle
wet.
Low ready does the following for you:
Establishes a “hinge” point for your rifle which gives you a

repeatable head/eye position when you bring the weapon up
Allows you to see your battlefield better, as human beings are
ground-based targets and the muzzle is not in your face,
obstructing your view or field of vision
Allows you to discriminate better as you can see everything in
front of you, unobstructed
Allows you to do hand combat with the rifle or to use it as an
impact weapon
My preference during CBQ, allows student muzzles to be
around ankles rather than heads
For the rifle, I use generally the same stance as the pistol, maybe
slightly more aggressive with my firing foot being an inch or two
further back. Weight distribution is about the same as with a pistol.
STRONG HAND GRIP
I establish a firm and dominant grip on the rifle, choking up as deeply
as comfortable.
Wherever the trigger finger lies is where I press it, even up to the
knuckle. As with the pistol, I don’t back off my grip to use the pad of
my finger. I was taught by a master shooter that this is the hand that
controls the weapon.
SUPPORT HAND GRIP
I established the distance on this hand with a carbine-length rifle.
This front hand reference point is the same on all rifles I shoulder. I
generally build a reference point on all my rifles to ensure my hand
goes to the same spot each time. My grip is firm when I address the
front of the gun, and I pull back into my shoulder.
HEAD/EYE PLACEMENT
How we address the gun determines the group consistency. This, in
my mind, is the most critical. It needs to be the same every time.
FIRING HAND GRIP AND TRIGGER FINGER
ALIGNMENT
I use a MagPul Miad grip on all my guns, and it is about the only
product I use from MagPul. The trigger index point gives me a
consistent grip each and every time. My hand simply feels snug
when I grab it. I was taught that the firing hand controls the AR
platform and to grip it firmly at all times. This has always worked for
me.
BREATHING
Prior to the first shot, I take a half breath in and blow it out. When
shooting, I shoot on a dead chest, better termed, a relaxed chest.
Trying to shoot on a full chest of air is not comfortable.
TRIGGER PRESS
As with the pistol, I use all my trigger finger, so it contacts the side of
the rifle when pressing it. I find it gives me a bit more stability and
control of the rifle when shooting.
TRIGGER FOLLOW-THROUGH
No Changes from Pistol
SIGHT FOLLOW-THROUGH
No changes from pistol with the exception that when the rifle goes
past my beltline, it goes on safe. As I tell students, when I am either
getting ready to move or move to cover.
SCAN
No changes from the pistol.
RIFLE STANDARDS
As with the pistol, I developed a set of standards that would cover all
the bases of defensive and offensive combat.
Tri rifle standards
The enclosed drills are designed with three purposes in mind:
1. To provide a measurable standard to maintain

2. To outline efficient stair-stepped workout program that covers all
the bases
3. To test the individual shooter at various times to show areas
needing improvement
-Instructor: Student must pass eight of ten drills to be successful.
-Drill 5, one shot from rifle is fired and then transition to pistol. Must
both must hit.
* Four of five rounds must be in box. All must be on the CSAT target.
Tri rifle standards – the why
The enclosed drills are designed with three purposes in mind:
The first is to give you a measurable standard to maintain.

The second is to give you an efficient stair-stepped workout
program that covers all the bases.
The third is to test the individual shooter at various times to
show areas needing improvement.
At one hundred yards and further I promote using Mother Earth.

Multiple shots are necessary from my experiences in combat.
Also, it requires you to get a natural point of aim and follow
through on your target.
Kneeling position is a rapidly acquired assault position, and

multiple shots are combat driven to regain sight picture.
Kneeling position is a rapidly acquired assault position, and

multiple shots are combat driven to regain sight picture.
Because of the proximity of the target and need for movement, I

use standing at twenty-five yards and closer distances.
The rifle has the capability to routinely hit a target at distances
out to three hundred yards. This ensures the zero is adequate to
do this.
Developed from the pistol standards for CQB work.
Developed for building multiple shots.
Developed for rapid, multiple engagements.
Failure drill, same as pistol.
Developed for multiple target engagements.
Transition drill developed for immediate threat targets in CQB.

- Instructor: Student must
pass eight of ten drills to be
successful.
- Drill 5, one shot from rifle

is fired and then transition
to pistol. Must be a hit for
both.
* Four of five rounds must

be in box
Tactical rifle 2-day plan
DAY 1
DAY 2
SEQUENCING TRAINING
We want to teach using our rifle standards, but how to sequence the
training is critical.
We first give our overall safety briefings and issue Jeff Chudwin’s
Chamber Blocking Device (CBD). It is one of my favorite pieces of
gear for a new shooter. My intent is to run quick, efficient and safe
shooting lines and have the student learn as much as they can about
the gun in the shortest amount of time.
The CBD is a standard part of CSAT training equipment. Also, in tactical rifle
classes, we might paint the rifle safeties so we can see them and the condition of
the weapon.
Load/unload sequences are critical in making the gun fire. I have a
system that I have used in combat and that has not failed me. I want
the students to practice it a great deal on training day so they
unconsciously know where every part, button and switch is on the
rifle.
After each string of fire they unload and insert the CBD and get a
physical and mental rep on the rifle. This is my design to instill an
intimate knowledge of the rifle in the shortest amount of time.
We get the students to clear weapons in our load/unload points and

insert the CBDs. I can quickly scan a line of twenty-four students and
see who is unloaded and who is not. We take students to 7 yards to
get our baseline zeros. There we do the following:
Teach Load/Unload Procedures

Teach Mechanical Offset for Irons and Optics
Shoot the Pasties at Seven Yards and Make Corrections
The reason for seven-yard baseline zeros is to get the students on

paper as fast as possible without walking one hundred yards back
and forth. We dial the bullet to 2.5 inches below the pasty for irons
and optics in a couple short relays. I draw sight pictures on targets
so students understand what to do with each pasty (orons left
pasty/optics right) and where to told and put their sights. When
adjusting sights, we put the muzzles past the targets so no students
are adjusting sights behind the line or another class member.
Students who have a zero are pushed back to one hundred yards
and wait for us to finish, which only takes a few minutes. At one
hundred yards, we teach the prone class to get our “hard” zeros.
This is one of the three critical shooting positions of the rifle.
PRONE AND ZEROING
For zeroing or generally shooting one hundred yards and further, I

use prone. Prone/lying down is simply helping a student develop a
shooting plan that applies each time when getting down and into
position. It starts when standing and goes like this:
Set front hand.

Set back hand.
Set head/eye position.
Get stock well in shoulder.
Keep stock well when getting down.
Break fall with support hand.
Plant firing elbow.
Pivot into your NPOA (natural point of aim) around it.
Put support hand directly under gun so you have a bone-on-
bone support.
Blow your oxygen out and see where the gun lies in relation to
the target.
Adjust slightly right or left for your windage.
Using toes, push forward or backward for your elevation.
Using half breaths, see where your sight lies, and if good, break
the shot.
Breath half in and all out. Shoot again and repeat.
Do not move your head/eye during the string, or it will change
your group.
Once the string is done or the target falls, straighten trigger
finger and switch the weapon to safe.
Clean your back space and prepare to move.
Seems like a great deal of info. It is. But after you do it repeatedly, it
becomes a natural plan.
You try to get your first shot off in seven to eight seconds and use
your breathing to make followup shots. It will become instinctive. You
will also get faster than seven to eight seconds on your first shot as
you are learning to lie on line with threats when you get down and
will find your NPOA faster each time. Indexing the gun will also
become automatic.
To zero, I use the LD target and start students at seven yards. I have
them shoot the top left pasty with a three-shot group using iron
sights and then the right one using their optics using the standing
position. I start making zero corrections at seven yards, as the walk
is short and we dial the sights/optics until the rounds strike about 2.5
inches below their point of aim. This will get students on paper and
close when we walk back to one hundred yards and go over the
prone position. If you don’t use this technique, you will do a bit more
walking than needed and you will put more brass on the ground than
you have to.
By adjusting the strike of the round at seven yards to 2.5–3 inches below the point
of aim, when you lie prone at one hundred yards, your rounds will be on paper.
Doing this at seven yards saves time.
For demonstration purposes, I shot two groups at one hundred yards, one with
irons and one with the optic, aiming where the black meets the white on the target.
Normally I would zero irons first and then optics and then move to a CSAT target.
To begin the prone sequence, I bring the rifle up and establish my reference
points, front hand, back hand, head/eye position. All my reference points stay the
same, especially my hinge point where the rifle stock touches my shoulder. Doing
this brings the gun back to the same head/eye position.
To get down into position, I lower myself and plant my nonfiring hand and ensure I
do not lose my stock position.
I then roll onto my firing elbow and slide my nonfiring elbow under the gun and get
my front-hand firing grip.
When I initially find my position, I look through my sights on a “dead” chest (no air)
to see where the gun is lying. I then slide my body left or right for windage or push
or pull with my toes for elevation. When I start shooting, if I have my natural point
of aim (NPOA), the sights will fall right back on target. All I have to do is take a half
a breath in, blow out and shoot again.
KNEELING
Kneeling, a very flexible assault position that can be used to cover
areas for a long period of time, is taught next. We test kneeling at
seventy-five and fifty yards, and we have found that kneeling at
seventy-five yards is the most difficult position for a student to learn
because of all the variables. Body sizes, shapes and previous
injuries compound the difficulty.
First, set up your front hand on the gun the same as prone. Bring it
up to eye level and put your sights on the target downrange
establishing your head/eye relationship. Your back hand should be
the same as it is in the prone position. Once on target, lower the rifle
to at or below your beltline without losing your stock pivot or hinge
point. This will help establish a repeatable address of the rifle.
Next, to be efficient, I teach students to step on line with their threat

and establish a natural point of aim with microadjustments. There
are two ways to do this. One is through repetition until you get it. The
other is to reverse engineer the position and then learn to step into it.
This is what I prefer.
To do this, I have a student get into the kneeling position and align
themselves with a target. I want the front hand in the same place it
was while in prone, and the elbow hook on the knee for a bone-on-
bone support directly under the gun. The rear grip and head/eye are
the same as in prone as well. The rear foot is the biggest variable:
You can:
Sit on your rear foot

Have an air gap
Both work, and once you get on target, let your “wobble” area dictate
which position is best. Wobble area is simply the steadiness of the of
gun on target.
Once you find your position, draw a half circle around the toe of your
front foot.
Keeping your back foot in place, step out of position. Now step back
into the “toe cap circle” and you will have a natural point of aim for
kneeling and your body. Everybody who does this will step a bit
differently, as their bodies are different.
Once you get into position, your NPOA might be a bit off. For
windage adjustments, simply turn your lead foot and it will shift your
muzzle. For elevation changes, I scrunch forward or pull backward a
bit, and that will adjust my index on height.
Breathing remains the same as prone, and you should be able to

watch your sights fall back on target with each shot.
Before you stand, look right and left and clear your rear battle space.
As with the prone position, I start by finding all my reference points and NPOA.
The low ready and hinge point are the same as in prone.
I step with my nonfiring foot in front of my rear foot. Your step may vary depending
on your body conditions.
I run my nonfiring elbow past my knee and then hook it and pull back.
Once in position, I fine tune my NPOA.
STANDING
We use the standing position at twenty-five and seven yards. It is a
fast, repeatable position. To begin, we establish our front hand, back
hand, head/eye in the same repeatable positions. As with prone and
kneeling, we do not lose our stock well and use the hinge point to
reacquire a rapid head/eye position and flash sight picture on the
target.
We establish NPOA by closing our eyes while the rifle is up and on

target. Take a couple of breaths with your eyes closed, and when
you open them, your sights should still be on target.
If they are not, adjust your feet.
In our ready position, our trigger finger is straight and our firing
thumb is on top of the mechanical safety. When we decide to fire, the
rifle is driven up with our support hand, the safety is swept off and
the trigger finger makes contact with the trigger. When the rifle
impacts our head/eye position (cheek weld) and is on target, we
make a rapid, controlled trigger press and then the routine follow-
through and cover.
The standing start is the same as in prone or kneeling. Check your NPOA.
Lower your rifle to muzzle below your beltline for a universal start position. Your
trigger finger is straight and your thumb is resting on the mechanical safety.
On the beep, the safety is swept off while the rifle is driven up into the firing
position. Your head/eye position should be the same if you maintained your hinge
point.
STANDARDS AS A TRAINING TOOL
Sometimes I shoot standards cold to check myself and sometimes equipment. In

the above case, I shot a new optic. The P was Prone at one hundred yards. The
K7 was kneeling at seventy-five yards. The seven-yard shots were using a new
reticle pattern that takes getting used to.
RIFLE MICROMECHANICS
Natural point of aim is critical; otherwise you will muscle the gun.
When you get ready to shoot, tell yourself, “Firm front hand, firm
back hand, press the trigger and hold back for a split second.”
I firm up my front grip, firm up my back grip and while on a dead
chest, break the shot.
I watch where my sights fall back to. They should fall back on
target if I have a natural point of aim.
During the firing sequence and my trigger press, I am conscious
of a smooth trigger press and I do not change my grip pressure
on either hand once I go to fire, especially when firing. Do not
relax either hand.
Finally, take a half breath between shots and blow it out before
firing. You can use this as a cadence for your firing.
CONCLUSION
While we can teach other positions such as the sitting or “rice paddy
squat,” prone, kneeling and standing are the most common.
Kneeling and standing are what I used the most during my combat
operations.
STUDENT KEY POINTS:
Learn to index the gun with the stock in one position, as you will
not have time and the composure to move it under high stress.
Head/eye position is critical to making consistent shots and tight
groups.
Each position has its own shooting plan. The basics of each are
the same with a few positional adjustments.
Dry firing will help you with all positions, especially kneeling.
Practice your breathing while dry firing.
Take the time to dry fire students and look at their fundamentals.
If students see you getting an NPOA during your demos, they
will likely do the same.
Head/eye position is critical.
Adjust their stocks so they can shoot standing, kneeling and
prone with one stock position.
I will do a U-shaped movement around a student to see the
entire picture of what they are doing with the weapon. If I stand
in one spot, I only see so much.
CHAPTER 10
Rifle Tactical Drills
GENERAL
Rifle drills follow the same basic format used for the pistol. In my
view the rifle is much easier as we have an established “hinge” point
that returns the rifle to the same position each time, only needing
microalignments.
MK SURGICAL
As with the MK surgical pistol drill, the rifle version attempts to
capitalize on the following:
Good stock well that you do not lose during movement

Looking before you “leap” or move
Learning to short step or end up in your natural firing stance
Engaging each target with the appropriate rifle offset and
understanding which targets you can consistently hit under all
conditions
Imprinting the follow-through, cover and scan sequence to
include the use of the mechanical safety
Setting you up for moving through doorways in a shoot house
F & M LATERAL
Forward F & M teaches you how to tactically move forward using
cover and applying the correct firing position for the shot required:
Start with a short movement to your first firing position.

You can drop into your firing position, or you can seek cover and
pop out. Your battlefield and opponent will dictate what you can
do.
Engage two rounds with a good follow-through and cover.
Clear your backspace before you move forward.
Already have eyes on your next position before moving.
Repeat for every position.
Lateral fire and maneuver

Lateral F & M teaches you how to tactically move right to left or left
to right, paralleling your opponent, using cover and applying the
correct firing position for the shot required:
Start with a short movement to your first firing position.

You can drop into your firing position or you can seek cover and
pop out. Your battlefield and opponent will dictate what you can
do.
Engage two rounds with a good follow-through and cover.
Clear your backspace before you move forward.
Already have eyes on your next position before moving.
Repeat for every position.

BARRICADES
I teach barricades in four positions:
Standing right
Standing left
Kneeling right
Kneeling left
To begin with, I generally start an arms-length off my cover and no

closer. I like practicing up to three steps off my cover. Barricades
teaches the use of cover off ninety-degree angles. I use steel chest
plates at twenty-five yards to practice this drill.
Teaching Points:
All positions start high ready.

I step back and to the right when standing to get in a natural
eighty-yard firing position.
I step forward to the left when standing to get in a natural eighty-
yard firing position.
Once practiced, I like my muzzle to be one to two inches offset
of the cover to maximize my protection.
I do not cant the rifle, as you will likely strike your cover, as you
have a 2.5-inch stand off.
I generally start a foot width inside the cover, or off a line on the
ground drawn straight back from the edge of my cover with
marking paint. This way an elbow or equipment will not be seen.
When starting to kneel, I start with my outside knee high so I
can drag my rear leg for maximum stability.
I may not get into my firing position on my first step out because
of physical/visual blockages downrange. It is easier to creep
further out using this technique.
When moving right kneeling, students can drop their firing elbow
to their knee for support.
I require two hits per position before moving to another position,
as it builds a good follow-through for students on steel. One shot
may not do it.
I use a coach/spotter behind each student to see hits and to
keep students on line and from bumping into each other.
Tac reloads can be done in the open or behind cover. Your
battlefield will dictate this.
Avoid shooting your gun dry and tac reload from the second
magazine in your pouch if you have a double mag pouch so
your “sweet spot” always remains uploaded.
I do not teach prone, as it is not an assault position. It is limited
in use and slow to get into and out of.
Do a follow-through, cover and rear scan before moving or
displacing upward.
Similar to with the pistol, the rifle barricades are set up at eighty yards from the
chest plates.
As with the pistol, rifle shots can be engaged from the back of the box replicating
an engagement from a distance.
Each barricade position has a chest plate to engage. The distance is safe for steel
and replicates a school hallway engagement distance.
Each barricade position has its own piece of steel to shoot at. The portable target
stand is in case we have an extra shooter.
Chest plates are 6 x 13 inches and are the same size as the CSAT kill zone. We
use chains to hang them, for longevity.
Our “Pistol Man” is used for distance shots of eighty to one hundred yards. Some
shooters like to do walk backs, which is starting at a consistent hit distance and
walking to a point of failure and then working on their personal limits.
Shoot static.
Shoot with handheld light.
Shoot with weapon-mounted light.
PIE ROOM OPEN
A student learns to pie a room to solve a tactical problem using
cover, distance and stealth to address threats.
Pie Learning Points:
Students can either sidestep or walk short steps and pivot on

the threat.
Students learn to step into their natural firing position.
Students learn not to telegraph by putting a muzzle in the
doorway or beyond.
Students learn to clear 95 percent of the room from the outside.
Students learn to do a controlled entry of the room and address
what they could not see from the outside first.
Students learn to discriminate targets.
Students learn to go SUL before reaching for a doorknob.
Variables:
Open Door Right and Left

Closed Inward Opening Door Right and Left
Outward Opening Door Right and Left
Handheld Flashlight
Weapon-Mounted Light
T INTERSECTION
T intersections are a common tactical problem generally found in all
structures and when exiting structures. This is where I begin to use
discrimination-type targets.
T Intersections learning points:
Process a little at a time.

Clear using as much cover as possible using angles.
Work on your footwork and not taking too big of steps. With
excitement/adrenaline, we tend to overstep.
Do not raise the rifle until you determine the target is a threat.
Variables:
DISCRIMINATION
After a student learns the mechanics of a drill, we add in
discrimination. Generally, it is done when we teach the T
intersection. It is important not to overload students with too much
trivial information while they are trying to learn basic movement
fundamentals with their feet and weapon systems. In short, there is a
lot of information for them to process before they get to
discrimination. Get the basics down first.
MOVING PEOPLE WITH A RIFLE
The real world involves moving around live human beings with a rifle.
I prefer to move around people rather than touch them. This includes
family members, innocents, victims, etc.
The problem is people will stop, freeze up, and mask shots you need
to make. For this reason, we teach people how to move someone
forward, backward, right or left. This way you can displace them if
necessary if they are blocking your movement or a shot. We do not
allow students to shoot past an innocent in class and require them to
get on line with hostages or move past them.
For this drill we use the “Bad Bob” dummies with the wide water-
filled bases (minus the water). We put shirts on the Bobs and work
students on a flat range dry first. We teach students to push, strike
and sweep.
We then move to one hand with the rifle in a low ready and reach for
knobs with the nonfiring hand. This is an advanced-level class for
students who find themselves among masses of people (police,
teachers, church security, dignitary protection).
As with pistol, all the same scenarios can be applied to the rifle.
100 TO 7 DRILL
The 100 to 7 drill, firing one round per position, practices all the skill sets in rifle
marksmanship and can be used to work on your cardio as well.
The drill can be done on a CSAT target or a bull-type target. By doing it ten times,
you move about two thousand yards and expend only fifty rounds of rifle ammo. I
use a kitchen timer to time myself for overall times and try to keep the ten laps at
around twenty minutes with five or fewer misses. Bulls allow you see what
positions are causing you problems.
CARDIO AND STRENGTH – TIRE DRAGS
Using the above harness, I can complete the same drill and get in a good workout
if I don’t care to jog it.
I made a short leader attachment point to the tire and can pull it up and downrange
(and smooth out mole hills) while adding stress to my shooting.
CONCLUSION
While we can teach other positions such as sitting or the “rice paddy
squat,” prone, kneeling and standing are the most common.
Kneeling and standing are what I used the most during my combat
operations.
STUDENT KEY POINTS:
Start slow and get your “perfect mechanics” down first.
Dry fire runs are the key.
Once you get your shooting skills down, add in some cardio and
strength exercises.
Run the students dry until they are tired and not because you
are tired or impatient.
Solve all safety issues during dry fire.
CHAPTER 11
NVG and special skills/equipment
GENERAL
“Remember your front sight” was probably the most memorable and
lasting statement a leader has ever said to me before going into
combat. It came from our group sergeant major the night we were
going to execute combat operations in a country that was finishing its
downward spiral. He stated, “Tomorrow night you will be in combat.”
With the above, night combat, nothing changes except your

equipment. you perform all the same drills as in daytime. When
adding a white light and laser, you need three thumb positions. I
have my firing thumb position, my white light thumb position and my
laser thumb position.
Your thumb can move independently and maintain the same

hand/support position. You need to learn what to index and when.
For example, you may have an IR cover over your white light and
need to flood dark areas so you can see with your NVGs (night
vision goggles). Once you pick up a threat, you might use your laser
to pinpoint and service it. This requires moving your thumb again,
but keeping your hand in the same spot.
Additionally, once the first shot is fired in a structure, it might be SOP

(standard operating procedure) to go white light. This requires you to
pop off the IR cover on your light, flip up your NVG monocular and
shoot with your day sights. This is why I keep the monocular on my
left eye only: I can go to day sights in an instant.
Other options include staying NVG for long periods of time during
movement or in the field. Knowing the position of your laser switch is
important, as you might “sparkle” (pinpoint) a potential target for
those coming behind you when moving.
“Once the first shot is fired,
the battlefield will become
a moving environment.”
MOVERS – PISTOL
A trick I use for shooting movers up close (seven to ten yards) is to
run my front sight above the notch so it stands out. It becomes a
single point of reference and easy to superimpose on a target.
Try it at seven yards first to see how much offset (high) it creates, but
it is the fastest way I have seen when pressed for time and
movement, as you will never have enough time to line up front and
rear sights.
MOVERS – RIFLE
The same technique used for a pistol can be used for a rifle with iron
sights. At distance with the rifle, I use the one, two, three technique. I
will fire the first round at the leading edge of the target, fire the
second round six inches in front and then add another six inches and
fire the third round. A fast mover will “run” into one of those rounds,
and a lung-heart-lungs is a great shot.
CLOSE-QUARTER SHOOTING – RIFLE
In the real world, you might find a threat up close and personal. This
means one yard or so. You can bring the rifle up and center the front
sight post on your opponent’s chest and start pulling the trigger once
your muzzle clears the beltline. You can also start shooting once you
clear the beltline.
CLOSE-QUARTER SHOOTING – PISTOL
I teach three close-quarter techniques with the pistol and will
describe them here in general terms, but come to class if you want to
practice them live.
Speed rock
push and draw
fall to the rear, draw and shoot
The speed rock is used when you are surprised and are about to
get your skull crushed or punched. We shield up with our support
hand and draw and engage the threat.
The push and draw is simply creating space by shoving your

opponent off balance so you can get access to your weapon. It
requires some foot movement drills to perfect.
Finally, the fall to the rear (displace to the ground) is used when I
get attacked with a knife or similar weapon that can cause immediate
incapacitation. I roll to the rear and use my feet to keep the opponent
away while drawing my weapon. I service the threat with my feet up,
or planted ensuring I don’t shoot my foot or toes off. As with all the
close-contact drills, take a class to learn and perfect them.
HANDGUN AS AN IMPACT WEAPON –
GLASS/PEOPLE
The handgun can be used to push, strike or break glass with the
same general punching motion. A glass tool that fits on your
handgun light can be purchased through XS Sights. Be sure to wear
gloves if breaking glass with it, as it takes little effort and you will
generally overdrive the gun.
For pushing or striking with the weapon, especially with a Glock

style, you will likely induce a malfunction and will require a tap-rack-
bang to get the pistol operational again as the slide may retard a bit
on impact. The 1911 with the safety on does not have this issue.
RIFLE AS AN IMPACT WEAPON –
GLASS/PEOPLE
Similar to the pistol, the rifle can be used as an impact weapon, a
pressure point device and a glass breaking tool. For glass, use a
GAT (glass assault tool) and wear gloves. The sixteen-inch barrel
has an advantage as it keeps your lead hand out of the glass when
breaking it. You may be breaking it to gain entry or to create a
shooting port.
When using the weapon as an impact tool, you can push, muzzle
strike and use it as a pressure point device for suspects that are not
complying. Check with your use-of-force instructors to see what is
legal in your agency/state.
I have never had a pistol or rifle discharge when striking a person,

dummy, glass or other object with my finger off the trigger and the
weapon on safe in the case of a rifle.
GUN LIGHTS
I like Inforce Lights, but the first generation had a problem with
cracking. The company has been great with upgrading and replacing
them. I still have several on my weapons. They have a nifty
accidental white light bar that keeps the light from going on in your
gun bag or during transport.
I also use a flashlight/scope ring combination where I can attach the

flashlight to the front or back of the ring depending on where I want
the switch and the light head. The base of the light can be
unscrewed one-half a turn during transport or shipping.
Several problems come into play with lights. First, they can go dead
in the bag if you don’t take precautions like unscrewing the battery
compartment a bit to inverting a battery until you are ready to use the
light.
The next problem is the positioning of light switches, as I always see

white light ADs (accidental discharges) during movement or outside
of breach points. Sometimes guys want to “feel” where their light
switch is and accidently splash their world with light. I use a center
thumb firing grip, meaning my thumb is in position on the forearm
higher than my light switch and lower than my laser switch if I have
one. This way I know to go down for white light and up for an IR
Laser.
SUPPRESSORS
Suppressors are great for lots of reasons:
They help you avoid hearing loss.

The enemy has trouble pinpointing your location day and night.
Your shooting buddies like you more and more.
Suppressor issues:
The gun gets dirty faster.

You might have two zeros (suppressor on/off).
The suppressor requires maintenance.
Suppressors do suppress the noise, but are not silent. Even sub-
sonic ammo can be heard and while fun to play with, has limited
real-world use. It has a different zero, and generally you have to get
really close to your target to be effective.
If you are a tac team and everyone is running suppressed guns, you
know where the bad guy is once he engages you.
Suppressors do require maintenance, and I have witnessed

problems with suppressors before. I had one student launch theirs
off a gun after it took a serious baffle strike. Another was not put
back on the weapon correctly after cleaning and took baffle strikes
deflecting the bullets immediately after leaving the suppressor, which
during an op could have killed or injured a fellow officer or hostage.
NVGS
I prefer a single drop-down on my nonshooting eye with a hard
helmet mount. I have worn “soft” mounts for hours, and you can get
a quite a headache from the different pressure point they put on your
head/face.
A single drop-down allows me to see the ambient light on target,

which helps determine if it is better to go normal vison and white light
or full NVG. This is important when moving inside targets where
various lights might be on. With the old “double” tubes, you might not
know you are at a disadvantage, as you cannot see how much light
is around you and that you are an easy target.
STUDENT KEY POINTS:
All weapons are multipurpose tools and have many uses.
Get proper training before you attempt any of these techniques.
Keep your switches simple.
Know how to execute the drill in the daytime first, then with
white light and then with NVGs. Practice using your switches on
daytime runs.
Start slow at night with shorter steps and get used to your depth
perception.
Get familiar with all of the student key points before you decide
to teach.
Run the drills during the daytime first and do dry runs as
needed.
Ensure students have proper zeros.
Mark yourself with an IR strobe on your foot.
CHAPTER 12
Instructor classes
“LIVE THE EXAMPLE”

GENERAL
When teaching, wear all the same equipment that students are
using. If teaching LE/SWAT, wear the vest, same type rifle, pistol and
holster, etc. This adds to your credibility. If you are teaching civilians,
shoot a stock gun and not some Gucci-looking space gun. Gucci
guns can be interpreted as your success versus your skill.
RESEARCH YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Check out your instructor’s resume/bio and life history. I have no
problem going to a “paper shooter” to show me weapon-handling
techniques such as grip, trigger control and sight acquisition.
I would seek out an instructor who has been to many schools,

combat and then more schools and combat and ask how he refined
the training for combat. This includes law enforcement trainers who
have shootings under their belts.
Tactical trainers will not only show you shooting drills and
techniques, but how to wear tactical gear and tactics. Tac gear can
range from a breacher to a less lethal officer, gas delivery and how
each job has different ways to arrange your gear which impacts your
shooting. This is important stuff.
Currently there is no regulation in this industry, and it is up to the

individual to seek out training.
GO IN WITH YOUR PERSONAL SKILLS TUNED
UP
My reason for making my first videos was not for profit, but to deal
with the frustration of having instructor students coming to a class
with no skills and me having to teach them to shoot during an
instructor class. There is already only so much time in the day. My
instructor classes are designed to test your shooting skills and then
teach you how to deliver information, demonstrate shooting drills, run
safe lines and positively mentor students to get the most out of their
training experience.
I expect my instructor students to practice the drills so they can

qualify in a short amount of time and then learn the skills required of
an instructor. Once qualified, they learn:
Running a timer
Running a clipboard
Running a safe line
Give students positive and decisive feedback
Working with a partner when delivering a demo
Shooting a demo, slow, fast and then slow
Prepping equipment
Receiving students and getting them started safely
Running a timer
Instructors need to know how to turn the timer on/off. They need to
know how to run instant and delay on the timer. They need to be
able to read the first shot time, which is critical for students making
multiple shot drills. They need to know the proper verbiage when
timing a student and how to keep the same vocal time when
pressing the timer. For example, “Shooter, let me know when you are
ready.” With that phrase, we get a nod or “ready,” and we go, one,
two with the buttons on the timer at the same speed every time so
students can calibrate their shooting plan and shot.
Students should be taking a half breath in and blowing out on the

standby as we teach them to push out and make the first shot on a
dead chest. An unpracticed instructor can cause a student to miss or
blow a drill by being out of calibration or by vocal inflections. As
instructors, we want to keep the students calm when testing them.
Running a safe line

Students should be concerned with improving and not being shot by
another student. As an instructor, you should be constantly scanning
and looking for abnormal conduct. This means guns out, doing
something other than what has been taught. We allow students to
push out on their target when another student is being timed, but
they cannot be next to the timed student, as that student will pick up
their movement out of their peripheral vision and it will distract them
from their shot.
Running a clipboard
Using a clipboard and recording scores is important, as the score

sheet is a legal document. It needs to be kept for state training
records or should you need to remove a student from class for failing
to qualify. I keep all the score sheets, and I write counseling
statements with accurate and backed up information from the score
sheets. I take student counseling very seriously. Times and scores
need to be neat and readable.
Score sheets must be filled out correctly as they become a legal document.
Making out a sample for instructors who do not teach all the time is a plus.
Give student positive and decisive feedback
“Less is more” is a common phrase I use when teaching

instructors. Don’t ramble. Learn the ABCs of communication:
accuracy, brevity and clarity. This takes time and practice.
Learn to communicate one item at a time.
Giving a student one point that will fix the most problems in their
shooting plan is critical. A student’s brain is already reeling with a
great deal of information. Giving too much will cause a short circuit.
Tell students to fix one thing, and when it is fixed, give them another.
Work with a partner delivering a demo

Keep your demos short, clear and to the point. For example:
“Good morning, I am Paul,

and this is Tim, and we are
going to cover two shots on
two targets or multiple
opponents.
“The goal of this drill is to

engage the first target with
two solid hits and then
transition to a second
target, possibly moving
your weapon over a
hostage and then engaging
the second target with two
rounds.
“Key points: eyes move
first to the second target
and then gun. Next, pop
you finger off the trigger
when moving the gun, as
you may be moving it over
a hostage target. We have
to be able to do this on
demand.
“You can shoot this drill

from left to right or right to
left. You can also center up
on the targets or align
yourself on the left or right
one.
“What are your questions?”

With this verbal dialog, your partner should perform the actions you
are describing, and they should be in front of the student group, right
or left.
I have my demo partner come up and “show clear,” which is going

through the unload sequence before doing the demo.
In the above photo, the class is to the right of the demonstrator. As the “talker” in
the demo, I never get between my demonstrator and the audience. The
demonstrator and I rehearse our delivery, and as I say something, they follow with
an action.
To shoot a demo, slow, fast, slow
This is probably the most stressful part of the instructor class,

delivering perfect shots in front of a student audience who has you
under the visual microscope. I still get anxious doing this, and I
practice weeks before the class so I can pick up any drill that needs
to be demoed.
Instructor students should take the initiative to learn their drills after
hours or when given time. As the lead instructor, I will step in and
take admin control if your demo is a “soup sandwich” which I have
had to do a few times.
As lead or when teaching by myself, I have to know and be able to

show/demo every drill. Many instructors will not shoot in front of their
students because they cannot shoot.
As for slow, fast, slow, I want to see mechanical perfection (slow),

combat/standard speed and then slow again. When students start
their practice, I want them to start slow with perfect mechanics. If you
leave them with a fast demo, they will want to shoot fast.
How to prep equipment
As lead, I hate choppy training; that is, stop, start, wait, etc. I have
redundant gear to ensure that we can go and flow. I have two
speakers, two timers, two guns, so if anything fails, I can get back
shooting in about thirty seconds.
We have to charge speakers and timers the day before. We have to

make sure our clipboards have scoresheets, pens, erasers, and
rubber bands on them. We have eye wipes for students’ eye
protection that fogs up. We have sunblock, bug spray and even butt
wipes so a student will feel “fresh” from the porta potty. We check the
aid bags and have one at every training site.
I shoot/clean and generally test fire my demo/training weapons. I
start looking at the weather patterns to see if that will impact training.
I have a box of spare guns and holsters. I have a box of parts and
have replaced triggers on ARs that have gone bad.
Students are investing time in their lives to come see you, and I want
them to have a positive experience.
How to receive students and get them started safely
As an “instructor cadre” we rehearse receiving students. We are

there at least an hour early, set up and ready to train. I have a
flashlight and head lamp if it is dark. Students are parked in a certain
area so they can get to their cars quickly and we can see them.
Instructors park a bit farther away.
We have load/unload points so CW (concealed weapon) carriers can

safe their guns. If students are brand new, we have instructors take
them one on one. We have students sign in get mags loaded. I even
assign instructors to students in accordance with their weapons,
whether they are right- or left-handed shooters and their gender. If I
have a new student with a 1911, I assign an instructor to them who is
familiar with the 1911. I put left-handed instructors with left-handed
students.
I do the formal in briefing and have instructors introduce themselves

and then take ownership of their new students.
TAKE NOTES
Notes range from index cards to full-blown retyped note pages. I still
carry the training schedule in my rear pocket, but can generally
recite it on demand.
COME EARLY AND STAY LATE AS NEEDED
I require CSAT instructors (hired) to be there ready an hour early and
to clean up as needed after the class. I am there early for students
that come in and have questions. I am also there for any issues that
arise such as fixing guns, modifying slings, etc.
TAKE WHAT YOU CAN USE IN THE COURSE AND
APPLY IT
I am thick skinned, and The CSAT Way is a way and not written in
stone. Use what you can.
A word of caution when trying to implement the entire system and

replacing your training program with it. Start slow and implement
over a year. Some people will be receptive, others will resist and
fight it because they are happy with the status quo. The system
works and has been proven. Your most difficult obstacle in the entire
process will be acceptance, and generally, a slow methodical
implementation is better.
Up your game.
Start small and be aggressive in learning your system.
Better every class in structure, your personal demos and
delivery.
CHAPTER 13
Instructor Development
AN ONGOING PROCESS
Instructor development never stops. You have the selection phase,
training phase, continuing education phase and after-action phase.
I require my instructors to attend the Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor

Course and the Shoot House Instructor Course before being allowed
to teach. They must also attend the class they are teaching. They
then shadow instructors teaching the course and will be strictly
supervised when they teach a module.
As the business owner, my instructors get paid when I can turn my

back on them and know they will do and say the right thing in my
absence. They don’t have to know all the tactical answers as they
relate, but most of them. I also require them to come in the day
before a class to rehearse actions from shooting to CQB.
The continuing education phase is where I send AARs (after-action

reviews) of classes and updates. I send everything from
housekeeping comments to student praise. When I first started,
there were a great deal of housekeeping comments, generally after
every class. These were comments about changes or things that
needed to be fixed to support me. Now, I only send these quarterly to
semi-annually.
The after-action phase is done after every class. Attaboys and

negative student reports are circulated among the staff. It is an
ongoing process to reaffirm great teaching and to fix problem areas.
I generally do a quick group hug with my instructors to get their
feedback on how things went, what they need to change and how I
can better support them in the class.
INSTRUCTOR SELECTION AND DEVELOPMENT
I try to pick instructors who have a passion for the profession and put
professionalism ahead of dollar signs and making money. If you are
good, the money will come. If you are just looking for money, you will
not be good. I sort these folks out by how they improve and spend
their time.
I find many of my instructors in student classes. They take the time

to learn the system and move up the pipeline to instructor status.
Some are instructors from other disciplines such as martial arts and
make the transition to firearms. Attitude, work and life ethic are
everything in instructor selection.
Instructors must have exceptional people and communication skills. They must be
able to read a student in a few minutes. When they communicate, they should use
the ABCs: accurate, brief and clear, along with tactful critiques when talking to
people. Instructors need to be encouraging as well. We don’t crush spirits, we
build them.
First, I tell them it will take a year or two for them to become
proficient instructors. If they are not willing to spend the time and
commit, they are moved on. During their training year, instead of pay,
instructors in training get the knowledge and the ability to talk to and
mentor my students, which is huge in my book. They will have to put
their own time in to rehearse, prep and fix any deficiencies I note
about their instruction during the class. If they do not fix their issues,
they go away.
They are good people in my book, but I cannot use them. Another
level of credibility is getting your picture and bio on my website. This
means I have put my seal of approval on you.
My instructor staff went through a learning curve of sorts. They used

to load the class equipment in my truck and wait for me to take
charge at the range.
I fixed that approach by having them take the equipment, prep the
range, receive students and start instruction as I might be closing the
barracks up. I do all the PowerPoint in most classes. They can “find
work” while I am doing this. I pay them well and want initiative first
and foremost with the team. It took some time to get to this level, as I
had to build their confidence and get them out of the shy mode.
I used to have to collapse my computer, close the building and then

rush to the range and get all my gear on, all while students and my
instructors had a head start. Now, instructors either have the range
ready or know to leave the classroom a few minutes before and
receive students while I get my gear on and start to check. I want
them to do safety briefings and start student shooting and to be
confident that I trust them to do that. This also builds a student’s
confidence in my instructors, and they get to know each other.
ED SER
ED SER is the acronym we use to describe our training process.
Explain
The reason for the drill

Use real-world videos
Demo
Slow, fast, slow
Skill Build
If necessary, teach the drill in several sequences.

Strong/Support = Dry, 2 Shots Dots, 2 Shots Body
Evaluate
Train on drill and give feedback/times (first shot times)
Refine
Work on drill to perfect and cut times

KEEP YOUR COMMUNICATION FLOW OPEN
With each class, communications and after actions flow and nudge
my instructors a bit more. I do not try to turn the ship in one mighty
spin of the wheel. I incrementally have them change, as all are from
varied backgrounds.
They have learned my looks and suggestions. My suggestions are

generally “do it this way.” I will ask them for their input and never
stifle them or keep them from trying something that does not have a
negative impact, but rather teaches them that there are better
solutions for next time. This keeps them from being on edge and lets
them know they can make a more efficient (better) decision next
time.
SPOT-CHECK AS NEEDED
As lead, I constantly spot-check and get my hands dirty when
necessary. I check to see if they need help before training and setup
and then stand back when they give demos and briefings. If need to
buy them some time during training, I talk to the students, get
feedback, tell them war stories and experiences and make their wait
for the next run seem like no time at all.
While I am doing all this, I am still watching for safety and quality
control.
PUT TIME IN TO KEEP THEIR SKILLS UP AND
ENSURE THEY ARE AT THE LEVEL YOU NEED.
When we started to offer CQB, close quarter battle, to civilians, I had
to up the calibration and training a bit. The day before we would
rehearse the demos, do dry runs and usually do live-fire runs so our
skills were there. My instructors seemed to enjoy this. I enjoy it, as I
get to knock the rust off and recalibrate myself as well.
Running a line begins with running one student and knowing how to position
yourself to see and give them feedback. Simple range commands must be used by
all instructors so you do not confuse students.
Once you can run one student, instructors need to be able to run
entire firing lines. They must be able to focus on one student, but
keep awareness of the entire firing line.
Instructors must give students clear and concise instruction and then spot check.
Students should be putting up their own targets and taping. Instructors have to
maintain safety awareness at all times. Students need to tape their own targets so
they know how they did, especially in a shoot house.
I will pay my instructors when I can turn my back on them and they
can run students safely, while putting out the correct school
information. I must also get positive reports from students that the
instructors are positive, helpful and professional.
KEY POINTS
I must continually invest in my team.
I must continually keep myself and my skills up to standard.
I must spot-check my instructors.
CHAPTER 14
Class Development
START WITH THE END IN MIND
The above photo of a body in the T intersection seems simple, but
the training that must be performed before we can go there is
complex:
Firearms
Surgical Movement Drill (SUL Position)
T Intersection
Single Room CQB
Moving Bodies
Figure out what skills you want your students to leave with.
Understand that they will not master the technical and tactical skills
in one class. They will have to go back, practice, and apply what
they have learned.
Knowing this, your job is to give students a clear and concise picture
of what you want them to accomplish and how to accomplish it. I
give out Excel spreadsheets in many classes that outline hard skills
that must be practiced at the individual and team levels, so students
know what they need to practice in the future to accomplish their
missions.
DEVELOP STRUCTURED MODULES THAT FLOW
INTELLECTUALLY AND TACTICALLY
Using the syllabus from the tactical pistol format, we know a few
things that we have to take into consideration when sequencing the
information. First, we need to know all the safety, load and unload
procedures. We need to know stance, ready position and holster. As
we shoot, we need know reloads.
I have seen many instructors teach reloads at the end of the

shooting day. Students are going to reload all day long; why waste
all those repetitions? Teach reloading up front in your introductory
modules, and students will get more proficient without even realizing
it. This is part of teaching technical skills.
When teaching tactical skills, we need to sequence in the “skill

builders” to make them successful. For example, to prepare students
for close-quarter battle, they must learn to move around each other
with loaded weapons, move through doorways, hit a point of
domination and engage a threat target and repeat.
We use the Mary-Katherine surgical drill for this as a skill builder.

Students don’t know they are practicing all those subskills required
to make dynamic entry into a room. It helps them in the shoot house
as they have seen the skill before on a flat range and it dovetails into
the next level of their training.
REHEARSE THE CLASS
Rehearsals or practice will help you verbally deliver the information,
check out safety of the drill, establish holding areas for students, get
timelines and much more.
During rehearsals, I know that I can get from forty-five minutes to

one hour out of a student during optimal weather conditions before
they need a break. With that, we have to do dry runs and live runs if
it is a tactical module. Then on the live runs, the first one is for
entertainment. That is, everyone shakes the excitement off and now
we can get down to focused repetitions. This means sticking the
information in our brains in a logical sequence.
I have an hour to do this. I structure all modules for this amount of

time. If I push too fast, students will practice poorly. If I go too slow,
they will lose interest. As an instructor, I must find the balance.
MAKE CHANGES
Rehearsals are where we find problems and make changes to
everything from structure to time lines to the amount of information
we can deliver safely. Don’t sweat it, changes are inevitable and part
of the process.
TAKE LOTS OF NOTES ON THE FIRST RUN
As an instructor, I carry a training schedule in my pocket and take
notes during every break. Just as we would like students to take
notes at the end of each day, I capture these notes at night after
class so I have them for the next class.
If we need to do more rehearsals before the next class to fix the

problems, we do that as an instructor cadre.
MAKE THE NEXT CLASS BETTER THAN YOUR
LAST
Incremental fixes with each class make the class better each time.
For issues, I solicit input from three sources.
Students
Cadre members
My observations and experience
At the end of each class, we solicit input from students. Some are
happy with the class and just want to get home. I get some students
that write an AAR (after-action review) a few days after the class
after they have had time to digest the information. I appreciate these
and respond back ASAP and let them know I appreciate their time
and input. If I can make changes, I do. If it is not tactically or
instructor feasible to make changes, I let them know why.
As a cadre, we also round table and discuss the class, issues and
what we need to fix. It can be done immediately or a few days after
the class.
Finally, I review all the notes I jotted down and adjust the training
schedule for next time, as it may be a few months before we do the
class again, and the same instructors might not be teaching it.
CREATE CUSTOM CLASSES
I try to think of each class as a “custom” class. I know each class is
different and we have a plan for a standard class. With that thought
process, I can always add more to the class or not go as far
depending on the students or weather conditions.
As a lead instructor, I can stack the deck as far as teams go. If I have
a bunch of repeat customers, I can put them on one team and new
students on another. I can take the experienced team to higher
levels, and I can keep the new team at a slower, more deliberate
pace. Mixing in fast and slow people is not a good recipe for
“squading.” It can slow the fast guys down, and they don’t get as
much out of the class. Using the “old guy, new guy” thought process
of match-up does not work, as students are all paying you to
maximize their training experience.
I try to put all experienced and fast shooters on one side of the line. I
don’t like putting a fast shooter next to a new shooter, as the new
shooter may become intimidated, distracted or try to keep up with
the fast shooter instead of focusing on their fundamentals.
Female shooters come in several types. Some are new, some are
experienced and some are with their husbands. The first question I
ask is if they want to shoot next to their husband. Most do. Some
know that a tone inflection from a husband will shut down their
learning process. Every so often, husbands will try to give wives
teaching points not in line with the school.
I try to put new female shooters on one side of the line at the end or
with other female shooters. Many are very self-conscious and think
everyone is watching them. By putting them at the end of a firing
line, they only have to worry about one direction. Also, I handpick my
instructors to work with females. I pick low-key and nonthreatening
instructors who are calm and interact well with women. Women can
smell testosterone, and that does not mix well with learning to shoot.
Prior to class I get the skills of my instructors matched with the

students coming in. I interview all my instructors about which
weapons they are familiar with. Some have shot a 1911, some have
not. The same goes with Glocks, Sigs and double/single pistols. I try
to match up those that know the guns with the students running
them. This includes left-handed instructors with left-handed students.
Finally, I check to see if any of my instructors are LE (law

enforcement) or military (mil.) or former of either. LE or mil. can
almost instantly connect with an LE or mil. shooter.
KEY POINTS
Listen to students and their AARs.
Listen to instructors and their points.
Add your input.
Rehearse and refine.
CHAPTER 15
Travelling Trainer
PROS
Students do not have to travel and can sleep in their own beds.
If there is a call out, they can respond.
There are no travel costs to the agency.
Logistics are easy for the students.
If you are good, you can stay on the road. The road is okay here and
there, but it takes a toll on you and your family life. You still have to
maintain your household when you get home, and hopefully you
have a good wife to help you.
A five-day trip that requires two days’ travel each way is really eleven
days. One day packing, two driving, five class days, two days
returning home and a day of cleanup. It is not all the glamour people
think it is.
CONS
Traffic patterns: getting to the training city may be a problem.
You have to have a reliable vehicle for this.
You cannot miss a trip.
Students can be pulled for court or minor family emergencies.
You have to adjust for their training facilities and hope that you
can accomplish all your training goals.
You need to plan travel times to avoid heavy traffic in major cities
when going to your training destination. Once you get there, you
need to recon routes to the classroom, training sites, grocery stores,
fast food, a gym and anywhere you might have to drive to support
the trip.
I kept a new vehicle when I was doing about thirty-plus trips a year
and had to keep it in tip-top shape, as I could not miss a trip. Buy a
simple truck that is reliable and can be fixed anywhere. If you buy a
specialty vehicle, you might end up getting a rental if you cannot get
it fixed.
Be prepared for students to miss class for all the pesky agency and
home problems.
Sometimes wives are not self-sufficient and cannot do things on their

own without theirsignificant other.
EQUIPMENT
If you don’t pack it or plan for it, it will not get there.
You must be efficient in your planning and sometimes
redundant.
Some stuff you can bring, some items the host agency/organization
will have for you. Talk it out ahead of time to save work and last-
minute scrambling. Double-check all your equipment beforehand and
learn how to pack efficiently.
Reference vehicles; pick a nondescript vehicle that can be easily serviced. Pack
your gear efficiently in secure/watertight boxes. Be organized so you can quickly
get out what you need and start training.
PREPLANNING AND ARRIVAL
Start coordination months out and let your POC (point of
contact) know what you need.
Have your POC send you pictures of their ranges, classroom, shoot
houses and anything else you might use. Simple things such as
target stands, firing points and range facilities are important. If your
targets do not fit their stands, you have to make adjustments, and
game day is not the day to do it. You might have to run two relays
instead of one when firing, if there are not enough firing points.
Having a shoot house layout allows you to preplan the lanes and
training.
Recon all your training sites and routes the day before. Ask your
POC/locals about the early-morning traffic patterns. You might have
to leave an hour early to get there on time. Pick a safe hotel, with
breakfast if possible, close to your training site.
Look closely at weather patterns for that time of the year and have
plenty of snivel gear in your vehicle. If it is cold and you did not bring
what you need, go to the store.
EXECUTION
Don’t be late, and don’t be light.
Take notes every day.
Show up an hour early to class. Do this by having several wake-up

calls or alarm clocks.
Review your class information the night before so you know what is
coming. Take notes on breaks. Keep cough drops and water with
you. If you lose your voice, you cannot talk, and it goes downhill from
there. Keep antibiotics with you in case you start getting sick. Get
sick at home, not on the road. Talk with students on break, but don’t
forget to pee and drink water.
Have your lunch with you or offer to buy lunch for someone picking
up chow for you. This allows you to prep for the afternoon training
modules. Help students clean up after the training day. Take notes
when back in the hotel room and review the next day’s material.
POST-TRIP
Say thank you and solicit AAR comments.
Write an AAR if the host agency requests one.
Get home safely. This mean getting enough sleep the night prior to
driving home. Use a voice recorder when driving and capturing
notes. Say thank you to the POC when you get home, and swag
does not hurt when you initially link up with them. Decompress and
give your family some quality time and say thanks.
KEY POINTS
The road is a harsh mistress.
Check and double-check all your equipment.
A group of students has invested their time for you to get there
—do your part.
CHAPTER 16
Static Trainer
SITE SELECTION
I spent years on the road building up money to buy land. I looked
over several tracts and understood a few things about range and
noise problems. You need to be aware of downrange noise along
with side and rear noise. I had local officers do decibel checks from
the nearest houses and also put my ranges deep within my property.
Next, I looked at potential bullet overtravel if it left a berm and what it

might impact.
RANGE DEVELOPMENT
I wanted a series of ranges that could operate at the same time
without cancelling each other out for safety or noise. I started slow
and would look at other potential ranges that people asked for (the
market will dictate which classes will fill) and what range would
handle multiple training events.
My vehicle ranges can support many training options.
For example, I have a vehicle range. I can do all the following on one
range:
Lateral Fire and Maneuver

Forward Fire and Maneuver
Vehicle Bailouts
Sniper Snaps
Sniper Movers
Window Ports
Door Breaching
If you build one range for a specialty event, you will have too many
ranges that are not cost effective and may run out of room on your
property.
Using the steel plates, one per vehicle, I can do individual fire and maneuver, two-
person fire and maneuver, and team fire and maneuver. We can fight from right to
left and left to right. The dots on cars are white and red and serve as
control/movement points for shooters. We can also do low light on this range as
well. Shot distance is about twenty-five yards.
The left side of the range is a single room with a breach door. A team can practice
this while another team works window ports in the window unit in the right side of
the picture.
Metal poles on the right and left side of the range are a mover system. We can
have snipers shoot snaps, which is a two-second head exposure in the window
unit to the front. I can have four snipers shoot at one time with my target setup.
From the M in the box, I can have two snipers shoot a mover on the right side of
the range while two more teams shoot on the left side of the range.
In addition, I can have teams fire and maneuver forward on the range.
While plate racks and dueling trees are fun, by adding a vehicle, you can do
vehicle bailouts, both driver and passenger.
As an instructor, I look at the shooter drawing and engaging safely first. I will watch
shooting mechanics and trigger control and mention clearing the seat belt, which
will not hinder their shots but may hang up should they decide to turn and move.
To expand the vehicle scenario, you can put firing positions, cover positions or
simply a control point for student movement.
Each range should have drainage, as I have stood in water to shoot.

It sucks and then you have to pick up brass. You need firing lines
and overhead covers for rain and even sun. Think about putting steel
on one side of the range and static barricades.
For rain or shine, overhead covers are always needed. Gravel is easier on your
back than concrete is when standing for long periods. The blue plastic barrels can
be used on the firing line for new shooters to place their weapons on while first
learning to shoot.
“Frag” or bullet residue can leave one range and end up on another. On some
ranges, we build an overhead cover to catch the frag so there are not “whizzers” or
metal flying onto other ranges people are shooting on.
Wood tends to capture/stop frag better than metal. A simple 2 x 6 piece of scrap
can shield your supports and help stop flying debris.
You can include other areas for eating lunch and cleaning weapons.
Porta potties are needed for females and male solid waste. I use
“Blue Stones” that men can stand on and pee toward the wood line.
Without them, some men used to stop and pee in the middle of the
trail.
Lunch and weapons cleaning areas are nice to have.
For solid waste, “Old Reliable”
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
I started a sportsman club for serious shooters and also approached
the local LE about using the range. Currently I have various
agencies using the range along with armed guardian teacher teams
from various independent school districts.
Using the internet, I put out a monthly web/training letter addressing

politics, training, equipment, maintenance and hunting.
SLOW, STEADY INFRASTRUCTURE
I did not build everything at once. Sometimes I build one range a
year. Sometimes I would put money into a new roof on a target
house. When you own a range, there is always a place to spend
money. For years I worked on “Sniper Hill,” pushing it out two
hundred yards further each year until I got to one thousand yards.
A path leading to a Blue Stone fluid evacuation area . . .

Front toward enemy, or pee toward the wood line. By standing on the stone and
having males pee outward, you avoid walking through piss spots in the middle of
the trail. Men have been referred to as “pig dogs” more than once in my lifetime.
RANGE RULES
With every range, you need rules. Sometimes you will need more
rules. Sometimes you need to be painfully plain. I have made
PowerPoint rule/orientation programs for my club members. Some
are new shooters; some are seasoned shooters. All have to abide by
the same rules to make all our lives easy.
SELECTING AND GROOMING CADRE
Selecting and grooming a cadre, in a word, is challenging. I had to
learn to spot those who had potential and not those who wanted to
wear the shirt or were looking for fast money. This took years. I have
an exceptional cadre at this time. They look out for each other. They
also know that if they recommend someone to be on the cadre, I will
hold them accountable for that person.
KEY POINTS
Maintaining a superior cadre takes constant work, as hard and
consistent as being in special ops.
CHAPTER 17
My Tools
GENERAL
As I get older, I narrow down my weapons and equipment. When we
are young, we tend to try everything and have “fun” guns. All my
guns now are work guns. The above target was shot with my EDC
(every-day carry) which at the time of this writing was an S & W
Shield .45 ACP pistol. It is reliable, accurate, flat and compact. For a
gun to meet my criteria as a work gun, I have to be able to shoot the
standards with it. I like being good with a few simple tools. Excess
guns are clutter unless they are a family heirloom.
EYES
Aging eyes is one of the biggest problems with shooters, especially
aging shooters. In 1986, I had a double RK (radial keratotomy), one
in each eye. My eyes were stable for many years. In about 2002, I
had Lasik done on my right eye only adjusting my focal point to
where the front sight on a sixteen-inch rifle would be along with a
pistol front sight. It held for about seventeenears and started to
diminish a bit.
I have gone to glasses, as I need them to shoot safely. My focal

points, that is, where my shooting eye focuses, is a challenge. On
certain rifles with a long sight radius, I can see the front sight clearly.
On shorter ones, it is a bit fuzzy. With the Green Holosun, it looks
clear, as my focus is about four inches away. If I am going to shoot
irons, I like a longer sight radius for clarity.
The Elvex “cheaters” are great for pistols, but the sweet spot is not
quite there for rifles and go back to shooting glasses with a large
lens for rifle shooting only. Everyone is different in vision, and the
optics they like are different. You will have to adjust. I have had
shooters take their bifocal prescription and invert it up high on their
right lens so they could see the sight clearly. I am game for whatever
works for you.
For those of us with aging eyes, I have found the Elvex glasses an inexpensive
alternative to high-priced regular glasses. They come in various prescriptions, and
I like clear for both day and night shooting to include red dots as my tinted glasses
change the dot perspective. I also use these extensively around the property when
doing manual and tractor work.
With the above picture and short sight radius, the iron sights were fuzzy and thus,
the larger group. The green dot was crisp and clear. For me and my eyes, four
inches more of sight radius makes a huge difference and will greatly decrease my
iron sight group size.
REVOLVERS
My first full-caliber handgun was a six-inch S & W Model 28. An
older sergeant at the sherriff’s office had recommended it. I ordered
the six-inch thinking it would make me more accurate, not realizing it
would make my draw slower as I would have to clear two more
inches of holster to get it into the ready position. My only
improvements to the gun were the basic Hogue Grips.
I currently have several compact five-shot revolvers that I use from

time to time. One has an exposed hammer with the thought process
that I could “thumb” the hammer back for a surgical shot. The others
are hammerless, so I can put them in a coat pocket or back pocket
and not worry about snagging the hammer on a draw stroke.
My general go-to holster is the DeSantis Nemesis, which can be

added to or modified as necessary to fit the individual requirements. I
have even added industrial Velcro to holsters so they may be
secured in a concealment device of your choosing.
SEMI-AUTOMATIC PISTOLS
When I was assigned to spec ops, I was issued two 1911 pistols.
They were full-size government models with ambi safety and an
arched main spring housing. I like the arched housing as it fit my
hand better. It had nonadjustable sites and was a simple and reliable
platform. I quickly learned how to strip it to the bare bones. I trained
with this platform in the jungle, desert, artic conditions and of course
urban settings.
When I left the military and began teaching in the civilian/LE sector, I
started with two Kimber 1911-style pistols, as that was I was most
familiar with. Looking around, Glocks had taken over, and I
purchased two Glock 32s in .357 Sig. I found that most agencies had
a surplus, as officers did not like the sharp and excessive recoil. I
shot these for many years until the FBI came out with their studies
on 9mm ballistics.
Switching to a Glock 19 was easy, as it is the same gun as the G32

and holsters, lights and mag pouches all fit. To add, it requires less
maintenance time in shooting as the recoil is much more forgiving.
I added the G26 to the mix as I taught more and more civilian
classes for teachers, church security and the average American. The
G26 shoots just as good as the G19, you just have a bit less
purchase area on the grip and less sight radius, meaning you will
pick up your sights faster. You simply have to perfect your mechanics
to shoot it well. With all smaller guns, this is the case.
The S & W M&P .45 ACP Shield is my day-to-day carry gun if I am

not expecting trouble. I figure I can solve multiple opponents with six
to seven rounds and the pistol is flat, easy to conceal and accurate.
To add, the trigger is smooth and breaks clean and the gun is a snap
to clean. My holsters are generally JM Kydex.
My rationale for two platforms (high capacity vs. single stack) is this.
If I were mil. or LE, looking for trouble and many times encountering
multiple opponents, I would go with a high capacity. For me, trying to
blend in and avoid trouble, I feel comfortable with a single stack that
will allow me to fight to my rifle.
AR-TYPE RIFLES
I learned my rifle work on the M16A1, then M16A2, the M1A and
then the M4 carbine.
Colt was the brand of the day for the AR platforms and all ran
reliably.
Wilson Combat is my choice of rifle these days. I was fortunate to

meet and work with Bill Wilson and have his crew build many a rifle
for me. They have never failed and all shoot better than I can. In
short, I cannot blame the rifle for accuracy.
The standard 16 inch is what I started with and have shot many with
a 14.5 and the extended comp.
I have owned and shot, Larue, S & W, and Ruger and all are quality
guns. My choice when teaching students is to use a “beater” AR that
is inexpensive, so that when I do demos, they understand it is me
driving the weapon and not the name brand making it happen for
me. I want students to be at ease with whatever platform they
brought to the course.
SNIPER RIFLES
I spent two years as a sniper in spec ops and trained with both a bolt
gun and gas gun. I used an M1A-style gas gun in the day. With that,
weapons quality and scope quality have made incredible
technological leaps.
For our Urban Marksman (Sniper) and Long-Range Hunter classes, I

use a Wilson Combat platform as a gas gun and a William Roscoe
.308 bolt gun. I teach both platforms, as both are capable of
incredible accuracy, and both are different when addressing the
head/eye position.
HUNTING RIFLES
I was never much of a hunter. I consider myself a predator-control
person. When I first bought CSAT, I spent lots of time in the field
working and renovating the property. My go-to rifle was a Marlin
Guide Gun in .45-70 and simple iron sights. I have shot everything
from coyotes to deer to pigs with that rifle and routinely made two
hundred-yard shots. With inexpensive Winchester ammo, I could
anchor anything out to two hundred yards with relative ease.
The .308 was my next go-to rifle and then the .458 SOCOM. I quickly
found that pigs required a surgical hit with a 5.56/.223 to anchor
them. The .308 was too nice to haul on a daily basis, so Bill Wilson
built a .458 SOCOM for me. It is like having a .45-70 in a sixteen-
inch M4 platform, and I would feel confident against any animal in
the world with that rifle.
The above rifle is an eighteen-inch Louisiana Precision Rifle made by William
Roscoe. It is laser beam accurate, magazine fed and portable. It is one of my two
dedicated hunting rifles.
OTHER PLATFORMS AND ACCESSORIES
Shotguns
One of my first shotguns was a Remington 870. I have worked that

platform in about every tactical configuration ranging from an entry
weapon to a breaching tool. They are great man-stoppers at close
range. For individuals that do not shoot a great deal, it is a great
platform if they refamiliarize themselves with it every so often.
Optics
The Burris AR-332 3x would be my optic of choice if I was going

back into the tactical arena. I can do CQB with it and make distance
shots as well. I can discriminate with it and don’t have to take my
hands off the weapon to adjust magnification. It is not high dollar, but
works for me and has always held zero.
I have tried many variable scopes, and while I like them, I have to take my hands
off the rifle to adjust them. This I don’t like. I always recommend running these on
1x until you need to magnify.
The AT3 is a reliable and economical red dot that has also served me well.
The Holosun HSE501C-GR is the zero-magnification optic I prefer. It has a wide
field of view, and green is the best color I have seen across the light spectrum. I
look forward to shooting this more.
Sights
I run the Ameriglo Hackathorn Pistol sights on all my Glocks. They

have a green dot up front and bit wider rear for a fast pick-up at
close range. Again, green is my choice of sight color for all light
conditions.
The XS Sights CSAT rifle sight is my choice of rear M4/AR rifle sight.
I developed it pig hunting and would have to constantly flip my rear
sight back and forth for close and long range. I one day took a sight
and beat it on a vice to flatten it and then filed it into a form.
Timers
To record and know shooters’ times, this is the timer we use. It has a great deal of
options and survives more instructor classes than any other timer I have used.
AR magazines
I grew up with good old-fashioned GI metal mags for my rifles. They

are still top-notch in my book. I tried PMAGs for a period of time and
went to Lancer mags as my standard go-to AR Mag. I had officers
come down from Anchorage, Alaska, and they advised that under
their cold weather conditions, PMAG lips would crack. I have also
had students send back several at one time for cracked feed lips.
Other than changing a spring out in a Lancer, they have served me
well. This also applies to the metal GI mags.
Flashlights
Gun lights can be purchased or made. The PowerTac brand of light has worked for
me along with Fenix and can be made into a weapon mounted at sometimes one-
half the cost of a dedicated weapon light.
The light can be attached to the base or bezel ring depending on where your
thumb can access it with a day grip on the gun.
You can even modify IR covers to lights using a “tape buildup” around the light
bezel.
Hearing protection
I use three different kinds of hearing protection. When running the

line, I use the large Peltors with gel pads. The gel pads last and give
you the best seal when working with students. The gel has not been
affected by sunblock or bug spray. The original pads on many ear
muffs will harden and lose hearing protection.
When shooting rifle demos for students, I use the rechargeable
electronic ear plugs. They allow me to hear and get my natural stock
well when shooting the rifle. I have done tests where the big ears
cause my head to shift on the stock, possibly changing my grouping
four to six inches at one hundred yards.
In regards soft ear plugs, I use the Laser Lites, as they are the best
fitting and generally kill all outside noise.
Tourniquets
I prefer the SOF-T style tourniquet and keep one in all bags and on
the centerline of my vest so I can reach it with a right or left hand. I
also keep one on the stock of my rifle and secure it with either tarp
bungees or hair bands. This carry mode has never impacted my
shooting.
Bags
I prefer to be low vis when carrying equipment and use an

assortment of common bags that blend in to accomplish this.
A simple sling back can be carried and stowed in your vehicle. It can carry the
needed supplies to address a tactical problem. The strobes attached to the bag
serve two purposes: I use them to identify what is in those compartments (red for
medical) and secondly, to link up with law enforcement or other members of my
security team.
I prefer sling bags because they are nondescript, fast to get on and fast to get off.
You can also put body armor in them for added protection and keep them on your
back or roll them to your front. You can have a sturdy bag like the Thule for real
world and an inexpensive one like the Kaka for training.
Resettable targets
The above Larue resettable targets are my favorites for drills requiring multiple
repetitions such as medical, fire and maneuver and vehicle-contact drills. I have
used the above targets for over fifteen years and just change out the rechargeable
battery every few years.
KEY POINTS
Buy once if possible.
Keep all equipment the same if you can.
MISC. SOURCES:
Guns: Wilson Combat/Glock/S & W
Targets: Action/Le Targets
Flashlights: Fenix/Powertac
Pistol Sights: Ameriglo
AR Sights: Daniel Defense
AR Mags: Lancer Or Military Metal Mags
Recommended Schools: Valor Ridge
Summary of instruction and
lecture accomplishments
1986-May 00 Trained over thirty federal, state, local and foreign agencies
May 00 Cleburne Police Department, Cleburne, Texas
Jan 01 Irving Police Department, Dallas, Texas
Jan 01 TTPOA Annual Conference – Hostage Rescue
Jan 01 Rural Interdiction Course, Ennis, Texas
Jan 01 Texas Tactical Police Officers Association Annual Conference – two days CQB
July 01 School Crisis Response Course, Nacogdoches, Texas
July 01 Dallas Police Department Swat Team – Hostage Rescue
Aug 01 Dallas Police Department Swat Team – Hostage Rescue
Nov 01 El Paso – Hostage Rescue
Nov 01 Dallas, TX – Hostage Rescue
Dec 01 Ennis, TX – Active Shooter Live Fire
Dec 01 El Paso, TX – Hostage Rescue
Dec 01 Cleburne Police Department (TX) – Hostage Rescue

Jan 02 SAIC – National Police – Rural Tactics
Feb 02 Irving PD/DFW Airport Police (TX) – Hostage Rescue
Feb 02 Urban Combat Write-Up – SAIC/State Dept Advance Crisis Response Team
Mar 02 Midland, TX – Midland PD – Hostage Rescue
Mar 02 Midland, TX – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
Apr 02 Beaumont, TX – Beaumont PD – Hostage Rescue
Apr 02 Beaumont, TX – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
May 02 Puyallup, WA – Joint Tactical Team – Hostage Rescue
May 02 Puyallup, WA – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
May 02 Pasadena, TX – Pasadena PD – Hostage Rescue
June 02 Dallas, TX – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
June 02 SAIC – Urban Tactics Write Up/State Department ACRT
June 02 Dallas Police Dept – Hostage Rescue CQB Live Fire
Jul 02 Jacksonville, FL – Jacksonville PD – Hostage Rescue
Jul 02 Jacksonville, FL – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
Aug 02 San Antonio, TX – San Antonio PD – Hostage Rescue
Aug 02 San Antonio, TX – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
Aug 02 Dallas Police Dept – Hostage Rescue CQB Live Fire
Sep 02 SAIC – National Police – Urban Tactics

Sep 02 Cleburne, TX – Cleburne PD – HR CQB Live Fire
Oct 02 NIPAS – Chicago, IL – Hostage Rescue
Oct 02 Chicago, IL – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
Oct 02 Champaign, IL – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
Nov 02 Indianapolis PD – Hostage Rescue
Nov 02 Indianapolis, IN – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
Nov 02 ITOA Annual Conference – Hostage Rescue
Dec 02 Concord, CA – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
Jan 03 Houston, TX – Various Agencies – Hostage Rescue
Feb 03 Houston, TX – Various Agencies – Tactical Team Leader
Feb 03 Beaumont, TX – Open – Tactical Pistol/Rifle
Feb 03 Dallas, TX – Open – Tactical Team Leader
Mar 03 Dallas, TX – Open – Tactical Team Leader
Mar 03 Midland, TX – Live Fire CQB – Closed
Apr 03 SAIC – Baton Rouge – Urban Tactics
Apr 03 Des Plaines, IL – Closed – Hostage Rescue/Shotgun Breaching
May 03 Nacogdoches, TX – Open – Tactical Pistol/Rifle
May 03 Puyallup, WA – Live Fire CQB – Closed

Jun 03 Washington, Iowa – Hostage Rescue – Open
Jun 03 Carrolton/Addison PD – Hostage Rescue – Closed
July 03 Monroe, LA – Hostage Rescue – Closed
July 03 Dallas, TX – Advanced SWAT – CQB Live Fire
July 03 St. Louis, MO – Hostage Rescue – Open
Aug 03 Kent, WA – Tactical Team Leader – Open
Aug 03 Kent, WA – Hostage Rescue – Closed
Sep 03 Kent, OH – Tactical Team Leader
Sep 03 Garland, TX – Hostage Rescue – Closed
Oct 03 North Chicago – Tactical Team Leader – Open
Oct 03 NIPAS, IL – Live Fire CQB – Closed
Oct 03 Springdale, AR – Hostage Rescue – Closed
Oct 03 Springdale, AR – Hostage Rescue – Closed
Nov 03 Midland, TX – Tactical Pistol/Rifle – Open
Nov 03 Illinois Tactical Officer Association – Conference
Dec 03 Midland, TX – Tactical Pistol/Rifle – Closed
Dec 03 El Paso, TX – Tactical Team Leader – Open
Jan 04 Baton Rouge, LA – Tac Pistol/Rifle – Act Shooter – Closed
Jan 04 Dallas, TX – Shoot House Instructor – Open

Feb 04 San Antonio, TX – Tactical Pistol/Rifle – Open
Feb 04 San Antonio, TX – Shotgun Breaching – Open
Feb 04 Garland, TX – Hostage Rescue – Open
Mar 04 Cleburne, TX – Active Shooter – Open
May 04 Des Plaines, IL – Live Fire CQB – Closed
May 04 Ohio Tactical Officers Association Conference
May 04 Garland, TX – Shotgun Breaching Inst – Open
May 04 Garland, TX – Shotgun Breaching
May 04 Denton, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle – Closed
Jun 04 The Site, IL – Tac Pistol/Rifle – Open
Jun 04 Nac PD, Basic SWAT – Active Shooter
Jun 04 Ennis, TX – Tactical Rifle Inst – Open
Jun 04 Ennis, TX – Tactical Rifle – Open
Jul 04 San Antonio, TX – Tac Rifle Ins – Open
Jul 04 San Antonio, TX – Tac Rifle – Open
Sep 04 Sugar Land, TX – Adv Hostage Rescue – Closed
Sep 04 Chicago, IL – Tac Rifle – Open
Sep 04 Chicago, IL – Tac Pistol/Rifle – Open
Oct 04 NIPAS, IL – Adv Hostage Rescue – Open

Oct 04 San Marcos, TX – Shoot House Ins – Open
Nov 04 Midland, TX – Adv Tac Pistol/Rifle – Open
Nov 04 Midland, TX – Advanced Skills – Closed
Dec 04 Denton, TX – Adv Hostage Rescue – Open
Dec 04 NIPAS, IL – NVG Instructor – Closed
Jan 05 Sure Fire, CA – Adv Hostage Rescue – Open
Jan 05 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Ins – Open
Jan 05 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle – Open
Jan 05 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle – Open
Feb 05 San Marcos, TX – Shoot House Inst
Mar 05 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Team Leader
Mar 05 Rockwall, TX, – Tac Pistol/Rifle
Apr 05 San Antonio, TX – TTPOA Conference
May 05 N. Chicago, IL – Shoot House Inst
May 05 Kentucky State Police – Special Skills
Jun 05 Seguin, TX – Adv Hostage Rescue
Jun 05 San Marcos, TX – Adv Hostage Rescue
Jul 05 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Instructor
Jul 05 San Marcos, TX – Shoot House Inst

Aug 05 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Inst
Aug 05 Dallas, TX – Tac Pistol Inst
Sept 05 McAlester, OK – Tac Pistol/Rifle
Oct 05 N. Chicago, IL – Tac Rifle Instructor
Nov 05 Midland, TX – Adv Tac Pistol/Rifle
Nov 05 Midland, TX – Advanced Skills
Nov 05 Cleburne, TX – Active Shooter
Nov 05 ITOA – Conference
Dec 05 Irving, TX – Adv Hostage Rescue
Dec 05 Dallas, TX – Tactical Team Leader
Jan 06 Seguin, TX – Adv Hostage Rescue
Jan 06 Camp Pendleton, CA – Marines Shoot House Instructor
Feb 06 Dallas – Medical Class
Feb 06 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Instructor
Mar 06 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle I
Mar 06 Midland, TX – Active Shooter Instructor
Mar 06 Special Skills
Apr 06 Dallas, TX – TTPOA Conference
Apr 06 DFW, TX – Tac Pistol Instructor

Apr 06 DFW, TX – Tac Pistol I
May 06 NIPAS – Shoot House Instructor
May 06 San Marcos, TX – Shoot House Instructor
Jun 06 Dallas, TX – Tac Rifle Instructor
Jun 06 Dallas, TX – Tac Rifle I
Jul 06 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills
Aug 06 Tacoma, WA – Tactical Team Leader
Aug 06 Richland, WA – Advanced Hostage Rescue
Sept 06 TTPOA Swat Comp
Sept 06 Arkansas Tactical Officers Association Conf
Oct 06 New York, Tactical Team Leader
Oct 06 New York, Mechanical Breaching
Nov 06 Jacksonville, FL – Tactical Team Leader
Nov 06 Jacksonville, FL – Tactical Team Leader
Dec 06 Camp Lejeune, NC – Marine Shoot House Inst.
Jan 07 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills
Feb 07 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Operator
Feb 07 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Instructor

Feb 07 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Operator
Mar 07 Nacogdoches, TX – Patrol Tactics Instructor
Mar 07 Lexington, KY – Shoot House Instructor
Apr 07 Seguin, TX – Advanced Hostage Rescue
Apr 07 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills
May 07 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle
May 07 Pasadena, TX – Special Skills
June 07 North Chicago, IL – Adv Hostage Rescue
June 07 North Chicago, IL – Tac Team Leader
July 07 Midland, TX – Special Skills
Aug 07 New Jersey – Advanced Hostage Rescue
Sep 07 Nacogdoches, TX – Texas Swat Competition
Oct 07 Nacogdoches, TX – Texas Swat Competition
Oct 07 Lake County, IL – Tac Rifle Instructor
Oct 07 Lake County, IL – Tac Rifle Operator
Nov 07 San Marcos, TX – Shoot House Instructor
Nov 07 Chicago, IL – ITOA Presenter
Dec 07 Garland, TX – Adv Hostage Rescue
Dec 07 Garland, TX – Tactical Team Leader

Jan 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic Swat
Jan 08 Las Vegas, NV – Shot Show
Feb 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Shotgun B Ins
Feb 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Shotgun B Op
Feb 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Team Ldr
Mar 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Ins
Mar 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Oper
Mar 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Patrol Tactics Ins
Apr 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Skills
Apr 08 Ft. Dix, NJ – Shoot House Instructor
Apr 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Marksman
May 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Ins
May 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Oper
May 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Adv Swat
May 08 Midland, TX – Urban Marksman
Jun 08 N. Chicago, IL – Tac Pistol Ins/Op
Jun 08 N. Chicago, IL – Tac Rifle Ins/Op
Jul 08 Midland, TX – Special Skills

Aug 08 Lexington, KY – Adv Hostage Rescue
Sep 08 North Chicago, Adv Hostage Rescue
Sep 08 North Chicago, Shotgun Breaching
Oct 08 Mason City, IA – Adv Hostage Rescue
Oct 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Instructor
Oct 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Op
Nov 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Inst
Nov 08 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Op
Dec 08 Abilene, TX – Adv Hostage Rescue
Jan 09 Nacogdoches, TX – HROIC
Jan 09 Jacksonville, FL – Shoot House Instructor
Feb 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic Swat
Feb 09 Corpus Christi, TX – Tactical Team Leader
Mar 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills
Mar 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Pistol Instructor
Mar 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Pistol Operator
Apr 09 Dallas, TX – TTPOA Conference

Apr 09 Hays County, TX – Special Skills
May 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic Swat
May 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills
Jun 09 Lake County, IL – Tac Rifle Instructor
Jun 09 Lake County, IL – Tac Rifle Operator
Jun 09 Lake County, IL – Urban Marksman
Aug 09 Jacksonville, FL – Patrol Tactics Instructor
Aug 09 Lake County, IL – Tactical Team Leader
Aug 09 Lake County, IL – Tactical Team Leader
Sept 09 Chicago, IL – Urban Combat Course
Sept 09 Midland, TX – Special Skills
Oct 09 TTPOA SWAT Competition
Oct 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Instructor
Oct 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Operator
Oct 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Medical Class
Nov 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Nov 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Instructor
Nov 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Operator
Nov 09 Lake County, IL – Tac Pistol/Rifle

Nov 09 Chicago, IL – ITOA Conference
Dec 09 Jacksonville, FL – Tactical Team Leader
Dec 09 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Jan 10 Alexandria, LA – US Marshals Active Shooter Instructor
Feb 10 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Team Leader
Feb 10 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Hostage Rescue
Mar 10 Dallas, TX – Special Skills
Mar 10 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Apr 10 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Instructor
Apr 10 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Operator
Apr 10 Nacogdoches, TX – NVG Instructor
May 10 ISOA Conference
May 10 LTPOA Conference
May 10 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
May 10 Nacogdoches, Urban Marksman
Jun 10 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills

Jun 10 Lexington, KY – Advanced Hostage Rescue
July 10 York, PA – Tac Pistol Instructor
July 10 York, PA – Tac Pistol Operator
Aug 10 Indianapolis, IN – Tac Rifle Instructor
Aug 10 Indianapolis, IN – Tac Rifle Operator
Sep 10 Midland, TX – Special Skills
Oct 10 Nacogdoches, TX – ASLIC
Nov 10 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Nov 10 Lake County, IL – Vehicle Assault Class
Nov 10 ITOA Conference
Nov 10 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Marksman
Dec 10 San Marcos, TX – Shoot House Instructor
Jan 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Hostage Rescue

Feb 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Mar 11 El Paso, TX – Instructor Development
Apr 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Instructor
Apr 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Operator
Apr 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Apr 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills
May 11 Chicago, IL – Shoot House Instructor
May 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Marksman
Jul 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Hostage Rescue
Aug 11 Lexington, KY – Advanced Hostage Rescue
Aug 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills
Sep 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills

Oct 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Nov 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Shoot House Instructor
Dec 11 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Dec 11 Midland, TX – Special Skills
Jan 12 Las Vegas, NV – SHOT Show
Feb 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced SWAT
Mar 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Instructor
Mar 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Operator
May12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Instructor
May 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Operator

May 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Medical Integration
Jun 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Instructor
Jun 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Operator
Jun 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Marksman
Jul 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Team Leader
Aug 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Rifle Instructor
Aug 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Rifle Operator
Sep 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle/Pistol Instructor Special
Sep 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle/Pistol Operator Special
Sep 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Team Leader
Sep 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Oct 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Rifle Instructor
Oct 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Rifle Operator
Dec 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced SWAT
Dec 12 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills
Jan 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills – Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Jan 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Operator

Jan 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Feb 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Civilian Response to Active Shooter
Feb 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter
Mar 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Operator
Mar 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Team Leader – State Department
Apr 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Sel and Training – State Department
Apr 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Civilian Response to Active Shooter
Apr 13 Dallas, TX – Medical Seminar
Apr 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Adv Tac Pistol/Rifle – Wilson Combat
May 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor
May 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Jun 13 Dallas, TX – Shoot House Instructor DPD
Jun 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Marksman
Jun 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT

Jul 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Utah NG, Special Skills
Aug 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Civilian Response to Active Shooter
Aug 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Civilian Response to Active Shooter
Aug 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Denton Special Skills
Sep 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Team Leader – State Department
Sep 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Sel and Training – State Department
Sep 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Team Leader
Oct 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Denton Sniper Special
Oct 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Rifle Instructor
Oct 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Rifle Operator
Oct 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Special Skills
Nov 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Instructor
Nov 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Operator
Nov 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter
Dec 13 Nacogdoches, TX – Advance SWAT
Jan 14 Nacogdoches, TX – CRAS
Jan 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced SWAT
Jan 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter

Jan 14 Nacogdoches, TX – CRAS
Feb 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor
Feb 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Feb 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter
Mar 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol
Mar 14 Nacogdoches, TX – State Department
Apr 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced SWAT
April 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol
May 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol ISD
May 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle
May 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Utah NG Special Skills
Jun 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced SWAT
Jun 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Basic SWAT
Jun 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Carthage
Jun 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Hostage Rescue

Jun 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Bob’s Crew
Jun 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Gary
Aug 14 Nacogdoches, TX – CRAS
Sep 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Denton Special
Sep 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol
Oct 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle
Oct 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tim #1
Oct 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tim #2
Oct 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Shoot House Instructor
Nov 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor
Nov 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Nov 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Individual Tactics
Nov 14 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced SWAT
Jan 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor
Jan 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Jan 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Individual Tactics

Feb 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol
Feb 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Home Defense
Feb 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Georgia Bureau of Investigation – Special Skills
Mar 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Civilian Response to Active Shooter
Mar 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle
Mar 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
Mar 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor
Mar 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Apr 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
Apr 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Wildlife Officers
Apr 15 N. Chicago, IL – Shoot House Instructor
May 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol
May 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
May 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
May 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter
Jun 15 Midland, TX – Tac Pistol
Jun 15 Midland, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor

Jun 15 Midland, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Jun 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Civilian Response to Active Shooters
Jun 15 Nacogdoches, TX – CRAS Recert
Oct 15 Nacogdoches, TX – LR Hunter
Oct 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Course
Oct 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Course
Oct 15 Chicago, IL – Shoot House Instructor
Oct 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
Nov 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced SWAT
Nov 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor
Nov 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Dec 15 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Tactical Training
Jan 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
Feb 16 Nacogdoches, TX – CRAS Course

Mar 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
Mar 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle/Pistol Instructor
Mar 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle/Pistol Operator
Mar 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Low Light Urban Operations
Apr 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Practical Hunter
Apr 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle
Apr 16 Midland, TX – Shoot House Instructor
Apr 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Practical Hunter
Jun 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Close Quarter Tactics
Jun 16 Alamosa, CO – Advanced Tactics
July 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Hostage Rescue
Sep 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Denton County SO, Special Skills
Sep 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter

Sep 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
Oct 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor
Oct 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Oct 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
Oct 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle Operator
Oct 16 Nacogdoches, TX – State Game Wardens
Nov 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Operator
Dec 16 Nacogdoches, TX – Guardian Tac Pistol Operator
Jan 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter
Jan 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Close Quarter Tactics
Jan 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Guardian Program
Feb 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle
Feb 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Individual Tactics
Mar 17 Nacogdoches, TX – UDC2

Mar 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter
Mar 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Mar 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Close Quarter Tactics
Apr 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Patrol Counter Ambush
Apr 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Patrol Counter Ambush
May 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Extreme Pistol
Jun 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Family Bodyguard
Sep 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Extreme Pistol
Oct 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Patrol Counter Ambush
Oct 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter
Oct 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Marksman

Nov 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Pistol
Dec 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Rifle
Dec 17 Nacogdoches, TX – Battle Rifle
Jan 18 Nacogdoches, TX – AHR Live Fire/Shoot House Instructor
Jan 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced SWAT
Feb 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Close Quarter Tactics
Feb 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Pistol
Feb 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Rifle
Feb 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Urban Defense Course
Mar 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Pistol/Rifle Instructor
Mar 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Pistol/Rifle Operator
Mar 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Private Tactical Class
Apr 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Team Leader
Apr 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Extreme Pistol

Apr 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Civilian Response to Active Shooter
Apr 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Hostage Rescue Live Fire
Apr 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Shoot House Instructor
May 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter
Jun 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Pistol
Jun 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Guardian Class
Jun 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Adv SWAT
Jun 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tactical Pistol
Jun 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Guardian Class
Jun 18 Chicago, IL – Shoot House Instructor
Jun 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Guardian
Sep 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Long Range Hunter
Sep 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol
Oct 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Close Quarter Tactics
Oct 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol Rifle Instructor

Oct 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Extreme Pistol
Nov 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Private Protections Course
Nov 18 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle
Nov 18 Nacogdoches, TX – AIT Pistol
Jan 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Concealed Carry Tac Pistol
Jan 19 Nacogdoches, TX – AIT Rifle
Feb 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Private Class
Feb 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Shoot House Instructor
Feb 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle
Mar 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle/Pistol Operator
Mar 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Private Class
Mar 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Rural Ops – SO
Apr 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Patrol Counter Ambush Instructor
Apr 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Private Tac Pistol
Apr 19 Nacogdoches, TX – AHR Live Fire
Apr 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor

Apr 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Operator
Jun 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol
Jun 19 Nacogdoches, TX – Guardian 2
Jul 19 Nacogdoches, TX Guardian 2
Aug 2019 Chicago, IL – Shoot House Instructor
Sep 2019 Ft. Worth, TX – NRA Show
Sep 2019 Nacogdoches, TX – Patrol Counter Ambush Instructor
Sept 2019 Nacogdoches, TX – Advanced Hostage Rescue Live Fire
Sept 2019 Nacogdoches, TX – Close Quarter Tactics
Oct 2019 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Pistol/Rifle Instructor
Nov 2019 Nacogdoches, TX – Concealed Carry Tac Pistol
Nov 2019 Nacogdoches, TX – Rifle AIT
Nov 2019 Nacogdoches, TX – Pistol AIT

Nov 2019 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle CQB
Dec 2019 Nacogdoches, TX – Tac Rifle
Dec 2019 Midland, TX – Patrol Counter Ambush Instructor
Lecture
Feb 2000 IMEF – 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton “Combat Operations”
Feb 2000 3rd MAW, Miramar, 250+ Pilots and aviation assets “Combat Operations”
Feb 2000 13th MEU, Marine Expeditionary Unit at Coronado Calif. “Combat Operations”
Apr 2000 Army Command And General Staff College “Combat Leadership Seminar”
Nov 2002 Illinois Tactical Officers Association – Hostage Rescue
Nov 2003 Illinois Tactical Officers Association – Training for the Fight
Mar 2006 Monroe Police – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
May 2006 Oakbrook Police Dept. – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
May 2007 Phoenix, AZ – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Nov 2007 Texas Rangers – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Nov 2008 San Marcos, TX – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Aug 2008 Corpus Christi, TX – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Aug 2008 St. Louis, MO – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Aug 2008 US Marshals – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Aug 2008 Garland, TX – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Dec 2008 Houston, TX – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Jan 2009 Jacksonville, FL – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Apr 2009 Bryan, TX – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Jun 2009 Chicago, IL – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Aug 2009 Chicago, IL – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Oct 2009 Shreveport, LA – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
July 2010 Cleburne, TX – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
July 2010 Mahwah, NJ – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Jul 2011 Cleburne, TX – Seminar. – Leadership and Training for the Fight Seminar
Jun 2014 Destin, FL – Louisiana Sheriff’s Conference
Nov 2017 Chicago, IL – Leadership and Training for the Fight
Nov 2017 Chicago, IL – Patrol Counter Ambush
Sep 2019 NRA, Ft. Worth – Combat Mindset

Publication
“The Mechanical Safety: Use It or Take the Gamble.” Command
Fall 2000
Magazine (Texas Tactical Police Officers Association)
“Link-Up Procedures.” Command Magazine (Texas Tactical Police Officers

Spring 2002
Association)
“Link-Up Procedures” ITOA News (Illinois Tactical Officers Association

Summer 2002
Publication)
“Raising the Bar.”ITOA New (Illinois Tactical Officers Association

Spring 2003
Publication)/Command Magazine (Texas Tactical Police Officers Association)
“Tactical Shooting . . . A Few Thoughts.”ITOA News (Illinois Tactical

Fall 2003
Officers Association Publication)
“Tactical Shooting, A Few Thoughts.” Ohio Operator (Ohio Tactical

Winter 2004
“Active Shooter – Train Now or Pay Later.”ITOA News (Illinois Tactical

Spring 2004
“Shotgun Breaching: Asset or Liability?”Command Magazine (Texas

Winter 2005
Tactical Police Officers Association)
“Training for a Real Fight.” Command Magazine (Texas Tactical Police

Summer 2005
Officers Association)
“CQB: Direct Threat or Point of Domination.” Command Magazine (Texas

Spring 2006
Tactical Police Officers Association)
Fall 2006 “Active Shooter Equipment.” Police Marksman Magazine
Nov/Dec 2006 “Wait and See Is Not an Option.”Police Marksman Magazine
Jan/Feb 2007 “Tactical Shooting” Police Marksman Magazine

Oct 2007 “Active Shooter Cycle: Train Now or Pay Later.” Police Marksman
Magazine
Nov/Dec 2007 “Use-of-Force.” Police Marksman Magazine
Fall 2007 “Use-of-Force.” ITOA Magazine
“Uncovered: The Myth of Cover from Your Squad Car.” TTPOA

Spring 2008
Command Magazine
Summer 2008 “Gas Gun vs. Bolt Gun.”TTPOA Command Magazine
Fall 2008 “Educating Leaders for Tactical Success.”TTPOA Command Magazine
Fall 2009 “When to Push and When to Hold.” TTPOA Command Magazine
Fall 2009 “When to Push and When to Hold.” ITOA Magazine
Winter 2010 “Pistol Shields and Rifle Bullets.” ITOA Magazine
Spring 2010 ““Push or Hold: A Few Thoughts on Dynamic Entries.”NTOA Magazine
Winter 2011 “Achieving Tactical Maturity: A Few Thoughts…” NTOA Magazine
Summer 2019 “Camping at the Top”CSAT Website

ARTICLES FEATURING CSAT:
SWAT “Paul Howe Tactical Rifle Course,” SWAT Magazine, March 2005
SWAT “Tactical Medicine for the Operator,” SWAT Magazine, July 2006
Das Deutsche Waffen Journal (German Publication) August 2007
TACTICAL WEAPONS “Paul Howe’s CSAT 5.56 mm.” March 2010
COMBAT TACTICS “To Hell & Texas.” December 2010

BOOKS PUBLISHED:
Leadership and Training for the Fight, Authorhouse, 2005
The Tactical Trainer, Authorhouse, 2009
Leadership and Training for the Fight, Skyhorse Publications,
2011
VIDEOS PRODUCED:
Tactical Pistol Operator, Panteao 2011
Tactical Rifle Operator, Panteao 2011
Advanced Tactical Pistol/Rifle, Panteao 2012
Intro to Exterior Movement, Panteao 2012
Tactical Pistol/Rifle Operator, Panteao 2012
Tactical Drills, Panteao 2012
Black Hawk Down, Panteao 2013
Combat Mindset, Panteao 2013
Home Defense, Panteao 2013
Civilain Response to Active Shooters, Panteao 2013
Long Range Hunter, Panteao 2013
Vehicle Defense, Panteao 2014
Civilian Response to Active Shooters-Cras, Panteao 2014
Survival Series, Panteao 2014
Land Navigation, Panteao 2015
This was not published to impress, but rather as a way for a student
to do their “due diligence” on my background. One of my biggest
honors was to be called back by law enforcement to teach. LEOs are
operational every day and know when an instructor is a fake.
Generally, it is one and done when they find out you are not
what/who you claim. Finally, I tried to learn and take something
positive away from each training experience.
Final note from the author:
As a friend has told me, to stop an engineer from making more

changes on an item, you must “kill the engineer” or changes will
continue to be made. With this, I am going to leave you for now, as I
think there is plenty to digest in this work. Thank you for the time and
be safe.
Paul Howe
CSAT

The CSAT Way - Thoughts On Weapons, Shooting, Training

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The CSAT Way - Thoughts On Weapons, Shooting, Training

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

THOUGHTS ON WEAPONS, SHOOTING, TRAINING AND

MSG PAUL R. HOWE

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or

I was fortunate to be born into a free and wonderful environment, a

Law enforcement and the professionals within our country gave me a

Law Enforcement Officer from nineteen to twenty years of age

Within this work, I will relate to my experiences in my training and

One of my goals was to set a new standard in this profession.

Another reason for this work is it will be a manual of arms and

My “captured” sister was my first training audience. I came from a

I joined the Sheriff’s Explorers when I was sixteen and started my

I moved to Colorado to live with an uncle when I was nineteen and

In special ops I had unlimited ammo, guns and armorers. It was

During my time in special operations, I was able to go to schools,

In the day, we were looking for techniques to make us better

Start working on disciplining your mind with positive activities that

Starting building a strong body to compliment your mind. If you are

Technical skills require thought and precision to master. This builds

This is critical, as we must accept and focus on what we are doing.

If we mastered everything on the first try, we would find no joy in

It has been twenty years since I earned my graduate degree, and

As a new shooter, when I was developing my shooting skills, I went

As an instructor, I took data and formatted it in a skill-building, logical

I see many students in current classes who arrive to class without a

Many schools have enabled students to become lazy and

Students coming to class should bring:

The following section

Once I developed this layered offensive mindset, I had to weigh

Furthermore, I developed one mindset for all tactical situations.

“I am going to fucking destroy you,” is the thought I firmly and quietly

Aggressiveness is the key

I usually begin my combat mindset module with a talk about

ACT vs. REACT

Your mindset and attitude SHOULD NOT be:

Your mindset and attitude SHOULD be:

I preach in my classes that there exists a pool of aggressiveness in

Imagine, if you will, an environment with brilliant flashes and the

In a hostage rescue scenario, everyone will be physically,

By developing simple and effective drills that will apply to a majority

All of us have the talent, expertise, experience and resources to

This does several things. First, it encourages men to respond

Let’s throw a variable in to the above scenario: an officer has just

Individualized mentality – “fight through mindset”

Next, there is no problem with being scared. It is natural. How can

We must be able to apply the appropriate degree of force and

Safety Rules/Universal Safety Rules

1. All guns are always loaded.

CSAT CQB safety procedures

1. Engage your safety prior to working on injured personnel

Major Safety Violations

Shooting yourself, another student or an instructor

Minor Safety Violations

CSAT corrective behavior

Major safety—dismissal on instructor’s recommendation for

The third load/unload area is on the firing line with no one

This damage makes the plate unserviceable and dangerous.

If I am working the line, I have a span of control of one to five new

First, everyone is generally at a different level, with different

I generally use the following equation:

This is a training progression along with safety valves. If a student

If an individual SWAT student could not perform the skills needed to

A police officer is generally going to arrest/detain you after a