Reality Based Training and Gear
December/04/2016 11:45
Reality Based Training and Gear versus Military Based Training and Gear - by Josh Logan - Lead Instructor
Everyone, if you've done enough formal firearms training, has seen that guy who comes in to class in full tactical kit. You know, Meal Team 6 Operator. He's got all the tacticool stuff on - mechnix gloves, Kevlar helmet, ear protection with the built in mic boom, shemagh, and decked head to toe in digi-camo. Everyone looks at each other, and then one guy says, "Dude, you know this is a CCW class, right?"
Well, the purpose of this article is to speak about reality-based training with realistic scenarios and use of realistic gear while operating as an armed and responsible citizen.
With the advent of military-style training emerging as the norm in the firearms instruction industry, specifically with the influx of military veterans returning from a myriad of theaters and passing on those lessons learned to their fellow citizens, brings challenges to the very industry these veterans turned firearms instructors are becoming a part of. This military-style training I speak of is with the use of terms like “urban warfare”, “combat tactics”, “CQB (Close Quarters Battle)” in regards to lessons and training seminars to civilians operating within society.
The usage of these terms and the lessons taught in these training seminars are taught for the purpose combat skills and tactics for firefights. As a veteran of a tactical team in the United States Air Force and being trained in Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT), CQB, and nuclear weapons recapture and recovery missions, I understand these concepts fully based on the mission at hand, but with the average citizen in mind, these concepts don’t fully translate nor are appropriate for the proper application of force in general society. The rules of engagement (ROE) for military personnel are drastically different in theaters of operations ranging from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as my experiences in the USAF securing our nation’s most dangerous assets. Without divulging too much information pertaining to the security of our nuclear arsenal, the use of force continuum was simple, if someone endangers the security of those assets; the use of lethal force is authorized. The preservation of life within the balance of the security of these weapons tilts towards the security of the weapons for the greater security of America, its way of life, and the lives of citizens across the world.
With those differences in mind, how can my lessons learned in the military translate into civilian applications? In my training and experience as a military veteran, police officer, and armed citizen, it does not. To teach civilians this training and mindset is negligent, irresponsible, dangerous, and libelous. You as the prospective and educated student, you deserve more and should expect more. As detailed below, I will address these differences in greater detail.
As most people can see, the military has one benefit that average citizens don’t have, a large inventory of equipment and technology available on command and at their fingertips. While serving in the USAF, if I carried a standard weapon load out of a M4 carbine and a M9 pistol, I carried seven 30 round M4 magazines (210 rounds), four 15 round M9 magazines (60 rounds), 3-4 flashbang grenades, an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit), Night Vision Goggles (AN/PVS-14), rappelling harness, load out vest with Level IV SAPI plates and subsequent Level III armor, and topped off with a MICH Kevlar helmet as well as other unmentionables due to security clearance. All in with this “light” load out, I was packed with over 70 pounds of gear. Bump that up to a belt-fed machine gun load out ranging from the M249 SAW or the M240B medium machine gun of which both I was qualified with, the ammunition load out was 800 rounds and a spare barrel in addition to the gun ranging from approximately 20 pounds of the M249 to over 30 pounds of the M240B. This loud out was well over 100 pounds. By telling you these detailed load outs that I utilized in the USAF, I am attempting to inform you of the differences of military personnel’s resources in relation to the concealed carrier’s resources.
As a sheepdog off duty, my usual load out consists of a Glock 17 with Surefire X300 weapon light within a TCB Firearms Alpha Kydex holster, TCB Firearms spare magazine/handcuff Kydex case, Raven Crest Tactical Fallen Heroes Nemesis model out the front knife, credentials/badge, 5.11 Operator Belt, a handcuff key on my car key ring, and dressed in quality fitting clothing appropriate to what I am intending to carry. The weight of these tools is approximately 10 pounds. The thought of armor, plate carriers, carrying a rifle or other long gun, or any other type of tool like those I carried in the USAF are just unrealistic.
With these differences in gear carried in the field discussed, the training and mindset must now be discussed. Quality training, as mentioned in previous articles, is invaluable and at times, life critical. While not all training is created equal, Latent Force strongly advocates for realistic training because it is essential in the survival of a deadly force encounter.
Realistic training not only entails the proper mindset as well as proper application of force while faced with an assailant, but the proper application of mindset and force with the tools available with your EDC gear. As with any survival or combat triad, the three points of that triangle are mindset, tactics, and finally tools/skills. Survivors of not only lethal force encounters but surviving verbal and physical altercations involves properly applied and timed use of those three points of the survival/combat triad.
In closing, the simple premise of this article is to look at your every day life and those tools carried by you for the protection of your family and you and seek out realistic training that caters to those tactics utilized in conjunction with your tools available. This is where Latent Force and other training available with the “military minded” or “oriented” training divide. If you want realistic and down-to-earth training that is not only relatable, but replicated under stress, Latent Force is your training group.
Thank you, Happy Holidays, and be safe out there sheepdogs.