Denny Hansen
Staff Emeritus
Last week daughter Ashleigh (19) and I attended an EAG Tactical Operator’s course in Casa Grande. Lead instructor was Pat Rogers assisted by Mike Hueser and Josh K.
I don’t train family members as I learned long ago that one has a tendency to be either too easy on them (causing to believe they are a gunfighter after a few trips to the range) or too hard on them making them lose interest. I only gave Ashleigh enough pre-training to ensure her gunhandling was safe. While I shot on the same relay as Ashleigh I did not shoot close to her, leaving all comments and instruction to the EAG crew.
Ashleigh ran her new pink Cavalry Arms carbine. I started by using one of Pat’s S&W AR-15’s, but after it proved to be a less than stellar performer I switched to my SLR-15. (Pat has three of the S&W carbines and after he has 5K rounds though each of them he plans to report his findings in S.W.A.T.)
Training Day 1 (TD-1) began with a lecture by Pat on safety, ballistics, the fighting stance, placement of equipment on the body, etc. The class of 22 students broke into two relays and we began by zeroing all rifles at 50 yards. Most students were good to go, but a few needed to make some adjustments. After that we went up close, around five yards or so, and fired controlled pairs, hammers and non-standard responses (NSRs, more than two rounds, up to as many as needed.) For the purposes of this class, an NSR, when called for, was seven rounds. This showed some folks for the first time how important the offset between the bore and sights/optics are with an AR-type carbine. After that we were shown and fired from braced kneeling, speed kneeling, double kneeling and squatting.
TD-2 started by zeroing again at 50 yards. A few mounts had loosened and adjustments were needed by a couple of shooters. We progressed with a drill I had never performed before which consisted of firing two rounds from prone, speed loading, and repeating the drill with every magazine on your body. This showed many students very quickly how important proper placement of gear is. We then went onto firing on multiple targets using “roadhouse rules” and box drills (including manipulating the carbine with only one hand). Dynamic movement and shooting on the move were also introduced.
TD-3 was a lot like TD-2, except we fired the MEU (SOC) drill twice; once for practice and once for score. The high point of the class for me may have been when Ashleigh scored higher than I did on the first run. The methodology of letting the pros train her was showing, and I was a proud papa despite good-natured ribbing by the rest of the class.
Other Observations:
WX conditions were hot—real hot. Temperatures most days hovered around 113 and hydrating was paramount. Mike Hueser did a stellar job of looking after the students and made sure there were no heat casualties. Josh K. did a great job of diagnosing problems and keeping students’ carbines running. Josh replaced an extractor that had lost its edge and an extractor spring that had gone flat in Ashleigh’s carbine. I did not observe any major problems with anyone’s carbines.
One student dropped out at the end of TD-2 because he could not take constructive criticism. Folks, that is the reason we attend training. Pat, Josh and Mike corrected some bad habits that had crept into my technique and I ended up the better for it. If you can’t take criticism and think you already know it all, save the money and buy a new “warrior” video game.
The above only begins to scratch the surface of the EAG Tactical Carbine Operators course. Ashleigh plans on writing an article on the class from a female’s perspective for an upcoming issue of S.W.A.T.
Many thanks to Pat, Josh and Mike, and to course host Chris Lapre.
(Pic is Ashleigh shooting on the move)
Denny
I don’t train family members as I learned long ago that one has a tendency to be either too easy on them (causing to believe they are a gunfighter after a few trips to the range) or too hard on them making them lose interest. I only gave Ashleigh enough pre-training to ensure her gunhandling was safe. While I shot on the same relay as Ashleigh I did not shoot close to her, leaving all comments and instruction to the EAG crew.
Ashleigh ran her new pink Cavalry Arms carbine. I started by using one of Pat’s S&W AR-15’s, but after it proved to be a less than stellar performer I switched to my SLR-15. (Pat has three of the S&W carbines and after he has 5K rounds though each of them he plans to report his findings in S.W.A.T.)
Training Day 1 (TD-1) began with a lecture by Pat on safety, ballistics, the fighting stance, placement of equipment on the body, etc. The class of 22 students broke into two relays and we began by zeroing all rifles at 50 yards. Most students were good to go, but a few needed to make some adjustments. After that we went up close, around five yards or so, and fired controlled pairs, hammers and non-standard responses (NSRs, more than two rounds, up to as many as needed.) For the purposes of this class, an NSR, when called for, was seven rounds. This showed some folks for the first time how important the offset between the bore and sights/optics are with an AR-type carbine. After that we were shown and fired from braced kneeling, speed kneeling, double kneeling and squatting.
TD-2 started by zeroing again at 50 yards. A few mounts had loosened and adjustments were needed by a couple of shooters. We progressed with a drill I had never performed before which consisted of firing two rounds from prone, speed loading, and repeating the drill with every magazine on your body. This showed many students very quickly how important proper placement of gear is. We then went onto firing on multiple targets using “roadhouse rules” and box drills (including manipulating the carbine with only one hand). Dynamic movement and shooting on the move were also introduced.
TD-3 was a lot like TD-2, except we fired the MEU (SOC) drill twice; once for practice and once for score. The high point of the class for me may have been when Ashleigh scored higher than I did on the first run. The methodology of letting the pros train her was showing, and I was a proud papa despite good-natured ribbing by the rest of the class.
Other Observations:
WX conditions were hot—real hot. Temperatures most days hovered around 113 and hydrating was paramount. Mike Hueser did a stellar job of looking after the students and made sure there were no heat casualties. Josh K. did a great job of diagnosing problems and keeping students’ carbines running. Josh replaced an extractor that had lost its edge and an extractor spring that had gone flat in Ashleigh’s carbine. I did not observe any major problems with anyone’s carbines.
One student dropped out at the end of TD-2 because he could not take constructive criticism. Folks, that is the reason we attend training. Pat, Josh and Mike corrected some bad habits that had crept into my technique and I ended up the better for it. If you can’t take criticism and think you already know it all, save the money and buy a new “warrior” video game.
The above only begins to scratch the surface of the EAG Tactical Carbine Operators course. Ashleigh plans on writing an article on the class from a female’s perspective for an upcoming issue of S.W.A.T.
Many thanks to Pat, Josh and Mike, and to course host Chris Lapre.
(Pic is Ashleigh shooting on the move)
Denny
