# Just took my 4th Combat Tactics course



## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Just took my 4th Combat team Tactics Class:
http://www.maxvelocitytactical.com/...cal-classes/combat-rifle-contact-drills-crcd/

IMO this kind of training is essential if you want to know how to use your tools properly.

This is one reason I been on the computer less in recent months spending more time in meatspace . 

The refreshing difference of this place ( and also of Mason Dixon tactical and DTG and Sierra 13 and similar etc etc its not about the specific place) is that compared to what passes for mainstream "Combat Rifle"... this is not about pumping bullets thru paper into a berm

but its all about moving in compartmentalized terrain (ie like the "real world") while giving covering fire, coordinating fires w/ your buddy and/or team. reacting to contact etc etc.

In other words the essential Infantry type skills you NEED in order to employ that AR/AK/G3/FN FAL etc in a meaningful way, in the real world where it matters and that is outside of the square range.

I am not saying there is sothing wrong with the square range.
it is part of the training progression but the goal of the progression must be in the field combat rifle application.

Once you've done something like this you realize how much a more competent you have become in a way that you would not have predicted.

Recently deployed Infantrymen cycle through it as well as they all like the realism a lot.

Not trying to plug a particular school (though I like Max Velocity the best and I believe they are among the most affordable to boot) but this is the TYPE of training we all need regardless of age.

*I consider this essential preparedness training and the best thing is, a skill is one thing they can NEVER take away from you!*


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## Tribal Warlord Thug (Jan 27, 2009)

not bad on the price bluez..........looks similar to what we took in nebraska a couple of decades ago.....used an old abandon town from the 1900s for the training.....and the price was about the same then.... (i like the NODF.......something that wasnt available back then really....unless ya had a first or second gen. ....)

...one question...is it only available to active duty/service individuals or is it one that open to those with the money to participate?.....


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Warlord:
While the instructors are all current or ex military the course(s) are specifically designed to be absorbable by civilians (even though several current or former .mils have taken it as well as current/former SWAT LEOs have been students).

The course content is very distinct from the (IMO) common SWAT fantasy camp courses for civilians which (also IMO) often focus on niche stuff w/o covering the key skills (movement, use of buddy teams, react to contact *different *based on whether you are on a Recon or a Ground Dominance patrol etc)).

When you check the reviews page it tells about the course content from students.

I also posted a review on here several months ago. let me see if i can find it


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Found it!

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/review-max-velocitys-combat-rifle-drills-class-22636/


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Do they offer courses in intermediate ranged and precision aimed fire?
Sounds like its worth it to me.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Tribal Warlord Thug said:


> not bad on the price bluez....


$600 per person for the 3 days

Yes, that's pretty fair!


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

I always recommend people improve and hone their skills on a regular basis. If you don't keep up your skills and learn real world application your tools are worthless. 

Good job Blue!


Sent from my iPhone using Survival Forum. Please forgive typos.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Glad to hear you are still training. Are you still only attending this one school or have you branched out yet?


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Sentry,

I was toying with the idea of going to JC Dogde's Mason Dixon Tactical as well.

But this place is the closest and (as far as i know which of course could be wrong) and has by far the best facility in this realtively lower price range.

I mean who else uses pop up targets in a "lanes" environment except places that charge 50+% more?

Academi in Moyock, NC I am sure is tons nicer but they also start at 1200 bucks and require a minimum of 2500 rds.

Speaking of which, when a place requires that many rounds it tells me that they the training philisophy that are using in thier courses came out of .gov environment whichfeatures free ammo or the "operators".

This effect the way you design training.
and drills are designed differently than for those who pay for their own ammo.

In the prepper environment its important IMO to extract the maximum training value from every single round.

Like for example the 1 thru 5 drill used by a lot fo the big "mainstream" carbine schools for example.
Great drill except it burns thru TONS of ammo even if just doing it a couple times.
if you do it for an hour you can burn thru 500 rds easily.

Drills like that are common when you simply copy the tng that the door kickers use.

But kicking doors is not prepper business anyway (drills that use terrain defensively are, movement is, an ambush is etc etc) and drills that force you to reaquire targets every other round tend to give more training value per round..

Max Velocity Tactical has the training philosophy I had been looking for for, for many months before i found them.

I am not the wolds greatest infantryman but I know a thing or two about training troops and the interplay of the operational concepts that underlies what your "troops" are supposed to do and the training that you lay on for them.
When I see many of the other schools with their fancy and cute youtube vids and the urban prone and transition etc in my mind it fits more a SWAT or door kicker operational concept. (no offense to such groups  )

Preppers need something different more rounded IMO.

So the only one I would consider for training other than MVT are the ones who use a similar philosophy such as Mason Dixon, DTG, Sierra 13 (sp?) and such.

I've also come to know all the instructors quite well.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

I'm glad you found a place you liked that is near you.

I'd like to be able to "separate the wheat from the chaff" when it comes to researching combat tactics training operations. When searching reviews it seems seldom is anyone often happy with the places available.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

I have been to many firearms & tactics schools, they ranged from awesome to abysmal. But even at the abysmal schools you take _something_ beneficial away. Just like in martial arts, one school of thought or one system of operation is limiting (IMO). When it comes to fighting (hand to hand or barrel to barrel) I want to be exposed to as many possibilities, methods, styles, systems, techniques, etc. as possible. If nothing else to have an idea of how others train/operate. However there are indeed schools that were so good I went multiple times. My next school will be at Academi, hopefully at taxpayer expense. It's getting hard to justify now that I am an overpaid administrative bureaucrat with a badge. 

As far as ammo goes, the agency does provided ammo for some schools but I have had to provide my own far more often than not. Ditto that for course fees and travel expenses. Since this is my career I have always considered it a reasonable investment. As well as a tax write off in some cases.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

I also write off my ammo expenses as proficiency training.
But that will soon come to an end but I am hopeful to keep up the shooting at the same level.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Magus said:


> Do they offer courses in intermediate ranged and precision aimed fire?
> Sounds like its worth it to me.


Insiders say a Scout-Sniper Class is planned for late next year.

A rural surveillance and infiltration class taught be the guy who wrote the book on it ( http://www.crops.uk.com/training-manual/ )is scheduled for next year as well.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Not me but one of my buddies from a winter combat team tactics class:


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

BlueZ said:


> Insiders say a Scout-Sniper Class is planned for late next year.
> 
> A rural surveillance and infiltration class taught be the guy who wrote the book on it ( http://www.crops.uk.com/training-manual/ )is scheduled for next year as well.


HELL YEAH!I wonder if I'd look like a freak showing up with an 03-a3?


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## Mase92 (Feb 4, 2013)

BlueZ thanks for this info and excellent recommendation. Looking for a comprehensive tactical training place for next year (I try to do one a year) and this might be the place I go.

I have never been a fan of high ammo demand classes. I had a really good CPL/CCW instructor and her classes are all $600 for a day with 750 rounds or more. That just doesn't seem functional to me.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Mase92 said:


> BlueZ thanks for this info and excellent recommendation. Looking for a comprehensive tactical training place for next year (I try to do one a year) and this might be the place I go.
> 
> I have never been a fan of high ammo demand classes. I had a really good CPL/CCW instructor and her classes are all $600 for a day with 750 rounds or more. That just doesn't seem functional to me.


This is a third of the daily cost


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## Mase92 (Feb 4, 2013)

BlueZ said:


> This is a third of the daily cost


Just wanted to thank you again for this link to these guys. I've been talking to them a bit and well they seem like great people and the knowledge they have and want to pass along is amazing.

They are getting lots of notoriety too.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Our local range offers 1 day defensive shooting classes a few times each year at $50. I have found this well worth my time. I lucked out and stumbled into three and a half days worth of training with Tiger McKee at Shootrite in Langston, AL. I found Tiger to be an excellent instructor and I highly recommend him. http://shootrite.org/index.html

I am currently signed up for the legal portion of Massad Ayoob's Mag 40 class and on standby for the shooting portion if an opening arrises. http://massadayoobgroup.com/schedule/ I have read a number of his books and I am looking forward to training with him. There are other instructors on my wish list. As Sentry said, study with multiple instructors. Each instructor will teach you something new or teach you the same thing in a slightly different way.

By all means learn how to defend yourself. After you have survived the criminal attack be ready to survive the legal system. In the news today the Feds finally dropped the case against George Zimmerman and that was a clean shoot. There is a lot more to defending yourself than just pulling a trigger.


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## musketjim (Dec 7, 2011)

We have a FrontSight Academy here in Alaska I've considered checking into. I don't own any black rifles, but would be interested in their shotgun or pistol courses. I use my weapons for hunting but all bets are off when it all burns down. Every bit of training will help.


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## zilte (Mar 1, 2015)

who says that you will HAVE any buddies (who can contribute anything) when you need the rifle, eh? The odds are very high that you wont if shtf, so why waste time and money playing like you will?


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

zilte said:


> who says that you will HAVE any buddies (who can contribute anything) when you need the rifle, eh? The odds are very high that you wont if shtf, so why waste time and money playing like you will?


huh?

w/o Team there is no survival if there is any threat of human violence against you and yours.

If you dont have at least a couple buddies you can trust to not fall asleep at the watch you need to find them ASAP!


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

zilte said:


> who says that you will HAVE any buddies (who can contribute anything) when you need the rifle, eh? The odds are very high that you wont if shtf, so why waste time and money playing like you will?


You should absolutely learn how to operate as part of a team. Your chances of survival dramatically increase if you are part of a group. Even if you plan on going at it alone, training for team tactics and dynamics can't hurt you.

Edited for another thought*** Also as a general rule we (preppers in general and members of this forum) should be commending one another for adding skills through training not offering up negativity.


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