Audience/Who Should Attend: Responsible and conscientious adults, armed professionals including police, corrections, life-safety ministry members or protectors who serve as part of an organization’s instructional or training cadre.  You need not be a competitive shooter, but your behavior and actions must demonstrate that you have a keen awareness of the powerfully destructive potential of a firearm. 

NOTE: at the beginning of class you will be expected to demonstrate how to perform the functions of your firearm and the physical measures listed under the “Prerequisites and Physical Requirements for Firearms Training” section.  If you cannot perform these tasks, you will not be allowed to continue training. 

IMPORTANT: This is not a beginner’s course!  Participants are expected to have a solid understanding of and ability to safely handle and manipulate their pistol in a controlled manner with a calm demeanor. 

Synopsis: While this dynamic and life-changing course will refresh and improve an operator’s ability to fight and prevail with a firearm in a stressful environment, our focus is upon equipping and teaching you how to teach others!  We “learn by doing” after explanation, demonstration, and then coaching during performance.  We combine the fundamentals of marksmanship with proven tactical principles to teach skills for how to fight and defend life with a firearm.  Our discussions will include the lawful and biblically proper use of force supported by Supreme Court case precedents. Skill competencies include deploying your pistol, firing, maintaining situational awareness, and managing your gear while:

• Bilaterally using a position of concealment/cover.
• Moving forward and backward with your firearm ready in an “up,” compressed, or high-ready position.
• Moving laterally and at oblique angles with your firearm ready and prepared for engagement.
• Utilizing one or both hands from a variety of positions and fighting platforms.
• Demonstrating situational awareness and the ability to purposefully communicate and make decisions.

Our building-block approach is appropriate for instructors since that is the method we advocate for teaching all learners including a novice who is already familiar with their pistol as well as the experienced and proficient marksman who wants to take their skills and abilities to a new level. Beyond simply marksmanship, we focus on principles, tactics, and techniques to set operators up for success in an armed encounter. As protectors, our mindset must be more than merely to survive, but rather to prevail and WIN in an armed attack!
 

Concepts, Exercises and Drills:  We begin with dry technical work and review that is followed by “square range,” stand-in-place live-fire drills. Then we add movement, communication, and teamwork that are necessary in real-world engagements. Being flexible, fluid, flowing, and unpredictable is a benchmark of an effective operator.

• The Winning Warrior’s Mindset
• Managing Stress and Duress – There is a Difference
• The Lawful, Justifiable, and Biblically Proper Use of Force
• Safety and the Fundamentals of Marksmanship
• How to Prepare for “The Final Exam”
• Statistical Realities of Deadly Force Encounters
• Body Dynamics, Position, and Maximizing Flexibility
• Building a Master Grip into the Draw Stroke
• Developing Natural and Repeatable Index Points
• The Concept of Reluctantly Reholstering
• Loading, Unloading, and Reloading
• Your Sights as Visual Verification of Skeletal Alignment
• Communication with Partners and Teammates
• The Power of the Pair – How Teammates Operate
• Precision as a Function of Time and Distance
• Advantages and Strengths of Your Personal Workspace
• Stoppages and Malfunctions, Bilateral Clearing
• Planned and Emergency Reloads
• Failure Response Options
• Horizontal and Vertical Displacements - How to Move
• Operating with One Hand
• Engaging Moving Targets
• Managing Multiple Threats
• Tactical Geometry: Fighting on a Corner
• Static and Dynamic Turns: How the 360-degree Linear Action Area is Actually a Sphere
• Prevailing In Low Light: Dynamics in the Dark
• Gun-Ready Safety, and Movement Positions
• Verbal Challenges and Commands according to Supreme Court Case Precedent and Constitutional Law
• Shooting on the Move: Fore & Aft and Oblique Angles
• Lateral Slides with Pistol Indexed: Solo and Pairs
• CQB: Close Quarters Battle
• “Getting Off The X” - What It Really Means
• Partner and Team Movement
• Stress and Psychomotor Performance under Duress
• Working in a Chemical Agent Mask
• Tactical Emergency Casualty Care
• Hemorrhage Control and Tourniquets
• Making Proper Decisions Under Duress
• Interacting with Responding Law Enforcement Officers

Additional Information for the Instructor: This instructor course also includes coaching and training materials designed to assist you in making departmental presentations or training other members in practical firearms skills.  Our instructor’s training package includes:

• Liability Issues and Preplanning
• Case Law and Precedent
• Instructional Techniques
• Coaching Beyond Fundamentals
• Preparing Incident Action/Safety Plans
• Creating Lesson Plans
• Managing Difficult Trainees
• Classroom and Range Presentations
• Designing Training for Your Agency
• Running a Safe Range at Night

Regarding our Training Philosophy and Practices:
Our training staff is vetted and composed of professional and experienced operators and coaches and we take pride in remaining students ourselves.   

We believe in treating everyone respectfully and as adult learners. Our coaches participate in the learning process, and we favor the building block approach to solidify skills through technically correct static, then fluid repetition before moving toward more advanced concepts.

We believe that “capability breeds humility.”  In other words, by achieving a higher level of skill we are better able to maintain composure while under stress and duress. Through managing fear, the capable operator will perform more confidently, more quickly, and make better decisions in the stressful environment of a true emergency.

We do not believe in “check the box” training, “lowest common denominator” training, nor promoting fear and bullying through political correctness.  PC leads to getting good people killed.

Those who are not safe and conscientious with their firearms, those who are not willing to be open-minded, receive new information and try new concepts, and those who are not capable of keeping their ego in check should not enroll in our trainings.
 

Prerequisites and Physical Requirements for Firearms Training:

1. You must understand the basics of how your firearm operates and be able to:
   1. Lock the pistol open using the slide stop with the magazine removed.
   2. Use the decocking lever to render the pistol safe (if so equipped).
   3. Engage and disengage all safety devices (as equipped) while maintaining a master grip.
   4. Release and recover an empty magazine using the magazine release button.
   5. Field strip the firearm according to your owner’s manual for maintenance and cleaning.

• You must be able to operate in a SAFE and CONTROLLED manner. Speed is not a requirement; it is a skill to be built. Muzzle discipline and awareness is paramount.
• You must possess the physical strength and stamina to repetitively function and fire your firearm during training drills. You must be able to move forward, backward, and laterally under control while holding your firearm in front of you and pointed downrange. As a matter of general fitness and as a preparatory gauge, you should be able to do 5 push-ups, 5 squats, and 5 sit-ups.
• You must have personal self-discipline and be able to always maintain mental, physical, and emotional control and not become over-excited or lose your composure. You must be open-minded and willing to accept coaching and instruction and follow commands.
• You must have a keen awareness and consideration for other participants while handling firearms and conducting drills in close proximity of one another.
• You must speak and understand fluent English. We only work through interpreters with advance consultation and after speaking with the lead instructor of the course.  We do not provide interpreters.

Pistols:

Participants will use a full size or compact service pistol that fills the hand and allows all fingers to contact and wrap around the grip.  Subcompact “pocket” pistols, (.22, .25, .32, and .380 calibers) are not allowed.  You may use a revolver OR a semiautomatic pistol, but it must be of excellent quality and function without difficulty.  If you train with a revolver, it must be a double action model.  Subcompact pistols that only allow a three-fingered grip, derringers, revolvers that require you to remove the cylinder pin to reload them, single action revolvers and any pistol that has a capacity of less than five rounds are prohibited.

Holsters:

SOFT NYLON HOLSTERS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN OUR TRAININGS.  Inside-the-waistband and external belt holsters are welcome as long as they are rigid and do not collapse when the pistol is drawn.  This includes leather IWB holsters.  You must use a secure and well-fitting holster that retains your firearm near your dominant hip.  When holstered, the trigger guard of your pistol must be completely covered. “Secure” means that your pistol will never come out of the holster accidentally. Other types of holsters such as cross-draw, shoulder, ankle, belly-band, purse or fanny pack models are valid methods of carry but are not acceptable for this training.  Duty belts and tactical gear are acceptable.  If using a drop-leg or thigh holster you will not flag your body or lower extremities when recovering to the holster.

Ammunition:

The Tactical Pistol Instructor course requires 1,750 rounds or quality, factory ammunition.

Ammunition may be hard to obtain. Purchase your ammunition well in advance!  Reloads are strongly discouraged unless they are produced by a factory or professional supplier.

Logistics:
Make sure you have the necessary equipment listed for training. Having a backup firearm, holster, magazines, and ammunition is recommended in case of mechanical failure or a stoppage we cannot correct. We cannot guarantee that a “loaner” firearm will be available for you.

Required Gear and Equipment:

• Pistol according to listed acceptable guidelines
• Secondary/backup pistol with proper gear in case of primary breakage or failure
• Holster according to listed acceptable guidelines
• Minimum of 4 magazines or speed loaders
• Belt-mounted pouch to carry at least 2 spare magazines or speed loaders (you must be able to carry a minimum of 24 rounds of ammunition on your person for all exercises)
• High intensity flashlight (tail cap switch preferred) and spare batteries
• Hearing protection
• Wraparound eye protection – prescription glasses are acceptable
• Ball cap or cap with brim
• Jacket, vest, or heavy shirt to conceal your pistol if working from a concealed position
• Knee pads
• Hydration source and fluids
• Sack lunch (we will not dismiss for lunch, bring your own!)
• Body armor and/or load bearing equipment (course dependent)
• Hand towel
• Clothing and footwear suitable for all weather conditions
• Range bag, duffel, or suitable container that allows you to bring all gear to the line with you
• Cleaning equipment and materials in the correct caliber for your pistols