Raymond Miller

Raymond Miller is the former Small Arms Master Gunner of the 82nd Airborne Division. He is leveraging his operational experience training soldiers in Weapons Mastery to address Human Systems Integration issues for the United States Army.

Systems Thinking Applied to the Shot Process

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In our previous discussion, we were talking about applying systems-thinking to the ‘fundamentals of marksmanship’ in an attempt to illustrate why the fundamentals are not as effective as the shot process. We showed how the Army had been applying detail complexity to what was a dynamically complex system; the individual firing their weapon. Now we … Read more

“But it’s on the Internet! It Must Be True: Why Most ‘Ballistic Test’ Videos Fail to Accurately Show Body Armor Performance

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We will now continue our discussion on Body Armor from an earlier article. Specifically, we addressed some common terms that are used in ballistic testing of body armor: V0, V50, and Back Face Signature (BFS for short). The purpose behind this was to inform our discussion for this week’s topic: Why body armor test protocols have been established, and why … Read more

How do we Defeat a Threat Projectile With Body Armor? Science of Course!

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Last week, we discussed that if we need to purchase armor, we need to start with the ‘why’ behind that armor’s need. This week, we are going to continue that discussion by addressing how armor defeats a threat, how it is classified by the National Institute of Justice, and what it does and does not do … Read more

So you Need to Buy Body Armor? Start With ‘Why’

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Note: This is the first in a series of articles I will be writing on body armor and helmets. This article is geared toward the Law Enforcement community. However, the same principles apply for any organization that requires body armor as a part of their job description. 25 years ago this month, Rangers from Bravo … Read more

‘Violence of Mind’ at the Macro Scale

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I’ve been reading Varg Freeborn’s excellent Book ‘Violence of Mind’ recently. And have enjoyed this thought-provoking text. The author does not pull punches, he tells it like it is. And in so doing, he has created a book illustrating how to notice, avoid, and prepare for situations involving extreme violence. One of the prime tennants … Read more

Training Tuesday: ‘Focusing on the Basics Until you are a Master:’ Dry-Fire

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“We don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan” -Denzel Washington For Training Tuesday, we will be reinforcing that we must incorporate dry-fire into our training plan. Leaders in the Army need to realize we have to make weapons mastery a priority in ALL units in the United States Army. This is important for 3 … Read more