The Primary & Secondary CQB, Tactics & Defense Knowledge Hub organizes articles, after-action reviews, podcast discussions, and expert profiles concerning close-quarters problems. The material emphasizes judgment, information, geometry, accountable weapon handling, realistic opposition, team performance, low-light capability, and mission-specific application.
Start here: CQB is not a race through rooms or a collection of universal entry techniques. It is decision-making under uncertainty against a potentially adaptive threat. Speed matters, but only when it supports perception, control, communication, and the timely application of an appropriate action.
CQB Foundations
- The Art of Tactics — Tactics as a combination of creative means, decision-making under uncertainty, and adaptation against a thinking opponent.
- Speed Within CQB — Kurt Weber explains why useful speed is situational and must remain subordinate to information, judgment, and control.
- P&S ModCast 269 — CQB — A long-form discussion of realistic priorities, individual competence, team performance, training methodology, and common misconceptions.
- P&S ModCast 163: Cognitive Load — Information overload, working memory, automaticity, and preserving attention for judgment under pressure.
Room Clearing, Geometry, and Low Light
- P&S ModCast 270 — The Father of Modern Light Tactics — Ken Good and the panel examine the development, principles, and tactical context of modern low-light methods.
- The Secrets of Effective Low Light Room Clearing — Applying established room-clearing principles in reduced light while using illumination to gather information.
- Low-Light Operations — The broader P&S collection covering handheld and weapon-mounted lights, night vision, visual information, and reduced-light training.
Structure work should begin with geometry: what can be seen, what remains unknown, when exposure occurs, and which options are available. Lighting tools and night vision change the information available to the user, but they do not eliminate the need for sound positioning, communication, identification, and decision-making.
Vehicle Close-Quarters Battle
- P&S ModCast 347 — Centrifuge Training VCQB — Course takeaways on vehicle geometry, movement, observation, communication, weapon handling, and decision-making.
- Centrifuge Training — Instructor VCQB AAR — A five-day instructor-course review examining vehicle geometry, positional problems, curriculum, and application.
- Vehicle Close Quarters Battle Instructor with William Petty — An earlier detailed AAR covering the VCQB instructor program and its practical lessons.
- William “Will” Petty — Centrifuge Training founder, law-enforcement veteran, and developer of the VCQB program.
Critical Response and Defense
- P&S ModCast 440 — On/Off Duty Critical Response — Preparation, identification, communication, equipment, and judgment during consequential incidents.
- Active Shooter, Law Enforcement, and Citizen — A rational overview of armed-citizen considerations and interaction with responding law enforcement.
- Thoughts on Civilian Response to an Active Shooter — Michael Bronson examines identification, decision-making, family responsibilities, and the risks of entering a complex event.
- Weapons for Home Defense — Capability, access, environment, and equipment considerations for protecting a home and its occupants.
Violence, Experience, and Judgment
- P&S ModCast 112 — Primal Violence 2 — Understanding violent behavior, criminal initiative, mindset, and the limits of equipment without preparation.
- P&S ModCast 452 — Tales of Old(er) and Lessons Learned — Matt Landfair and Kurt Weber discuss institutional memory, experience, and lessons that informed “Speed Within CQB.”
CQB and Tactical Experts
- Richard “Rich” Mason — DARC founder, Green Beret, CQB instructor, and architect of progressive opposition-based training.
- Kurt Weber — Special Forces veteran and CQB instructor focused on realistic training, judgment, and unconscious mastery.
- Matt Little — Special Forces and Chicago SWAT veteran connecting shooting performance, tactics, combatives, and deliberate practice.
- Scott Wolf — Special operations veteran addressing cognition, automaticity, movement efficiency, light, and CQB.
- Chuck Pressburg — Special operations veteran and Presscheck founder teaching accountable marksmanship, target discrimination, low light, and shoothouse work.
- Jared Reston — SWAT veteran and Reston Group founder teaching performance on demand, team tactics, and capability under adverse conditions.
- Jon “Duffy” Dufresne — Former Army Ranger and Kinetic Consulting founder integrating measurable firearms performance, geometry, force-on-force, and night vision.
- John “Chappy” Chapman — Veteran law-enforcement officer, SWAT leader, and CQB instructor.
Recommended Learning Path
Begin with The Art of Tactics, then read Speed Within CQB and listen to ModCast 269. Continue with the low-light room-clearing article to examine information management, then use the VCQB AARs to see how geometry changes around vehicles. Finish with the critical-response material and expert profiles to compare how principles are adapted for military, law-enforcement, security, and responsible-citizen contexts.
Browse every current entry in the CQB, Tactics & Defense category archive.