Mark Davis
Newbie
School: Guerilla Approach
Course: High Threat Environment: Vehicle (Pistol) – 1 day
Instructor: Aaron Barruga
Date : 2/24/17
Location: Winchester Canyon Gun Club, Santa Barbara, CA
Cost: $275
My gear: H&K P2000 (LEM), Safariland ALS holster.
Class makeup: There were 18 students, primarily LE guys, a couple of private security dudes from Gavin De Becker’s firm, and handful of civilians like me. Some guys had travelled several hours to be there.
Course Description from Guerilla Approach Website:
“This 1-day pistol version of High Threat Environment Vehicle Tactics adapts our signature course for application among individuals that work as singletons. Whether a solo patrol officer, or independent civilian, the absence of immediate back-up in a close quarter fight changes your mindset for getting off the X."
The course started with a “Go/No go” diagnostic drill at 10 yards to ensure that all students had fundamental gun handling and safety skills. The drill wasn’t especially challenging, but the pressure was ramped up knowing that failure would mean sitting out the rest of the day.
After everyone got through the safety diagnostic, Aaron discussed points of cover on a vehicle and demonstrated the damage that can be done to a vehicle in a few seconds by a guy with a rifle and heavy trigger finger.
We then moved into shooting underneath vehicles from three different positions. Aaron provided explanations of the advantages and disadvantages of each position. They all have the major disadvantages of loss of mobility and situational awareness. There were three different vehicles, so we rotated through each vehicle, shooting underneath them on steel targets.
Shooting from inside the vehicle came next. Aaron demonstrated how much a windshield will deflect your rounds, and how deflection is effected by target range. He doesn’t advocate offsetting your POA to accommodate bullet deflection, stating that it’s too much to think about in a close quarters gun fight. Instead, he advocates “P for plenty”. He also discussed the limitations with creating a “port” to shoot through – mainly that your adversary will be moving so the port has limited value once your opponent moves beyond the edges of the port. We practiced shooting from inside the cabin, again rotating through the three different vehicles.
Next topic was bailing out of the vehicle. He had no special JSOC method to remove the seat belt – “just take off your seat belt - you’ve been doing it your whole life”. We dry practiced getting out of the vehicle, moving to hasty positions, and engaging targets. Then did the same thing with live ammo. Gun handling was really important here – we were moving, running, and shooting, so muzzle awareness was critical. The bail out drills got fairly complex, with multiple steel targets, a moving target, and quite a bit of movement to cover. Again, we used three different vehicles, each providing different challenges to bailing out and maneuver.
The class ended with a force-on force evolution. I wasn’t expecting FoF so this was welcome surprise. iCombat gear was provided by SB Tactical, including long guns, pistols, and stress belts which provided good tactile feedback when you were hit. (In other words, it gave you an electric shock). I won’t say much about the scenario, except that it incorporated many of the skills taught throughout the day. It was a really fun way to end the day.
Advertised round count is 500, but I only shot 141 rounds. Despite the low round count, we stayed pretty busy. The pace was constant, but not exhausting. The class started on time and we probably finished about 1700, as advertised. Lunch break was only 15 – 20 mins, which I liked. I’m took time off work to be there and payed my own money, so I hate slow starts, extended breaks, and quitting early.
This is not a complete description of the course, but covers the high points. My takeaways:
Aaron has an excellent teaching style. Perhaps he learned to teach in SF, or just has a knack for it, but he is a very good educator. He is confident and no bullshit, but he also doesn’t project an “I’m awesome” attitude. He obviously puts a lot of thought into his course work, and does a lot of prep work.
There were two other range safety officers/assistant instructors, so the drills moved pretty fast. The RSO/AI also provided some feedback and coaching when the wheels started to fall off.
Some of the steel targets were 25 – 30 yards away. I’ve been focusing on 3 – 10 yard drills, so the longer distances revealed weaknesses in my marksmanship.
All in all, I found the course to be excellent, offering good value for money. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and exposed some stuff I need to work on. The LEO guys seemed to get a lot out of it too, and several of the cops I spoke with had taken other classes with Aaron. I recommend the class if you’re interesting in firearm deployment in and around vehicles.
Course: High Threat Environment: Vehicle (Pistol) – 1 day
Instructor: Aaron Barruga
Date : 2/24/17
Location: Winchester Canyon Gun Club, Santa Barbara, CA
Cost: $275
My gear: H&K P2000 (LEM), Safariland ALS holster.
Class makeup: There were 18 students, primarily LE guys, a couple of private security dudes from Gavin De Becker’s firm, and handful of civilians like me. Some guys had travelled several hours to be there.
Course Description from Guerilla Approach Website:
“This 1-day pistol version of High Threat Environment Vehicle Tactics adapts our signature course for application among individuals that work as singletons. Whether a solo patrol officer, or independent civilian, the absence of immediate back-up in a close quarter fight changes your mindset for getting off the X."
The course started with a “Go/No go” diagnostic drill at 10 yards to ensure that all students had fundamental gun handling and safety skills. The drill wasn’t especially challenging, but the pressure was ramped up knowing that failure would mean sitting out the rest of the day.
After everyone got through the safety diagnostic, Aaron discussed points of cover on a vehicle and demonstrated the damage that can be done to a vehicle in a few seconds by a guy with a rifle and heavy trigger finger.
We then moved into shooting underneath vehicles from three different positions. Aaron provided explanations of the advantages and disadvantages of each position. They all have the major disadvantages of loss of mobility and situational awareness. There were three different vehicles, so we rotated through each vehicle, shooting underneath them on steel targets.
Shooting from inside the vehicle came next. Aaron demonstrated how much a windshield will deflect your rounds, and how deflection is effected by target range. He doesn’t advocate offsetting your POA to accommodate bullet deflection, stating that it’s too much to think about in a close quarters gun fight. Instead, he advocates “P for plenty”. He also discussed the limitations with creating a “port” to shoot through – mainly that your adversary will be moving so the port has limited value once your opponent moves beyond the edges of the port. We practiced shooting from inside the cabin, again rotating through the three different vehicles.
Next topic was bailing out of the vehicle. He had no special JSOC method to remove the seat belt – “just take off your seat belt - you’ve been doing it your whole life”. We dry practiced getting out of the vehicle, moving to hasty positions, and engaging targets. Then did the same thing with live ammo. Gun handling was really important here – we were moving, running, and shooting, so muzzle awareness was critical. The bail out drills got fairly complex, with multiple steel targets, a moving target, and quite a bit of movement to cover. Again, we used three different vehicles, each providing different challenges to bailing out and maneuver.
The class ended with a force-on force evolution. I wasn’t expecting FoF so this was welcome surprise. iCombat gear was provided by SB Tactical, including long guns, pistols, and stress belts which provided good tactile feedback when you were hit. (In other words, it gave you an electric shock). I won’t say much about the scenario, except that it incorporated many of the skills taught throughout the day. It was a really fun way to end the day.
Advertised round count is 500, but I only shot 141 rounds. Despite the low round count, we stayed pretty busy. The pace was constant, but not exhausting. The class started on time and we probably finished about 1700, as advertised. Lunch break was only 15 – 20 mins, which I liked. I’m took time off work to be there and payed my own money, so I hate slow starts, extended breaks, and quitting early.
This is not a complete description of the course, but covers the high points. My takeaways:
Aaron has an excellent teaching style. Perhaps he learned to teach in SF, or just has a knack for it, but he is a very good educator. He is confident and no bullshit, but he also doesn’t project an “I’m awesome” attitude. He obviously puts a lot of thought into his course work, and does a lot of prep work.
There were two other range safety officers/assistant instructors, so the drills moved pretty fast. The RSO/AI also provided some feedback and coaching when the wheels started to fall off.
Some of the steel targets were 25 – 30 yards away. I’ve been focusing on 3 – 10 yard drills, so the longer distances revealed weaknesses in my marksmanship.
All in all, I found the course to be excellent, offering good value for money. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and exposed some stuff I need to work on. The LEO guys seemed to get a lot out of it too, and several of the cops I spoke with had taken other classes with Aaron. I recommend the class if you’re interesting in firearm deployment in and around vehicles.