Establishing metrics for a qual

Mick-boy

Member
VIP
Situation -

The program I work for has had a spate of individuals that show up and fail weapons quals on T-Day 1. This is a waste of time and money for both the company and the individuals so we're trying to figure out some ways to mitigate it. Public dissemination of the actual qualification course is frowned on, however one of the ideas suggested was to send candidates an abbreviated course of fire that requires similar accuracy standards/times for them to train on. In an effort to keep things affordable for guys, I wanted to limit the COF to 20 rounds. Both quals are below.



Pistol Qualification

Candidates will load 2 magazines of 10

Every course of fire will start in the standing, hands relaxed at sides

25yrd line standing


2 rounds 6sec (x 2)

4 rounds total.

15yrd line

2 rounds standing 4 sec

2 rounds kneeling 4 sec

2 rounds kneeling / reload / 2 rounds standing 10sec

8 rounds total.

7yrd line

3 rounds standing strong hand only 6 sec

Transfer weapon to support hand

3 rounds standing support hand only 5 sec

6 rounds total

3yrd line

2 rounds standing (head shots) 3 sec

This is with both hands.

2 rounds total.



Rifle Qualification

Candidates load 1 rifle magazine of 10 and 1 rifle magazine of 8 and 1 pistol magazine of 2. Candidates will load the 10 round magazine first

All courses of fire will start from the low ready (muzzle even with beltline) unless otherwise directed.

50yrd line

2 rounds standing 10 sec

2 rounds kneeling 6 sec (Remain kneeling)

2 rounds kneeling aimed in on fire 3 sec

1 round kneeling aimed in on fire 1 round prone 8 sec

8 rounds total.

25yrd line

2 rounds standing /reload/ 2 rounds kneeling (Remain kneeling) 10 sec

2 rounds kneeling aimed in on fire 2 sec.

6 rounds total

15yrsd line

2 rounds standing 2 sec.

2 rounds total

7yrd line

2 rounds standing (head shots) / Transition to pistol / 2 rounds standing (body) 4 sec. Unload show clear all weapons.

4 rounds total



SCORING

A-Zone (Green) – 5pts

C-Zone (Yellow) – 4pts

D-Zone (Orange) – 3pts

Shooter is awarded higher value for rounds breaking the line.

Any hit in the head when trying to hit the body is scored as a miss.

Any hit in the body when trying to hit the head is scored as a miss.




Where you come in -

I'm trying to establish baselines for acceptable scoring. If I use a direct translation in percentages from our full COF, I would be looking for;

RIFLE - 93pts to pass

PISTOL - 88pts to pass



My instinct is to set scores at;

RIFLE - 90

PISTOL - 85

I have no data or metrics to support that. It's just where I am initially leaning.



What I'm looking for are guys that can shoot this the next time they go to the range and let me know where you landed and if you think a 93/88 or 90/85 (or something else) is reasonable. One of the issues I find myself constantly fighting is unrealistic expectations for the majority of gun-carrying professionals. If anyone can help me out I'd appreciate it.
 

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H-Minus

Newbie
I guess I would have the following questions for you first:

1) How does the precision standard compare to the qualification they will be shooting for your organization?
2) I assume you are putting them on a par timer for your course of fire. How do these times compare to your standards?
3) It appears you have only one target present in this course of fire. Do you have target transitions in your qualification?

If both 1 and 2 are more stringent than the qualification they are shooting for your organization, I would say that is good. If they can pass the accuracy/time standards you send them prior to going, then they are more likely to pass it first time. The ones who are motivated will put in the work and get it there prior to showing up. If they do not pass this qualification on day 1, is it grounds for dismissal? It's amazing how tying performance to their employment motivates people at times.

If you have multiple targets in your qualification, I would consider adding a target to this course of fire and say maybe 5 more rounds to give them the ability to work target transitions. I hope that this helps.
 
Mick,
I don't know if this is still a valid posting for you but I can run your CoF with my guys and get you some data.
I've been going through the same thing with my guys and consistently run into the same issues. The skeptic in me says it'll never get fixed because we, and I mean me mostly, expect them to have the same enthusiasm for the trade when they truly don't.
However, what I've had my instructors start doing is keep a huge amount of data from the shot clock, analyze, then leverage the info against performace. We run one CoF for hyper accuracy without the clock and then one with. I then average scores/times/misses into a standard +/-10 percent depending on the data category.
The result gives me a solid performance standard that doesn't blowout the lower performers and keeps the guys that are at a higher level interested. Over the last two years, we've seen iimprovements in times and overall scores come up higher and higher as well as some of the guys being more motivated to dry practice or seek out training on their on their own time.
If you like I can send you the data sheets we use with some examples.

Regards,
Jack
 

Oak City Tactics

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
What type of organization is this for? Academy recruits/first gun exposure types? Range Staff? The kind that monitor or the kind that teach or both? Security where they are expected to perform at a high level on day one? I think that has some bearing on our ability to give feedback and evaluation. If you can't provide a description then I understand. Are we to assume you have decided that these stages are vetted to reasonably replicate the performance desired? Or in addition to gathering data, you want opinions on how the course flows, is it reasonable, etc?
 

Mick-boy

Member
VIP
I guess I would have the following questions for you first:

1) How does the precision standard compare to the qualification they will be shooting for your organization?
2) I assume you are putting them on a par timer for your course of fire. How do these times compare to your standards?
3) It appears you have only one target present in this course of fire. Do you have target transitions in your qualification?

If both 1 and 2 are more stringent than the qualification they are shooting for your organization, I would say that is good. If they can pass the accuracy/time standards you send them prior to going, then they are more likely to pass it first time. The ones who are motivated will put in the work and get it there prior to showing up. If they do not pass this qualification on day 1, is it grounds for dismissal? It's amazing how tying performance to their employment motivates people at times.

If you have multiple targets in your qualification, I would consider adding a target to this course of fire and say maybe 5 more rounds to give them the ability to work target transitions. I hope that this helps.

Sorry for the delays in responses.

The accuracy standard is comparable (distances, scoring areas, etc.). The times are (intentionally) a little tighter on the practice qual than on the actual qual. There are no target transitions on the actual CoF. Failure to pass the (actual) CoF on T-Day 1 results in removal from consideration (no job).
 

Mick-boy

Member
VIP
J
Mick,
I don't know if this is still a valid posting for you but I can run your CoF with my guys and get you some data.
I've been going through the same thing with my guys and consistently run into the same issues. The skeptic in me says it'll never get fixed because we, and I mean me mostly, expect them to have the same enthusiasm for the trade when they truly don't.
However, what I've had my instructors start doing is keep a huge amount of data from the shot clock, analyze, then leverage the info against performace. We run one CoF for hyper accuracy without the clock and then one with. I then average scores/times/misses into a standard +/-10 percent depending on the data category.
The result gives me a solid performance standard that doesn't blowout the lower performers and keeps the guys that are at a higher level interested. Over the last two years, we've seen iimprovements in times and overall scores come up higher and higher as well as some of the guys being more motivated to dry practice or seek out training on their on their own time.
If you like I can send you the data sheets we use with some examples.

Regards,
Jack
Jack,

That would be great. Thanks.
 

Mick-boy

Member
VIP
What type of organization is this for? Academy recruits/first gun exposure types? Range Staff? The kind that monitor or the kind that teach or both? Security where they are expected to perform at a high level on day one? I think that has some bearing on our ability to give feedback and evaluation. If you can't provide a description then I understand. Are we to assume you have decided that these stages are vetted to reasonably replicate the performance desired? Or in addition to gathering data, you want opinions on how the course flows, is it reasonable, etc?

Security contractors. Candidates have a minimum of four years TIS in a combat arms MOS with one year overseas. They are expected to arrive in shape and able to shoot.
 

Mick-boy

Member
VIP
We've been sending this out to people in our pipeline for a little over six months now with the briefed expectation of 90 on rifle/85 on pistol. People still show up and fail the quals (they also show up and fail the PT test out the gate, and they have those standards).

However, as I've been talking to the students that fail, to a man they have not taken advantage of the practice quals and trained up prior to their arrival at training. So I'm not going to say we've "fixed" it. But we've given people with minimal motivation towards professional development the opportunity to self-select early. So I'm calling it a win. I would still be interested in feedback if anyone has any.
 
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