Sig Chaser
Newbie
Class
Weaponized Geometry aka Danger Math
Date
4/30/22-5/1/22
Instructor
Jon Dufresne of Kinetic Consulting
Location
Hartland Vermont
Host
Wesley Raney of Green Mountain Armory
Overview
This is a structure based force on force course and is intended for anyone with safe weapon handling skills and basic marksmanship skills. It's designed to give a shooter an introduction into working a structure alone.
Gear
As this was a FoF class guns and ammo were provided. There were several UTM equipped Glocks. Some had irons, one had an RMR and a student brought one that had a Holosun 407c with a Modlite. Helmets were also provided though several of us brought our own Paintball masks (I fog up the FoF masks something awful so I wore a paintball mask with a hat and a shemagh for neck protection). You'll also need long sleeves, pants, shoes and some form of groin protector and gloves.
TD1
Students were instructed to be on site at 0845 and class started promptly. The location for this particular class was unique at least in my experience being a private daycare facility. It opened with a brief discussion of the goals for the class, all students giving their basic information and then moved into a PowerPoint presentation. I know, PowerPoint sucks but this one honestly wasn't bad and what made it better was Jon and his teaching style. He likes to interject quite a bit of humor into things and it made the presentation fly by.
Once that was over he moved into showing how to move with a gun in our hands and while that may seem like something a lot of us take for granted the reality is that for many this was their first exposure to it and the way it was shown made things considerably easier for all involved. From there we moved into doorway/room procedures and how to move to minimize our exposure while maximizing our angles to gain the best vantage point into the areas we needed to see. There's no secret sauce there but having taken several structure based classes before I found the way Jon broke it down and how he explained not only the "how" but the "why" and how this was "a way" not "the way" to be easy to follow and refreshing.
Next we broke into pairs (one group had three) and started working door/room procedures with our finger guns to start seeing how I everything worked while he walked around and watched us, fixed us and answered questions.
Next came kitting up with all our safety equipment and then one at a time he brought us downstairs and we worked the structure with paper targets and UTM guns. His accuracy standards were simple, two rounds to the head (you only got to fire two rounds) and if you were outside the head box you got to sign your misses (loved that because no one enjoys the shame of missing an yeah I had to sign as well because damn it I'm not as good as I should be). During each run he'd let the students move through sections how they felt they should then before moving to the next section he'd stop us and ask us why we did something before repositioning us and having us try it a different way. I really liked this because in other classes I've taken we've just been told to stop and they would fix us but by allowing us to do it our way and then his way we got to see why his way was superior and to a visual learner that is huge. Once you completed your run you were welcome to watch others as long as you kept your saftey gear on and as always that was incredibly valuable. The day ran long and we each got in two runs before we got out at 1930. We asked if we could start at 0800 the next morning and Jon was on board so that's what we did.
TD2
The day started with a review of what we did the day before and with a Q&A for anyone that thought of stuff overnight. Guys had questions about their homes and Jon was able to walk them through the trouble spots pretty well for having not ever seen them.
Next we broke out the finger blasters again and this time had partners start moving toward us once they saw us so that we could learn to move and create an angle of advantage.
Following that we got into the real fun and began FoF. I'm not going to go in depth on how that was done but in the end we all played both the good guy and the bad guy at various times, that we could watch others go through their runs after ours and some valuable lessons were learned. Now for the part that was different, on each run Jon would film us either with his phone or ours and at the completion of each run he would roll back the tape to show us what we did right and wrong. I mean it sounds simple but when was the last time you had an teacher or instructor record you and then do a one on one debrief with video? I'll tell you it was a first for me and man was it an eye opener. If you've done FoF then you know that your brain is in overdrive and your memory gets funky and if you haven't then you will if you ever try it (and you should) so being able to see what we did made a huge difference to myself and others. An example for me is that I left cover with a non functional gun after an engagement. I'd done a reload behind some concealment and as I did it I saw I'd put the other dude down. I stood up not realizing my gun was out of battery (not uncommon with UTM) and that I was holding it like I was done fighting even though I hadn't finished clearing the room. That was an eye opener. I also had a moment where I shot a non threat and I can see on the video that I was searching through my sights and couldn't see his hands but at the time I wasn't seeing what I needed to see. Seeing how I screwed up kept it from happening again. I know other guys had similar moments when they saw themselves shooting with the gun no where near where it needed to be to see sights or dots and others who didn't remember even moving the way they did. That immediate breakdown with video was huge and I hope other instructors start using it. All that personalized instruction does come at a price though in terms of time. We got in two runs each before finishing the day at nearly 1930 again.
Conclusion
This was a fantastic class and was one I'd gladly take again. The only change I'd like to see would be for it to become a three day class. While I get that it's harder for some people to do three day classes the reality is that I'd jump at the chance just to get more runs. I feel like if it were three days we could likely get in three more runs each which would be hugely beneficial.
This was my first class with Jon but was far from my first class having trained under at least a couple dozen people over the years and I can say without question that Jon has become one of my favorite instructors. His style of teaching suits me well from his humor, life stories and his ability to provide the information you need multiple ways combined with his one on one break downs it's a learning experience that goes the extra mile. It was very clear that he loves his job and that this isn't a job for him as much as it's a calling, as cliche as that sounds its honestly the best way I can describe it. At no point did he make anyone feel like they were taking up his time, like he was better than anyone else or act like he didn't want to be there, in fact we stayed late every night and he came in early on day two. I'm already planning to get some buddies to take this class in the future and I'll likely take it again with them as it's worth it.
Random Thought
One thing that I don't get and never have is why other students don't want to soak up all they can. In this class we were able to go down and watch runs after we completed our own. There simply weren't many that would take advantage of that and when they did they'd stay for one or two runs and then bounce to sit and relax. This isn't a just this class thing either, I've seen it more times than I can count at Alliance where guys simply don't want to stand on the catwalk and watch or other venues where guys want ti get back to their seats for some reason. The reality is that we can learn as much or more by watching than we can by doing. Standing there and seeing how others tackle a problem is eye opening maybe it was better than your way, maybe it was way worse but either way you're taking something away from their run. Take it all in guys because you're paying for it and you should be trying to get everything you can out of it.
(FYI for those of you who go to take a class with him Jon doesn't take a lunch break. He feels there is enough down time to eat between runs and frankly he's absolutely right and I'm glad he runs it this way. So bring a lunch that you can eat on the go because there won't be time to go off site to get something)
Weaponized Geometry aka Danger Math
Date
4/30/22-5/1/22
Instructor
Jon Dufresne of Kinetic Consulting
Location
Hartland Vermont
Host
Wesley Raney of Green Mountain Armory
Overview
This is a structure based force on force course and is intended for anyone with safe weapon handling skills and basic marksmanship skills. It's designed to give a shooter an introduction into working a structure alone.
Gear
As this was a FoF class guns and ammo were provided. There were several UTM equipped Glocks. Some had irons, one had an RMR and a student brought one that had a Holosun 407c with a Modlite. Helmets were also provided though several of us brought our own Paintball masks (I fog up the FoF masks something awful so I wore a paintball mask with a hat and a shemagh for neck protection). You'll also need long sleeves, pants, shoes and some form of groin protector and gloves.
TD1
Students were instructed to be on site at 0845 and class started promptly. The location for this particular class was unique at least in my experience being a private daycare facility. It opened with a brief discussion of the goals for the class, all students giving their basic information and then moved into a PowerPoint presentation. I know, PowerPoint sucks but this one honestly wasn't bad and what made it better was Jon and his teaching style. He likes to interject quite a bit of humor into things and it made the presentation fly by.
Once that was over he moved into showing how to move with a gun in our hands and while that may seem like something a lot of us take for granted the reality is that for many this was their first exposure to it and the way it was shown made things considerably easier for all involved. From there we moved into doorway/room procedures and how to move to minimize our exposure while maximizing our angles to gain the best vantage point into the areas we needed to see. There's no secret sauce there but having taken several structure based classes before I found the way Jon broke it down and how he explained not only the "how" but the "why" and how this was "a way" not "the way" to be easy to follow and refreshing.
Next we broke into pairs (one group had three) and started working door/room procedures with our finger guns to start seeing how I everything worked while he walked around and watched us, fixed us and answered questions.
Next came kitting up with all our safety equipment and then one at a time he brought us downstairs and we worked the structure with paper targets and UTM guns. His accuracy standards were simple, two rounds to the head (you only got to fire two rounds) and if you were outside the head box you got to sign your misses (loved that because no one enjoys the shame of missing an yeah I had to sign as well because damn it I'm not as good as I should be). During each run he'd let the students move through sections how they felt they should then before moving to the next section he'd stop us and ask us why we did something before repositioning us and having us try it a different way. I really liked this because in other classes I've taken we've just been told to stop and they would fix us but by allowing us to do it our way and then his way we got to see why his way was superior and to a visual learner that is huge. Once you completed your run you were welcome to watch others as long as you kept your saftey gear on and as always that was incredibly valuable. The day ran long and we each got in two runs before we got out at 1930. We asked if we could start at 0800 the next morning and Jon was on board so that's what we did.
TD2
The day started with a review of what we did the day before and with a Q&A for anyone that thought of stuff overnight. Guys had questions about their homes and Jon was able to walk them through the trouble spots pretty well for having not ever seen them.
Next we broke out the finger blasters again and this time had partners start moving toward us once they saw us so that we could learn to move and create an angle of advantage.
Following that we got into the real fun and began FoF. I'm not going to go in depth on how that was done but in the end we all played both the good guy and the bad guy at various times, that we could watch others go through their runs after ours and some valuable lessons were learned. Now for the part that was different, on each run Jon would film us either with his phone or ours and at the completion of each run he would roll back the tape to show us what we did right and wrong. I mean it sounds simple but when was the last time you had an teacher or instructor record you and then do a one on one debrief with video? I'll tell you it was a first for me and man was it an eye opener. If you've done FoF then you know that your brain is in overdrive and your memory gets funky and if you haven't then you will if you ever try it (and you should) so being able to see what we did made a huge difference to myself and others. An example for me is that I left cover with a non functional gun after an engagement. I'd done a reload behind some concealment and as I did it I saw I'd put the other dude down. I stood up not realizing my gun was out of battery (not uncommon with UTM) and that I was holding it like I was done fighting even though I hadn't finished clearing the room. That was an eye opener. I also had a moment where I shot a non threat and I can see on the video that I was searching through my sights and couldn't see his hands but at the time I wasn't seeing what I needed to see. Seeing how I screwed up kept it from happening again. I know other guys had similar moments when they saw themselves shooting with the gun no where near where it needed to be to see sights or dots and others who didn't remember even moving the way they did. That immediate breakdown with video was huge and I hope other instructors start using it. All that personalized instruction does come at a price though in terms of time. We got in two runs each before finishing the day at nearly 1930 again.
Conclusion
This was a fantastic class and was one I'd gladly take again. The only change I'd like to see would be for it to become a three day class. While I get that it's harder for some people to do three day classes the reality is that I'd jump at the chance just to get more runs. I feel like if it were three days we could likely get in three more runs each which would be hugely beneficial.
This was my first class with Jon but was far from my first class having trained under at least a couple dozen people over the years and I can say without question that Jon has become one of my favorite instructors. His style of teaching suits me well from his humor, life stories and his ability to provide the information you need multiple ways combined with his one on one break downs it's a learning experience that goes the extra mile. It was very clear that he loves his job and that this isn't a job for him as much as it's a calling, as cliche as that sounds its honestly the best way I can describe it. At no point did he make anyone feel like they were taking up his time, like he was better than anyone else or act like he didn't want to be there, in fact we stayed late every night and he came in early on day two. I'm already planning to get some buddies to take this class in the future and I'll likely take it again with them as it's worth it.
Random Thought
One thing that I don't get and never have is why other students don't want to soak up all they can. In this class we were able to go down and watch runs after we completed our own. There simply weren't many that would take advantage of that and when they did they'd stay for one or two runs and then bounce to sit and relax. This isn't a just this class thing either, I've seen it more times than I can count at Alliance where guys simply don't want to stand on the catwalk and watch or other venues where guys want ti get back to their seats for some reason. The reality is that we can learn as much or more by watching than we can by doing. Standing there and seeing how others tackle a problem is eye opening maybe it was better than your way, maybe it was way worse but either way you're taking something away from their run. Take it all in guys because you're paying for it and you should be trying to get everything you can out of it.
(FYI for those of you who go to take a class with him Jon doesn't take a lunch break. He feels there is enough down time to eat between runs and frankly he's absolutely right and I'm glad he runs it this way. So bring a lunch that you can eat on the go because there won't be time to go off site to get something)
