Fun With Shockey At DARC Part 2

Day 2 of the course is a lot like the first night, except it’s not. They add more to your plate, namely the Porno. Unfortunately, that’s where my explanation of the Porno ends and you’ll just have to taste the rainbow for yourself when you attend. There is no free lunch in this course, but Rich also doesn’t put you in “no win” situations. Use the tactics correctly and things go pretty well, fall apart and you pay for it. It’s actually pretty simple.

Following chronological order, Day 3 is next. This is where shit gets real interesting. You start to become comfortable, almost to the point of overly confident, at which point Rich introduces a reality check. It’s humbling and carries a great amount of learning points. You really begin to learn the importance of team work and utilizing the “system”. Furthermore, you learn that you have to look out for the team and not yourself. No bullshit, you can have a multi-cell team going in and if one dude fucks up, it can cause the team to fall apart……and when you fall apart, pain follows.

Day 4 is next….I know, you’re surprised a Marine could count to 4, fuck off. So, this is where the big picture comes together and you start infusing the last few missing parts of the puzzle to form a large scale system to fight a counter terrorism event. Students also start integrating into leadership roles during each run. We aren’t talking active shooter/ALERRT type stuff, most of those types don’t want to go toe to toe with LE. However in Counter Terrorism and what this course teaches is going against motivated individuals who aren’t going to stop until you make them…..and there’s only one way to do that. Day 4 is also where Night Vision comes in and I love me some Night Vision, its ninja shit. This night is also where you really learn the keys to success, but it incorporates more moving parts. The more moving parts, the more there is to fuck up. Speaking of fuck ups, this is where I had a major one. I was holding security on an exterior opening and had a pretty major fratricide incident. I felt like an asshole and was pissed at myself. I thought I was doing the lords work, but I in fact was not. But, with as shitty as this situation was, it served as an excellent learning point for me. The more mistakes you make in training, the less you make in real life. I stayed after class for quite a while talking to Rich about it and he broke it down barney style to show me at which point and why I went full shit stain in that particular engagement. That’s another beautiful thing about ol’ Rich….the guy is fuckin immortal and doesn’t sleep. So he will stay after as long as needed to answer all your questions and make sure you grasp it. He’s not in it for the money or to be a “celebrity trainer”, he genuinely has an interest in ensuring that American LE is prepared for WHEN the next terrorist attack comes on American soil. If you don’t believe we will have another, you’re an idiot.

Sooooo, here comes Day 5. This is where you all but get the final tidbits of info and bring it altogether. You also move into the Village, which is uncharted territory for the group. In my opinion, this was the most funnest time. By day 5, almost any student at any course would begin to game the structure that you have been going in and out of non-stop. Don’t worry though; DARC has a fix for that. Day 5 was the big picture and some parts that sorta kinda maybe seemed confusing at first all made sense now. The students that served in leadership roles during this time period really earned their money that day. I served as a 2ic on the first run in the village and it was an ass kicker, despite never getting shot or having to shoot during that scenario. The village will really make you appreciate angles and how to cover threat areas.

 

Last, but certainly not least, is the final day on Saturday. This is when the micro fights go down, which are by far and the large, the most fun I had. It’s just down and dirty OK Corral shit with mofo’s getting gangster on each other all in the name of learning. Its also when we had a student in the class go on a run with no shirt, some serious OG shit.

The last day ends early afternoon, which is not a moment to soon or late. This is about the point where you are reaching exhaustion, more mentally than physically in my opinion. You learn a metric fuck ton of stuff and it’s a fine balance to make sure you chew on everything you learned thoroughly so you don’t forget it. I also think it’s a fine balance of not learning to much stuff, cause you will rapidly forget the stuff learned in the beginning and I think DARC balances it well.