A Great CRCD Class! + Comment
I am back from this weekend’s CRCD Class. I forgot to take any photos, so I don’t have any for you.
It was a full class of 12. Mention goes out to:
1) The father and son team. The son being 15 years old, squared away, and able to run like the wind.
2) The husband and wife team. Good work was done.
3) The retired 67 year old with 11 years of his career as an infantry officer, 2 of those years in Vietnam serving with a Ranger Company. He received the Purple Heart 3 times. He wore his original green BDU uniform, augmented with some up to date gear. He was fit and squared away. I hope I can run like that when I am 67!
4) The rest of the class were all good squared away people (which is pretty usual at my classes). I’m proud of what they achieved at the class.
We ran the Combat Lifesaver (TC3) and Rifle Manipulation Primer (RMP) classes on the Friday. The new square range was not completed in time so we set up the targets on one of the CRCD ranges. Aaron, my new AI, ran a great class and also assisted me for the rest of the weekend. He does a great job.
I can’t state enough how much value there is in the RMP class, and how the additional weapons manipulation practice will help you get your head out of your weapon while on the CRCD class. You will learn more as a result.
On that note, I will shortly be scheduling the new Combat Rifle Manipulation (CRM) classes. These will be run by Aaron on the new square range. It is a full weekend class and will usually run concurrently to the CRCD class. There will be a lot of value in these classes. The intent is to run the classes as manipulation/shooting classes that are fully aimed at moving you on to tactical training. They will be, in a nutshell, combat relevant.
To clarify: you will see me often writing about ‘tacticool’ and the ‘square range.’ I may need to be quite clear and state that it is not the use of the square range that is the issue with ‘tacticool.’ It is the confusion of weapons manipulation with tactics. It is also the fact that many do not progress beyond the square range/manipulations and thus devolve into fads and less than relevant ‘tacticool’ training, before they grasp the good solid basics.
The MVT view of the square range/weapons manipulation training is that it is an essential skill level to grasp (itself building on top of your marksmanship fundamentals) as a transition to the kind of tactical training found on my tactical classes. The reason for building the square range and adding these classes is to better serve the student who needs to learn these skills, in a ‘non-tacticool’ manner, and thus allow a better progression to tactical training. It will also allow those with less confidence, or more nervousness about tactical training, to progress towards it. Even if you have already completed a CRCD class, I recommend a CRM class in order to build, train and practice the basics.
I wrote more about this subject here: ‘Comment: ‘Tacticool’ Weapons Manipulation vs. Weapons Manipulation Training.’
One other related thing: although I have often stated that you would stand a better chance of survival, and more likelihood of success, in a rural environment if you had to survive in an SHTF scenario or fight an foreign enemy, I have at no time said that urban fighting is not relevant or does not need to be learned/trained. Even in ‘Patriot Dawn‘ they had to fight in urban scenarios. The purpose of the blog and forum is to educate the armed civilian in tactics. Becoming a ‘rural fundamentalist’ and dismissing things does not help. It particularly does not help to dismiss combat experience, such as the GWOT. Yes, it’s OK to say that what a prepper may face will not be the same as what a soldier in Iraq may have faced, for example. However, combat is combat. It is relevant that the sort of light infantry skills that are taught, for example, at a school like Ranger School may have more relevance in a rural fight than SOPs for urban fighting in Iraq. But we cannot and should not dismiss experience. it must be learned from and adapted to suit. Even SWAT. I have said a lot about how I am not a fan of the ‘tacticool’ focusing on SWAT tactics. Team SUT skills would be better. However, if you had to assault a building, it would be helpful to have learned and adapted SWAT tactics. Make sense?
I am also product of the GWOT in much of my experience, I just haven’t forgotten the older school stuff. I want to distill the best of all of it for the use of civilians in an SHTF environment. In conversation with Aaron this weekend referring to the danger of forum cliques emerging, I stated: “I won’t let the forum become a refuge for scoundrels.”
Live Hard.
Die Free.
Max