AAR #1: CRCD/Patrol April 5-9 – Ernie

To start, prayers for John and his family in their time of troubles. God bless and hope to see you again.

I was fortunate enough to attend the TC3/CRCD March 14-16 with an incredible group of guys. I was nervous leading into this class, worried about my gear, PT, and all this being so new to me. I would have found it hard to believe I could train with this many quality strangers, until attending this class.

I found that I learned more my second go through the CRCD as most of the nerves were gone and I had a minimum amount of confidence. I was able to flow with the drills instead of being drug through them. The repetition developed muscle memory and I was able to be instinctive instead of robotic. I would recommend that every hit this class at least twice.

The experience was also enhanced by attending this time with a buddy from home. It made the drive easier and the experience better. We were fortunate that we stayed paired with the same buddy-pair the whole time. Ed and Bryan, what can I say…….you guys kick ass! Thanks for being such a big part of my training experience.

The Patrol Class continues right where CRCD leaves off in Max’s crawl-walk-run training style. The transition was seamless and you did not feel like you were attending two separate courses. To twice have experienced how twelve individuals so quickly act as a team is amazing. I believe this is a testament to Max’s leadership and the quality of the persons attending.

I won’t detail the whole class for you, if you want to know sign up! I can tell you this, you will be pushed to your physical limits but not beyond. By the raid on Wednesday afternoon we were all spent. Max jumped in and through his leadership, determination, and drive he led us through the objective. It was amazing watching one man carry 11 others through the drill.

A quick word on Max himself. I have taught classes at various points of my career. I have attended yearly mandatory training for over 18 years now. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a better instruct than Max. His dedication, drive, and enthusiasm are evident from the second you meet him. It is amazing how quickly he gets the guys into team mode and how fast you see improvements in their performance. I watched him handle situations with ease and grace during this class that would have sent other instructors I’ve had into a screaming rage. To sum it up, first-class professional.

If you are thinking of attending the combined class, do it! I only recommend that you be honest with yourself, and Max, about your physical ability to complete the course. As I said earlier, you will be pushed to your limits but not beyond. In addition, when preparing to move into the Patrol Base is not the time to be still idling with your gear. Have your kit squared away and ready to go before attending. I’m pretty sure there is a list on this sight somewhere of needed items.

For fun I’d like to add some bullet points to the week that will mean more to those that attended.

Randomness is not good.
It’ a conspiracy.
Don’t hold you rifle like granddaddy’s shotgun even if it’s in a save direction.
Scan means you can look to the other side of your cover, who knew?
I like good in the “Gimp” mask.
The new road makes walking in and out, even with a ruck, not so bad.
Old people like water.

and last but not least,
That hot cup of coffee during morning stand-to was worth every one of those twelve pull-ups!

I’m sure I forgot to mention a thousand things that made these five days special. Oh wait, that’s what comments are for.

Ernie
44 pull-ups total