AAR #5: Dec 14/15 CRCD – MTP
It was a great weekend, spent in the company of good men. There are physical demands, though they dovetail beneficially with the training. As it should. They become a natural aspect and are real time backdrop to the overall scope of tactical movement, understanding cover, use of covering fire, coordinating with your buddy, working in elements, understanding fields of fire. Max starts out with the most basic tactics of one guy, how to react to fire, return fire, gain cover, movement, then we worked through doing those most essential tactics in buddy pairs. You learn how to react to fire again with two men who can multiply the effect of force in conjunction with using covering fire/movement of the basic foundation of tactics learned singly. Then we went by pairs, 2 elements of 2 men each, though it becomes a bit more complex in regards to angles of fire put on the enemy as 2 elements maneuver using the tactics of covering fire, peeling and getting on line, how and when to rally, and a hasty ambush position to be prepared for further possible enemy contact. After each section, Max immediately provided critique and support on the field to us individually/pairs, sometimes stopping us in the act to provide guidance, (or in my case tell me I’m a crazy bastard.) Before, and after each exercise we all gathered under the training pavilion and Max walked us through that particular cycle. The training is brilliantly condensed into the time constraint of 2 days. Giving my undivided attention was critical. In light of using a high volume of live rounds per training section, there is a certain gravity of seriousness you find sobering and exhilarating that carries throughout the weekend.
I learned so much and experienced so many new concepts, it is difficult to decide where to begin in writing this.
If I could sum taking Max’s CCRD up in one sentence, it is an embarrassment of basic sound tactical riches.
A veritable banquet of the hardcore necessary essential ingredients required to fight and win. You learn this stuff, you can fight to win. There is not any other way to do this kind of thing and live to fight another day. It is that simple. You need this training. Doing so makes the gear and knowledge you posses work like it’s supposed to. I have a tremendous amount of things I still need to know and practice, but it is these basics of warfare that make me a fighter now. Max wiped away the imponderables, and I can share my new found knowledge with my fellow patriots, we can train up right, and God forbid if it is required, we can take the fight to the enemy.
And that is the real tacticool.
There is no fluff or dissimulation in Max’s training. It is direct, to the point, distillation of the basics and basis of combat.
It became apparent immediately upon the start of training I came to the right place.
It is difficult to convey in words what combat training, the essentials of small infantry tactics, is like. Same as for combat I’d guess. Nobody can tell you. You have to see it for yourself.
I can maybe best sum it up, as a fellow of over a half century, of having been a woodsman and rural gentleman all my life, an accomplished hunter, trapper, and bushman, nothing in my life could substitute for the training I received from Max and the experience of training with like minded patriots in arms.
If what I knew previously to Max, I had idea’s I knew what it takes, that I had the gear and the tactical concepts down and without having formal training from Max or others of his caliber, I could wing it and learn on the fly. Man oh man was I fucking bullshitting myself! My learning curve if the shit hits the fan went from surviving a few minutes by luck and stupidity, to surviving, and with more practice and training, thriving. My confidence has increased by an order of magnitude. I am grateful and humbled because of Max and the fighting chance he has provided me.
Max is a wicked cool guy. The real deal. Here is a fellow who has served under arms in many capacities for two countries, traveled the world, moved to the US, became a patriotic American citizen, written 3 outstanding manuals of arms and self published them, purchased a huge tract of rural land, built a training school and it’s infrastructure on it, devised live fire courses simulating combat scenarios, runs a website, has a family, and best of all took it upon himself to do this training because he cares about what matters most. And he makes it fun and entertaining to boot. This is a guy with a plan and his shit together.
And he brings this to the table for you to learn.
How good is that?
A great extra Max set up for us was a crash course on battlefield medical care taught by one hell of a serious patriot and teaching trauma Doctor. A hope if it drops in the pot is there to keep you alive Doctor.
This was an outstanding class. Doc gave it to us straight, no frills or pulling any punches. The down and dirty nuts and bolts of care under fire.
And oh boy was it an eye opener. The use and application of methods and tools to stop bleeding of wounds, (the most critical thing), treating wounds to the lungs, battle field do’s and dont’s, the imperative that you have to kill or suppress the enemy first before you can treat fellow wounded fighters, (how the solder himself must administer care to himself and get back in the fight by all means possible), or you become a casualty too and now you have 2 wounded guys.
It was 1st rate info and techniques, serious have to know stuff, from a true blue American.
The conclusion of our 2 days was a team assault on an enemy bunker complex, complete with a element providing a base support of fire with a maneuver element assaulting along a terrain feature using movement, covering fire and cover, and shifting fire of the fire support element onto a secondary target, ending up with a direct right up in your face posting of a grenade, (smoke) into the gun aperture of a bunker. All under live fire. It was a great event, proof positive small unit infantry tactics work. All the basic ingredients Max had up to this exercise trained us for came into play. Seeing my fellow class mates, we all go at it alone is worth whatever you have to do to get to Max’s CCRD’s. To say it was exciting is the understatement of the whole class.
I can not exemplify the need for fellow patriots to get this training under our belts enough.
Put aside what you think you know, sign up, give it all you got, learn to fight the right way.
Got to meet a great bunch of guys. Everyone had something important to say or experience/advice to share. I learned a lot just from my fellow trainees. It is quite the thing to meet up with total strangers, and work through this inherently deadly process, discover from the start everyone was focused and mission orientated.
Thanks all you guys!
It was an honor to train with everyone.
How Max makes this work is remarkable in it’s self. And he is gracious and patient in how he takes the time to help you grasp the nuances of things. He makes you feel a part of it all through respect and the taking time to listen to you. Awesome.
Can’t wait to take another CCRD.
MTP
MTP:
it was a pleasure and an honor to train with you.
Excellent write-up too!
Cheers,
F
Good stuff for sure my friend, good stuff. Hopefully we meet again at Max’s.
Intriguing review, I can tell from reading it that your ezperience was remarkable, well done sir!
Im curious if theres anything about your current PT that you think you might change or shift focus to in order to better facilitate putting into practice what you learned in class?
That’s a good question FT.
Fountain of youth?
Seriously, living in the same hills and hollows as Max’s training site, I get to conduct my PT and reckon work geared up as I would fight. Being a freakin’ billy goat would help!
(When we went through the live fire RTR drills, I found I would get winded, be huffing and puffing, a big part why was getting too excited! Had to calm myself, chill, control breathing,
shoot straight, don’t get tunnel vision.)
I’m on my way to loosing the other side of 40lbs and incrementally increasing the training I do now. My fighting load is ironed out weight wise. This week I added my bare minimum run my arse off E&E, and react to sustained fight load.
New Years, time to add and hump the ole med Alice.
Though, I’m considering this really nifty Molle panel that swaps out with the Alice bag. It’s all Molle straps, the size of the Alice frame, top-bottom/side to side. Thinking I can get my load close and tight with it. Help make the pack less cumbersome, brings load closer to the center of gravity, reduce fatigue. Nice simple setup with lots of real estate. Sell them here: http://ustacticalsupply.com/aliceframemodularpanel.aspx
Age is a limitation hard to get around. Perseverance counts a lot. I’m not fast or agile like when younger, and the aches and pains commiserate with such things, requires as much mental as physical endurance to overcome. I can hump for miles non stop, but it is a sloooow process if I pace things for the long haul.
As long as I get to hump even a half mile through the woods in my kit a few times a week, I’m happier and healthier for it. If it’s only a quick quarter mile it helps. Taking one of the dogs along adds some extra fun factor. Doing the yearly supply of firewood, the physical nature of my profession, building fences for the pigs and such, learning how to stretch my body, eat and sleep right, it all helps.
But personally, mental toughness counts for everything when it gets tough. And that is a constant thing to keep on.
How committed you are you know what I’m saying.
Going up to Max’s, meeting him, the kind of guy he is, and seeing how committed he is, well that’s inspirational and something to aspire to also.
But that is me and everyone has their own ways and methods.
You Sir are your own toughest critic. :D
When I saw you on the morning of day 1, I was simply blown away with how fast you would respond to the pop up targets … I must say you seemed the quickest one among u,s at least for the first R of RTR :)
Lord don’t know what to say to that.
I can tell you I was blown away by the focus and earnest nature we all brought with us. It is remarkable to be in such company, it is mean in the most sincere fashion, because if one thing was apparent once we got our game faces on out on the range, I’d fight with you guys any time any place without a care as to our abilities to function as a team and natural brotherhood. With what Max gives us, you know the fundamentals of small unit infantry tactics, we can all work together and fight like true warriors.
Yup, band of brothers.
The weekend was a defining moment in my life I will carry with me forever.
I think we all should give ourselves credit for something. And I think Max is a champion of this. It is coming together as individuals, with various goals, from myriad walks of life, but also, and this is manifold, we share something inherent in common, a quiet reserved greatness of spirit, along with an ability to work together in a most earnest and serious manner, for something better and greater than just ourselves alone.
Part of that holistic thing Max espouses.
It is just a sense on my part, but I do not think I am mistaken.
To me that is part of virtue. Virtue carries a man far in life. It is infallible if you remain loyal to it.
If you wonder why I might shoot fast and be aggressive, maybe I could say to you in part it is because I am committed to something better and more important than just me.
And too, I’ll be damned to hell if another man is going to die for my family and loved ones, my Liberty.
It is the reason why we are in the mess we are in in the first place. We let others do the dying. We lost that prerogative, the legitimacy of our primal rights, the legitimacy and credence of fighting for those things because we where not vigilant.
I saw something of that vigilance in us, we shared that as natural as our sovereignty. I am proud to be part of that. It gives me hope and confidence.
So you bet your arse I’m gonna shoot fast and straight as possible.
There is a reason our arms, our AR15’s are called assault rifles. It is because those of tyranny and treason are afraid it is Freemen such as us are going to assault them with the rifle they are right to fear, because of what we could do to them for what they are doing to us.
Simple truth it is a guy with a rifle who can change the world.
That is as it should be. The more of us who are brothers in arms who posses the dignity of Liberty, who share these things in common, our legitimacy ascends, we hold the moral high ground, and we back that credibility up with the fighting ability to hold the actual tactical high ground and win.
Sir, A solid write up. Well said and accurately so, without exaggeration. An eye opener, for sure. It occurs to me to mention that veterans who have some knowledge in these matters can contribute to the effort by attending and helping their fellows. You do not mention, so I will, the aggressiveness and tenacity you showed on the ranges. I will state for the record that semi-auto MTP equals the rate of fire from a LMG. No nonsense and an avid outdoorsman, your band of brothers is lucky to have you sir!