AAR 9/10 Nov 2013 CRCD – Ben

Having just taken Max’s CRCD class. I wanted to take a few minutes and write my thoughts on the weekend of training.

I’ll say this right from the start.  This class was everything that I had hoped that it would be and then some.   I had been hovering on the fence about taking this kind of training.  I read the AAR’s from others that had completed the class and said to my self “see, that is what you have to go and learn.” My reasons for not going sooner were all financial. But this fall I made the choice to sign up and go get some professional instruction.  It was not easy to come up with the dollars for the class and the travel and the ammo.  From my home town to Max’s location was about eleven hundred miles and took two days to drive.  It was worth every mile! Max is great to work with, and easy to learn from. After the safety brief  Saturday morning we jumped in head first and had a full day of shooting drills and lectures. But most of the day was on the range.  I have Max’s book Contact, and have read it all the way through. I’ve read in other books and on line about the shooting drills that  we were learning. How to break contact and how to move and work as a team.  Even so there was a ton to learn.  It’s one thing to say from the comfort of my house. I’ll move to cover and shout to my buddy and we will suppress the enemy bunker, and actually teaming up with a buddy and running through the drills.  The other students were really a great bunch of folks.  Everyone was serious about what we were doing and as such there was no ego’s. Every one was there to learn and it made learning easy.

Lessons learned this weekend:

I was right that I had a ton to learn.  I had spent money on gear and ammo and my rifle.  I had tried to educate myself as best I could. But deep down inside I knew I lacked the wisdom of experience.  And as such I stood a good chance of not making it through the learning curve if the SHTF. What good would I do my family if I got shot up because the internet told me to do X or Y.

More PT.  I consider myself to be in reasonably good shape. But there is a lot of room for  improvement.

Be sure to have a good hydration system.

I was very glad that I had brought knee pads. You will use them, they will save your knees.

Bring enough ammo.  I brought 500 rounds and I could have shot more. When I go back again I’ll bring 700-800  Now that being said you can complete the training using 400-500,  just realize that you will have to moderate how fast your trigger finger goes.

Bring spare parts for your gun.  While I did not have a problem with my gun, their was an AR that blew its gas rings first thing Saturday morning. Lucky they had spare parts.

Good boots that will support your ankles.  This is a real world environment. There are lots of stumps and rocks and slopes to walk on. But hey this is what it will be like if these skills are ever needed.

After having taken this first step in training I am profoundly aware of how easy it would have been for someone that had these skills to come and take me out. Also I realize that there is a lot more work for me to do.  This will totally change the way I train with my family.  While these skills that I learned are paramount to surviving in a SHTF scenario.  It is also paramount to have the people that will be with you trained as well. If you can, if you have the chance, please do what it takes to get you and your family or group trained. Yes it cost me some time and money, but this was the best investment I’ve made sense buying my rifle. When I go back for more training next year my wife will be coming as well.  If you are a woman that is looking for training, Max is the place to go. He is a great teacher and is not ego driven at all.  He is not someone that is going to spend the day yelling and swearing at you. His goal is to have everyone learn the skills that they will need to be able to protect their families if the SHTF.  I’ll also say that several people expressed safety concerns to me prior to taking the training. After having taken the class I can say that Max takes safety very seriously. That and not being ego driven is why I feel confident that I can bring my wife to this training next year.

I don’t know how much longer we as civilians will be able to take this kind of training. All it would take is for the powers that be to change the laws and this goes away. Take it  from someone that had no tactical/small unit skills at all. This was absolutely the best thing I could have done for my families safety. There is no substitute to having proper, professional training. Even if you can’t get your hole tribe to his class, pass a hat and get the funds to send one of your people to take the training. They can bring back these life saving skills and share it with everyone.

This class was worth every penny, every sore muscle, and every mile driven.  I will be back. I will keep my family safe from what is coming.

From the mid west

Take care, and keep your powder dry.

Thanks to Max for being willing to stick his neck out and do this training for us.