AAR: Combat Patrol 24-26 May – Rob

You’ve all read AAR’s on previous patrol classes so I won’t go there. What I will comment on is the value in, and the need to attend the same course multiple times. We all remember the first formal/paid square range training we attended, right? The first class was pretty overwhelming and we absorbed/retained maybe 10-20% Did we stop going to square range training after that first class? No. We went again and, feeling more comfortable and knowledgeable the second time around we absorbed and retained more. We picked up things we completely missed the first time around. And so on with the next training class, etc…

So we kept going to square range training until we pretty much couldn’t pick up anymore. Now maybe we attend enough to knock the rust of and maintain, right? Well CRCD, Patrol etc… is no different. This was my second patrol class and as you’d expect, it reinforced what I’d retained from the first patrol class and I picked up things that I missed the first time around. In addition, the environmental conditions were different from the first class. It was warmer, darker and there was a full canopy. Completely different from the first patrol class. When I take a 3rd & 4th class I expect it will work pretty much the same…reinforce, ingrain and pickup more. Taking the class multiple times also really lets you shake out your kit.

So like any other training, you really should attend multiple times to get real bang for your buck. No rocket science here and probably nothing you didn’t already know, right?