AAR: Combat Rifle / Contact Drills (CRCD) 3/4 May – Redcoat

My wife and I attended the aforementioned classes this previous weekend……….and what a weekend it turned-out to be!

I am now back aboard my ship & Heather aka ‘Momma Grizzly’ or ‘Shortbread’, is running the farm and keeping the home fires burning.

We decided to jointly attend MVT for a number of reasons, but what became apparent during the live fire exercises was nothing short of an epiphany. Your wife WILL cover you and get you out of the shit……a stranger may not be as motivated. In short, pick your team very cautiously and develop a ‘Brotherhood’ mentality….or train with your wife! Class attendees, along with Max & Aaron can vouch…….she is fierce….don’t mess with her!

Onto the RMP course. Aaron, I praise your professionalism and thank you for your patience. Initially, we sighted-in our rifles and proceeded to address the ‘Big five’ stoppages. If you don’t know what they are, you need to attend this class prior to attending CRCD. If you do know how to recognize the ‘Big five’ and correct the stoppages effectively, I’d still recommend attendance. There is no such thing as too much training! Remember to take on-board the ‘Sneaky peek’ method that Aaron abides by. It’s all about seconds and inches and dicking-around with a stoppage is guaranteed to shorten your life expectancy! Having simulated the stoppages randomly with each class attendee, you should proceed to the CRCD class and spend less time with your face in the rifle and focus more on the battlefield and be aware of your surroundings and of your squad members too.

Max expertly leads and instructs the CRCD element with Aaron’s cool and calm assistance. You will also get to meet ‘Fred’, who delivers a very informative lecture and assists with safety on the final bunker assaults. This is all about live fire exercises and reactions to contact. You will not meet a better Range Master than Max. Furthermore, I suspect there are very few establishments that can offer this degree of instruction other than the battlefield itself. You will become one of the few who has trained ‘Live fire’. Wear your patch with pride!

There are so many elements I have taken from these classes. By best advice is to listen to your peers. Max & Aaron’s advice is sound and based upon battlefield experience. I now run a 2-point sling and wear my drop-leg a lot higher. My rate of fire is now marginally less than crazy……you’ll see what I mean after CRCD. The ‘Jungle walk’ and bunker assaults are the pinnacle of the weekend. Check-out everybody’s ‘shit-eating- grin’ after the bunker assault exercise. It’s priceless.

Finally, I salute my fellow class attendees. You are the characters that will stand-up and be counted, when the time comes. You are warriors!

Redcoat