AAR Nov 9/10 2013 CRCD – F (anon)

Just got done with a weekend at Max’s CRCD Class.

Thoroughly enjoyed myself and I am sooo glad I overcame my workout injuries in the last couple of weeks to squeeze in some leg work outs before I came.
but  I get ahead of myself, let’s start from the beginning:

I had been in the military for quite some time but with only very sporadic tactical training.

Recently I decided to up my game and was looking around for some tactical classes.

Looked at the ubiquitous Magpul videos and some other “big name” classes and they just bothered the heck out of me.
They were mostly about becoming an AR driver and transition dancer, not a tactically proficient and rounded individual.,

Those others seemed to be focused on a PoU (Philosphy of Use) that might be good for a SWAT team but not for a civilian 1st Defender.

In my mind it is laughable that some of those schools make practicing transitions from rifle to handgun a mandatory part for their students, most of which have not yet even maxed out on the Rifle.

I myself even though I am <quite> good with a handgun wouldn’t think of making a training effort for transitions until I can no longer improve anything with my rifle skilsl AND I get driven to wherever I go, so I dont have to worry about the handgun displacing needed magazines or water…

I am not an experienced Infantryman but I know a thing or two about training troops and using the right PoU ….and in my mind the mainstream, Carbine classes that are currently taught often use a PoU that fits the instructors needs better than those of the students.

But enough about why I think others are flawed, lets talk about whats great about Max’s Class:

For one you are not on a static range…. pop up targets from different angles while doing live fire reaction drills as individuals, buddy teams, fire teams and as a capstone event as a Squad is a fantastic training tool.
its hard to imagine good training without it.
Secondly the terrain is realistic, no nicely maintained and easy to observe firing lane.. its all a conglomerate of bushes and trees and inclines and declines and ravines and stumps and rocks etc etc.
Just like in the real world!
Also , while Max takes reasonable safety precautions, he doesnt allow excessive precautions to cripple training like you will find sometimes in the big military and in most police depts.
You get treated as an adult, which is why it is important you show up only after getting thoroughly comfortable with your rifle.

Finally Max makes a real effort to explain and make sure student understand which tactical response is appropriate in which situation, so you are later empowered to think for yourself what tactical situation or intent you have that will lead you to either break contact or attack thru or flank etc.
Hopefully this way folks in a real SHTF will not blindly execute a drill thats inappropiate to the situation at hand, because they learned what is useful when.

It really helped me that I had read about half of his manual “Contact” before the class, otherwise it would have been harder to absorb his training.
I strongly recommend students buy his book “Contact” and read it before taking the class.
This holds especially for those w/o any military training who should read it slowly and thoroughly.

Speaking of his manual between that and his blog it totally sold me on training with him.
I often find that authors of such manuals try to fit the square peg of their own experience as SF or SWAT into the round hole of training up civilian  preppers for WROL, TEOTWAWKI etc results in comically misplaed guidance.
but none of such errors in judgement can be found in Max’s book.

Everything he write makes sense for the situations he writes about and hopes to train about.

I am convinced that as his book “Contact” slowly percolates thru the community it will achieve cult status within a decade or two, as THE basic manual that fits the “civilian caught in SHTF” PoU.
I also believe that this type of training will transform the tactical firearms community in the next few years. We will see the faddish “tacticool “we will almost make you a SF operator” type schools adapt or shrink.

Non-faddish training focused on the basics is a must and I strongly recommend folks take his classes (or classes by those who exhibit a similar training philosophy which is not many, but some others do exist)

Anonymous

PS: The students were almost as impressive as their teacher a no  nonsense kind of group that was competent with their rifles and eager to excel.