Blog

Changes to the FoF Team Tactics and the Rifleman Challenge

I am going to make some changes to the way we run the FoF Team Tactics and also the Rifleman Challenge. The reasons for this are numbers, plain and simple – with the prerequisite of Combat Team Tactics (CTT) as the gateway to the more advanced live fire classes, the pool of CTT graduates is relatively small. CTT is an excellent class and will not change from its current evolution. It will also remain as an essential gateway to more advanced live fire classes such as Combat Patrol (CP) and the MVT Rifleman Challenge.

I also want to offer more opportunity for people to come and experience MVT and the VTC training facility, in particular those who are nervous of live fire tactical classes. The area in which we have flexibility for this is UTM force on force ammunition. The FoF Team Tactics weekends are a raging success, but of course they are best run full with 16 students, and the more frequently I run them, the quicker I run out of actively training CTT alumni who can spare the time and treasure to train that much.

This is what I am going to do:

1) The MVT Rifleman Challenge (RC) will be run every two years. The event this November will be cancelled and pushed back to a date TBD in 2017.

2) I will introduce an event that will be an ‘MVT Run n Gun.’ This will be a morning event around the hills of the VTC, including a couple of shooting stations and finishing with the shoot from the RC. This will be:

  • Open to all comers.
  • Longer than the 2-Miler, over rugged terrain, but with no pass or fail standard.
  • It will be a fun event with no weight standards.
  • There will be a competition side to it which will have weight / equipment requirements. So both a fun and a serious event.

3) We will take the live fire CQB training that we did at the end of the RC, and flip it to a UTM event the afternoon of the Run n Gun. This will be:

  • Open to all comers.
  • Be an approximate 4 hours CQB training event with some FoF added as a culmination.
  • There will be a cost for UTM ammo on top of the enrollment cost.*
  • Limited spaces due to the number of UTM bolts we have, and numbers of Cadre for training.

*Note: AR 5.56 rifles only, due to the specs on the UTM bolts/ammo.

4) FoF Team Tactics will remain as a 2 day event and will be open to all comers. This will make it interesting, as CTT alumni will go up against others with different levels of training. There is only room for rehearsal, not specific training on these classes, so non CTT grads will either sink or swim, but everyone will learn a lot. I hope that those who are not CTT graduates will get a taste to come back for the CTT class, and thus enter the live fire progression.

5) The plan will therefore be to run the Run n Gun and CQB events on the Friday, and follow it up with the standard 2 day FoF Team Tactics over the weekend.

6) FoF Team Tactics will remain an excellent class for CTT grads, and most likely a wake up for non-alumni.

Scheduling:

  • The June 25 – 26 FoF Team tactics weekend will now be open to all.
  • The October 1-2 and subsequent FoF Team Tactics will now be open to all.
  • It is likely that the first Friday Run n Gun and CQB event will be September 30, prior to the October 1-2 FoF Team Tactics.
  • It may be too soon to schedule the Run n Gun prior to the June 25 FoF Team Tactics. I will update on that when I gauge interest.

Likely questions and answers:

  • We have a limited number of UTM bolts (18 at present) so all the UTM classes will have limited sizes.
  • FoF Team Tactics is still available without doing the Friday events.
  • You can sign up for the Friday events without staying for the weekend training.
  • You can sign up for the Run N Gun only.
  • You can sign up for the CQB 4 hour event only.
  • I would prefer to give priority to those doing more of the events, but the way bookings work it will be first come first served.
  • There is no limit to the numbers coming to the Run n Gun. This is a live fire event and can be run in heats if necessary. Or a ‘fun’ and ‘serious’ run.
  • If there is sufficient interest in the Run n Gun on its own, we may run standalone Saturday or Sunday events, perhaps with some TC3 and/or Land Navigation training as voluntary add-ons. TBD.

If you are planning on any of the FoF training events, please check out the FoF page HERE and the authorized protective gear – purchase the cheap ($12) metal mesh face shield and neck protector as recommended. Wear with approved ballistic googles and either a Kevlar or bump helmet.

Event/Class costs:

  • MVT Run n Gun: $50.
  • CQB Class: $100 + $160 to $200 approx. cost for UTM ammunition (estimated: round count to be determined).**
  • FoF Team Tactics: No change: $350 class cost + $400 for UTM ammunition.**

**Note UTM ammo works out at a cost of 80 cents per round. You do not require to purchase live fire ammo and thus the training ammo cost is somewhat offset.

Max