Review: HEAT 0.5 Combat Rifle Class: Bob & Mike (Father & Son)
Bob:
I attended HEAT 0.5 mid-May with my son to improve his basic carbine skills and as a refresher course for myself. This is my third MVT class having attended HEAT 1 twice.
As the first 2 days of HEAT 1, HEAT 0.5 is an excellent weapon manipulation and familiarization course that layers on skills required to advance to the tactical range. Scott is an excellent instructor providing grounded truth based on years of experience about the the selection, use, manipulation and maintenance of the AR platform with safety being paramount in everything that is done. If you are starting out on the AR platform, this is the course for you. As outlined on the website, you move from familiarization and zeroing progressing through various skills & drills to basic fire and movement drills.
The class had students with multiple skill levels which Scott elevated together to the appropriate level of proficiency for the various drills.
Whether learning the platform and the basics or preparing for additional tactical training (which I highly recommend!), HEAT 0.5 is the perfect class. As an improvement to earlier classes, the added awning system and new target holders greatly improved the experience; the awnings protecting us from the sun & the rain.
Mike:
HEAT 0.5 was a very educational and eye-opening experience for me. Before going to HEAT .5 I had taken a defensive carbine course and put at most a couple hundred rounds through the AR platform at an indoor range. HEAT o.5 taught everything that was in the defensive carbine course and then continued to go into so much more depth.
The class started off with a safety brief, and it was apparent throughout the entire class that safety was paramount. Then everyone zeroed their rifles which took some time due to some people bringing never been fired rifles or new optics, but this did not affect our instructional time. We then went over stoppages, shooting from different positions (which included using our non-dominant side), shooting on the move, and about a dozen other drills. The drills we did throughout the two-day class continuously built on each other in a layered manner. The later drills forced you to utilize the information taught in the beginning, or you simply would not be able to properly perform the drills.
Not only did I, someone relatively new to shooting with an AR, learn a lot of valuable information, but others there who were much more experienced learned and gained invaluable experience.
I thought the instructor (Scott) was excellent. He was professional and very knowledgeable in everything that was gone over. His experience in the military, knowledge of the AR platform, and other shooting courses he has attended, made me confident that what I was being taught was top quality.
Overall, HEAT 0.5 was great learning experience. I feel significantly more comfortable with the AR platform, and eager to go onto HEAT 1 in the future.
Mike
Bob and Mike just took the last two places on the HEAT 1 class in June.
Next HEAT 0.5 Class: September 7-8.