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Roundup: Texas Report, Updates & Thoughts

Texas Class Roundup

I returned this week from the third year of Texas classes. Another excellent experience. We are planning on making it an annual event (or until the ranch gets sick of all the shooting). Once organized, dates for next year (probably around mid-February for the first class) will be published.

We got some excellent video of the 2017 Texas Classes, and you can view that on the Max Velocity Tactical YouTube Page. Please consider subscribing:

MAX VELOCITY TACTICAL YOUTUBE PAGE LINK

 

MOBILE CLASSES

We have several mobile classes remaining in 2017. These are open enrollment classes and spaces are available.

Please click the link below to take you to the Mobile Class page, then click the link on the page for the specific class you are interested in:

2017 MVT MOBILE CLASSES

The individual mobile class pages will tell you specifically what classes are available / in what format, plus price, and a link for how to book.

Thoughts on Training

I see the general chatter out there on the web. The chat trends with current affairs and what people predict is the ‘most likely’ thing to need tactical training for. A couple of trends I have noticed:

  • Many have gone back to sleep due to the perceived safety of a Trump win. Foolish, but mainly the sheep type preppers anyway. Food stackers, not warriors. Tactical training is, after all, a part of your role as a warrior and protector of your tribe, and not just something you do to ‘tick’ a perceived box.
  • The thing now seems to be that some trainers are pushing concealed handgun, and that only, stating that there is no ‘Red Dawn’ event on the horizon. What, no ‘Blue Helmets’ are coming to get us? I am so disappointed! What about the 50,000 Spetznaz in that salt mine in Utah?

So, the reality is this, and I will try and condense it into a few short points:

1) We do not know what will come to pass. It makes sense to be as tactically trained as possible. When something does happen, it will not be what you expected. Prediction is pointless.

2) Tactical readiness is a progression. This is why we teach a progression of classes, from Defensive Concealed Handgun up through Combat Team Tactics, Force on Force Team Tactics and CQB, to Direct Action and even the new Combat Leader Class. This will allow you to respond along the scale of threats presented.

MVT CLASS LIST PAGE

3) More importantly than that, and not realized by many until they actually do the training and gain the experience, is the holistic benefit of a breadth of tactical training, following the progression. What do I mean by that? I will express it in some bullet points:

  • In addition to learning specific TTP’s on these classes, what they do is gain you experience which raises your awareness. When you first train, you are locked onto ‘Ivan’ (the targets) and are unable to scan. You can shoot, but you can barely move and communicate. You are living in tunnel vision. The more you train, the more you develop both ‘battle inoculation’ and also the ability to ‘pull your head out of Ivan.’ You develop awareness and peripheral vision. This then loops back into the beginning of the progression of classes, and runs through the scale of classes, as you repeat them and progress to the next. Many students report this when they return for multiple classes, such as Combat Team Tactics. Thus, if you have a concealed handgun self-defense situation, you are better prepared, than if you just took a handgun class.
  • (Note: I am not saying handgun is ‘basic,’ because you can never stop training it, but referring to the progression from flat range training to the tactical team training, both live fire and force on force, which we conduct with carbine, not handgun).
  • These tactical classes also include stress situations and decision making (as do the concealed handgun classes, just to be clear). This again loops back around into greater effectiveness in concealed carry situations. This stress / battle inoculation is vital to your training, giving you better decision making ability under stress, which is when it really counts. You can see the effect of this on some of the videos I have recently posted on YouTube (link at top of page).
  • Thus following a progression of tactical training will not only prepare you for a progression of events, and prepare you for a greater breath of possible threats, but it will improve your ability to defend yourself ‘day to day’ against current perceived threats. For any trainer to push only a limited level of tactical training, say handgun, due to a combination of predictions of threat and what classes they offer, is short sighted and detrimental to students preparations. It is comical that people focused before the election on the possibility of HRC cracking down on Liberty, and are now jumping from the frying pan into the pot of worrying about leftist riots etc. You do not know what will come, just train and be the best prepared warrior you can be.
  • Conducting so called ‘training’ and not having the physical fitness ability to back it up is pointless. There is no ‘ticking the box’ with regards to both physical conditioning and the skill fade of tactical training. There are so many out there (‘threeper’ types if you like the stereotype) who are simply living Dunning-Kruger to the max.
  • Here at MVT we cannot put you into combat. But with a mix of unrivaled live fire and force on force classes, we can get you as close as possible. You can easily reach a level of training as an unconventional light infantryman, by making the commitment to multiple return classes, equal to or superior to many who were in the military. Particularly  if they were not infantry. The UTM Force on Force classes are of immense value as a progression or complement to the live fire classes. Any who attended the recent Texas classes can attest to that (and I hope they will in comments!) Once the UTM rounds are coming back at you, it changes things and adds another level of complexity and decision making.
  • Even though team training classes are team focused on conducting SUT, the benefits as stated above loop back into your ability to operate on your own. I know many are stressed about not having a team available to help defend their family when the time comes, and when not at MVT participating in a team SUT training event. The bottom line is that team is better, but you will have more of a chance if you are fully tactically trained but on your own, with no team, than if you have no training. To put that into perspective, think about how you regard a combat veteran, who may be operating on his own. Is he more dangerous in your mind, even alone, due to his training? Probably.

To conclude, there should be no attempt at training limitation, by adjusting people’s perceptions of the ‘only’ threats they may face, and the ‘only’ type of training they need to do. Tactical training is always a progression and is never over. If all you have is multicam and no physical readiness, training to fight those Spetznaz from the Salt Mine, then you are a fool. If all you do is train for ‘clandestine’ pistol action, you are also a fool.

A progression of tactical training classes will give you the awareness and decision making ability that will stand you in better stead when you finally do face that life threatening situation, whatever it looks like. Physical fitness is what is needed to both keep the mind working while under heavy stress, and also allow the body to make good on the checks the mind is writing.

Anything less, you are living in fantasy band-camp, a victim of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

You may find some interesting thoughts on this topic in this recent Guest Post:

Guest Post: ‘So Why Would You Do Tactical Training?’ by David

Upcoming Classes at the Velocity Training Center

We have some excellent classes coming up at the VTC in Romney, WV. This includes the updated to the Combat Leader Class, new dates for CQBC, and upcoming CTT and Force on Force classes.

Please check the calendar for when classes are available:

TRAINING CALENDAR

MVT CLASS LIST PAGE

Standardized Mobile Classes

Following on from the Texas classes, here are some thoughts on how we may deal with both Texas, and other mobile classes, in the future:

We are likely to go for a standardized format for mobile classes such as Texas:

Class 1:

Combat Rifle Skills (CRS) – 2 days.

Combat Team Tactics (CTT) – 2 days.

Convoy Tactics (Mobility) (MOB) – 2 days.

This gives you the following options:

Non-Alumni: attend CRS only (2 days) or CRS with CTT (4 days) or all classes (6 days) *

*Note: CTT is a 3 day class. 1 day flat range, 2 days tactical ranges. The above arrangement includes the first flat range day into the 2 day CRS. Thus, CRS becomes a part and  prerequisite for CTT, and is the equivalent of showing up for the RS/CTT package. It makes for an excellent progression class.

Alumni: attend all classes, or jump in for CTT or CTT / MOB or just MOB.**

**Notes:

1) Alumni may choose to start on the 2 day CTT class, missing the flat range initial day, which is part of CRS now for mobile classes.

2) Alumni must have trained within 12 months to jump straight back onto a class which usually has a prerequisite. This will be taken on a case by case basis, and is not a hard and fast rule.

Class 2:

Combat Patrol / Direct Action – 4 Days. For CTT alumni only.

Force on Force Team Tactics – 1 Day*

Force on Force CQB – 1 Day*

* The force on force classes have no prerequisite. They are excellent as a follow on from the 4 day Direct Action class, making a 6 day package. They can also be attended standalone.

Below is the link to the Class List page, to research more info about the specific classes:

MVT CLASS LIST PAGE

General Info / Links:

TRAINING LOCATIONS

TRAINING CLASS LIST

TRAINING CALENDAR

HOW TO BOOK TRAINING

MOBILE TRAINING CLASSES

MVT YOUTUBE PAGE

6 responses to “Roundup: Texas Report, Updates & Thoughts”

  2. MVT focuses first and foremost on thinking and tactics. Handgun, rifle, etc are just tools. My ability to respond quickly and effectively in “tactical problem solving” has grown exponentially. This can only happen through learning, practical application and reflection.

    Also, the value of FoF training is HUGE! It’s the only way to learn from your mistakes without having to pay the ultimate price. Every time I’ve “died” there was a poignant lesson to learn. Those lessons are something that stick with you and cannot truly be instilled in you without experiencing it.

    Get out from behind your computer, exercise and into an MVT class.

  3. I’m a three year, Texas Alumni. I have gone through the progression of crawl, walk, run. This year with Max bringing Force on Force to Texas my eyes were truly opened. I’m a member of Team Cowbell and as a team we have gotten pretty good at the drills Max teaches. Going into FOF I was sure Team Cowbell would rule the day. When the rounds start coming the other way you learn really quick that you’re still learning. The situational awareness you get from moving in the woods scanning for movement that might shoot back at you is priceless.

    Working year after year you can see the progression. Look at the difference between the River Assult 2015 and Anatomy of a Team Assult Videos on YouTube. I’m in both and I can see a HUGE difference. Watch the head movement, the communication, the lack of robotic movements (so this because Max said to). It’s just more fluid.

  4. I will echo everything Justin said above… I cannot begin to describe what a huge leap forward the UTM training was! It’s a good solid smack up-side-the-head with the reality that being good at “running the drills” is NOT the same as “knowing how to apply the tactics”. You DO have to know how to do the drills well, but that’s not enough. You also have to be able to ebb and flow with the changing situation, apply the drills, and adapt them on the fly. I can’t imagine any other way to really learn that lesson, short of actual combat… and I’m pretty sure UTM hurts a lot less when you screw up!

    One more thing: Max is dead on when he said that this stuff definitely increases awareness in your everyday concealed carry world. You begin to actually perceive more of what you see in your peripheral vision, you become more aware of who’s where and what they’re doing, and you become more able to rapidly shift your mental focus back and forth to/from weapon sight to the other 99% of the world around you. All of that is an unexpected benefit which I never got from the dozen or more handgun and “carbine” courses I took from various big-name instructors.