Student Review: Combat Team Tactics April 2015: CouchSurferKyle

This was my second time attending Combat Team Tactics (CTT).  Last year I went solo and was paired up with a great guy who was the oldest in the class and me being the youngest. We later formed up with team redcoat for a great fire team.  This year I brought a friend ‘CouchsurferAaron’ for another fantastic CTT weekend.

Overall training at Max Velocity Tactical is amazing; I’ll just highlight a few points that stood out to me.

The continuous improvements Max makes to the ranges are great. I can tell he really listens during the AARs.  This year I noticed more multiple targets at different distances.  Therefore our fire team learned to communicate when a new target presented itself. i.e. calling out where that threat is located at.

The cost.  I didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth, I KNOW I got MORE than my money’s worth. After training at various local facilities I learned, I pay less, thus I receive less training.  I’ve trained at Gunsite and paid more than $200 a day and it was just good, but not great.  Training with Max is GREAT training. You can’t get more realistic team tactics training than this.  Especially when I read current serving and veterans’ AARs explaining they wish our soldiers got training like this.

The biggest difference I noticed in myself attending CTT for a second time was how much I could ‘see’.  During my first CTT, the stress, tunnel vision, and forgetfulness caused me to focus on the target, but not where my teammates are, or where cover is. This time I could see both targets, team alpha, CouchsurferAaron on my right, and look behind me for cover, all in a short amount of time. Another great benefit taking this class again was being able to lead others.  A few times I told CouchsurferAaron to push right or to move up (as I moved back) since I was in his angle of fire. Even if it was a few small commands I gave to my battle buddy, it has me primed for more leadership tasks in the future.  Combat Patrol for sure, then possibly Max’s future leadership class? We’ll see.

CouchSurferKyle