Student Review: Combat Patrol May 2015: ‘That Guy’

Combat Patrol 1503

I hope you will indulge me on this introspective AAR. If you want bullet points on the curriculum, feel free to read them under the class description. Special thanks to Ranger Chris for his contribution to the class and deep knowledge of cool movie quotes – and Fred for not seeing us creep up on him through that creek bed despite his wide array of technology.

If you are like me and believe defending liberty and your family is of the highest order, you can’t just talk the talk. Classes at MVT will help you walk the walk. You can learn range drills on YouTube all day long. But there’s nothing I know of that can replicate the experience of a combat environment like Combat Patrol.

Showing up Friday morning I knew a little of what to expect having taken CTT (which you must to do CP). Max isn’t there to just watch you burn enough rounds at IPSC targets to feel like you got your money’s worth. He expects you to perform. Obviously safety is reason enough but it goes beyond that. You can tell the pride in what he does is not about the money. It’s much deeper than that. Not speaking for him, but my sense is that he is driven to see students walk out of his classes truly better prepared and more effective at the things that matters most – preserving life and liberty should those things ever become in question.

Exhausted. Exhilarated. Humbled.

I can’t think of anything else you can do in life that offers those three intense feelings simultaneously. But that’s how I felt hopping off the ATV following the final exercise of Combat Patrol. I’m sure these sentiments went for many others in the class.

Combat Patrol is grueling. Why? While Max might say, “Because fuck you, that’s why.” – the reality is it has to be. If square range classes are hitting balls in a batting cage, these classes are like taking batting practice with Nolan Ryan in his prime throwing. And who wouldn’t pay $600 for three days of that!

You will be exhausted come Sunday afternoon – I don’t care what kind of shape you think you’re in. The terrain will tax your body. The amount of information will stretch your mind. The 24 hour exercise will test your heart. If you’re not at least a bit intimidated by all this at some point during the weekend, you’re either superhuman (you’re not) or in denial about reality. Combat Patrol is the closest thing civilians like you and I will ever experience to combat – short of the real thing. If you’re looking for the real deal, this is it.

But despite being physically smoked and mentally drained you can’t help but feel exhilaration at the end of it all. Covered in dirt, drenched with sweat and clutching a smoking hot weapon, you’ll be able to say “I did it”. You’ll walk (well, maybe limp ;) away with more confidence (real confidence – not ego inflating BS) than you walked in with. It’s all about breaking through your own self-imposed barriers and I can’t help but think the value of this training can extend beyond defending life and home.

Be prepared to be humbled too. You might think you’re in super shape but you’ll probably find out otherwise here. You might think you have the perfect kit but you’ll find out otherwise here. *Special note to gear whores – if you really want to find out if your setup will actually work in a real life situation (not in front of a mirror in your basement) – take this class. It will save you money in the long run. Maybe even your life.

You also might think you are “super tactical guy” because you’ve taken a few classes from some sexy-resumed instructors or maybe you can pound small groups into paper at 100 yards from a bench on a Sunday afternoon. Well, guess what? Reality – in this case combat, doesn’t care about those things. Combat Patrol will teach you what really matters. Plan. Execute. Shoot. Move. Communicate. React. Endure. Overcome.

If this all sounds more like a personal challenge than an AAR, maybe it is. You’ll have to go to WV to find out for yourself – if you have the balls.