Student Review: Combat Team Tactics Nov 2015: 11Bravo

MVT Combat Team Tactics: the Second Revolution.

“Kak-kak! Kak-kak-kak-kak-kak!” The sound of rapid gun fire reverberates on the scene as you unload a fusillade of 5.56 into the last bunker. Round-after-round of 55 grain bullets punch through the plastic targets and unleash plumes of dirt upon striking the ground. When the final projectile spins out of the barrel and the ejection port spits out the last casing, the bolt on your AR-15 locks to the rear with a metallic “ka-chunk!”

“Stop!” Max yells, signaling an end to the culminating event at MVT’s Combat Team Tactics(CTT), a squad level attack on multiple objectives.

The exercise commenced fifteen minutes earlier when you and the other students formed into a support team(Echo-One) and two assault elements (Echo-Two and Echo-Three). Once on the high ground, Echo-One opened fire on the first bunker. At fifty meter intervals, the two assault elements negotiated the confines of a narrow ravine and then kneeled down into place. As the seconds dragged on, you glanced left and right, eyed the team to the front and then looked back at the rest of Echo-Three (your team).

“Shift fire!” someone yelled over the cackle of reports and Echo-One engaged a new set of targets. A second eruption of gunfire commenced when Echo-Two moved on their bunker. While the assault rages on, sweat streams down your face, your heart beats faster and a twitchy sensation takes hold in your legs. Finally, you get the order to advance.

Signaling the rest of Echo-Three to follow, you spring forward to a designated point and then crouch back down. Half of your team splits off and lays down suppressive fire on a target further ahead. Then, upon signal, you and your buddy scale the steep embankment and attack the bunker!

The course began two days prior when ten students from across the mid-west, the Atlantic seaboard and further afar fell in at the Velocity Training Center (VTC). The weapons handling skills of each attendee was as varied as their point of origin, but it didn’t matter. In just days, Max, the head instructor, along with his AI (either Lee or the 1st Sgt.) mold beginners into competent gun fighters who can operate in small units.

Not long ago, an online personality spouted off about the impracticalities of such condensed training and that it amounted to nothing more than “fantasy camp”. That clown doesn’t know what he’s talking about! Just ask any MVT alumni and they’ll tell you straight up, Max’s regimen is highly effective and another go through the course is well warranted. So, during your first attendance, make notes on everything- what went wrong, the equipment that didn’t work and the number of times you had to “un-fuck yourself”. Then, during the second revolution, employ these observations and get leaner, meaner and faster!

Day one is Combat Rifle. It’s a high-speed, low-drag training session that sets you up for the tactical ranges. Everything you do; penny drill, four mag drill, malfunction drills, facing drills and the rest of the lot prepare you how to operate efficiently and safely while over the ridge. If this is your second go, you’ve probably been hitting the range once a week in-between attendance. So, by the end of the day that rifle should become an extension of your upper body, fully calibrated with your mental reflexes and psychological acumen.

Days two and three are in the rough; two lanes of pop-up targets spaced out on a rocky slope with variances in wooded vegetation. As a training facility, it doesn’t get much better. Where else will you learn to communicate with your buddy and hone your marksmanship skills while assaulting the objective or breaking contact?

By now, you should automatically be scanning left and right during the drills. Instinctively, you should be managing the trigger reset on your rifle’s fire control group for speed and accuracy. Working your cover horizontally and vertically should be second nature too. When solid objects are sparse and all you have is the prone position, plant your rifle’s mag into the ground and tripod off of it (body flat and elbows dug in) for maximum stability.

Part of your training should be adopting a mentality of ammo conservation, for several reasons. First, you’re going to save some dough, but more importantly, during societal collapse online ammunition ordering will cease to exist. Replenishment may only come by pillaging dead bodies. So, if you can complete the drill with three to four magazines rather than five to six, do it.

Also, when you’ve fired the last round and you’re running on empty, does digging into your battle belt for a new mag take too long? If so, space two magazines with some kind of block and tape them up real good- jungle style. That way, you’ll only have to kick it over a notch to reload. Remember, the difference between life and death comes down to seconds and inches.
As a system of measurement, CTT will show you where you’re at in life regarding tactical defense.

We all know the best defense is a solid offense built on physical conditioning. Maxing out on the squat rack and the bench press is a waste of time. You need endurance; cardiovascular and muscle. Primarily, you should be concerned with getting your heart rate up three times a week for at least 60 minutes a session. Jogging ideally, but if your knees have seen better days, then hiking with a heavy pack or cycling (either stationary or road style) will suffice. You should also begin your mornings with a compliment of sit ups and press ups. After this regimen is firmly established, add two days of upper body work out with free weights or nautilus equipment. Your repetition count should be between 12-15 reps for three sets per exercise.

That said, no matter how much you train realize that fatigue is on a hold pattern the minute you walk into VTC. When you round the bend on the second tactical lane to take the final objective, it will be looking for an LZ in your legs or between your ears. Don’t slow down because “last bound” is only a few steps away. You should maintain the same aggressive demeanor throughout the drill. If thoughts like “we’re almost done” or “I’m tired” creep into your mind, flip on the “Rage Switch” and run it hard to the end!

Since you’re the guy taking the course and training everyone back home, you’ll want as much leadership experience as possible, right? When given the opportunity, take on the role as Alpha Team Leader. You’ll be the man who initiates contact and controls the advance. With the proper attention to detail, cadence of commands and skills acquired during Combat Rifle, two fire teams of two to three men each is not only manageable, but can be a well run machine pounding forward in a controlled, yet expedited manner, wreaking hell on the enemy’s position!

With social and economic uncertainties looming on the horizon, MVT’s Combat Team Tactics is a must for anyone concerned with self defense. When compared to similar 2-3 day rifle courses, the level of weapons manipulation and small unit training is unmatched. When it comes to readiness planning, those with foresight will make CTT an annual event in their life. And besides, where else can you find spiritual enlightenment in the form of a sweat soaked BDU and the smell of spent gun powder wafting through the air? Hit it!