By LawdogX

This was one of the most enjoyable and practical classes I have taken. To start with, Southern Exposure is a pleasure to train at. The facility is top-notch, the instructors are the best in the business (like Kyle Lamb, Pat Rogers, and Randy Cain), and the support is outstanding. Still, one of the most valuable things that Southern Exposure offers is behind the scenes, and that is the vetting of students performed by Irv, who runs http://www.southernexposuretraining.com/. This assures that every student is safe, sane, and appropriately proficient for the given class, which allows classes to move at the pace the instructor intended (rather than having to babysit one student at the expense of all the others). There is a good reason why people travel from all over the country to train there!

This class involved shooting in, around, under, through, and out of cars (although the principles learned would apply to any cover or concealment). It is a logical next step from Kyle’s carbine 1.5 and pistol 1.5 classes. The best way to describe this class would be that it was a “Mr. Miyagi” experience. In earlier classes we learned positions that I used to think of as “funky,” and shot through “oddly positioned” cut-outs in VTAC barricades. Those classes were the wax-on/wax-off, paint-the-fence part. I enjoyed it all, but under-estimated how important and utile it all was. Streetfighter ties it all together, and shows how all those positions are tools in the toolbox to solve problems while making use of whatever cover or concealment is available. It really was an eye-opener. In 24 hours of instruction, we spent an hour zeroing, and would never again be in a standard, static position.

The class involved about 80% carbine and 20% pistol. I ran a 14.5” Daniel Defense carbine assembled by Boresight Solutions, and a Glock 19, also worked on by Boresight Solutions. Both ran flawlessly. At one point, Kyle commented on how there were zero weapons related issues in the class, and how he usually sees at least a few – even in his .mil classes. He joked that it must be because Ben worked his magic on everything, and half the class chimed in that they were indeed running Boresight guns.

Take-aways:

1. I have been running Aimpoint T-1’s for years now and have found them to be supremely reliable. As a consequence, I have moved to shaved FSB’s and either folding BUIS or, for training rifles, occasionally no BUIS – and have yet to have a T-1 crap out. And, when able to get a cheek-weld and a shoulder behind the weapon (read ANY conventional position), I see the dot 100% of the time. The problem I encountered in this class was that the positions that allowed the best use of cover did not allow one to get a shoulder/face on the rifle, and I found myself searching for the dot … a lot … and often at a significant time penalty. The sights provided a real frame of reference to assist in getting the dot back. I’ve done this frequently with my RMR equipped pistol, but this is the first time I had real problems finding the dot on a T-1 equipped rifle.

2. Many of the positions that allowed us to get the “smallest” involved shooting with the rifle 90 degrees on its side. Problem one was getting the dot with the rifle “in space”; problem two was figuring out the new point of impact. It was explained several ways, but the easiest way for me to think about it was this: Up close, your offset should always have you aiming in the direction of the optic (i.e. if the rifle is on its side with the optic to the left, you aim to the left); at distance, you hold high and in the direction of the magazine. It took a good bit of getting used to but worked well once I got the hang of it.

3. The use of a sling was another eye-opener. Kyle advocates no sling in the vehicle, and slinging up once behind cover (in case you have to transition, drag a buddy, whatever). He also taught various methods to “keep” the sling so it doesn’t snag on stuff in a vehicle, and several methods for slinging up when operating with one hand. Since most of the drills involved shooting from both sides of the vehicle (meaning we would be transitioning to some type of support-side position), I found a VERY loose sling worn like a necklace to work best for me, and then got my arm back through it before moving. Away from vehicles, Kyle advocates wearing the sling like a necklace for CQB and over the shoulder/under the arm otherwise. I ran a BFG/Vickers padded sling. Several of the positions we were taught would have really benefited from a sling that I could have cinched up a bit more, like the VTAC sling.

4. For shooting around cover from kneeling, Kyle teaches keeping the leading knee (the knee closest to the edge of cover) up. This was counter-intuitive to me – and apparently to others, as Kyle frequently had to yell “knees!” when a student shot from around cover with the leading knee down (he even has a T-shirt with the VTAC barricade and the word KNEES! on top). He explained in some detail the utility of this and it is pretty convincing (stability, speed of movement, utility in a team setting, etc.).

Thanks to Kyle, Chili, Irv, Watfa, and my fellow students for a great class!

After Action Review by “JEHalloranIV” and “BillPete” who attended the class and were partnered for the course.

EAG conducted a Shoot House/ Combat Life Saver Course at the Alliance, OH Police Department facility from 10 to 13 April, 2013.
This is the first of four EAG Shoot House classes scheduled to take place in Alliance this year.

This AAR will be in the Issue, Discussion, Recommendation format…but we’ll discuss gear first:
Reviewer J’s Kit:

- Head:
MSA high cut helmet w/ MSA rails, Sordin Comtac II ear protection, Oakley M2 eye protection.

- Body:
o LBT 6094 plate carrier with various and assorted ATS Tactical/Blue Force Gear/GAG/Emdom/First Spear pouches…AND the First Spear 6/12 tubes cummerbund conversion…makes this armor perfect. Armor consisted of Ceradyne LVL IV triple curves with CAT backers
o VTAC BROKOS battle belt w/ ATS cobra riggers inner belt, Safariland holster for pistol, Eagle/Emdom/EAG pouches
o RFI ACS shirt, Crye G3 combat pants, old ass Oakley assault boots…(wear gear you’ve used and are comfortable with)…(oh, and buy once Crye once)
o Various layers of SPEAR gear silkies, PCU jacket, black fleece, etc, etc…the ability to adjust up and down depending on the WX and the level at which you are jocked up is exceedingly important…yeah it was rainy and crappy some days, but I was never uncomfortable.

- Blasters:
o My name is Joe and I own a Bushmaster…although the only thing that’s Bushmaster on there is the roll mark on the lower receiver. This is the same gun I’ve run in every one of EAG’s classes, and has been boringly reliable. I run it with the standard set up of Aimpoint T1 in Larue mount, PEQ, Daniel Defense rifle length rail, and the new addition is the Surefire Fury in Larue Tactical mount. [editor’s note: JEH’s rifle is fairly old, from the days when Colts were impossible to come by and BCM wasn’t making rifles yet]
o Glock 17 w/ Surefire X300U. Bring a pistol that works and hang a shitload of light off it.

Bill’s Kit:

- Head:
o MSA high cut helmet w/ MSA rails, Peltor ear protection, Oakley eye protection

- Body:
o Crye JPC plate carrier with various Blue Force Gear and EGL pouches.
o ATS Tactical Warbelt with Safariland holster, EAG Dump pouch and various Blue Force Gear and Tactical Tailor pouches.
o Crye, USGI and SKD uniform clothing. All worked well.
o Like J, B had various levels of snivel gear available which included PCU Level 5 Jacket, USGI Black fleece, neck gaiter, Outdoor Research beanie.

- Blasters:
o BCM Kino upper on a Stag Arms lower. Aimpoint T-1 red dot sight, DBAL laser, Surefire Fury, Gemtech HALO suppressor. Doesn’t get any easier than this. Many people asked about the silicon sleeve on my HALO, and it is from US Tactical Supply. Well worth it, as there was one time I had to transition to the pistol after emptying the rifle (there were that many threats—not to mention my shooting) and I could feel the heat from the can, but it was not a burning sensation as the sleeve did its job.
o Pistol was a Glock 17 borrowed from Joe. No issues.

AAR POINTS:

Issue: Visible lasers

Discussion: Bottom line is they work…when you need to point something out to your partner, cut through obscurants (think: smoke, even just from firing indoors) and stick a laser dot on a target you can’t get a good look at, talk friendlies in from hall/outside to where you are, they work. Proper boresighting and zeroing is key, but once set up, they proved valuable in prosecuting targets.
Recommendation: If you can get your meat hooks on one, get one. DBAL is readily available (but spendy) and the Insight CIVL should hit the streets soon (???…maybe) at a somewhat affordable price (or so the interweb tells us).

Issue: Communication

Discussion: Bill and I chattered at each other like monkeys last year, fixed it, and sustained clear/concise communication this year. Oddly enough, we were able to pass that along to some other teams. The key point here is COMMUNICATING…not talking. Is it critical to say what you are about to say? Can you handle the issue yourself? If so…go fucking do it. If not, get your partners attention, communicate what you or he/she needs to do…then fucking execute. Stop talking about the color of the door, the fabric of the drapes, etc.…that’s talking. Communicate.
Also, communications also assists with the other function that is important—breathing. You have to breathe to talk, and even simple communications ensures you won’t vapor lock.
Recommendation: Be brief, be brilliant and be gone.

Issue: BREATHE

Discussion: Breathing is essential to life; that whole oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange is kinda cool. Tied to the above, if you’re communicating to your partner…you’re also breathing. Bill and I would work a door/shape, process what needed processing, move to the next portal take a DEEP breath, then punch in. It seemed to work.
Recommendation: Um…breathe…

Issue: Shapes VS. Furniture/hallways

Discussion: Chappy (one of the instructors) blasted us with this on Training Day 2…and while it seems like a blinding flash of the obvious, man does that shit work. Life exists in a couple simple shapes; the L, the T, the 4 way…when you start processing the angles and shapes in that context, the paisley pattern on the sofa and the cool wicker cabinet goes away. When you process the shape and the problem associated with it, you’re much more effective.
Recommendation: I’m taking this and putting it in my lexicon, recommend you do too.

Issue: Look For Work

Discussion: Working with two man team means there are only two of you (duh). What this means is that one of you may blow through the portal, dig your corner and get sucked in to working an unknown…leaving the rest of the room for your partner. Work the problem from big, to medium, to small. You or your partner may get pulled immediately to small (working an unknown), so the other team dude has to work all three pieces.
Recommendation: Determine what else needs doing and FUCKING DO IT.

Issue: Change your aspect angle

Discussion: We ended up engaging down the long hall a couple times, and we had some shoot/no shoot scenarios where standing squared to the target didn’t/wouldn’t work. Take a quick knee (as in drop straight down), reacquire, and engage…making all of the appropriate monkey noises when coming off the deck (standing/stand).
Recommendation: Don’t get stuck in the standing position.

Issue: Speed

Discussion: A couple times during some earlier runs in the house, we seemed to be running through the house…as in, two of the instructors said: “if I gotta run to catch up to you one more time, I’m going to kneecap you” (or words to that effect). Speed is OK as long as you maintain control, if you lose control while moving with a loaded weapon in close proximity to other humans and you may have an issue that cannot be recovered from.
Recommendation: Run at about 85% of your headlight beams (on high beam). This maintains some wiggle room and doesn’t let you get WAY out in front and back in the dark.

Issue: Light

Discussion: Your light is an illumination tool, not an aiming tool.
Recommendation: Use that cool thing that you paid about $600 bucks for…it’s bolted to the top of your receiver, and probably sounds like Aimpoint. Don’t forget your sight’s offset either.

Issue: CLS/TCCC

Discussion: Again, great training from Doc Spears, coming to this course and getting re-validated in all things CLS/TCCC is great for me.
Recommendation: Maintain this training, incorporate skills drills into personal, department/agency, or unit training, and stay current via www.health.mil . A small recommendation would be to include the rib/tissue work into the final live fire evaluation… it would add stress and ensure retention of technique.

Issue: Teamwork

Discussion: While Joe and I had the distinct advantage to work on the same team again this year, I watched others go into the house, shooting live rounds, after only working with their teammate for just a few hours. It is certainly a challenge, but can also replicate real life scenarios (1st two responders on the scene of an active shooter). If you know someone else going to the course, whether in real life or just on the internet forums, at least start talking before the course and have an idea of how the other person thinks, communicates, etc.
Recommendation: Attempt to socialize with as many course attendees prior to the course as possible.

Issue: Use of available time

Discussion: Oftentimes, due to the late hours in the house, the official start time would not be until late morning. However, since we are all Type A personalities, many would show up several hours ahead of time to rehearse, recon, prep the range and BS. Someone a lot smarter than me once said that “time spent in reconnaissance is time well spent” and the same thing that can be said for rehearsals. That was free time available to the students, at no cost (we had already paid for everything) and instructors were available to assist teams. Take advantage of those opportunities and fine tune your TTPs, etc.
Recommendation: Maximize the use of available time.

Issue: Reduction of overall costs of the courses

Discussion: As well all know well, the cost of EVERYTHING is going up: travel, gas, lodging, ammo, etc. I know for me, traveling to the course via air, taking leave, etc, puts the overall cost of the courses near $4k without getting creative. So how can you make the most of your training? Take advantage of incentives out there available to consumers. I am fortunate (or not) to travel a bit in my job. I try hard to fly on the same airline and stay in the same hotel as much as possible. As a USAA member, I also use their Eagle Rewards Card, which gives a mile for every dollar spent. Between the USAA card and my Holiday Rewards program, I was able to fly round trip from Helena, MT to Akron, OH for less than $150 (with no baggage fees) and J and I each paid $250 for 9 nights of lodging. Cannot complain too much about that. It does take time, and some opportunity to get to those levels, but every little bit helps.
Recommendation: Take advantage of consumer rewards to help offset some costs of training.

Finally, we did have a 40watt moment near the end of the course: Listen, Process, Practice, and Apply.

Listen: to the instruction, the directions, the situation, and AAR. There are things in their called “clues” which can help you better solve the problems that you will face.
Process: the information. Put it into a language you understand. Don’t get defensive in the AAR. Things are said for a reason.
Practice: what you have processed. Can it work on the next iteration? Physically rehearse if possible. If not, talk with your teammate about the upcoming event. When time is short, focus on the actions on the objective and key events.
Apply: what you have learned. As American military members, we often talk about “lessons learned”. At a JCAS Symposium a couple of years ago, an American officer was speaking about lessons learned from an OEF rotation, and a British officer commented along the lines of “you Americans are always talking about lessons learned. They are actually lessons OBSERVED, until you don’t do it again. Then it is learned”. Very valid in my opinion.

Special thanks to the industry pros that showered the class with knowledge and stuff…Team Trijicon , 11-10 (Bill), Raven Concealment and brother Greg Peters of Peters Holsters. It was great to meet/see everybody, the fact that you come out and drop knowledge is pretty damn cool.

Take a deep breath, and ratchet it back about 10%; the fight starts on the other side of that door…