After Action.net took the LMS Defense Pistol 1 course in September 2007 at the Gila River Indian Community police range, south of Phoenix near Casa Grande. The range is not open to the public; LMS had a special arrangement with the tribal police department for the weekend.
Course overview
- School: LMS Defense (Last Man Standing)
- Instructor: Josh Jackson, a Northern California patrol officer and K-9 handler and a California POST-certified firearms instructor with more than a decade in law enforcement
- Support: Cavalry Arms staff, who provided shade canopies, target stands and extra range officers
- Students: 12, including two police officers, a gun shop employee, two new shooters from Cavalry Arms, near-beginners and dedicated training regulars
- Round count: about 700
- Curriculum: weapon manipulation, marksmanship fundamentals, combat stress management, movement, use of cover, unusual positions, ground fighting, concealed carry tactics and self-training tools
How day one ran
- Start: welcome, paperwork, safety, first aid and emergency plans, and the goals for the weekend, then simple drills to learn range commands and basic technique.
- Talk, then do: a short lecture, a demonstration if needed, questions, then the line. Each round of drills added a layer: safe draw, ready positions, sight picture, trigger control, then movement.
- Head shots: why to train for them, then drills to practice them.
- Malfunctions: assessment and reaction drilled until they start to become reflex.
- Draw, move, fire, assess: the full sequence at real speed. By day’s end, new and experienced shooters alike were shooting better than in the morning.
- Movement drills: run with fewer students at a time while the rest watched, drank water and loaded magazines.
- Heat: shade canopies, moved downrange during the day, made a huge difference until afternoon clouds rolled in.
Cognitive targets
- Targets printed with shapes, colors and numbers look like a nursery school poster but are hard to shoot under time pressure with unknown commands such as “two into each red target, reload, two more” or “two into #2, three into #3, reload, four into #4.” They are an excellent way to induce and measure stress.
Observations
- The class moved fast but left nobody behind, and nobody looked bored.
- Instructors watched every drill, not hovering to pounce on mistakes, but guiding each student at their own pace.
- Watching other students run a drill teaches almost as much as running it yourself, so repeating a Pistol 1 class still pays off: things change, people forget, and details get missed.
- Cavalry Arms’s target stands, made of metal, cardboard and wood and assembled with a staple gun, made target changes about as smooth as they get.
Takeaways
- Even experienced shooters benefit from repeating a foundational class.
- Cognitive targets are an easy way to add stress to practice.
- Continue with Day 2.
Originally published on After Action.net on September 17, 2007. Rebuilt from the archived report; the original photos were not preserved. See every class in the Training Log, or share your own training experience.
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