Day two of the September 2007 LMS Defense Pistol 1 course started early on Sunday to beat the Arizona heat, which had sent two students home on day one. See Day 1 for the course details.
How day two ran
- Start: a review of safety, emergency procedures and questions from day one, then a cold drill. Lectures were held in the shade of low trees while the morning allowed.
- Mental awareness: a lecture on mindset and the color code of awareness, then drills for the rest of the day leading to qualification.
- Coaching: instructor Josh Jackson tracked each student’s targets, form and performance, correcting some points for the whole class and others one on one. Every student was satisfied with their progress.
- Demonstrations: instructors used an inert training gun so no real gun was ever pointed at anyone.
Skills covered
- Wounded and unusual conditions: drawing with the support hand and making accurate hits under a time limit. These drills show how much there is to learn.
- Cover: using cover effectively means standing back from it, not hugging it the way movie actors do. Hugging cover throws you off balance and exposes more of your body when you lean out to see.
- Changing positions: prone to kneeling, standing to kneeling and so on, while keeping a shooting platform. Students could change position any safe way that was comfortable; the concept mattered, not a rigid form.
- Kneeling: one knee, the other, or both.
- Prone and supine: extra time here, since most ranges never allow it and some students had never shot from the ground. Many fights start with you suddenly on the ground. Drawing, reloading and clearing malfunctions there with the muzzle safe are skills to learn under professional instruction. Airsoft allows practice at home.
- Stages: target stands were moved out to build cover, with three stages run two or three times each under coaching.
- Combined skills: moving through four pieces of cover with targets downrange, shooting a set area on command, and detouring to cover to reload or clear a malfunction before getting back in the fight. The figure eight drill added multiple targets and movement.
Qualification
- A 50-round evaluation shot two at a time, every stage timed (the longest 12 seconds), with single and multiple targets, walking, position changes, one-handed and support-hand shooting, long range and several types of reload.
- It is not easy. A few misses means failing, and LMS does not hand out certificates as going-home presents. Some students shot it twice to improve their score.
- The two new shooters from Cavalry Arms, who started with little instruction, passed easily and outscored several of the men.
Gear lessons
- Water first: a large hydration bladder was emptied three times in one day, plus electrolyte drinks. Bring sunscreen, a wide-brim hat, sunglasses, a shemagh and over-ear electronic hearing protection.
- Ammunition: 700 rounds is the estimate, but halfway through, students were told to keep shooting until they made the required hits, so bring extra. Think of it as insurance, not a cost. Bring half on day one to save weight, and carry it loose instead of boxed for faster loading.
- Magazines: label and number every magazine so you can identify yours on the ground and track down a bad one. About 13 magazines hold roughly 150 rounds, so keep a handful of loose rounds in a pocket to top off during breaks.
- Backups: a spare gun, holster, magazine carrier, hearing protection and tools in the truck. Things break, and classes cost too much to lose to a gear failure.
- Small pouch on the line: separate full and empty magazines, a notepad, pens, batteries, a knife, gauze, gloves and a tourniquet.
Takeaways
- Practice shooting from the ground, and from behind cover without hugging it.
- Pass standards that allow only a few misses are the right kind of pressure.
- LMS classes are well worth the time and money: you leave a better shooter and a better-informed carrier.
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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