After Action.net sat in on the Tactical Response Fighting Pistol course in Casa Grande, Arizona, on August 31 and September 1, 2006. The root word of gunfight is fight, not gun, and this class teaches mindset and tactics over gear and marksmanship.
Course overview
- School: Tactical Response, based in Camden, Tennessee
- Lead instructor: Shay VanVlymen, vice president of Tactical Response, an NRA pistol instructor certified to teach Tennessee carry classes, with Yancey Harrington assisting
- Location: Casa Grande Police Department range, next to the public Elzy Pearson Shooting Range
- Length: Two days, about 15 to 16 hours, roughly 40 percent lecture
- Round count: 750 minimum; 1,000 was realistic
- Cost at the time: $400, about $25 per hour
- Students: software engineers to police officers
Day one
- Safety plan: before any shooting, the class appointed emergency drivers (two Casa Grande officers) and an EMT as the medical lead.
- Heat: 98 degrees at the 9 a.m. start, with extra breaks used for water, questions and one-on-one coaching on topics such as revolvers versus pistols and carry versus duty guns.
- The draw: a three-step draw, then movement added immediately. On a malfunction or empty magazine, students moved to become a harder target.
- Dummy rounds: placed randomly in every magazine, so malfunctions could come at any time. By the end, clearing them happened with almost no hesitation.
- Positions: standing, kneeling, sitting and on the back, as if knocked down. Drawing and clearing malfunctions on your back without sweeping your own leg is harder than it sounds.
- One-handed: strong hand only, support hand only, and a concealed ready position.
- Economy of motion: speed comes from efficient movement drilled until it becomes reflex.
Day two
- Mindset first: a lecture on mindset as the most important part of fighting, avoiding a gunfight, awareness, use of force and legal issues.
- Advanced drills: walking and firing one-handed and support-hand, moving to and behind cover while shooting (run two at a time, one on one with an instructor), and close-in retention and protected retention positions.
Observations
- Moves that were awkward on the first morning were smooth and fast by the end of day two.
- With 1,000 rounds to load, dumping boxes into a pile and grabbing handfuls is much faster.
- Two days is not the end of training; the drills have to be practiced until they become habit.
Takeaways
- Fighting Pistol is a strong first defensive handgun class and a good continuing-education class.
- Load random dummy rounds in your own practice magazines.
- Pair it with Force on Force, taken the same week.
Originally published on After Action.net on September 4, 2006. 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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