AAR: Red Zone Solutions - Practical Carbine Alpha - 23 October 2010

[bleaman225]

Red Zone Solutions LLC
Practical Carbine Alpha Course
Hollidaysburg Sportsmans Club
23 October 2010

Course Description: RZS Dynamic Carbine 1 is a “next level” course for those who have completed Basic Carbine Operator or a similar training. It is intended for those interested in furthering their skills in the defensive and practical use of the carbine.

The course will consist of a short review of relevant techniques followed by a series of drills intended to drive the shooter to perform under stress and evaluate that performance. All drills will include an accuracy component as well as elements of time and physical pressure.

Additionally, this course will cover the integrated use of the handgun as a back up to the carbine, to include the proper time and technique for transitioning to the secondary weapon.

This was my second time training with Doug and Mike. It was great to get out to the Altoona area again for some training. Class started at 9:00 am Saturday. At least I think it did, due to terrible traffic while driving from Lancaster to the Altoona area I was an hour late for the beginning of the class. They had already gone over the basics and were already downrange shooting some baseline standards when I arrived. The class consisted of local law enforcement, a pair of brothers both in the Navy, some competition shooters, a husband and wife pair and myself and others. Like I said, I was late getting there so I kind of missed the meet and greet. The weather couldn't have been better for the time of the year and daylight even hung around for us until the very end. We certainly pushed it as far as we could with available sunlight.

So I geared up and was ready for the next section of training. From the 50 yard line, we worked on mag change drills, malfunction clearance drills and accuracy drills. From there we went into a seasonally appropriate "zombie drill" which involved a timer, cardio, accuracy and of course competition between the shooters. The final drill before lunch involved transitioning from the primary weapon to the secondary weapon (or from carbine to handgun). After this point we broke for lunch. After eating way too much pizza (I'm only speaking for myself on that account), we went back out to shoot a box drill and then redo the zombie drill with tighter time constraints. Again there was transition drills and some good friendly competition. The last drill of the day involved lugging around some "precious cargo". I'm in average shape and the last drill had my blood pumper beating pretty good. This was hands down my favorite drill of the day.

Since my previous class with RZS, I have been integrating what I was shown into my range time and practice sessions and I could see that I was handling my rifle better and my shooting had also improved from the first time I came out to Altoona. Who would have guessed practice pays off... Despite the illusion of "ass-kissery", I now religiously check my chamber to verify I'm loaded everytime I gas up. Alot of the items I learned from the last class, played directly into what we were doing in the Alpha course. That's not to say I didn't learn anything. I picked up some valuable advice throughout the day. The primary thing I found myself doing was rushing my shots. Those damn timers have a way of tricking me into shooting way faster than I need to and MORE often than not, I slack on the fundamentals. I was repeatedly proving this on the first couple runs of the zombie drills when I was finishing 10+ seconds sooner than needed but throwing shots. Gotta slow down to go fast. I rarely have practiced malfunction drills in the past so I was stumbling with some a couple of the scenarios but again, it showed me where a weakness was.

Doug's instruction style and wording, really work well for me when it comes to remembering and retaining the info. Many times in the past, I have said that there are certain people who are teachers and there are people who aren't, I certainly am not one of them. Well Doug is a teacher. A damn good one too. He obviously has the experiences to know what works and he has the ability to throw it out there in a way that is easy to understand. The course of fire he sets up builds nicely from one thing to the next. Both of his courses flowed pretty well and kept my interest throughout my time on the range. I look forward to making my way out to Altoona again sometime next year. Hopefully for an intermediate course of some type. I would certainly advise anyone interested in a Red Zone Solutions class to sign up and take advantage of the opportunity when they can.