After Action Review - Threat Assessment Tactical Solutions Intro to Force on Force

[Candyman87]

A couple months back, I found a local force on force training company. The company is Threat Assessment Tactical Solutions in Stroudsburg, PA ( https://www.tatstraining.com ) ***note that I am NOT their typical first time student, having had significant amounts of tactical training as well as some force on force training, room clearing, etc.***

They were running a Labor Day sale for 15% off a class or clinic, so with a day off and nothing better to do, I decided to venture out and give them a try. I show up about 15 minutes early and wander in to a warehouse and walk down the hallway to find Brandon, the owner hanging out on the couch. He invited me to have a seat, and as I was the only student in the 3pm Intro to Force on Force, he started asking about my training background.

As an NRA Certified instructor, he realized he could move well past the basics with me. Once I told him that I taken a bunch of tactical training from Rockwell Tactical, one of the bigger tactical training companies in the state, and that I had done some shoot house training with Tanto and Boon of Battleline Tactical, he decided that he didn't have much to teach me, from a pure training standpoint, but he would test my situational understanding.

At this point, we would be entering the shoot house, so no live firearms (that hadn't been converted to fire only UTM or Simunitions, no live ammo, and no live blades - knowing this, I had left my Glock 19 in the car as well as my Emerson CQC-7). I was checked with a wand for anything that could harm someone in a training environment, as was everyone else, and we proceeded into the shoot house.

First things first, we discussed shooting positions and that as an Air Marshall, he found that a high compressed ready was ideal for most situations that he encountered in his training. Likewise, we discuss why a low ready might not be practical. We discussed some of the training scars that I have from spending a lifetime on a square range, and that I would get over them as I progress and train more in a shoot house.

Brandon asked me where I spent most of my time in the house, and where my guns were in those places. I told him I spent the bulk of my time in the bedroom, office, kitchen, or living room. He asked if the guns were on my person or staged and I told him that I may or may not have one on my person, but I generally have a gun staged in each room that I spend much time in. So, we worked from there.

Since I carry IWB at about 3:30 (just behind the strong side hip) he asked me if I had ever shot from a seated position. I couldn't say that I had, so we drilled a few magazines drawing and firing from a seated position. The first five attempts were sitting forward to get access to the gun. The next five attempts utilized rolling towards my weak hand, pulling up my shirt in the process, and shooting single handed. Both were doable, and at the distances in my house, the rolling technique seemed more appropriate to gain the speed advantage.

Then, we moved to the bedroom. Practicing shooting from a gun placed on the night stand as I do. The first couple attempts, I couldn't find a good grip right away. Then I mentioned that these guns are staged with an empty chamber. Once I grabbed the gun and racked it, it allowed my strong hand to find a better grip without slowing me down. It actually allowed me to shoot better.

The next position was laying across the bed as if I were on my laptop or watching TV (I spend a lot of time in the bedroom due to it being one of two room with air conditioning). We ran through drills of me sitting up and grabbing the gun, shooting an intruder one handed, as well as variations where I would allow myself to fall completely on the bed before shooting (this gave me a much more stable platform). Likewise, the scenario where the gun was placed next to me required me to roll my body in such an awkward way to use it, it seemed the night stand was more logical.

At this point, we discussed room clearing techniques, and slicing the pie. Being that I had experience clearing a home in another class, he asked me to show him what I had learned. I slowly sliced the pie from right to left and he called me out when he saw me, which was well before I saw him due to my chicken wing elbow sticking out. We tried a few more positions that allowed me to stay hidden longer and utilized those as well.

At this point, he was more than comfortable with my skill set and decided to open up to force on force scenarios. He gave me a tour of the facility so I would know my way around my "home" for the scenarios, and which areas were out of play.

My first scenario involved me sitting in bed watching TV. I heard a loud boom and began to search the house. I saw an individual running through my house and followed him into the living room, and into the kitchen. At which point I noticed that he had a gun, but he had so many other things in his arms that he could not reach the gun. At this point I'm commanding him to leave my house, to "just take it and go" and I did not pull the trigger. I got a pat on the back for not shooting the invader, however, it was pointed out that at one point my gun was within an arm's reach of him, so he could have taken control of my gun. Otherwise, what I had done was suitable.

My second scenario involved me sitting in the living room. Knock on the door to a man needing to use my phone because his car broke down and his wife was in labor. I told him that I did not have a phone and he could not enter. After a couple minutes yelling through the door, he kicked it in as I put three rounds in him and he landed one center mass on me. As the instructor mentioned we both would have been dead on the floor, so it wasn't a victory for anyone. He showed me a couple opportunities I could have taken, to either a) call 9-1-1 and report that there was someone looking for medical assistance or b) to back away from the door using another wall as concealment. Both great pieces of advice.

And my third and final scenario involved me sitting at my dinner table. A former co-worker kicks in my door screaming at me for knocking up his wife. He's here looking for me, shouting, but not threatening me directly. But he's coming at me. Each time I make space, he closes. At one point I push a chair in his path and he pushes it out of the way. At the point where I'm backed into a corner, I go to pull the trigger and he reached out knocking the gun out of battery. Once he did this, one swing to the head (I was wearing a full face mask with helmet) and I was on the ground having no clue what had happened. A cease fire was called and we debriefed. I let him get way too close and I was well within my rights (at least in PA) to shoot him long before I did. Even though the threat was simulated, I hesitated when it came to taking a life, and that could have cost me mine.

Out of three scenarios, I survived once, stopped the bad guy while being killed myself, and ended up on my back without a gun the third time. THIS TWO HOUR CLASS WAS THE CULMINATION OF YEARS OF FIREARMS TRAINING, AND I HAD FAILED TO WALK AWAY 2/3 OF THE TIME.

If this isn't eye opening, I don't know what is.

Keeping in mind that there was nothing that Brandon and crew could "teach" me. I learned. I learned from my failure. I learned from hesitation. I didn't take into consideration the totality of the circumstance. But I learned. I've got a welt on my chest from getting shot. I've got a bruise on my ass from getting thrown on the ground. But, I learned.

Real life is not the place where you want to learn the hard way. A controlled environment is. And for that reason, I will be visiting Threat Assessment Tactical Solutions at least once a month for an hour or two. To run through scenarios, to practice firing from unorthodox positions within a house, and to learn to avoid the mistakes that I have already.

This has been the most eye opening two hours of my shooting career. I know I can shoot. I know the self defense laws here in my state, so I know WHEN I can shoot. And still, I failed 2/3 or the time.

Force on Force training is the pinnacle of modern defensive firearms training. If you have the opportunity to take such a class, I highly recommend it. If you're in Northeastern Pennsylvania, check out Threat Assessment Tactical Solutions and tell them Tim sent you.

But at the end of the day, train how you fight. And I assure you, you're not fighting on a square range, so why are you still training on one?

[SIGFAN86]

Awesome review. They are in my neighborhood. I'll be checking them out. Thank you

[Candyman87]

Awesome review. They are in my neighborhood. I'll be checking them out. Thank you

Happy to share. Very eye opening.

[Keith A]

Thanks for the excellent review. Like yourself, I have quite a bit of tactical shooting training myself, and have considered some force on force as the next step. I'm in the Reading area but will keep this place in mind. There are places nearer by that offer similar training, but my philosophy is to train with as many different instructors as I can.

[Candyman87]

Indeed. Every instructor is a possible new viewpoint that may see something no others did before. I’ve learned something from every instructor I’ve dealt with.