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View Full Version : Practical Firearms Training Defensive Handgun 1 AAR, Sept 14 Alderson WV



MikeyC
08-18-2011, 03:35 PM
This weekend of Sept. 14th I completed the Practical Firearms Training Defensive Handgun I class. The class was located at their Alder, West Virginia facility not far from the state fairgrounds. Pat Goodale instructs the class as the lead through the entire day, and uses additional instructors for the live fire portions that require closer management, and instruction. The class is broke up into 3 roughly 3 hour segments, Lecture, Technical, and Tactical portions. Pat leads the class through the entirety of the day, and uses additional instructors as needed for some of the more intensive segments that required more personal instruction.

The first segment of the course is class room lecture, and instruction. This portion of class covers the bare basics of how handguns operate, safe handling, and operation of handguns. This segment is a very stripped down style with minimal use of visual aids, except for the handout passed out at the beginning of class. Also included in this portion are some guidelines for the use of deadly force, and some scenarios demonstrating why the choice to use force isn’t always a winning situation, even if sometimes it’s the only rational choice. Pat makes this portion of the class flow seemingly quickly and painlessly, without missing a detail. Also covered during the section is some of the theory and reasoning for why certain methods are taught or preferred. This portion of the class is strictly “cold” with student instructed from the beginning to leave all guns and ammo in their personal vehicles.

The second section of the class is dedicated to technical shooting. Students are taken on the range, a review was covered again on how to handle a handgun safely, and begin training with their handguns. Students first practice dry firing their handguns to learn their triggers. After some practice dry firing the students then move to the live fire portion first with aimed fire, then firing from retention, then drawing and firing. For this portion of the class a cardboard USPSA silhouette target is used. Targets are engaged from distances between 1 and 7 yds. From this point on it is understood that students know how to handle their handguns, and only draw from their holster to fire when instructed. The range is now, and remains hot for the rest of the course. Students needing to unholster their guns for any other reason are to address and instructor for additional direction. Through out this portion of the class Pat and his instructors move behind the students offering pointers and correction for things such as stance, grip, trigger control, etc.

The third and final portion of the class is the Tactical, or dynamic portion of the class. With the emphasis taken off of bulls eye shooting and now hitting the target student now being engaging ¼ size steel silhouette targets. The instruction goes from being X shots at the target to X HITS on the target. Students cover shooting and reloading while moving. They also cover shooting from behind multiple kinds of cover. During this portion of the course instructors remain close by at hand to ensure the safety of the class and to provide pointers and assistance as needed. During the final exercise of the day students engage multiple targets while inside and outside a stationary vehicle at engagement distances of up to 25 yds.

There are a number of things I felt made this class different from other courses I have encountered, and participated in. The class presents and intense, but not threatening pace, and some of the individual instruction I received gave me my first “light bulb” moment in regard to how I handle my handgun. The instructional staff also demonstrates as extremely high dedication to customer service as the day progresses. I will certainly return to attend more PFT classes in the future.