John Ralston
03-30-2011, 01:37 PM
I have never been Military/LEO, so if this AAR doesn’t quite follow the proper format, don’t be too surprised! Also, this is my first class of this caliber, so I don’t have any other apples to compare it to. It was geared towards LEO, since they hosted it, but he didn't ignore those of us who were not. It was a really small class, and that is a shame, since a lot of people missed out on some really great instruction.
First, Jason was an excellent instructor, he is very personable, and his demeanor made the class an excellent experience. He is very intellectual in regards to what he teaches, and he backs up his techniques with his reasoning for using them. He gave helpful pointers, but wasn’t the kind of guy to admonish a student for not using the technique he had demonstrated. I definitely got the impression that Jason is out to better the shooting abilities of the students, and not make the class all about Jason Falla.
Jason shot a demo of almost every drill, so that the students could see what was expected. In addition, you get the impression that this Falla guy can shoot! He mentioned that he had to re-learn how to shoot and break all the training scars acquired during his time with the Australian Regiment. Apparently he was successful. He ran the drills against the timer, showing the class what was achievable, given the par times he had set for this class. Jason is definitely a shooter first, but his teaching style and personality really make the class successful.
The class was held at the Okanogan County (Washington State) Sheriff’s Range, and it was phenomenal. Given that the whole county has approx. 40,000 residents, the facility is a 5 Star accommodation. The target system is all done by Action Target, including 10 swinging stationary targets, 9 steel popper stands (2 poppers each) and 2 movers. The classroom had indoor plumbing, heat, a/c and was completely finished. It looked as nice as my house! The Sheriff and the Deputies did most of the work themselves and take great pride in it. This facility is much superior to the one that the Clark County, WA Sheriff’s Office had, and Clark County has more than 10x’s the population.
A couple quick notes – I took my new (200 rounds) HK P30. It functioned flawlessly, except for the dozen or so times I over rode the slide stop with my thumb on the last round. Note to self…modify your thumb position! Also, the factory sights that come on the HK are less than ideal, and they will be replaced with a set of Heinie’s shortly. Also, don't make a holster on Saturday and expect it to be perfect for your class on Monday! Was a bit sticky at times.
The only gun that choked in the class was a G19 (Gen 3). The student was on the other end of the shooting line, so I am not sure what the actual issues were, but it gave him problems for 2 days, even after a good lube and a new recoil spring/guide after day 1.
So, on to the AAR
TD1
Fundamentals… grip, sights and trigger control (we all know these of course, but Jason helped out those who needed some help applying them). We shot some 5 shot evaluation groups at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 to see where each student needed help. Once these issues were taken care of, it was on to some drills.
We ran some evals, individually against the clock, to get a baseline to work from. We did standard draw/shoot 1, draw shoot 1/reload shoot 1, etc. We ran back to 25 yards and did some kneeling and prone shooting as well.
We shot a “Compass Drill”, shooting with extremely exaggerated sight pictures to see how far off your sights could be and still hit a 7” scoring circle at 10 yards. This resulted in your “Acceptable” CQB Sight Picture. The principle being that if you can get off a shot right now, when it really counts, rather than waiting for the perfect sight picture, you can get him off balance. This gives you time to put more, well aimed, shots on target while hopefully keep him from getting shot in your direction. It is amazing how far off the sights can be and still hit the scoring circle if you hold in the center!
After this exercise, we ran his CQB Drill, shooting one “Acceptable Shot”, followed by fast follow up shots with “Fundamentals”, all within the 7” circle at 10 yards.
We worked on resetting the trigger during recoil. If I could pick Jason’s one pet peeve, it would have to be hearing “click, bang” during multiple shot strings, as the student resets the trigger after the sights have settled back on the target. To say it drives him crazy would be an understatement. I did my best to keep from getting on his nerves.
We ran a cadence drill to work on reducing split times. The simple act of counting as you fire made a huge difference in how quickly I was able to work the trigger. After seeing how fast I could actually do it with counting, I was easily able to forget counting in my head, and focus on the shooting with dramatically reduced split times. Obviously I had the ability to shoot faster splits, I just needed someone to show me how to visualize/realize it.
We had a full day, with just a short break for lunch, and then we all went out for dinner. Once it got dark, we went back to the range for some night shooting. We shot steel poppers from an Action Target System that popped up at random locations with random exposure. For dedicated low light shooting, a hand held light sucks! That is all I have, and I wasn’t very impressed. I could hit the targets, but it was a bit slow and awkward I borrowed a Surefire WML from Jason, and I was able to pound the steel easily. I think one is in my future to keep by the night stand.
After reflecting on day 1, I realized that many of my administrative tasks are not done with the kind of “purpose” that they should be. I need to be loading and press checking my weapon (amongst other things) in the same fashion every time, but I find that when I am loading up at home, I am a bit lazy with that. That’s going to change from now on.
TD2
We worked on turns – 90 degrees to the strong side, 90 degrees to the weak side and 180’s. You may have noticed that I left out stance above when discussing Fundamentals. Jason was all about efficiency of movement, so if that means you have to shoot strong side foot forward, then so be it. If you can get a shot off faster by avoiding wasted movement, then that is what needs to be done. We shot from various odd positions, and so long as there was balance in the stance, and the grip, sights and trigger were taken care of, all the hits were where they need to be. It was pretty eye opening for a guy who mostly gets to do square range stuff. I shot just as well leaning way out to the strong side (right), with my left toe barely touching, as I did when I was standing in my “standard” stance.
That of course led to some barricade work, leaning out on the strong/support foot, some kneeling and some prone work. We ran those drills out at 20 yards, shooting the 8” random poppers.
We also worked on shooting on the move. Going with the efficiency of movement principle, there was no counting steps, no shooting off of foot “X”, etc. Using the principles behind the CQB Sight Picture, you watched your sights, and squeezed the shots off when you had the 90% confidence in the sight picture. We started on an IPSC target, trying to keep the shots in the A, then we did some faster paced drills shot on stationary steel, and it was amazing to me, how well everybody shot while moving at a fairly quick pace (much faster than I thought possible to keep the hits on the steel).
After lunch, we wrapped up with some more Evals on steel. Jason painted a smaller scoring area in the upper thoracic area on the Steel Silhouettes, and that was our zone. The highlight for me was running a Bill Drill out of the holster, hitting a 1.51 first shot and splits in the 0.24-0.27 range for a total time of 2.82 seconds for six shots and having Jason shout out “Man, that was your best shooting of the class!”
I made some great improvements, and plan to implement a more rigid training regimen from now on.
I had a great time, and I am glad that I made the class. We shot 1000 rounds in 2 days (Jason prefers longer classes, so that more time can be spent on the individual drills), and there is so much to reflect on. I will definitely be pushing myself to climb the ladder, and I will definitely be taking his Advanced Pistol Course in the future.
We wrapped up with a quick assessment of Jason and Q&A and some feedback from him.
I would like to have taken his Carbine Course as well, but time and $$$ wouldn't allow that this time. Several of the students stuck around for that though and I am sure they are having a great time.
ETA - if you can get the students together, and a range to host the course, Jason will put together a Tailor Made Course, covering the info that you want to cover (this was his role when he was at Blackwater).
First, Jason was an excellent instructor, he is very personable, and his demeanor made the class an excellent experience. He is very intellectual in regards to what he teaches, and he backs up his techniques with his reasoning for using them. He gave helpful pointers, but wasn’t the kind of guy to admonish a student for not using the technique he had demonstrated. I definitely got the impression that Jason is out to better the shooting abilities of the students, and not make the class all about Jason Falla.
Jason shot a demo of almost every drill, so that the students could see what was expected. In addition, you get the impression that this Falla guy can shoot! He mentioned that he had to re-learn how to shoot and break all the training scars acquired during his time with the Australian Regiment. Apparently he was successful. He ran the drills against the timer, showing the class what was achievable, given the par times he had set for this class. Jason is definitely a shooter first, but his teaching style and personality really make the class successful.
The class was held at the Okanogan County (Washington State) Sheriff’s Range, and it was phenomenal. Given that the whole county has approx. 40,000 residents, the facility is a 5 Star accommodation. The target system is all done by Action Target, including 10 swinging stationary targets, 9 steel popper stands (2 poppers each) and 2 movers. The classroom had indoor plumbing, heat, a/c and was completely finished. It looked as nice as my house! The Sheriff and the Deputies did most of the work themselves and take great pride in it. This facility is much superior to the one that the Clark County, WA Sheriff’s Office had, and Clark County has more than 10x’s the population.
A couple quick notes – I took my new (200 rounds) HK P30. It functioned flawlessly, except for the dozen or so times I over rode the slide stop with my thumb on the last round. Note to self…modify your thumb position! Also, the factory sights that come on the HK are less than ideal, and they will be replaced with a set of Heinie’s shortly. Also, don't make a holster on Saturday and expect it to be perfect for your class on Monday! Was a bit sticky at times.
The only gun that choked in the class was a G19 (Gen 3). The student was on the other end of the shooting line, so I am not sure what the actual issues were, but it gave him problems for 2 days, even after a good lube and a new recoil spring/guide after day 1.
So, on to the AAR
TD1
Fundamentals… grip, sights and trigger control (we all know these of course, but Jason helped out those who needed some help applying them). We shot some 5 shot evaluation groups at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 to see where each student needed help. Once these issues were taken care of, it was on to some drills.
We ran some evals, individually against the clock, to get a baseline to work from. We did standard draw/shoot 1, draw shoot 1/reload shoot 1, etc. We ran back to 25 yards and did some kneeling and prone shooting as well.
We shot a “Compass Drill”, shooting with extremely exaggerated sight pictures to see how far off your sights could be and still hit a 7” scoring circle at 10 yards. This resulted in your “Acceptable” CQB Sight Picture. The principle being that if you can get off a shot right now, when it really counts, rather than waiting for the perfect sight picture, you can get him off balance. This gives you time to put more, well aimed, shots on target while hopefully keep him from getting shot in your direction. It is amazing how far off the sights can be and still hit the scoring circle if you hold in the center!
After this exercise, we ran his CQB Drill, shooting one “Acceptable Shot”, followed by fast follow up shots with “Fundamentals”, all within the 7” circle at 10 yards.
We worked on resetting the trigger during recoil. If I could pick Jason’s one pet peeve, it would have to be hearing “click, bang” during multiple shot strings, as the student resets the trigger after the sights have settled back on the target. To say it drives him crazy would be an understatement. I did my best to keep from getting on his nerves.
We ran a cadence drill to work on reducing split times. The simple act of counting as you fire made a huge difference in how quickly I was able to work the trigger. After seeing how fast I could actually do it with counting, I was easily able to forget counting in my head, and focus on the shooting with dramatically reduced split times. Obviously I had the ability to shoot faster splits, I just needed someone to show me how to visualize/realize it.
We had a full day, with just a short break for lunch, and then we all went out for dinner. Once it got dark, we went back to the range for some night shooting. We shot steel poppers from an Action Target System that popped up at random locations with random exposure. For dedicated low light shooting, a hand held light sucks! That is all I have, and I wasn’t very impressed. I could hit the targets, but it was a bit slow and awkward I borrowed a Surefire WML from Jason, and I was able to pound the steel easily. I think one is in my future to keep by the night stand.
After reflecting on day 1, I realized that many of my administrative tasks are not done with the kind of “purpose” that they should be. I need to be loading and press checking my weapon (amongst other things) in the same fashion every time, but I find that when I am loading up at home, I am a bit lazy with that. That’s going to change from now on.
TD2
We worked on turns – 90 degrees to the strong side, 90 degrees to the weak side and 180’s. You may have noticed that I left out stance above when discussing Fundamentals. Jason was all about efficiency of movement, so if that means you have to shoot strong side foot forward, then so be it. If you can get a shot off faster by avoiding wasted movement, then that is what needs to be done. We shot from various odd positions, and so long as there was balance in the stance, and the grip, sights and trigger were taken care of, all the hits were where they need to be. It was pretty eye opening for a guy who mostly gets to do square range stuff. I shot just as well leaning way out to the strong side (right), with my left toe barely touching, as I did when I was standing in my “standard” stance.
That of course led to some barricade work, leaning out on the strong/support foot, some kneeling and some prone work. We ran those drills out at 20 yards, shooting the 8” random poppers.
We also worked on shooting on the move. Going with the efficiency of movement principle, there was no counting steps, no shooting off of foot “X”, etc. Using the principles behind the CQB Sight Picture, you watched your sights, and squeezed the shots off when you had the 90% confidence in the sight picture. We started on an IPSC target, trying to keep the shots in the A, then we did some faster paced drills shot on stationary steel, and it was amazing to me, how well everybody shot while moving at a fairly quick pace (much faster than I thought possible to keep the hits on the steel).
After lunch, we wrapped up with some more Evals on steel. Jason painted a smaller scoring area in the upper thoracic area on the Steel Silhouettes, and that was our zone. The highlight for me was running a Bill Drill out of the holster, hitting a 1.51 first shot and splits in the 0.24-0.27 range for a total time of 2.82 seconds for six shots and having Jason shout out “Man, that was your best shooting of the class!”
I made some great improvements, and plan to implement a more rigid training regimen from now on.
I had a great time, and I am glad that I made the class. We shot 1000 rounds in 2 days (Jason prefers longer classes, so that more time can be spent on the individual drills), and there is so much to reflect on. I will definitely be pushing myself to climb the ladder, and I will definitely be taking his Advanced Pistol Course in the future.
We wrapped up with a quick assessment of Jason and Q&A and some feedback from him.
I would like to have taken his Carbine Course as well, but time and $$$ wouldn't allow that this time. Several of the students stuck around for that though and I am sure they are having a great time.
ETA - if you can get the students together, and a range to host the course, Jason will put together a Tailor Made Course, covering the info that you want to cover (this was his role when he was at Blackwater).