AAR - Combat Shooting and Tactics (CSAT) Tactical Rifle/Pistol Operator Course

As titled, this is an After Action Report for CSAT Tactical Rifle/Pistol Operator, a two-day course held in Nacogdoches, TX at the CSAT facility, 03/13-03/14, 2021.

Overview:
The course was run as split effort days: Saturday was pistol work, Sunday was rifle work. Minimum equipment requirements were not difficult to meet, and students were encouraged to run the gear they have. Advertised ammunition requirement was 600 rounds each, rifle/pistol. Actual consumption was roughly 400 pistol, roughly 300 rifle. I ran my carry gun - a Glock 19/Holosun 508T/Streamlight TLR-7A out of a KSG Armory Doulos Light-Bearing holster AIWB with KSG Armory spare mag holster - during pistol day. For rifle day I converted to my full battle rattle including plate carrier, belt, helmet with comms, etc. The class appeared to be split roughly 50% LEO and 50% others. Most students on pistol day were running from open-top, unconcealed holsters or LEO-standard retention holsters. One other student was running AIWB.

Pistol Day:
Paul built us from the ground up in his system of pistol marksmanship. I won't drop all of his sauce here an in AAR, but rather recommend you train with him or grab a copy of his book The CSAT Way, my copy of which he was graciously willing to sign while I was there. We started with simple drills, challenging the application of the fundamentals on slow-fire accuracy work. Through the morning and afternoon blocks, we worked through increasingly complex skills combining accuracy, speed, and holster work. Paul actually had a whole cohort of Tactical Rifle/Pistol Instructor Candidates present working us as AI's and coaching on the line. The range was run cold, was kept organized, and was excellently coordinated. All instructions were clear, all tasks were achievable, and constructive feedback was given by Paul and his AI's. Most marksmanship occurred at the 7 yard line, some longer distance work was done at 25yds. Barrier work and tactical movements were also covered.

Rifle Day:
Sunday was rifle day. Most students were running AR platform variants. I was running my Sons of Liberty Gunworks 13.7" w/NOX burning the steel-cased Wolf-Polyformance .223 55gr I happened to have. One or two students and/or instructors had AK variants. Rifle day began with zero confirmations. Unfortunately I did myself no favors by making some opposing adjustments, but eventually we got it. We then did standing-to-prone strings of fire at 100yds to work on functional accuracy prone, and holds using Paul's method of combat zeroing. We then split into a few different groups and rotated through stations which included long distance work at 100, 140, 200, 300, 400, and 500 yards, barrier work at 75 yards from steel plates, kneeling position shooting, and 7yd CQB-distance marksmanship and speed work. We concluded for the morning at that point, and, accounting for incoming weather, we met in the classroom to talk generalized philosophy, tactics, and cover any remaining questions.

Impressions:
Paul is a highly-knowledgeable shooter and tactician with real-world combat experience. He's a well-respected heavy-hitter for a reason. His range is clean and well-maintained. His AI's were coordinated and all aspects of the conduct of this course were professional in quality. Round consumption may have varied some between shooters but was well below the advertised counts which I consider a win, especially given the current situation. His explanations were direct, always answered the "why," and his ground-up approach made his methods easy to understand and attempt to follow.

Overall, I would recommend this course for anyone who wants a solid 1-day pistol workout and 1-day rifle workout. If you've trained with a variety of other heavy-hitter instructors, you may find that some of Paul's methods are different from a number of relatively cohesive themes you've found repeated by other instructors. My approach is always to give every instructor their due and use their sauce to the best of my ability while in their courses. It's up to me to combine the best aspect in everyone's sauce to make my own later on, but there's no point in listening to Paul then doing my own thing instead. In that sense, this course could be beneficial to anyone, regardless of skill level. That fully acknowledged, if you are a regular USPSA competitor knocking on B-class or higher, or someone like me on the edge of Jedi's Black Belt standards, a Gabe White Turbo Pin, etc, this course is not going to press you to that kind of performance. For a skilled shooter clearing 7yd/1 shot drills less than 1.5s from concealment or clearing pistol No Fail drills, I might recommend considering one of Paul's AIT or CQB courses over this - both of which I would like to eventually attend. If you want a pistol workout and are new to rifle, then this course may also be for you. I hadn't really worked a rifle since I finished my enlistment, to getting back out to stretching 5.56/.223 to 500 yards was a great experience. This course would certainly be absolutely excellent for a newer shooter who wants to establish a strong fundamental system of marksmanship and weapon manipulations with his or her primary pistol and rifle.

Course tuition was $600, which makes this among the most expensive 2-day courses I have attended, but I believe it to be a reasonable value to learn from Paul on his excellent facilities, and join in the few who are, like me, thrilled to be CSAT alumni.

-The Tacticallopath