Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: AAR Tom Givens's Combative Pistol II, 29 & 30 March 2014

  1. #1
    Member Al T.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Columbia SC

    AAR Tom Givens's Combative Pistol II, 29 & 30 March 2014

    After Action Review:

    Combative Pistol II

    Florence SC, March 29 & 30 2014

    Saturday morning in Florence SC, at a private range, the temperature was about 55 degrees and raining off and on. Eighteen folks who wanted to improve their marksmanship, manipulation and tactics were assembled to be trained by Tom Givens and his wife, Lynn. The first hour was filled with the usual filling out of paperwork while Tom explained what he was going to put us through.

    BLUF (bottom line up front) – this was a fast paced, constantly evaluated series of exercises graduated to both push the student and to help the student “eat the elephant” one bite at a time.

    In Tom’s usual forthright manner, he explained what he saw as consistent weak spots when working with students and promised a series of exercises to embed new skills, reinforce others and test what was taught. As I experienced in 2012 (Combative Pistol I, IIRC), I was not disappointed.

    In Tom’s initial lecture, he pointed out that the critical events for accurately firing a handgun in defense of self and others are sight alignment and trigger control, with most emphasis on trigger control. While stance, grip and sight picture are important, they are fairly easy skills to acquire. Tom’s emphasis for our training would be sight alignment and trigger control.

    Stacked right after sight alignment and trigger control was follow through. Once the shot is triggered, follow through becomes essential to stay in the fight as nobody knows when the fight is truly over. Did the first shot work or do we need to keep delivering rapid shots till the threat ceases? Several times students in the class fired the directed number of shots, got the hits and then promptly took themselves out of the fight by retracting or redirecting their pistols to an inappropriate position. In simple math, if you fire two shots get a third sight picture, five shots, get a sixth sight picture, etc., etc.

    Once the classroom portion was over (about an hour), if was off to the firing line where we pretty much stayed for the rest of the weekend.
    The initial conditions were wet and a bit muddy. Over the course of the weekend, the rain ceased and by Sunday, it was clear and in the mid 60’s. While the muddy conditions generated lots of reloads with retention that first morning, overall the weather was very nice and Sunday’s sunshine generated lots of sunburned folks.

    Pro Tip – your drawstroke is your drawstroke and should be as fast as possible, regardless if your target is 2 feet away or 20 yards away. Getting into the (bad) habit of adjusting your speed of presentation to the targets distance eats up your time for no good reason.

    As the first series of exercises commenced, Tom was constantly up and down the line to evaluate the overall tenor of the students. While individual adjustments were made, Tom was not shy about taking a pause and going over his recommended techniques when he observed folks doing something different or a specific technique poorly. While each student was supposed to be prepared for a high level course, several folks initially struggled. These folks got individual attention and progressed nicely. My two line neighbors initially struggled and then with some coaching by Lynn, really came into their own. By mid-day Sunday, both were hitting hard and fast and maintaining Tom’s 100% accuracy standards.

    Pro Tip – Tom has a unique view of the reloading process. In his studies of both his ever increasing number of student shootings (64 to date, IIRC) and FBI/DEA statistics, the “reload with retention” seems far, far down the list of training priorities. Tom’s technique is to secure a loaded magazine, bring the loaded magazine up to the gun, jettison the depleted magazine and promptly ensure that the fresh magazine is locked in the magazine well. Elapsed time that the pistol is empty was generally less that a split second.

    By Saturday late afternoon, the class was clicking along nicely as folks got to chit-chatting among themselves during the breaks and everyone got up to speed on the firing line.

    Again, there was an ebb and flow to the drills, the quick breaks and Tom’s impromptu lectures (“Step into my office”). As we progressed, new skills were emphasized, time limits decreased or distances increased. There were only a couple of instances where we adjourned to the classroom over the weekend and that was mainly to let Tom use video in order to drive home a point or two.

    In past AARs, I’ve attempted to describe the various drills that Tom orchestrates, but I’m not going to do that this time. I’m concerned that I may not accurately describe the drill and that might lead to someone training to a false standard. Tom has (as you would expect) a plethora of drills, modified drills and historical drills all attributed to who ever invented said drill. The old phrase “drinking from a fire hose” applied in spades.

    100% accuracy was the expected standard for every drill. As Tom frequently pointed out, the first shot is the critical one and that missing shots eats up available time. He had several drills that emphasized that some shots have to be delivered quickly, some carefully and some precisely. So who determines the accuracy standard needed? Why the bad guy of course! If he’s close, it may require quickly, if he’s behind cover, it may be precisely.

    Pro Tip – having plenty of magazines and an ability to carry extra ammo pays dividends. Instead of constantly jamming magazines, one can hydrate, chit-chat, relax or do whatever keeps you firmly in the “receive” mode for class.

    Tom runs a hot range. This is not a match where you unload and show clear after a stage, instead it’s once you load up, ammunition management is your concern for the next 15 hours of class. I have a portable tool chest that holds spare ammo, magazines, snacks and water. On my person I had one magazine pouch, usually three loaded magazines in my hip pocket and extra ammo in a cargo pocket. Only rarely did I have to jam magazines on the line. Others were not so fortunate.
    One thing I greatly appreciated was Tom’s emphasis on drills that used minimal ammunition expenditures. That is a reflection of the current ammo shortage and he had several drills that used a minimal number of shots fired for maximum training value.

    Pro Tip – when stapling up damp (or soon to be damp) targets, folding down the upper corners (to double thickness) really seemed to help.

    Sunday afternoon, it actually became quite sunny and thermal gain an issue. As Tom’s drills gained complexity and incorporated movement, it became obvious that the class was tracking right along. Despite the flip-flop in weather, folks shot faster, reloaded quicker and really seemed to get the hang of things. Sadly, the day drew to a close and we went into Tom’s culmination exercise.

    As I’ve previously noted, times were decreased, distances increased and targets reduced in order to maintain the pace. Sunday afternoon, Tom added a new twist for some, in that each shooter was individually tested in front of their peers. The culmination exercise tested every skill covered with a surprisingly small amount of ammo expended. I’m happy to note that I passed with a decent time, while others who did not initially pass were re-tested.

    I’ve not mentioned much about equipment as there was nothing much to mention. I ran a Glock 19 in a Blade-Tech holster with zero issues and observed most of my fellow shooters had about the same. Two Deputies ran 1911s in their duty gear and two guys ran HKs, one a P30 and a USP, IIRC. As opposed to the 2012 class, we didn’t have any handguns go down hard or any mystery failures. Round count for me was about 950 rounds down range.

    Hope this gives folks some idea on what to expect from a class and Tom’s class in particular. One thing I noted was that Tom had changed some TTPs based on his research and feedback since my last class with him. The ability of an instructor to change as new information becomes available is a hallmark of someone I want to train with again. Looking forward to his next class.

    (Special P-F note: there was another member present and if they wish to comment or correct me, I'd be appreciative.)

  2. #2
    Nothing to correct, very good AAR.

    I shot HK P30 9mm LEM from Shaggy AIWB concealed.. This is the first class I have shot it in. I like it very well. I switched from GL17s some months back. Nothing wrong with my GL17s. I shoot the P30 more accurately at 25 yards and the same speed at 7 yards.

    I like the drills that require automaticity in gunhandling. Some of them required target differentiation, counting etc....
    Shooting in front of an audience also is a minor stressor.
    I purposely did not try to game and plan the reloads from slide lock. I reloaded as necessary, no issues. If you are gaming it and miscalculate you are screwed.

    Lynn and Tom are a joy to train with. The whole class were good guys to train with.

  3. #3
    Member Al T.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Columbia SC
    I noted that you wore your cover garment the entire time while I wussed out Sunday afternoon.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Al T. View Post
    After Action Review:

    Combative Pistol II

    Florence SC, March 29 & 30 2014

    Sunday afternoon, Tom added a new twist for some, in that each shooter was individually tested in front of their peers. The culmination exercise tested every skill covered with a surprisingly small amount of ammo expended. )
    This isn't new. Having trained with the man three times, I've seen him do it twice. His lesson plans are fluid; I know that he evaluates every class, and the up-to-speed ones get more stuff thrown at them. Rule #1 for most "commercial" (as opposed to LE/military) instructors is ..."Don't shoot in front of the class, as you may embarass yourself." Tom has never bought into that one.

    Rule #2 is... "Don't embarass the student/s; EVER. Lest they become disheartened and not pay to train with you again." I cannot speak for him, but I don't think he is too worried about embarassing anyone. He does, however, know when individual/peer-reviewed
    drills would be counter-productive.

    I cannot say enough about this guy. He is, without doubt, the best all-around instructor I have ever trained under... and in 20+ years of being involved in the training game as a trainer, I've trained under plenty of folks at re-trainers, seminars, etc.

    I took #1 grandson to this same class back in December. It was cold as a well-digger's behind, compounded by rain the second day. Its the third time I've been to this specific course (first one on my own, second one in Mogadishu on the Mississippi with the wife), and each one has been slightly different. And each one has taught me something new.

    By far, the diamond of it all has been The Casino Drill. Done correctly, this exercise tests just about every mechanical aspect of being able to defend oneself with a concealed handgun. Designed to be done with one 50 round box of ammunition, it is the most bang for the buck you'll get if you have limited time and resources. I won't describe it for fear of stepping on any proprietary toes, but I start off every practice session with it... just the one time, so it doesn't become too familiar. I brought this one home from the past December class, and make my bride shoot it too. The first time she tried it, she called me (and Tom) "you diabolical S.O.B.'s!"

    Now, she can ALMOST clean it. Gives the wench something to strive for...

    .

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Al T. View Post
    I noted that you wore your cover garment the entire time while I wussed out Sunday afternoon.
    Got to hide my lack of conditioning !

  6. #6
    Member Al T.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Columbia SC
    LSP972, agree. I also like Mr. Dobb's 1,2,3 drill.

  7. #7
    I hosted Tom for CP1 this past weekend. We did several drills where each person went against the clock in front of everyone. I like it.
    I had an ER nurse in a class. I noticed she kept taking all head shots. Her response when asked why, "'I've seen too many people who have been shot in the chest putting up a fight in the ER." Point taken.

  8. #8
    Where sphincters really begin to tighten is when he runs the whole line on The Casino Drill, and the last one to bust a cap each time is "eliminated", along with anyone who missed or shot out of sequence.

    When it gets down to the last 3-4 shooters, things become rather… intense.

    .

User Tag List

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •