Instructor: Todd Rassa (Toddrassatraining.com); Mickey Allen (Assistant Instructor;
from Modern Warrior on Long Island);
Chuck Varney (Support/camera guy) Coach for Harvard University Pistol Team.
Volunteers from Harvard pistol team.
1 Singaporean Infantry Specialist (2 years Singapore army)
2 Montana resident – longtime shooter
3 VT resident who studied American gun culture as a thesis
Location: Sig Academy (Connex container village)
Gear: Sig 226 w/ night sights (SIM barrel)
UTM marking ammo
This class was a stand alone offshoot of a 2 day active shooter class addressing situations involving things like Arora Move Theater Shooting & various mall shootings, but also everyday situations in which decision making is required as applied to potential violence.
I’m not going to go into the details of the scenarios, just give my impressions of what I learned from them both from going through them and watching the tapes of others.
Scenario #1 – Movie Theater Shooting Lesson:
a) Use the sights in darkness. I got 4/6 rounds on target from a compromised on a moving target which was shooting at me, without hitting bystanders from a shooting position that can be described as sprawled between the floor and a row of folding chairs using the sights. I highly recommend looking at them when pressing the bang thing because projectile guidance was helpful.
b) That said…other people reported no sight usage and made good hits too. All shooters brought the gun to eye level when shootings were watched on tape.
c) Further observation re: a – I THINK I used my sights. I saw them, but don’t know if my mind told me I did…
d) I’m not sure if I shot one handed or two. Video didn’t show, because I got LOW to shoot.
e) Fast situations are very confusing.
f) Reloading. It is necessary to practice that. People should do it when needed, and doing it from cover is kinda neat.
g) Verbalization is helpful to insure that bystanders in the confusion do not decide you are the bad guy and someone decided to shoot you and save the day.
h) Cover/concealment. It is nice. It should be used whenever possible. Popping up from cover isn’t ideal, but may be needed.
i) Learning to shoot from compromised positions is helpful. I was able to shoot through a row of seats by getting low.
j) 1,000 days of dryfire – Do more. Do it better. It works.
k) Know your gear and be able to use it under stress.
l) Quality gear is not optional.
m) Approaching people you have shot is bad. Let them bleed until they feel better.
n) They feel better when the bleeding stops.
o) When running away and leaving to a better position, be able to hold the gun in a manner which does not appear threatening to the people watching because if you are running from gunfire holding a gun, someone may decide YOU are a problem and react accordingly.
p) Good communication with 911 is not optional. Learn to do it.
Scenario #2 & #3 – Office (Gun Free Zone)/Food Court Lessons:
a) Unassing the scenario at the first sign of trouble is effective and highly recommended.
b) The exit door is to be used. Even if it is marked “DO NOT ENTER” or otherwise blocked.
c) Everyone who, upon realizing the situation was getting fucked and said, “Nope!” then left didn’t get into a fight.
d) Leaving early mean no fight.
e) I am not permitted to use friends as human shields…I may have done this subconsciously…but didn’t plan to do it.
f) I will ignore ‘e’ above when needed.
g) People who stay in situations end up having to fight out of them.
#4 mall shooting (strong hand disabled prior to start)
a) Holy shit, that sucked.
b) Anyone who says they’d go hunting for terrorists in a mall with just a pistol when they don’t need to is a fucking moron.
c) If you do need to, then you need to know how bad it sucks.
d) Multiple gunmen suck, especially if the gunmen are moderately trained and coordinated.
e) I could watch my movements on tape get jerky and uncoordinated as stress kicked in. OODA loop is real and frightening to behold.
f) Left handed shooting is possible, and making good hits with the weak hand is possible…but I bagged a bystander who looked like he was doing something suspicious after I got nailed with other sims…so decision making is more critical than shooting skill.
g) Running like hell is sometimes a great option…but not at the price of situational awareness.
Assessments of myself:
Shooting skill: Passing but due to weak hand only suckage (shot too fast, missed too much...) just barely. I made my hits, but needs severe improvement.
Decision making: Better than shooting until subjected to more stress and decisions than I could process at which point I got dumb really fast. Deciding to say “Fuck this shit!” IS a skill and a good one to have. Calming down fast is another that needs to be learned.
Physicality: Class was not a slam fest; therefore, not really tested.
Legal: This class reinforced the mindset of “SHUT THE FUCK UP” after a violent incident. In each shoot situation I still can’t accurately relate what I did. I would not want to tell the police anything substantive after an incident…or really anything at all.
Good judgment comes from experience which comes from bad judgment, and I made some bad calls. Some good ones…but still, some very bad ones.
I will do this class again.
Will – not would.
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. I use that same terminology when I teach. Your role as an initial responder is to stop bad guy. Once you put him down, your role is now to protect yourself and your family. Fuck that walking up to downed bad guy crap. Sometimes the right thing to do is to do nothing other than sit and wait for backup. Or run like hell, if you're not LE. Too often I see my fellow LEO's walk right up to downed bad guy and try to cuff em on their own. Or better yet, move on past them searching for who knows what. Usually that gets them shot in the back from the bad guys second gun.
