Originally Posted by
FredM
On the evening of Sunday, July 12th 2015 I attended the inaugural Green-Ops Carbine Class at the NRA HQ Range in Fairfax, VA. There were a total of 14 students in this class, hailing from Maryland, Virginia and Texas. The main instructors for this course were Mike Green and Brett Harnish, two seasoned and experienced instructors, who bring decades of experience and institutional knowledge in the military, law enforcement and security contracting sectors to the table. Andy Lander, of the NRA, was also present, and his assistance running the class was invaluable as well.
After a brief introduction, forms were completed and instruction began in the classroom portion of the NRA Range, where a medical brief was disseminated and the expectations of conduct clearly outlined. Class began with a safety briefing, and segued into the rules for the use of lawful force and the importance of mindset in this equation.
With the classroom portion of the evening complete, we headed to the range to live fire. First up was verification of zero at 25M. I run a 100M BZO on my 5.56mm carbines, so my five rounds grouped in a small circle at the 6 o’clock position under the black aiming circle. I was shooting a well worn Colt 6920 carbine with DD M4A1 RIS, Aimpoint Comp ML 2 and using Tango Down ARC mags with PPU 55 grain FMJ. After zeroes were confirmed, Mike and Brett explained the concept of height over bore, and why this is important if you’re engaging targets at close range, as your rounds will impact low.
The first firing exercise reinforced the height over bore concept, where, at the 10 yard line, shooters were broken down into two relays and engaged circular targets on command. This was repeated several times, and eventually the round count per target increased, requiring the student to pay attention to their stance and recoil control with their carbine.
Eventually, carbines will run dry, necessitating a reload. Mike and Brett demonstrated the most efficient and expeditious methods to reload your carbine and to get you back into the fight, and for the next drill we would chamber a round in our carbines, drop the mag and insert an empty one. During this portion of the class, transitions were introduced as well, placing a premium on driving the gun from target to target, all while managing your ammunition supply. This portion of the class was invaluable, in my view, as it required students to not only shoot well, but how to multi-task critical skill sets inherent with employing a carbine.
The evening culminated with some barricade / cover drills, as well as instruction on how to clear common stoppages and malfunctions on the Stoner platform. Our final drill brought all of the skills and concepts together, which would include target identification drills while using cover, as well as a modified El Pres drill, where the shooter will begin the drill with 6 rounds in the carbine and have a reload with at least 6 on tap. On the command of execution, the shooter will engage two threat targets with 3 rounds each, reload, and repeat. Speed and accuracy are of the essence, obviously. This drill opened the eyes of many students who could see the importance of applying the core concepts and fundamentals correctly.
A representative from Fireclean made an appearance to the class as well, very generously providing samples of this outstanding CLP. Also on hand was Jimmy from F-3 Tactical, NOVA's premiere tactical gear shop and the NRA HQ Range crew,who facilitated the use of the range. All said, Green-Ops Training is a welcome addition to the Northern Virginia firearms training milieu, bringing consummate professionalism, top notch instruction and relevant real world expertise to shooters in the D.C area.
Thank you to Mike, Brett and Andy for putting on an outstanding class, and for having me in it. I hope that Green-Ops classes become a regular thing at the NRA Range. To say that I was impressed out be an understatement. I look forward to training with and learning from them in the future.
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