Training PID and decision to fire

[Chemsoldier]

So with competition shooting we break it into little pieces and work on those pieces and then put it all back together right?

Perhaps we break the PID and decision to fire into pieces, build capacity in each and put it all back together. We can always give enough tactical stimulus to overwhelm the trainee, so to just come up with super complicated shoot/don't shoot scenarios would be like putting a budding competition shooter into a long field stage and saying "go faster."

1. NOTICE: Increase the shooter's ability to notice things under time pressure. Start with generous time window "Kim Games" (where a person is presented with an array of things for a time period and then the items are removed and they are asked to remember them). Keep it related to the tactical domain. Badges, guns by type, pictures of people that are known, types of uniforms, vehicles, etc. with diminishing time standards. Perhaps stand in a windowless room facing the wall, partner places various objects, photo-grade targets, etc. Shot timer is set with a par time. On the beep the trainee turns and tries to see what he can see. On the par beep, the partner turns out the lights so visual is cut off. Talk through what was seen in the dark, then turn it back on and check your work. That would be the seeing equivalent of some of the "calling your shot" drills. Basically try to build the shooter's ability to notice small details within time pressure. Note that this is not really about identifying a "shoot" situation. Someone with a gun may not deserve to get shot. Eventually move to video stimulus so the shooter is assessing moving, active stimulus with body language and facial expressions.
2. DISCRIMINATE: Classic Target discrimination using color/number/shape; building the ability to process stimulus and make a decision and implement. Don't just shout the stimulus, use a visual cue or maybe discordant stimulus (car horn for blue, three light up dots for "3", etc).
3. SHOOT: Keep working on the technical aspects of shooting fast and accurate. Misidentification and being slow out of the starting gate in identifying the need to shoot will happen sometimes no matter how well trained, so the ability to get the gun out and rounds on target will be important still. In particular the ability to work through flubbed draws and such mistakes and not lose focus or feel rushed.
4. TACTICS: Do similar perception drills as in 1. above, but deliberately set them up so the trainee needs to change something to perceive fully, like changing their position to get a better angle. Perceiving potential cover, and determining when they have the tactical stimulus to find it even if they don't have the stimulus to shoot?
4. SCENARIO TRAINING: Putting it all together. Combine all elements into scenario based training using live fire, branching video and/or sims training. Can also do some self-study using visualization. Include scenarios that do not result in a "shoot," add success criteria to the "no shoot" scenarios like voice or written reporting so the trainee cannot just mind dump once he knows its a "no shoot." Adding similar success criteria to "shoot" scenarios may not be a bad idea either.

I guess that is what comes to my mind.

[JDD]

So with competition shooting we break it into little pieces and work on those pieces and then put it all back together right?

Perhaps we break the PID and decision to fire into pieces, build capacity in each and put it all back together. We can always give enough tactical stimulus to overwhelm the trainee, so to just come up with super complicated shoot/don't shoot scenarios would be like putting a budding competition shooter into a long field stage and saying "go faster."

1. NOTICE: Increase the shooter's ability to notice things under time pressure. Start with generous time window "Kim Games" (where a person is presented with an array of things for a time period and then the items are removed and they are asked to remember them). Keep it related to the tactical domain. Badges, guns by type, pictures of people that are known, types of uniforms, vehicles, etc. with diminishing time standards. Perhaps stand in a windowless room facing the wall, partner places various objects, photo-grade targets, etc. Shot timer is set with a par time. On the beep the trainee turns and tries to see what he can see. On the par beep, the partner turns out the lights so visual is cut off. Talk through what was seen in the dark, then turn it back on and check your work. That would be the seeing equivalent of some of the "calling your shot" drills. Basically try to build the shooter's ability to notice small details within time pressure. Note that this is not really about identifying a "shoot" situation. Someone with a gun may not deserve to get shot. Eventually move to video stimulus so the shooter is assessing moving, active stimulus with body language and facial expressions.
....

I guess that is what comes to my mind.

This is incredibly useful. I really like the breakdown, it helps me mentally contextualize the way I was looking at the issue.

Your sub-skill #1 of notice is what I want to develop the most. It's not the mechanics of actually shooting (although I do need to work on going from a target focus as I work through the Notice phase, to the hard front sight focus as the OODA loop rolls into a firing cycle) it is the issue of making that assessment and the decision to engage.

I really liked the way that FLETC did practical application training on the use of force, but that is a difficult package to reproduce!

[JDD]

Can the decision to shoot or not to shoot be contained in a jargon filled training technicality?

Of course not. It is an incredibly complex and difficult decision that has to be made quickly with imperfect information, and enormous consequences ...but I suspect your question is rhetorical.

That said, while I have never been a good communicator, the various bits of jargon that I used to ask my question have resulted in some very useful responses that I can incorporate into actual training to improve my skills.

My organization has a program that is a particularly notorious compost pile of jargon that has been robbed from any number of different sources - but underneath it all, many of us are able to appreciate the utility of a system that ensures we all have a shared reference point and common language (even if we frequently use it as a punchline, and don't necessarily feel obligated to use it for everything).