I finished teaching another STRESS Course on Saturday, March 16, with the help of Darron Jump.
Course went very well and weather was just about perfect.
Students figured out quite a few things during the course.
Cardio is King. Pushing weight in the gym is good stuff, but cardio is more importent when it comes to performing under mental and physical stress.
Accuracy suffers under stress, more so with the handgun than with the carbine/rifle.
Ounces equal pounds, pounds equal pain. Assess your gear and go over each piece of kit individually. Is each piece absolutely essential? If not, ditch it.
It’s fine to have a favorite handgun and carbine/rifle, but you need to be able to pick up and use most anything you happen to come across. If something happens, you may not have access to your own weapons.......you may have to run what you find. During the course, students had to swap weapons with other students, and I introduced several weapons into the course that they had to use: M1 Garand, SMLE, Rem870, levergun, and a SIG 556xi Russian (loads like an AK with AK mags). Students had to take the empty weapon I gave them, figure out what ammo went with it, load it, and engage multiple threats. During several drills, some of the students were ordered to holster up and given an empty Smith & Wesson M-10 revolver with a handful of ammo to finish the drill with.
If you’re going to work with someone else, it’s essential to be able to communicate with them under stress.
A highlight:
One student ran downrage, opened the case and found an M1 Garand that he had to use. He exclaimed that he had never used one before. He had the ammo can opened, grabbed a loaded clip, and loaded the M1, all in less than 30 seconds. I was surprised, seeing as he had never shot one. After the drill, I asked if he had ever loaded a Garand, to which he replied, “No, but I play ‘Call of Duty’”. It worked for him!
Semper Fi!
Course went very well and weather was just about perfect.
Students figured out quite a few things during the course.
Cardio is King. Pushing weight in the gym is good stuff, but cardio is more importent when it comes to performing under mental and physical stress.
Accuracy suffers under stress, more so with the handgun than with the carbine/rifle.
Ounces equal pounds, pounds equal pain. Assess your gear and go over each piece of kit individually. Is each piece absolutely essential? If not, ditch it.
It’s fine to have a favorite handgun and carbine/rifle, but you need to be able to pick up and use most anything you happen to come across. If something happens, you may not have access to your own weapons.......you may have to run what you find. During the course, students had to swap weapons with other students, and I introduced several weapons into the course that they had to use: M1 Garand, SMLE, Rem870, levergun, and a SIG 556xi Russian (loads like an AK with AK mags). Students had to take the empty weapon I gave them, figure out what ammo went with it, load it, and engage multiple threats. During several drills, some of the students were ordered to holster up and given an empty Smith & Wesson M-10 revolver with a handful of ammo to finish the drill with.
If you’re going to work with someone else, it’s essential to be able to communicate with them under stress.
A highlight:
One student ran downrage, opened the case and found an M1 Garand that he had to use. He exclaimed that he had never used one before. He had the ammo can opened, grabbed a loaded clip, and loaded the M1, all in less than 30 seconds. I was surprised, seeing as he had never shot one. After the drill, I asked if he had ever loaded a Garand, to which he replied, “No, but I play ‘Call of Duty’”. It worked for him!
Semper Fi!
