Thinking Man's Corner

A friend of mine, who is a younger aged Captain with a metro agency in the belly of the beast, called me to ask my opinion on a pistol mounted optic technique.

Tony is a very articulate, enthusiastic, and analytical man. He asks very well thought out, reasoned, and intelligent questions. I spent hours on the phone with him when he was getting ready to go to firearms instructor school. He makes me critically question and audit my own thinking, mostly because I feel I owe it to him; and I see some of the way I was at his age in him. 

The just of the conversation was that there are three types of officers we will train: 

Common Man

I first heard this term from Kelly McCann. This is your regular person that has to carry a gun as part of their job, and may have some mild interest in it or not. They can be trained to a median skill set, but will not likely seek excellence. There are a lot of people we train that  fall into this category. They want to be “good enough,” and are satisfied with whatever mediocre “standard” a governing body decrees. While depleting resources and efforts on this type of person to engineer a super cop may have noble intention, it is futile, as I have found over several decades. The best we can hope for is they don’t shoot anyone that doesn’t need to be shot, and don’t get themselves killed in the process. That may be grim, but I am a brutal realist. 

In this case, I have long gone back to the genesis of OSS (Office of Strategic Services) training programs and techniques. If it is not simple, easily learned, and easily retained, then don’t try and teach it. Grip the gun high and tight. Get the gun in front of your EYE. Finger on trigger when gun on target. Finger off trigger when gun off target. Keep the gun in the holster until you have an honest to God actual, verified threat. 

Sounds harsh, and elitist? Maybe where you live is different. Maybe where you live, the governing body has higher standards, and every single agency in the state is on the same page. That is not here. My point is that someone has to be WILLING to learn, and maintain skill. You cannot sign up for a year membership at the gym, never go, and expect results or change. You cannot do that with a gun either. 

Should we expose the common man to more than the above? Yes, to a degree, and if we are allowed by the brass to wash out those that do not cut it. If there is a no cop left behind policy, then tight grip, gun in front of eye, don’t put your finger on the trigger until you are on target, and keep the gun in the holster until there is a threat, is about as much as you can hope to achieve. 

Professional

There are a lot of cops in this category. They want to learn, and they may practice occasionally. They may attend a few firearms related classes that are not mandated each year. These are the ones you spend effort and time on. These are the ones that care enough about themselves, their partners, and the general public to put forth the extra effort required to earn the legacy of the badge they wear. Even here though, we reach a certain point of no return. At some point, the Professional has another life, another hobby, other commitments, etc. 

The Practioneer

There are few of these. Stone cold serious, interested, and good at their trade. They care about their abilities, and want to know the best way to do what they do. They want to get better every chance, and better themselves. They spend hours doing research, will buy their own equipment and ammo, go to every class they can, and probably are competing in competitions several times per month. They are in grad school working on their double major in gun fighting and coaching science. 

Herein lies the rub. The Captain (a practioneer) wants to make practioneers or professionals out of common men. That is a damn fine spirit, and his heart is pure in his intent. Not being an old wizard on a mountain like Leo H. yet, the Captain has not formulated his basis on where to expend his time an energy. This is one of the secrets that takes decades, thousands of students, millions of rounds, and a lot of problems to finally get a grasp on. 

While I was still thinking about my conversation with the Captain several days later, I came across a file of mine with letters back and forth with Col. Jeff Cooper. We talked about all sorts of subjects, and the police training establishment was one of them. His consensus was that it was harder to train a man that was mandated to be at class as opposed to one who sought out the training on his on. 

Then I found some private correspondence between Col. Cooper and Ed Lovette (former head of special activities for a clandestine agency) who gave me the letters some years back. At the time of the correspondence (early 1980’s) Ed was in charge of training for the New Mexico State Police. The just of the letters was that Ed was teaching a less than optimal doctrine at the time. The Colonel did not understand why because Ed had been trained at the American Pistol Institute (Gunsite Ranch), and the Colonel had many times over fixed poor technique with new to API students and brand new shooters alike. The Colonel felt like teaching the correct way from the start was the only way. That the right way was not all that hard to begin with. Ed and the Colonel finally came to an understanding and stayed in contact for many decades. 

Things change though. People change. The truth remains the same. Yes, the Colonel was right, and doing it the right way to start is optimal. Ed was right too. Some people have little to no interest in putting in effort and work. With those, then we can only hope the basics stick. If we go too far beyond that, then we tend to lose certain students. 

Dear Captain, 

It is hard, to manage a class with a mixture of willingness to learn amongst the body. We do a disservice to all when we teach down the middle, and a huge disservice teaching to the lowest common denominator. My advice is still to teach street survivable techniques, and drill them hard.  Avoid the youtube/IG never actually done the job of a street cop salesmen trying to fill up their classes. (They may have some flashy fast shooting, but is it actually street survivable, and court defensible?) For the ones that want more, they will seek it out. I am changing my answer after time of reflection, and felt I owed this to you, 

Have an honest discussion with your classes.

Tell them what the realities are, and what you expect from them up front. Let them know that what the state considers minimum, isn’t enough, and that you sincerely want them to succeed against stopping evil when it comes to darken the door, and it will. 

Show them, or model, the behavior and skills you are going to teach them. 

Break it down in small sections, or building blocks. 

Allow time for brief clarifications, but not philosophical questions. 

Gently correct, guide, and coach morphing bad habits and sloppy technique into the correct doctrine. 

Show several ways of doing something, as one does not always fit all, but limit the variations on it so as not to overwhelm. 

Have a little patience. 

Integrate several things into the drill, some movement, some verbal commands, as they are doing the specific physical actions you called for – this helps them not overly concentrate on one thing, and splits attention, allowing more retained skill as you develop the technique in them. 

If they mess up, recenter, walk them through the correction, and go slow. 

Watch for pauses or hesitations, and immediately address that so it does not build into a habit. 

Do your best, knowing you, it is more than enough. 

Keep learning. 

Keep asking questions. 

You will still have people show up for training because they had to, and are already at the bar or fishing hole or mall or wherever, mentally. You can only do so much. Put out the information in a manner all can digest it. Try to have advanced classes for those that really want it. Don’t be discouraged if you only have a handful show up. Leo H. and I have taught instructor level classes to as few as three students before. The ones that want it will seek it out. It is not a reflection on you, if the students don’t show, or aren’t invested. 

Keep your inquisitive mind, your pure heart, your sense of pride and duty. Train your deputies up right, and good. Rest easy at night knowing you have touched more lives than you will ever know. Thank you for having the faith in me to ask my opinion. I apologize I am a little grizzled and stubborn sometimes. I forget or take for granted what it was like to start out to save the world. 

And Captain, I will leave you with the secret to life: Faster Porsches, Custom 1911’s, Rare Cigars, and More Training. 

DVC, 

William G. 

Have Gun, Will Travel