Tactical Response - HRCC CQB 2012

[Mike]

HRCC CQB 2012

A few weeks ago I attended Tactical Response's High Risk Civilian Contractor CQB course for raids and rescues held at the Memphis Police Academy shoot house in Millington, TN.

Sunday started us out as usual with the meet and greet. It was great seeing everyone from past classes. It really makes a difference when you get to see who all is in your class and they're mostly guys you have already been through multiple classes with. The trust is already there, all you have to do is show up and get your learn on. We had 32 students in the class and were divided into three teams; Earth, Wind, and Fire. After teams were picked, we got into duty assignments and sharing contact info. I had the pleasure of being assistant team leader for our team. We broke for dinner and racked out ready to hit the ground running in the morning.

We started Monday in the shoot house and listened to a quick lecture from Jay in the principles of CQB. Speed, Surprise, and Violence of Action. Basically, get in, dominate the room, shoot the guys that need to be shot, make sure it's clear then move on the next until you reach your objective. We started out with dry fire movements in two man teams to ensure we understood the concepts and moved on from there. Once we were done at the house we headed to the flat range to work on transitions, accuracy and shooting on the move with James and Aaron. Meltdown drills and dot drills were the core of the lesson. Finishing out the evolution were cadence drills followed by cadence drills on the move. After lunch, Sean went over basic patrolling. This was a nice review for me after taking Direct Action this spring. Patrol formations, hand signals, communication, crossing danger areas, and leaders recon were all covered.

Tuesday started us out on the flat range with Aaron working on shooting on the move and target transitioning. After that Aaron had us pushing ourselves by increasing the speed. Back at the shoot house we worked more on movement inside the building, working from the stack, window breaching, and how to cover and clear stairwells.

Wednesday brought us multiple team breaching and it inherent communication dilemmas. With one team hitting the front of the house and the other hitting the rear eventually we would meet at some point in the middle. The call "Eagle, Eagle, Eagle!" was designated for our friendly forces identifier. With the team leaders meeting in the middle, increased leadership roles were delegated to the ATL. I ended up getting our team started on our secondary searches, doing head counts, and gathering ACE reports while the TL was coordinating with the other team. Time after time I kept getting into positions I shouldn't have been in, standing watch over a door or window; tasks that would have been better suited to one of my teammates. My teammates politely informed me on several occasions to move my ass out of there and go do something useful like lead the team.

Thursday, patrolling into our AO to conduct our raids. Working with both sniper overwatch and secondary overwatch positions. The teams rotated between assault, support and security roles. Their roles included outside security, breach point security, overwatch, with everyone else assaulting our target at three separate breach points. Things got intense quick and our team leaders were key in keeping things as calm and organized as possible. The biggest lesson I learned that day was that if I walked calmly and talked normally, it reflected in the people around me. Things normalized a little, people lessened the yelling and started communicating better.

Friday began as all other HRCC Fridays begin. Joking around in the parking lot burning off nervous energy. This final X was a real treat because we were able to do three of them. Rotating team responsibilities so everyone got a chance to play. It was great until I realized that they had pulled the team leaders from us on our runs, all the responsibilities were on the ATL's. MR. Galakinokis was rescued three times and everything went well.

This wasn't a shooting class. It's a tactics class that has shooting as an aspect. The biggest lessons I learned this class were learned on days I didn't fire the first round. By removing myself from the front line and having to keep track of my guys as we were jumping through windows and searching rooms, I had to have a big picture view of the operation. I couldn't lose myself in minutia. I learned to calm down, speak clearly and concisely, and keep my head up and eyes open.

I have to thank James, Jay, Aaron, Tim, and Sean. They are fantastic instructors. Keep up the great work guys.

To the Memphis PD. I am most gracious you allowed us to come play and learn at your facility. I look forward to any events in the future held there.

To my Team; Calvin, Kayla, EJ, Ryan, Scott, Mat, David, Aaron, Rostik, and Ed. You guys were great and I'm glad I got a chance to train with you again. EJ and Ryan, thanks for putting us back on track and in our place when we deviated.

Team Earf!

Mike.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Mike

[Caster]

MIke, you enjoy life way to much brother. Didn't you get the memo? You're supposed to be miserable like the rest of us.

[Mike]

If there was one image that summed up my experience at this course, this would be it.

Mike

Edited October 26, 2012 by Mike

[Mike]

MIke, you enjoy life way to much brother. Didn't you get the memo? You're supposed to be miserable like the rest of us.

I play hard.

[Caster]

Yeah, when zombies rise, you just make a mental note to give Yellow Toyota FJ's the benefit of the doubt. I may be heading your way to be the cook and potato peeler for your team

[maroonandwhite]

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing the story and pics.

[RobertNashville]

Great write-up...appreciate you doing so!

[Mike]

[quote name='Tactical11' timestamp='1352882813' post='845345']I want to attend....any info?
[/quote]

I'm not sure when they will offer the course again, but here is the course info.

http://www.tacticalresponse.com/course.php?courseID=52 Edited November 16, 2012 by Mike

[Guest USMC 2013]

I have to ask, why did you take the course?  What other courses have you taken?  Any specific goal in mind?  Asking these because it will help me decide on taking a course myself.  Thanks,

 

Joe

[Mike]

I have to ask, why did you take the course?  What other courses have you taken?  Any specific goal in mind?  Asking these because it will help me decide on taking a course myself.  Thanks,
 
Joe

Joe, I took the course for fun. It was a vacation for me. I have taken the majority of the Tactical Response curriculum as well as courses from Rangemaster, Armed Dynamics, Paul Gomez, and Dave Biggers. No specific goal other than at the time it was the only HRCC course I hadn't taken yet.

Mike

[Brasschunker]

That's cool right there. I would love to do that. Thanks for sharing.