rifle mag changes

[Guest tenn]

Very good article from Suarez on magazine changes:

The Suarez Rifle Method....for lack of a better term

Again...just as in the other thread, refocusing and setting the perspective. This is a synopsis of a response to an LEO that had questions about why we do what we do...since it seems way different than what all the "spec-ops/swat operators", "turned trainers" seem to be doing.

Now to the (dropping) magazine issues. Bell Gardens and Compton? Been there...and a few other places. How about Nickerson gardens, Crenshaw, East L.A., Adams, etc.? Been there as well. And I recall a time during 1992 when I spent a great deal of time (and even some ammo) at those lovely inner city resorts.

I didn't work there, but the endless home invasions, drive by assasinations, and other "investigations" took me there constantly. So I understand all too well your perspective, having been there/shot there.

But my POV today is not limited to police thinking, nor even military thinking.

I have staff members from every conceivable walk of life and rifle application from US Mil, to ComBloc, even to insurgents in some of the "conflicts" around the world. Interesting perspectives when we look at a problem from many POVs.

It all has to do with the factors of - Intell, Support/Assistance, and Social Situation. Basically if you have more magazines than ammo, magazines are not such a big deal, but if you have more ammo than magazines? Then its a different story.

90% of my clientele and students are private citizens, and not cops or soldiers.

Sorry, but I hate training LEO only classes. I can smell the arrogance and resistance to instruction as I drive up the driveway past the internal affairs inspectors and then trying to get paid is like trying to get a democrat to read the Constitution. Sorry, I'd rather hang out with open minded civilians.

So, historically speaking...going back 100, 200 years -

when have civilians grabbed up rifles to go and fight?

And I am not talking "home defense" here. Going back to Francis Marion and his guerrillas, and then studying Forrest's actions during the War of Northern Aggression, the activities of the various partisans during both world wars and the various guerrilla wars from Africa to Cuba and Ireland, and from the Balkans to the middle east, what do we see?

We see small bands of marginally to moderately equipped insurgent fighters, operating alone with minimal support, minimal intell, and minimal resupply. That is the historical paradigm for us bro, not the SWAT operator nor the Spec-Ops team deploying from a Blackhawk.

Any Spec-Ops, or police team is extremely proactive. When they select a "target", a house to hit for example, they will watch it for months and will develop an entire work up on the site, number of adversaries, etc. When they hits a target they are fully equipped with every little piece of gear they could possibly need. They are dropped off and picked up by heavily armed support. And when all is done, they either own the place, or are extracted by a heavily armed force.

Do their operations always go as planned? No, but most of the time they do, and they pride themselves on just that. These sucesses reinforce their tactics and on and on. In this world, the good guys will never be surprised, forced into a reactive mode, or ever operate alone.

Now does this describe you? if it does, keep doing what you are doing, but

I can tell you it does not describe me, nor 90% of my students. And interestingly enough, neither does it describe many SF folks that have come and trained with us.

Many of them assigned to far off posts with groups like the Northern Alliance. Those guys act and operate like insurgents and not like apple pie eating M4 poster boys.

Why would anyone want to train like FBI HRT, or a Direct Action Hit Team when their operational characteristics require that they fight more like

an insurgent or a partisan

?

Listen carefully - Your situation dictates your strategy, and that determines your tactics. So if your situation is that of a lone operator, or a member of a small band of shooters, or NPE-G (non-permissive environment guerrilla), I would suggest we stop trying to emulate guys whose missions are different and train like a guerrilla - with us.

In my classes, we operate very much like that. Guys carry their kit....all of it, all weekend long. No rifle racks or stupid fumble tables. If a rifle is set down, that rifle goes in my Jeep for the rest of the day. If a magazine, or a pistol, or anything hits the deck, it is "lost" for the rest of the day. So here is what I find. Excessive kit immediately comes off the rifle. Magazines may get dropped by accident (sh*t happens) but not by default. One is careful and protective of his kit because ther are no do overs. We exert ourselves in our advanced classes, sometimes to the point of vomiting. Stuff gets lost in the weeds if it is not secured. It is not a "test of marksmanship" but a test of the man...the fighter. Manipulations that require "feeling the gun", or being "on your feet", will be very difficult to execute when your heartrate is at Crossfit levels, your breakfast is at your throat and your mind is screaming for you to stop and rest.

Grads of the HRO program please chime in.

My people do not want to train like cops, nor soldiers...they want to train to fight like guerrillas.

Gabe Suarez