After Action Report on CIS Defensive Pistol class

[TGO David]

What: Defensive Pistol Class

Who: Critical Incident Strategies

Defensive Pistol

This 2 day course starts with a lecture on firearm safety, legalities of deadly force, proper mindset, shooting fundamentals, loading / unloading / reloading, malfunction clearance, shooting while moving, shooting from unusual positions, use of cover, and dealing with multiple threats.

Defensive Pistol continues with live-fire range drills that reinforce the topics covered in the classroom.

Prerequisites: Handgun carry permit class, NRA "First Steps," police / military training, or equivalent.

Overview:

I took the Defensive Pistol class with CIS this past weekend. We started at 7:30am on Saturday with an approximate 3hr lecture in classroom setting, broke for 1hr to eat an early lunch and then followed it with 4hrs on the range working on fundamental defensive handgun concepts.

Sunday we started again at 7:30am but worked the firing range for the entire 8hr day. Total round count for me this weekend was a hair under 900 rounds of the 1,000 rounds that I brought. In retrospect I firmly believe that you do not want to shoot a 2-day defensive skills class that expend less than 900-1000 rounds. Anything less and you're doing too much talking and not enough shooting. The cost of ammunition cannot be compared to the value of trigger time. Lots of trigger time.

Thoughts:

The preliminary lecture was necessary and informative. I like to think that I am fairly well informed on the basics of carrying a handgun for self defense, yet I still left the lecture with quite a bit of new information filed away between my ears.

The lecture and multimedia presentation was eye opening to say the least. It was designed to wake you up and make you see that there are evil people in this world who do really evil sh*t to people every day, randomly and with extreme prejudice. This is why we choose to go armed rather than fade quietly into the night.

DAY ONE

Day one on the firing range introduced us to necessary skills like combat reloading, dealing with weapons malfunctions and forcing ourselves to do several things at once automatically and reflexively. Round count for this day was only about 200 rds for me. Some may have shot more, some may have shot less.

I found myself making silly mistakes on Day One and letting the stress get to me. The biggest challenge for me on Day One was winning the mental fight against myself when crap went wrong. Overall I don't think I did poorly on Day One but it definitely made me retreat to a firing range later that night to flush the bugs out of my process.

I also learned a lot about my gear on Day One. We started out in the rain and mud but ended up in hot, muggy, humid, nastiness. My Glock 19 ate everything I fed it, including mud caked magazines that had been dropped top-first into the muck. It never failed. Not once.

What did fail me was the Ameriglo "Operator" rear sight. I need a rear sight that has white dots. Blank rear sights may be good for some people but not for me when the precision of a hard sight picture was required. As long as I was shooting with a soft sight picture, they rocked. When I had to really focus, they became a hinderance.

I'll be swapping them out soon.

DAY TWO

Day two was much more shooting intensive. If you weren't shooting, you were reloading. The only times we weren't doing one of those was when we were taking a break to fill magazines, seek shade and suck down water.

Lots of sun, lots of heat and lots of dirt in dropped magazines. I changed out for my Springfield XD Tactical 9mm for Day Two because of some problems I was having with my magazine carrier and Glock mags. I debated this long and hard the night before but I finally concluded that trying to use ill-matched equipment on Day Two would have been more detrimental to my training than using a gun that I won't necessarily carry very often.

The XD didn't fail but the magazines did a few times after ingesting a lot less dirt than the Glock mags did. Rinsing them out with water from a spigot was all that I needed to put it back into action. The Glock clearly wins out in that area. But the XD itself ran fine and I ran it hard all day long.

From an educational perspective, Day Two built heavily on the basics that we learned on Day One. The instructors introduced more complexities into the scenarios as we moved through the day. There was plenty of no-BS assessment of our progress from the instructors but it lacked the sort of silly yelling and screaming that I've seen depicted in videos and photos of other schools.

They didn't go easy on us. You knew when you screwed up. But they didn't get in your face and destroy your self confidence either. You were constantly admonished to "stay in the fight" and not give up. It wasn't common to be told that you're not dead until you decide that you're dead, so keep fighting... fix your equipment, deal with the problems and keep fighting!

By the end of Day Two we were working drills that most civilians who have never taken a defensive handgun class have never been exposed to. Barring military or police experience, many of us -- even those of us who have shot competitively in USPSA or IDPA events -- have ever shot the sort of moving drills that we shot this weekend. We shot individually, we shot in two man teams, we shot head-to-head to bring the stress level up, we shot on command, we shot on surprise. We shot, we shot and we shot.

And we reloaded. A lot. All the time. God bless whomever invented magazine loaders like the UPLULA.

FINAL THOUGHTS?

I hesitate to call these my final thoughts. There was so much information packed into these two days that I am still digesting and processing it all. These thoughts surely won't be my final ones.

The class was WELL worth the time and expense. Anyone who carries a handgun for self defense needs to take a class like this from SOMEONE. Yes, 1000 rounds of ammo is expensive but you really can't and shouldn't put a price tag on the sort of knowledge that you will take away from a good defensive skills class.

Equipment isn't everything but it can make or break you in some areas. I'm really glad that I opted for the Glock 19 as my every day carry but would be equally comfortable with an XD. I wouldn't want less than 15 rds per magazine in my primary weapon, however. I don't see myself carrying my 1911 anymore for that reason alone.

My Glock will be getting a better rear sight and a slightly extended magazine release subsequent to things I learned. A slightly reduced recoil spring is also very likely. There is strong evidence to support that Glock will be producing a new model 19 with ambidextrious magazine release. When that happens, I will probably upgrade.

Todd and Dustin at CIS know their stuff. Their teaching style fit me perfectly. They talk frankly and candidly but there isn't a lot of trash talking like some instructors feel is necessary to make them more "tactical" or battle hard. I'd let my wife, teenage daughter or mom take a class from these guys and not feel like they were going to be cussed into embarassment.

I thought I was prepared to fight before I took this class. Eh... I give my self circa Saturday 6:00am a C+ in hindsight. Today I'd give myself a solid B. I'm better prepared now and know where some of my weaknesses are, both physically and mentally. There is a lot of room to improve so I'm going to invest time into working on those areas, fixing them and forcing myself to be better.

I thoroughly enjoyed the class and look forward to taking more training as I am able to invest into it. Both from CIS and, as they recommend, from other quality, professional training organizations.

If you can at all afford to, you should definitely do it as well. You owe it to yourself and to anyone that you ever intend to protect should you be called upon to do so.

PHOTOS

Select photos have been posted in this thread here, here and here.

[TGO David]

By the way...

If you were in the class this weekend with me, drop me a private message later if you don't mind. I am still trying to put screen names with faces. I think I know who a few of you were but apparently there were more of us TGO people there than I realized at the start of things on Sunday.

[Westwindmike]

Any photos from the class?

[TGO David]

Yes, I've got about 220 that were worth keeping from the 400 or so shot. Once Todd or Dustin approve them (operational security for Dustin) then I'll post a link to them.

[dunndw]

Did you get my good side....more importantly...can you tell me WHAT my good side is :-)

The class was great. There is ALWAYS more to learn in any field...shooting is no different. I ran into some ammo issues, plenty of mental blocks, but Todd and Dustin were right there to help you work through any issue and give encouragement and pointers to keep it from happening next time. There were things that were completely new ideas that almost seem counterintuitive (combat reload...racking the slide even if it's not @ slide lock to insure a hot round in the pipe) but it would make a pistol more "stupid proof"

I've never had muscle soreness after a training class...but I'm hurting today. Some of the shoot and move drills will wear you down...unless you're Eddie :-)

(note...don't shoot pins against Eddie)

I strongly recommend if you're interested in additional handgun training to check out CIS. Their price is right, round count is about right on for the type of training it is and the instructors make it interesting all the way through.

Todd and Dustin are not armchair commandos and you won't be a super secret spec op ninja when you leave, but you WILL have a much better handle on using a pistol for more than punching paper.

[Guest Todd@CIS]

Guys, thank you for the kind words and for making the class what is was...

...and just think, everyone left with the same amount of piggies as they showed up with!

[TGO David]

The combat reload is one of those things that makes you go "hmmmm". And it made absolute sense as soon as I saw it. It just goes against everything we've ever done in competition, but that's why they call IDPA/USPSA "gaming" and not training.

[Guest Todd@CIS]

Once Todd or Dustin approve them (operational security for Dustin) then I'll post a link to them.

Screw his operational security...it wholly depends on whether I look good or not (remember, Sandy was under strict orders about that).

[TGO David]

Screw his operational security...it wholly depends on whether I look good or not (remember, Sandy was under strict orders about that).

She tried to get good photos of you, but some cop-looking guy in a Gulf Shores shirt kept stepping into the shots.

[molonlabetn]

The combat reload was the #1 thing which I took home from the class. The simple action of smacking or inserting the mag, and then racking the slide is the most consistent manner of getting a pistol reliably back into action, whether it requires more rounds or a malfunction cleared. I was amazed with how instinctive that motion became over the weekend.

Aside from that, just the simple environment of shooting to make hits under stress is of great value... even if it's artificial stress.

Thanks guys! Over and above everything I learned, this was a much-needed diversion for me at this time. Todd & Dustin run a phenominal class.

[Cruel Hand Luke]

Nice review Tungsten.

[Guest Dustin@CIS]

I wanted to say "thanks" to everyone who attended, it was great training with you. We look forward to training beside you again.

Thanks Tungsten, dunndw, and molanlabetn for the reviews and comments.

Edited June 17, 2008 by Dustin@CIS

[midtennchip]

Thanks, Tungsten, for the great review. I guess after the Defensive Carbine class in September, I'll have to work this class into the schedule, as well.

[Guest flyfishtn]

I want to thank Todd and Dustin for the incredible class. My head is still reeling with information overload but in a good way. I will definitely continue down my training path after taking your class and be back for more.

[TGO David]

Here are a few teaser pictures...

[TGO David]

Oh and here's Eddie (molonlabetn) kicking ass and taking names on the fun bowling pin challenge...

[TGO David]

Hopefully these pictures will make some of you guys want to take a class like this soon, either from CIS or some other professionally instructed program. It really was as fun as it looks.

Not only are you learning things that will improve your ability to defend yourself and your loved ones, but you're going to have fun doing things that you won't get away with at most traditional shooting ranges. Things like...

• Shooting from a draw.
  
• Shooting from a draw while moving.
  
• Engaging multiple targets.
  
• Engaging multiple targets while moving.
  
• Engaging targets while on your back.
  
• Engaging targets while on your stomach.
  
• Reloading with restricted use of your physical faculties (one arm tied behind your back... your STRONG arm)
  

Yeah, you could burn up 1,000 rounds of ammunition at the range just blasting holes in paper. You might even burn up 1,000 rounds of ammunition playing a game at a USPSA or IDPA event if you shot all weekend long in every course of fire offered.

But you won't do some of this stuff and you won't learn 1% of what we learned.

[Guest flyfishtn]

But you won't do some of this stuff and you won't learn 1% of what we learned.

So very true.

[Guest Hawk]

Thank you for your review, very informative.

The pics helped a lot also.

[BigPoppa]

Always good to see Todd all dressed up.

[TGO David]

I needed a place to post this picture and, well... this is perfect.

Todd, Dustin: We can expect to see that incorporated into the Powerpoint presentation right?

[creeky]

I love the choice of a red life jacket for body armor.

It's really not considered enough. LOL!!!

[Guest Todd@CIS]

I needed a place to post this picture and, well... this is perfect.

Todd, Dustin: We can expect to see that incorporated into the Powerpoint presentation right?

Lol, already forwarded to Dustin...

[Guest Todd@CIS]

Always good to see Todd all dressed up.

You're just pissed because I have nicer legs than you...

[Guest earthworm]

I've a brief review in tungsten's original thread.This was an awesome class! I learned I need a better holster,to practice having my spare mag in hand BEFORE ejecting the one in the gun (unlearn an old habit),& to not depend on 'drop-free' mags (some of mine are & some aren't & not all the drop-frees did). Kudos to Todd & Dustin for emphasising mindset:"Don't stop!Work through it!"