Vehicle Close Quarter Battle (VCQB) was first developed by Will Petty of Centrifuge Training. The coursework in a VCQB class covers ballistics and gunfights in, out, and around vehicles and is targeted to law enforcement. While there was a time the concept was considered controversial, in the years since inception VCQB has been successfully employed real-time by law enforcement officers being engaged with gunfire.
Now, VCQB tactics are in current use with the FBI, Canada’s RCMP, Texas’ Department of Public Safety, the NYPD, the U.S. Marshals Service, and more.
VEHICLE COVER
The basic definition of concealment is something that hides your position but can be shot through, like a large piece of posterboard, and concealment is something that’ll stop bullets like a piece of armor. But the reality is that most of the time you don’t know what “cover” is until you try to put some bullets through it.
What is considered “cover” for one caliber may not be for another. The fact is there are extremely few “bulletproof” items, but instead objects that can stop projectiles for a given period of time (given infinite time and ammunition, a .22LR will eventually burn through 10 feet of concrete).
What’s been traditionally taught about vehicles is that the only real cover is the engine block and the tires. Indeed, most rounds will punch right through side panels and doors, hitting the occupants unless a round goes awry after hitting something like a door lock or other internal mechanisms. And furthermore, due to the materials used, modern engine blocks may not be as bulletproof as they have been in the past.
