Fratricide of “friendly fire” has been an unfortunate part of war since time in memorial. Several things contribute to “blue on blue” incidents, most of them stemming from poor communication between supporting units. Both the Iraq and Afghanistan War have seen their fair share of friendly fire incidents, one of the most tragic being…
Category: Training
Carry 24/7 or Guess Right!!
For all of the unfortunate and violent stories of incident’s I have posted of CO’s fighting for their lives to help us LEARN and therefore GROW as Civilian Operators, I think the above story can do the most good-by far. It touches on 4 skill sets that I have always felt are integral to staying…
Book Review: Rattenkrieg: The Art of ECQ Combat Pistol
Bob Taubert’s latest work, Rattenkrieg: The Art and Science of Close-Quarters Battle Pistol is a book that is right up there with Styer’s Cold Steel or Applegate’s Kill or Get Killed. The book reminds you of the hard fact that necessity is definitely the mother of invention when it comes to relevant and practical combat skills….
Neglected Skills of the Civilian Operator
“Habit hardens the body for great exertions, strengthens the heart in great peril; Habit breeds that priceless quality: CALM, which passing from rifleman to commander, will lighten the task.” -Clausewitz In the CO’s quest to stay tactically prepared for any eventuality that may come down the pike, taking a realistic, no bullshit inventory of…
Technology Dependent and Useless……..
It can be stated categorically that over-reliance on any one thing is BAD. This point was reinforced and qualified for me when I heard a story about the military brass in the Pentagon getting report after report about new line officer’s (the combat platoon leaders in the field) when stripped of all “electronic gadgets”…
Let Slip the Dogs of War
The CO and the Canine by A.H. and S.S. Most people are aware of the fact that dogs can be a deterrent to criminals, but sometimes we can have our sights too low and miss the real value a good dog can provide. This is something that the military has done well for over 3…
Life Lessons from a Combat Platoon Leader
I came across an article in Tom Rick’s Best Defense which is a section of Foreign Policy online magazine recently that I found very enlightening, not only for the non-nonsense manner in which it was written, but also because of the universal way in which the lessons learned can be applied to the training and the…
The Evolution of the “Ambi” Fighter
Ambi= Ambidextrous; The ability to use the right and left hands EQUALLY well. Being a military history buff, I really enjoy studying the progression/evolution of tactics and weaponry in warfare through the years. One of the most applicable of these “progressions” that pertains to the CO specifically has been the development of being ambidextrous in…
Protecting your Children in an Era of School Violence
No doubt about it, this decade will go down in history as one of the most violent decades in history for violence in American schools. You know the problem has grown to epidemic proportions when if asked about the latest school tragedy by a friend or co-worker, you have to ask “which one” they are…
Balancing Safety and Realism in Civilian Firearms Training
[youtube=http://youtu.be/rI01qKAqYts] The following video was sent to be by a good friend who routinely trains with a former Spetsnaz member. At first glance, most people’s reactions are the same “This is CRAZY!!” but not until the end where Larry “arfcom” Vickers explains these are extremely advanced RUSSIAN FSB MILITARY Courses of Fire, meant for advanced SF MILITARY OPERATORS do things…