Tactical Training

Until recently, when most civilians hear the words tactical training, their first thoughts about it tell them that they will not need it in their tranquil and comfortable life in a modern city. As a result, tactical training and other survival skills are strongly connected with army and law enforcement agencies. Even experienced firearm owners do not think that tactical training can be an option for them. However, if people consider the political situation in the modern US, which led to an increase in crime rates, they would reconsider their attitude towards tactical training. And this is the reason why the number of people who enroll themself in tactical training courses has skyrocketed. So, if you are one of these Americans and you want to know more about tactical training, this article will help you.

How to describe tactical training?

To put it in a few words, tactical training is a mental and physical preparation of a mind and a body through a series of exercises that build muscle memory and train situational awareness, which help to achieve high-level performance in sport or enhance the odds of survival in a dangerous situation, which is used mainly in law enforcement agencies and military.

It is important to know that the tactical training includes in itself far more disciplines than just shooting from a gun or a rifle at the target. It contains many exercises whose aim is to develop your

• confidence
• weapon handling
• speed
• proficiency
• leadership
• responding
• basic military tactics.

Certainly, it is crucial to know at least something about tools for self-defense. However, there are other crucial things: during the tactical training class, you can learn technics of self-defense without a weapon which will help you to stop shooters even when you are unarmed.

Types of Tactical Training Courses

It is clear from the previous paragraphs that tactical training includes in itself a lot of different disciplines, and each of them permits you to train different sides of survival skills. Therefore there are a lot of different tactical training courses on the market teaching you how to deal with survival guns and pistols.

1. Tactical carbine

Probably the most popular tactical training course is tactical carbine training. These courses are concentrated on the fundamentals of effective and efficient use and lethal application of the modern carbine. Training covers ballistics, mindsets, proper theory, tactics, and marksmanship and definitely will improve your skill level.

2. Tactical pistol

The second most popular course in the US is the tactical pistol. It helps gun owners across the country to bring their skills of using a pistol to a whole new level. This course will improve your effectiveness with a pistol through a series of exercises such as shooting under stress and proper weapon manipulation.

3. Carbin to pistol change

The main aim of such a course is to develop skills of changing from a main to a secondary weapon. It will improve the speed of such change. What is more important, it will improve your situational awareness, so you will know when such change is necessary.

4. Precision training

During this course, students will learn the basics of marksmanship tactics and also will develop practical skills like wind estimation, distance, use of reticules, and different types of shooting positions. Such a course will definitely enhance your chances to hit the target.

5. Cold weapon

Learning how to deal with knives for survival is crucial in terms of raising overall awareness of survival techniques. A program concentrated on cold weapons focuses on different types of blades. Instructors teach students how to operate them, especially under stress.

6. Tactical mindset courses

As I have briefly mentioned above, tactical training courses include not only different abilities applicable to various types of firearms they also include training of your mind. And one should not underestimate the importance of a tough and creative mind because situational awareness, tactics knowledge, confidence, and leadership are equally crucial to survival in a dangerous situation to the ability to shoot a target.

Instructors on the mindest courses concentrate on judgment and decision-making under pressure. They also teach a group of students about different tactics to improve communication and unit cohesion. Moreover, those courses help develop leadership, which is very useful for a civilian well beyond survival in dangerous situations.

7. Special courses

If you are looking for something special, the market of tactical training can offer it to you. There are a lot of classes dedicated to such specific abilities as vehicle interdiction, and night vision which is top-notch for anyone who wants to know how to properly operate night vision tools and hit the target on a dark night.

Also, it is definitely worth looking for some tactical medicine courses because they will certainly enhance your survival chances as well as your family’s. Plus, abilities learned in this type of class could be useful well beyond survival and self-defense.

Why is Tactical Training Important?

As I have said before, most gun owners think that if they can safely handle a weapon and hit the target, they are ready to use the gun in action. However, it’s not that easy. While the basic skill level would permit you to defend your family in a situation when one robber tries to get into your house, it would not be enough when you encounter a group of robbers and set aside more complex situations like terrorist attacks or mass shootings.

To survive in the abovementioned situations requires far more skills than usual weapon handling courses, even with a great instructor can offer.

• For example, such skills as shooting from various positions, a usual course at a rifle range would teach you only seat or standing shooting. But what about such specific skills as shooting from the back or from behind the cover? These classes could be taught only by instructors during tactical training courses.
• Or what about a fast transition between a survival rifle and a pistol? Most the fire ranges do not allow to practice this discipline due to safety concerns, so again, to learn this crucial skill, you have to go for tactical training.
• Furthermore, if we come back to the example with a bunch of robbers who are getting into your house, in this case, to protect your property, you would need experience in room cleaning, a skill that you can learn only in the army, law enforcement, or tactical training courses. And by the way, if you did not serve in the army, a tactical training course can give you an experience of some serious drills from instructors.

So, as you can see, if you are already aware of some basic concepts of using a gun or a rifle attending a tactical training course can be a very fruitful idea that will enhance your survival chances in different situations.

Starting steps

So, you have finally decided that you want to try to get into tactical training, but you do not know where to start. This issue can be solved relatively easily, and as a first step, you can try to order some tactical training courses on DVD or read some survival books. There are a lot of them on the market, and it could be a good choice to learn some fundamentals. Moreover, nowadays, you can even watch some tactical training video instructions on Youtube for free! However, I have to mention that watching such videos can be a good starting point. It can not completely replace interaction with a real instructor.

What to expect?

After watching all the videos on youtube, you can decide finally decide to make a deal and enlist yourself on a course. Yet, here comes a lot of other questions because you do not know what to expect, therefore, do not know how to prepare yourself.

The answer to this question would depend on the type of course that you chose for yourself because room clearing and self-defense without a weapon are definitely different. But since most people tend to attend types of courses that concentrate on weapon handling, we would briefly describe how such type of tactical training course is organized and what benefits it could offer.

• Usually, such courses take two days (but it depends on the program of the courses and can take up to one week) and start from the classroom instruction on safety and security and on fundamentals such as trigger control and front sight.
• Also, instructors pay great attention to firearms maintenance and especially to the proper lubrication and cleaning of guns and rifles. Moreover, if you are lucky enough in the first class, you will meet veterans of some special forces units who will give you a priceless experience.
• After the lecture, you would have a break for lunch, after which you would finally enter the shooting range. At the shooting range, all the students work as a team and try to learn such skills as magazine changes, shooting from the barricades and behind the cover, and transitioning between a rifle and a pistol.
• On day two, you will receive knowledge on the room clearing, so you will go to the shoot house. At the start of the day, you and other students will get a lot of theoretical and tactical instructions and complete a lot of footwork and dry runs. It can seem boring, but you must be prepared for the real action.
• To maximize the effectiveness of the training, all the students would be separated into teams of two persons and undergo full contact training. It will be one room, two rooms, or even three rooms, clearing with the reconstruction of all possible scenarios. The training focuses on your ability to react quickly in different situations, and it also will improve your skills in working with another person.

To conclude, I can only say that after those two days of tactical training course, you will be exhausted. Still, also you will learn a lot and not only about tactical training but also about different firearms, protection, and responsibility.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What is tactical training for civilians?

Tactical training for civilians is a course or a set of courses where law-abiding civilians can train abilities that can increase their chances to defend their families, and learn the basics of military and law enforcement tactics. Moreover, civilians would learn how to use any piece of a firearm with a maximum level of safety and effectiveness.

What is tactical firearm training?

Tactical firearm training is a type of class concentrated on practical aspects of using different types of firearms, from pistols and rifles to more heavy military equipment. During such a course, students learn not only how to use a pistol and hit a target but also learn about tactics of firearm use, hidden carrying of a pistol, and situational awareness while using it.

Where can civilians get military training?

An easy answer to this question would be, of course, military or law enforcement, but obviously, not everyone is prepared to enroll in the army and serve a few years for a small paycheck. That is way across the country, and you can find a lot of organizations where you can get it for a small amount of money from the instructors who themself know what tactical training is in the special forces and are happy to assist you. To find one of these classes, you can use the internet or just ask a vendor in your ammunition store, and they usually work with some of them.

What does tactical mean in guns?

A tactical gun or a pistol is a next-generation firearm made for hitting the target in a precise manner. To achieve this aim, tactical weaponry should be lighter and smaller than a usual one. Moreover, at the same time to increase precision and proficiency, a set of tools such as a sighting system or lasers should also be used.