Photo credit Redback One/Boombot Media |
I got the opportunity to attend the Redback One Combat
Carbine 2 class at C2 Shooting Center, Virginia Beach, VA on October
25-26. Prior to the class, I hadn’t shot
a rifle except for simple zeroing since I transferred out of my last unit,
almost a year and a half ago. Needless
to say, I was really excited to have a
chance to get back on the gun, learn new
techniques, and have an instructor watch me for any bad habits that had crept
in.Photo credit Redback One/Boombot Media |
First off, I really enjoyed learning from Jason Falla, the
owner of Redback One (RB1). Jason is a
former member of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment, and his training
and professionalism shows in every aspect of his instruction. His instructional system teaches principles
first, techniques second. This system
teaches a few over-arching principles that pertain to multiple scenarios, allowing
the user to apply the techniques that their individual scenario requires. As he stressed during our class, the goal is
to provide “reference points” that individuals, whether LE/mil or armed
citizen, can fall back on in a stressful situation, minimizing the lag created
when a person confronts a new situation.
In addition to my goal of getting back on the gun, I also
used this course to test out some gear, including my Faxon Firearms ARAK 5.56
upper, UF Pro Striker XT Combat Shirt, and my Dead Coyote/Tactical Tailor chest
rig. More info on those will come in
later posts.
After a quick safety brief on the morning of the 25th
(Day One), we started our class off with the Operator Readiness Test (ORT):
·
Two six inch dots - one for the head, one for
center mass at seven yards.
·
Fire ten rounds from the rifle into the head,
·
Transition to the pistol, fire 10 rounds of
pistol center mass,
·
Reload pistol, fire two more rounds center mass,
·
Reload rifle, fire two more rounds to the head.
·
Par time: 20 seconds, no rounds outside the
black.
My time Saturday was 31 seconds, with two rounds
dropped. Needless to say, I felt more
than a little behind the curve at that point.
Next, we moved into simple dot drills, finding and working our red dot’s
offset. We also conducted some stress
drills, moving quickly between targets and engaging various size dots. After we worked stress drills, we worked
transition drills from rifle to pistol and back, including reloading the
rifle. This is where Jason’s Individual
Protection Drill (IPD) comes into play.
While it sounds complicated, it essentially boils down to keeping a
weapon in the fight. For example, while
engaging a target, your rifle runs dry.
You immediately switch to pistol and finish the engagement. Once the threat is neutralized, you scan for
additional threats. If no further
threats present themselves, you bring the pistol to position 3 while grabbing
your rifle at the “control point” (the front of the magazine well) and bring it
to eye level. From this position, you
can now see both the slide of your pistol and the bolt carrier of your rifle,
giving you the ability to assess the condition of both and determine what to do
next while still having a weapon available if needed. In this case, since your rifle is out of ammo
and there are no further threats, you put the pistol away and reload the
rifle. If, however, your position was
unsafe, you could decide to move to a better position (ie, cover) and reload or
clear the malfunction. If you were
working in a team, you could call for cover while you remedied the stoppage,
but since this course was geared toward individuals working alone, the IPD
provides a solution for the lack of available support. The “control point” from the IPD would also
come into play on Day Two when we worked transitions to the off shoulder.
Photo credit Redback One/Boombot Media |
Photo credit Redback One/Boombot Media |
After an eventful morning, we took a break for lunch. While we ate, Jason lead a discussion on the
precepts of Tactical Combat Casualty Care, with special emphasis on
tourniquets. He also took a minute to
demonstrate RB1’s tourniquet holder (I purchased one after the course).
Our afternoon was spent working weapon malfunction drills on
the rifle. Jason likes to keep it
simple, and his malfunction clearance drills illustrate that. “Body obstructions,” such as double feeds and
failures to extract are both treated the same way. Using his IPD, once you glance at the rifle’s
ejection port, if you see brass, it’s a body obstruction. From there, you:
·
lock the bolt to the rear,
·
remove the magazine,
·
insert your fingers through the mag well to
assist the rounds in falling free,
·
rack the
bolt three times,
·
re-insert the mag,
·
and charge the weapon.
Sounds drawn out, but it only takes a few seconds once you
practice it. We also covered bolt
overrides. Jason ran another stress
drill where he set up three rifles with various malfunctions. We had to sprint to the first rifle, identify
and clear the malfunction, fire a round, and move to the next rifle. After clearing all three malfunctions, we had
to sprint back to the starting point.
Photo credit Redback One/Boombot Media |
We finished Day One with some extreme angle shooting
emphasizing footwork. Jason set up
targets all the way to a full 90 degrees to both left and right. This drill really pushes you to find the most
efficient, not the most perfect, foot position to effectively transition and
engage all the targets.
Day Two started out a little rough. We arrived at the range at 0800, only to find
out that we couldn’t go hot until 1200.
Thankfully, Jason had gotten word the night before, and he brought out
his Sim guns. We spend the first four
hours working single person (or as Jason calls them, singleton) room
clears. I personally really enjoyed
this, since I hadn’t been in a shoothouse in 2+ years, and I had never worked
single person clears. As a team, we
always cleared with at least two people in a room. While that works well on a tactical team, for
your average homeowner a single person clear is a stark reality.
Once we got the clear to go hot, we started off with
bilateral shooting. Jason’s control
point lesson really I
really enjoyed this block, as I never really practiced bilateral shooting in my
previous job. Now that I know how simple
it is to transition, and how much of an advantage it can give you, I plan on
practicing it a lot more. We also spent
some time clearing weapon malfunctions from the opposite shoulder, then moved
into improvised shooting positions from behind cover. Our last block of instruction was individual,
two man, and five man shoot/move/communicate drills between barricades. To finish the class off, we re-shot the
ORT. I managed to shave 7 seconds off my
time, with a slight improvement in accuracy, although I still need a lot of
trigger time to get under par.
Photo credit Redback One/Boombot Media |
My biggest takeaways from this course were the use of the
high ready and its applicability to defensive tactics, bilateral shooting, singleton
room-clearing operations, and malfunction clearance. Since I had never used my ARAK except in
zeroing, getting a chance to work up and practice malfunction drills was a huge
benefit. I’ll also be re-evaluating my
ARAK setup and making sure that I can operate all the controls, including the
flashlight, with either hand.
Jason also deserves massive credit for going ahead with a
five person course. I know his profit
margin was probably pretty slim, but I also know that all five of us took
something away from this course, and it was great to see him put forward a
clear students-first ethos. His
adaptability on Sunday also made sure we got our money’s worth out of the
course, when he could have easily copped out by pointing to the range
restrictions. He’s currently putting
together the 2015 calendar, and I know I’m personally looking for his Home
Defense course in the local area before I head back to Texas in June.
Photo credit Redback One/Boombot Media |
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