www.redbackone.com
<span style="font-weight: bold">Grey Group Training:
www.greygrouptraining.com
Originally posted by G_M;
Dates: Aug. 14-15, 2010
Location: Prado Olympic Shooting Park
The purpose of this review is to share my personal experience of taking the two day tactical carbine coursed offered by Jason Falla (Redback One) through Grey Group Training. I will provide an overview of topics covered in the two days of training and personal impressions and experience(s). I won’t be able to cover everything but hopefully enough to give some insight into this class and the instructor.
Student body was a mix of civilians and ex/active duty military. There were RAWs, featureless and BB’d AR15’s.
Day 1
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Day one began with an introduction of the instructor (Jason Falla) and a short presentation on fundamentals of marksmanship, sight zeros, ballistics and miscellaneous things covered in introduction courses. Included in this lecture were what Jason Falla considered the basics of combat marksmanship and he broke each part down for us and explained how it affects your shot downrange.
Then we proceeded to zero our guns to 200 meters using a modified target at 25 meters. After zeroing we did a combat check at 50 meters to make sure our sights were on and did fine tuning if needed. From here we proceeded into marksmanship drills from different body positions (prone, kneeling) at 50 meters. Jason introduced us to a kneeling technique that locks in your gun much tighter than the normal kneeling positions. For some this worked really well but for others I don’t think the result differed too much or didn’t work at all. Personally I’ve had much more practice with the standard kneeling position so I’ll have to try out Jason’s technique on the range for a while before I can make a decision on it. Regardless this was the first of many “chestnuts” that Jason had for us.
The next evolution was combat marksmanship at 7 meters. The first set of drills we did were timed drills at 7 meters. These drills were done cold to see for ourselves where we were and how far we were from the ideal time. We went over mechanical offsets, single targets, multiple targets, multiple rounds, presentation time, set time, high percentage shots, low percentage shots, and transition drills.
The last drill of the day was a single rifle shot from standing and a single pistol shot from standing at 50 meters.
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Day 2</span>
Day two began with cold drills that were timed. I believe we did about 9-10 drills and each person was timed, we also were given par times for each drill and I made sure I wrote mine down so I can see how I do later on.
During these drills Jason dropped a few more chestnuts for us to pick up on how to make ourselves faster but also paying attention to our limits (trigger stall). A number of people (including me) had this happen and Jason explained what was going on in your head that was causing it. It was a good thing to know and I focused that part of the morning getting familiar with my limits. Knowing how fast you can shoot and how slow you have to shoot to hit a low percentage shot is something you need to have a feel for.
We then went into reloads, malfunctions and the mostly overlooked system check. Jason Falla is probably the smoothest and consistent person I’ve seen when it comes to reloads, transition and malfunction clearances. While we were jamming mags I would watch him perform his transitions and reloads. It’s a little deceiving because it doesn’t look like its super fast but the time is very fast. So the speed comes from efficiency of movement I believe. Everyone pretty much had a way or knew how to perform reloads and malfunction clearances. But this is where Jason was able to cut out a lot of the fat and point out training scares.
The next thing covered after reloads and malfunctions was movement and the first thing we did was turns. So I was thinking well this is going to be the pivot turn stuff which I’ve seen in all sorts of carbine courses/videos. I’ve had issues with the pivot turn technique ever since I started tracking par times when I go out and shoot (i.e. a bit too lumbering for wanting to get a shot off quick). Well, Jason introduced us to something a little different, a twist one would say when it comes to turning. We still kept our upper bodies square to the target but were able to shave off .25~.5 seconds off which is a lot of time when it comes to shooting. This part was my personal favorite because I was really digging the quickness at which I can turn and get my first round off. What I also really like was how my lower body was pretty much set (center of balance, center of gravity, legs coiled) to transition directly into movement which we also practiced. Awesome addition to my personal toolbox… I could go on and on about this I was so pleased with it.
The second to last evolution was information on barricades and how to shoot around barricades. The stability required to perform some of these shots were practiced somewhere prior to this (I forgot the time frame). This was a fairly fun part of the class where we all got to test out different techniques explained to us and for some of us to get redemption on the steel targets we missed the previous day.
The last evolution was shooting on the move and negotiating cover. Basically we are putting together everything we learned throughout the class and putting it all together in this course of fire. Jason demonstrated this for us at slow speed then at his speed. Thanks to someones mags, Jason unexpectedly got a malfunction during one run. I was able to get his reaction on camera and it is a good example of how someone with a great amount of training will react, I was impressed.
BONUS EVOLUTION! Same course of fire except with a teammate. This was basically to show us how advanced you must be to be able to negotiate a course of fire with a team mate and still be safe. Jason followed each person and held them at the collar to make sure we’d be safe. Going forward with a teammate is one thing. Doing a course of fire with forward, lateral movement, turns and coming into and out of cover together is another level for sure. Not to mention remembering everything you are supposed to do and communication. I was definitely amped up after that course of fire and what a great evolution to end the day on.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Impressions</span>
I am surprised at some of the things I learned throughout the course. Really basic stuff but done better to take you to the next level. Also, lots of drills to take home and do at your range (if you can) as well as par times to shoot for.
Even if you have taken TigerSwan, Magpul or other carbine courses I am fairly certain you will be able to take away a handful of chestnuts, as Jason puts it, which will make you a better shooter. Jason is also very approachable and will happily explain things to you if you ask questions.
When I first signed up, I wasn't sure what exactly to expect so I expected a basic carbine course. I kinda thought it would be great trigger time but nothing new, I am pleasantly surprised. So I am look forward to more Redback One courses coming to California.
Some pics I took with iPhone. Nothing compared to what real cameramen took though, hopefully we'll see them soon.
Jason supervising bolt over malfunction clearance
Free Round!
Running the "W" course of fire
