TNVC recently ran our first Nightfighter 101 class at Badlands Tactical in Grandfield, OK on March 27-28. This was a sold-out class, and we really enjoyed having that many students. The class had a healthy mix of law enforcement, industry and civilians in the class and was one of the best classes we have run. This was the first time we trained at Badlands Tactical, and we really enjoyed being there. It is a great facility and will be a staple in our training venues for years to come. Bobby and his team are world class in their facilities and support, and it is well worth your time and money to take a class there. Badlands Tactical
Our Try Before You Buy event preceded this class, and it was a huge success. If you are looking to try out some gear before you make a purchase, be sure to check that out. More information is available on our website.
The weather was amazing—another perfect weekend. Lows were in the 40s, highs in the 70s and we had 0 precipitation. That is a rare occurrence for our classes. If there was a downfall for weather for this class, it is that we had 100% illumination for the weekend, which is both a good and bad thing for working in low and no light conditions.
We saw a wide spread of night vision devices in this class. Everything from PVS14s to white phosphor DTNVSs. No student complained of being under-equipped, and there were no goggle-related issues at all.
This was a unique class in that all but 2 students ran suppressors for the training. This is awesome and complements low and no light training well. Another trend we saw was that there were 6 Eotechs mounted to the receivers—while no student complained about picking up the reticle under goggles, I wonder what their experience and impression would have been with a higher mount. Several of these students tried higher mounted optics during the break, and they enjoyed and saw the value of them.
A rail mounted Eotech
Aimpoint in a FAST Riser
We encourage our students to bring what gear they have—learn to use what you have on hand, and then you can make informed purchases after the class. The only gear we strongly encourage purchasing prior to a class is a high mount for your carbine optic and a red dot on your handgun.
While each Nightfighter 101 remains 90% similar, we see slight modifications in our instruction based upon the class composition and the host range capabilities. We were able to use a local structure in town to conduct our “hunter/hunted” drill with both lights and NVGs. This is valuable as students can see the differences between the technologies. And it is a lot of fun.
Our schedule remains busy and full this year. There are still seats open in many of our classes for later this year. We head to Vegas in just about a week and a half for another Try Before You Buy and Nightfighter 101.
The Badlands Tactical staff treated us and our students amazingly well. Super friendly, eager to make sure that training was going right, and opened their amazing facility to us and our students. Again, check their calendar out and get there for a class if you can make it.
"Whatcha thinking about? Hmm, night vision"
Additionally, several companies generously stepped up to offer students swag and such for their attendance. We really appreciate their generosity and are proud to have them associated with our classes.
Rite in the Rain
Ops-Core
Unity Tactical
Thyrm
Geissele Automatics
Otte Gear
Phokus Research Group
Blue Force Gear
