On 23 January, we attended a Pistol-Training.com practice session with Todd Green at the NRA range in Fairfax, VA. We have all taken classes from Todd before, and his teaching credentials and professionalism have been chronicled in detail, so I won't get into that. Take the fact that this is at least our fifth training session with Todd as covering that ground. For those unfamiliar with the NRA Headquarters range, it's top notch. Todd's intrepid assistant Tom is a range officer there and is always a helpful addition to the instructor team.
PART I:
Description of the session:
This month痴 Practice Session will focus on target discrimination drills in both normal and reduced lighting. Students will be given an opportunity to work on a critically important but often overlooked part of the handgun skillset. Both simple and photo-realistic targets will be used to challenge each student痴 ability to identify threat and non-threat targets under time pressure and various lighting conditions.
Do you have night sights? Handheld light? Weaponlight? Do you know which combination is best for you, your work or your circumstances?
Enough background; so what did we do? Crawl, walk, run... or at least jog.
We started off simple 末 each target had a colored sheet of 8.5x11" paper with a number on it (later, two colored, numbered sheets side-by-side). The targets were set to present for three seconds. Todd would call out a criteria (odd/even/color) and if your target turned and presented one of those criteria, you'd draw and shoot. Move lanes (to where you hadn't seen the target) and repeat. There were many variations of this. Some with a partner who would chastise/critique you depending on your performance. Some with multiple targets. Some with multiple criteria (Orange, Odd means it has to be both orange and odd). Each step required more thinking time as you decide if your "orange 6" is a "Top, Orange", meaning the number is over 4 (numbers were 1-8, so 4 and below was bottom, 5 and up was top 末 not complicated, but takes a fraction of a second of brain power). Were either of your numbers in your mom's birthday? And you changed lanes each time so you couldn't carry your knowledge into the next relay. While this may sound pretty basic, it accomplished a couple of important things: It made you really look at and assess your target before going for your gun (for most people in most places, you can't legally draw a gun on someone who isn't a threat). It also became a balance between thinking time and acting time. You only have 3 seconds total. If you need 2.5 seconds to employ your gun (draw, aim, fire), you only have 0.5 seconds to figure out if the person in front of you is trying to kill you. Good luck.
The next step was to use bottle-type targets. These are vaguely more humanoid than numbered papers. Some had hands painted on in varying colors. (Like IDPA no-shoots, for those familiar with that concept.) Others had none. Same concept with the targets bladed then presenting for 3 seconds. This time, Todd calls a color or criteria which defines the good guy. "Orange" means if the hands are orange, you do not shoot. Any targets with no hands were to be shot, regardless. This time, Todd and Tom mixed it up by turning the lights on and off. Sometimes it was the usual NRA lighting (which feels like you're having a shootout in Yankee Stadium). Other times it was very dim lighting, and sometimes it was completely dark. Surprisingly, I found the dim light to be the hardest to negotiate. (Summed up in learning points below.)
Sure, it looks nice in daylight. Does it have hands on it? Are those hands orange? Do they both have thumbs? I'm glad that wasn't a real threat 末 3 seconds goes by fast when I can't find my flashlight.
Finally, we moved on to photorealistic targets. For those not familiar, this is a set of targets that are photos of people from the 1970s doing a variety of vaguely threatening things other than being trapped in the 1970s. Some are provocatively holding a badge, others a gun, some both. There's an old guy with an umbrella, and the same old guy with a handgun. Different targets have different hit profiles too. Some are a large guy squared up to you, while others have a lady in a car with only her head visible. Remarkably, the hostage survived many iterations of her hostagetaker getting shot in the head before she eventually met her fate. Our rules of engagement were simple 末 you're not judging if a wrench at 21 feet is a threat 末 if it's a gun, you shoot. If not, you'd better not go for your gun or you'd better have a good lawyer on retainer. Same deal as before 末 varied lighting conditions and constantly moving lanes means you don't know what's going to be in front of you. Another variation was added as well: You and a partner are having a real conversation in your lane (both of you in the booth) and the target will present itself whenever Tom decides to push the button. When it presents, you both have to react. The shooter decides whether to engage and responds appropriately to the target and the non-shooter clears the booth (before the shooter touches his gun) and critiques. If you're having a real conversation (as we were), it's a challenging exercise... especially as Tom and Todd slowly reduce the exposure time on the targets to the minimum the system handles (1.2 seconds, if I recall correctly).
It's not so easy when it's dark, you're surprised and you have 2.5 seconds to assess, draw and engage...or not.