After Action Report – 1st Btn/3rd Bde – November 5th, 2016
Missouri Militia - 1st Btn / 3rd Bde
Kansas City, MO
November 5th, 2016
Dynamic Pistol Training - After Action Report
Period covered: 11/5/2016 0730-1630 hours
1. Table of contents
2. Executive summary and chronology of significant events
3. Operations phase with dates
4. Post-deployment activities:
5. Appendices
2. Executive summary and chronology of significant events:
Location: Area 51 Motor Sports (4932 E Old Hwy 40, Odessa, MO 64076)
0815 - Formation, Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, Brief
0840 - Swearing in five Troopers
0845 - Promotions (Tony Milhon - PFC, Andy McVey - Cpl)
0925 - Explanation of Training for the Day (Cpl. McVey & PFC Milhon)
0950 - Training
1100 - ND
1200 - Lunch
1248 - Swearing in of one trooper (David Cowell)
1250 - Promotion of Cody Perry
1317 - Training
1630 - Training Concluded for the day
1700 - Sighting in rifles at 100 yards (just a few members participated)
1749 - A helicopter landed (the owner of the property, very friendly)
37 Attendees
Cpl. Andy McVey - Instructor
PFC Tony Milhon - Assistant Instructor
Sgt. Perry - Range NCO
Lt. Felix - Range Officer
Key Lesson Learned: Do not pull the trigger while clearing a weapon. One ND occurred while Trooper Lawrence was clearing his sidearm. No one was hurt and no property was damaged.
Success: Every member was given instruction and experience operating their secondary weapon system (pistol) in many different situations and from several positions.
Shortcoming/Challenge: Not everyone had a full-size side-arm to train with. Training is limited to stationary, known, targets.
3. Operations phase with dates:
Cpl. McVey and PFC Milhon described the training for the rest of the day and asked the unit to gather their gear and head to the firing range.
PFC Wick performed PCC's: checking participants for the right equipment and water.
We began with how to perform an admin load.
Cpl. McVey explained the concept of the “workspace" and the importance of efficiency and consistency when operating a handgun.
He also explained the difference between your “weapon hand” (your primary hand or the hand that normally draws the weapon from its holster) and your “support hand”.
The men were instructed to keep their sidearm in there holsters unless they are on the firing line.
We went over the five Cardinal gun safety rules:
- Treat every gun as if it is loaded all the time.
- Do not point your gun at anything you do not want to destroy.
- Keep the safety on until you have made the decision to fire.
- Know your target, what's around it, and what's beyond it.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until you have the target in your sight and you have made the decision to fire.
Cpl. McVey covered proper stance and how to hold the weapon:
- Feet squared up to the target, parallel. Not 1 foot in front of the other (weaver stance).
- Both hands holding onto the weapon creating a triangle.
- The weapon hand squeezes the handle from the front and the back.
- The support hand squeezes the handle from the left and right sides.
- Both thumbs point forward, the direction of the barrel, and touch the frame of the weapon.
How to perform a tactical reload:
Keep your head up in the workspace and be aware of what is going on around you.
Remove a full magazine from its pouch with your support hand.
With your support hand on the magazine in your weapon press the magazine release, remove the magazine from the weapon, and insert the full magazine into the weapon.
Retain the partially empty magazine in a magazine or dump pouch.
You perform a tactical reload when there is a break in the fight (you have time and cover.)
All of the men had an opportunity to shoot, perform a tactical reload, and shoot again, several times.
How to perform a speed reload:
We do this when we are in a fire fight and our weapon has run out of ammunition.
Check the chamber to identify that the magazine is empty.
Press the magazine release button and sweep the bottom of the pistol in an arc toward your support hand (the magazine should fall to the ground)
Insert a full magazine with your support hand.
Pull the slide back and release it with your support hand.
Resume firing.
PFC Milhon provided several demonstrations and one-on-one assistance throughout the training program.
How to resolve several malfunctions:
Failure to feed
- tap, rack, pull the trigger
Double feed
Stove pipe
- Drop the magazine, rack, rack, rack, insert the magazine, rack, pull the trigger
- Tilt the gun so that you can inspect the chamber.
Shooting at point-blank range from the holster:
Six participants were allowed to practice this skill at a time.
Grab your chest with your support hand.
Draw your pistol with your weapon hand.
Fire one round at the target from your waist.
Step away from the target while raising your weapon to normal firing position and fire two more rounds.
Incorporating immediate action drills as necessary (reloading, failure to feed, double feed, etc)
Drawing and firing your weapon with your support hand:
You would do this if your weapon hand has been damaged some how.
Six participants were allowed to practice this skill at a time.
Reach for your sidearm with your support hand.
Release the retention device if there is one.
Turn the gun around in the holster if necessary.
Draw your gun from the holster, push it out in front of you and fire.
Participants practiced this “dry”.
Once the participants were comfortable with the procedure, they practiced it with live ammunition.
Shooting from Prone, Urban Prone Right, Supine, and Urban Prone Left:
You would do this to avoid bullets, or to shoot around an obstacle.
Four participants were allowed to practice this skill at the same time.
There was a dry run followed by live fire exercise.
They started by drawing their weapon and dropping to the ground into a prone position (on their stomach, head closest to the target) firing two rounds.
Then they transitioned to Urban Prone Right (laying on their right side, both arms outstretched in a delta (triangle) manner on the gun, with their top leg closest to the target, bottom leg away from the target) and firing two rounds
Then they transitioned to Supine (sitting on their butts, both arms outstretched in a delta (triangle) manner on the gun, feet split and out of harms way, they fired two rounds
Finally they transitioned to Urban Prone Left (laying on their left side, both arms outstretched in a delta (triangle) manner on the gun, with their top leg closest to the target, bottom leg away from the target) and firing two rounds
Incorporating immediate action drills as necessary (reloading, failure to feed, double feed, etc)
Shooting and Moving:
When commanded to move a certain direction, “forward!”, “left!”, “right!”, “rear!”, the participants are to move quickly in the direction specified, drawing their sidearm at the same time, fire two rounds, and holster their sidearm until the next command is issued.
Explosive Movement.
Perform a 360 degree threat check before holstering your sidearm.
Two participants were allowed to practice this skill at the same time.
Immediate action drills were incorporated as necessary (reloading, failure to feed, double feed, etc)
4. Post-deployment activities:
Cpl. McVey and Lt. Felix facilitated an After Action Review with the group, giving everyone an opportunity to voice sustains and opportunities for improvement.
PFC Wick described the conditions and the actions that lead to a negligent discharge (ND) while Trooper Lawrence was clearing his sidearm, and requested that no-one pull their trigger while clearing their weapon in the future. PFC Wick takes responsibility for not watching the trooper’s actions close enough to catch and stop him from pulling his trigger during the clearing procedure. He will watch more closely and give direction to prevent this in the future.
After training, members were given an opportunity to sight in their rifles at 100 yards for deer season and to qualify for a long distance training program the following weekend. Lt. Felix brought some pumpkins to shoot at, two containing tannerite (a legal shot reporter sold off the shelf at most sporting goods stores.)
While sighting in rifles, an unidentified and unexpected visitor landed in a helicopter on the field where we were shooting. The man shut down his helicopter and identified himself as the owner of the property we were shooting on. He had no problem with our presence, and proceeded to show us around his helicopter (a Mosquito XET Turbine). He then fired up his helicopter and went on his way.
5. Appendices
Photographs
An Album containing photos and videos can be seen here: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B045nhQSTsYXaU