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Posts Tagged ‘Mike Pannone’

CTT Solutions – Cover, Concealment and Vehicles

Sunday, April 16th, 2017

When the topic of gunfighting, and fighting around vehicles in particular, comes up, there are a few guys I listen to. One of them is Mike Pannone of CTT Solutions. There’s a lot of bad info out. Here, Mike reminds us of the basics in order to counter some of it.

I think this needs to be readdressed with all the “vehicles is all about shooting through the glass and shooting from the front seat” crap. Vehicle fighting is about tactics and angles.

Cover, Concealment and Vehicles


It is important to have common definitions of common terms or further debate is senseless. Below are the definitions for cover and concealment taken from FM 21-75 COMBAT SKILLS OF THE SOLDIER:
“COVER- Cover gives protection from bullets, fragments of exploding rounds, flame, nuclear effects, and biological and chemical agents.
CONCEALMENT-Concealment is anything that hides you from enemy observation. Concealment does not protect you from enemy fire”
Below are generally accepted definitions-
Obstacle- any item or thing that blocks one’s way or prevents or hinders progress
Terrain- the physical features of a tract of land
Vehicle- A device or structure for transporting persons or things; a conveyance
***From a tactical perspective this is only true when it is moving. If static, a vehicle is an Obstacle and can be either Cover or Concealment. ***
From RTC 350-1XX (Ranger Regimental Training Circular) at the unclassified level.
Close Quarters Battle (CQB)- As per 75th Ranger Regiment “Close Quarter Battle is a planned or well-rehearsed surgical small unit tactic, technique and procedure which encompasses the 4 principles of surprise, speed, violence of action and a fail-safe breech on a built up or enclosed structure.” This is separate and different from a vehicle ambush where the vehicle once stopped is dealt with tactically no differently than other terrain.
The concept of a vehicle as some special item is often misplaced. From a tactical perspective it is only a vehicle when it is moving. When static it is part of the terrain and may offer cover, concealment or just function as an obstacle. Overwhelmingly in engagements around vehicles the best option is to move from it. A non-armored vehicle affords different and inconsistent levels of ballistic protection based on the angles of engagement and the weapons system being employed against them. Since a vehicle sits off the ground, aside from upward or downward sloping terrain, high curbs or other manmade features on the threat side, they do not protect the feet and lower legs. Injuries to the lower extremities will cause what the military calls a “mobility kill”. Once mobility is lost the likelihood of success is slim without outside intervention. The experienced combatant i.e. military member, LEO or trained citizen for that matter must understand that a vehicle, except in the narrowest of circumstances does not afford cover as defined. There is no such thing as “pretty good cover” or “partial cover” there is “cover” or what I will call enhanced concealment which means you can hide behind it but it may or may not stop incoming fire reliably. If it cannot definitively stop bullets, then by definition it is not cover… that’s just a fact. With that established, anything between you and the threat is better than nothing, so I am not saying a vehicle can’t protect you in some ways. What I am saying is that a vehicle should not be viewed overwhelmingly as cover nor as some special item in the scope of tactical considerations. Another topic I hear talk about is the idea that glass can be cover in some instances. If we teach people to shoot out through glass at threats, then I think that neuters the argument right there. The concept of pillars being points of cover is patently false as well since one cannot claim that pillars though they may afford a level of enhanced ballistic protection will keep you from being shot. They are too narrow and are surrounded by either glass or open air if the windows are down or have been shot out. If you can’t hide your entire body behind it, then it’s not cover. Outside of luck and bad threat marksmanship, hiding behind a 3”-9” wide pillar for any length of time will likely leave you injured or dead in a combative engagement. For those that shoot pillars and say “see, it stopped x or y round” here is my 2 cents; bullets generally don’t come at you in ones and twos but by the magazine. There is not enough area covered by a pillar to make it worth loitering behind as though it is genuinely safer.
From the tactical perspective there are 6 principles I adhere to in open air engagements around vehicles. These should be common sense:
A vehicle is terrain unless it is moving, then it’s a vehicle again.
Fighting around vehicles is outdoor fighting and uses standard basic infantry tactical principles. THIS IS TRUE NO MATTER WHO SIGNS YOUR PAYCHECK, WHAT UNIFORM YOU WEAR OR WHERE YOU ARE i.e. RAMMADI IRAQ OR RICHMOND VIRGINIA. This is too often conflated with Close Quarters Battle (CQB) which is a more refined form of fighting “on a built up or enclosed structure”. It requires much more training, specialized equipment and detailed rehearsals when possible.
Anything is better than nothing but very little on a soft vehicle is cover.
Use every bit of ballistic protection that the vehicle may offer but don’t assume it is cover.
Keep the biggest chunk of metal you can between you and the threat as long as you can and be looking for the next best piece of terrain. As the threat moves you move keeping the vehicle as close to directly between you as makes tactical sense.
Move as soon as you can, move before you get pinned in a spot from which you can’t move.
That’s why the second of the first three steps of the SOF targeting methodology F3EAD is (Find) Fix and is followed by Finish. If you fix someone in place, then the finishing part is only a matter of time. If you were attacked in a certain spot more than likely it’s for the distinct advantage of the attacker. By moving and changing the angles you are disrupting the plan and can regain the initiative. If it is chance contact and you are losing the initiative, again the best course of action is to change the angles on the threat to regain it.
Don’t fight from the ground unless it is the last option you have. It is too easy to lose track of an adversary and across the hood or around a car it’s really just “who gets seen first gets shot first”. If an adversary rushes the vehicle you will not be able to counter his actions in a timely manner while trying to get up. Know how to do it but understand that fighting from the ground is a last resort.
A vehicle that is not in motion is terrain and should be treated as an obstacle with enhanced concealment that provides an unpredictable level of ballistic protection. The best course of action is to immediately return the best suppressive fire you can to blunt the attack and then move as soon as is tactically prudent to regroup and counter-attack or withdraw. Changing the angles changes their plan and changes the fight.
– Mike Pannone

SureFire Field Notes – Mike Pannone

Thursday, December 29th, 2016

SureFire Field Notes is a multi-segment informational video series with tips and techniques from subject matter experts of all backgrounds. In this episode, Mike Pannone of CTT-Solutions discusses a technique for performing a magazine exchange with hand-held light in hand.

Mike Pannone is a former operational member of U.S. Marine Reconnaissance, Army Special Forces (Green Beret) and 1st SFOD-D (Delta) as well as a competition USPSA pistol shooter holding a Master class ranking in Limited, Limited-10 and Production divisions. He has participated in stabilization, combat and high-risk protection operations in support of U.S. policies throughout the world as both an active duty military member, and a civilian contractor. After sustaining a severe blast injury Mike retired from 1st SFOD-D and worked as a Primary Firearms Instructor for the Federal Air Marshal Program in Atlantic City and the head in-service instructor for the Seattle field office of the FAMS. He also worked as an independent contractor and advisor for various consulting companies to include SAIC (PSD Iraq), Triple Canopy (PSD Iraq), and The Wexford Group (Counter IED ground combat advisor Iraq and pre-deployment rifle/pistol/tactics instructor for the Asymmetric Warfare Group). Mike was also the Senior Instructor for Viking Tactics (VTAC), and Blackheart International. He started his own consulting company full time in late 2008.

Mike Pannone – CZ-USA P10-C 9mm

Sunday, December 25th, 2016

Thanks to Kevin Mah of Point and Shoot Media Works for the video.

CTT Solutions and Gunterest Announce Women’s Training Classes

Friday, July 15th, 2016

CTT Solutions and Gunterest have partnered up to provide women’s training classes in California and across the country. This marks a first for the gun industry as we establish a curriculum and caliber of training tailored specifically for women shooters.

The gun industry has long identified the female demographic as the most underserved yet fastest growing. Our partnership intends to give women access to the best training on the market in handguns, rifles, and the tactical skills thereto. The aim of the CT-GT partnership is to foster women’s skills, potential, and confidence as owners, shooters, and advocates.

CTT Solutions is owned Mike Pannone, a former operational member of U.S. Marine Reconnaissance, Army Special Forces (Green Beret) and 1st SFOD-D (Delta) as well as a Master Class USPSA competition pistol shooter in 3 different divisions. After the 9/11 attacks, he was the head marksmanship instructor for the Federal Air Marshals and helped stand up their Seattle field office. He also served as and as an independent contractor for SAIC (PSD Iraq), Triple Canopy (PSD Iraq as detail project manager/detail member), and The Wexford Group (Counter IED ground combat advisor Iraq and pre-deployment rifle/pistol/tactics instructor for the Asymmetric Warfare Group). He founded CTT Solutions in 2008 to provide private instruction for law enforcement, military and private citizens.

Mia Wood is the owner of Gunterest and a former Deputy District Attorney with the LA County District Attorney’s Office, assigned to Compton. She also did business litigation in the private sector before opening a private practice for selective clients. She created Gunterest in January 2016 as a blog and resource for other beginning women shooters. It quickly reached a national audience as it struck a chord with women and expanded into a formal company to set up women’s training classes in California and across the country. To date, Ms. Wood helped put together three California women’s handgun classes with Mr. Pannone that drew in students from Austin, Boston, and Oregon.

Gunterest will also develop an online, female-friendly format for women shooters to compare, shop and understand the array of training equipment and firearm options. Its design is a female brand for the female ethos.

The class schedule and descriptions will be released in August 2016 on the websites for Gunterest and CTT.

Please contact Mia Wood at mia@gunterest.net for more information or requests for women’s classes in your area.

RSR Steel Targets

Saturday, June 25th, 2016

Our newest addition to the RSR line-up is called The Noner. System includes AR500 Steel Target, Steel Brackets, and Steel Base. Ships Free!! Rather than hear what we have to say about the target, let’s go to the source – Mike Pannnone…

RSR’s new reduced USPSA silhouette- The RSR Noner target is what I believe to be the most useful steel reactive target at the best price in the industry with the best grade of steel I have ever used. I’ve used RSR for a couple of years now and its price, simplicity, utility and durability are all unparalleled.

The key benefit on the Noner target is the dimensions. The RST is the older brother of the new Noner target and it led the way to this even more efficient scale.

Dimensions- the Noner target is 13.5” high and 7.5” wide with a 4” head area cut out of the top. This leaves the shooter with 90 square inches of target area which is big enough to shoot with rifles standing at 100 yards if you are doing it right yet still very useful for shorter range pistol training (think 7-50 yards). For reference the rectangular A-zone of a USPSA target is 6”x11” or 66 square inches”. The Noner target is 1/3 larger than an A-zone but is still a size that is easily adaptable for either speed or accuracy shooting given the distance. I have found it to be the optimal size for training where you are balancing speed and accuracy with handguns and at distances over 100 yards they become an ever more challenging rifle target. The RSR cap and tongue mount makes it simple, robust and compatible with any existing 2×4 capable base for those that already them. The articulating mount makes them safe to shoot at 10 yards and extends the lifecycle of the target itself by redirecting instead of absorbing all the delivered energy from the projectile. The cherry on top is that the extremely high grade of steel they use has a resonance that I have never encountered with any other steel target. It literally rings like a tuning fork and even at 300 yards it is easy to hear the audible strike.

Again, price, simplicity, utility and durability are all unparalleled. When you need new or more steel the Noner target is what I believe is the most user friendly dimensions for different types of shooting that I know of…and if you have different needs or desires RSR has a whole line of shooter designed and shooter friendly reactive targets. RSR is my 1-stop shop for all my steel target needs.

www.rsrsteeltargets.com/product/066-NONER

Gunfighter Moment – Mike Pannone

Saturday, May 21st, 2016

The Pool of Time Concept or, “How to Shoot Faster Without Physically Moving Faster.”

One of the most useful things I learned from shooting USPSA and competing on the same range with the best shooters in the world is what I call “the pool of time concept”. It is nothing new but it had never been explained to me but now that I figured it out it has been a staple in all my shooting lecture at classes. To make it short and sweet here’s the Cliff Notes:

Every action you take has a pool of time associated with it. When you are trying to shoot faster but feel like you are at the limits of your physical ability then examine how you are spending your time. Start with the largest pool of time and see if you can get some back by refining and making more efficient that particular action. For me in USPSA I found I was shooting fast and accurate enough but my movement and set-up were costing me 2-4 seconds every time against other shooters. In a match those 2-8 seconds even on the shorter courses of fire which is an eternity and the difference between 2nd and 22nd sometimes. I took out that specific component and began to practice rapid exit from a shooting position and rapid entry into and set-up/shot in another position. I found that in the next few matches I was doing substantially better even though I shot no differently as it related to speed and accuracy. I had refined a particular component skill and taken some time back from that particular pool of time but never moved my physical body any faster.

Above is just an example of a component skill and the pool of time concept. The key is to start with the largest pool of time available and work your way down to the smallest. Final hint, there is no real time to be had with substantial benefit in trigger press. If you shoot .25sec split times for shots and I shoot .15, that is 60% faster. I am shooting at the fringes of control and will be losing points and gaining penalties and you will be shooting great scores without penalties. The big take away in this example is that a course of fire with 10 targets will only give me an advantage of 1 second! So I am shooting 60% faster in splits on the target and losing points and I only gain 1 second. There is no usable time in the trigger overall so before you try and shoot faster, work on doing everything else faster. There is no difference in this from sport to combative shooting; it’s the hits at speed not just speed that wins the fight.

Go to each pool of time starting with the biggest and then work your way down to the smallest taking a little back from each pool while leaving the trigger press consistent. If you do that you will be far more efficient which is where speed comes from and you will shoot faster without physically moving faster.

– Mike Pannone

Mike Pannone retired from the Army’s premier assault force (1st SFOD-D) after an explosive breaching injury. A year after his retirement America was attacked on 9/11 and he returned to help serve his country as the head marksmanship instructor at the Federal Air Marshals training course and then moved to help stand up the FAMS Seattle field office. In 2003 he left the FAMS to serve as a PSD detail member and then a detail leader for the State Department during 2003 and 2004 in Baghdad and Tikrit.

In 2005 he served as a ground combat advisor of the Joint Counter IED Task Force and participated on combat operations with various units in Al Anbar province. Upon returning he gave IED awareness briefings to departing units and helped stand up a pre-Iraq surge rifle course with the Asymmetric Warfare Group as a lead instructor. With that experience as well as a career of special operations service in Marine Reconnaissance, Army Special Forces and JSOC to draw from he moved to the private sector teaching planning, leadership, marksmanship and tactics as well as authoring and co-authoring several books such as The M4 Handbook, AK Handbook and Tactical Pistol shooting. Mike also consults for several major rifle and accessory manufacturers to help them field the best possible equipment to the warfighter, law enforcement officer and upstanding civilian end user. He is considered a subject matter expert on the AR based Stoner platform in all its derivatives.

CTT Solutions

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.

RSR Introduces ‘The Noner’

Monday, May 2nd, 2016

RAR is well known for shooting targets and they have introduced the Noner, a collaboration with Special Operations Veteran Mike Pannone which features RSR’s new reduced USPSA silhouette. You may also notice the logo of Pannone’s CTT Solutions on the target.

The target is 13.5” high and 7.5” wide with a 4” head area cut out of the top. This leaves the shooter with 90 square inches of target area which is big enough to shoot with rifles standing at 100 yards, yet still very useful for shorter range pistol training (think 7-50 yards). For reference the rectangular A-zone of a USPSA target is 6”x11” or 66 square inches”. The Noner target is 1/3 larger than an A-zone but is still a size that is easily adaptable for either speed or accuracy shooting given the distance. Pannone has found this size to be the optimal size for training where you are balancing speed and accuracy with handguns and at distances over 100 yards they become an ever more challenging rifle target.

The Noner package includes AR500 Steel Target, Steel Brackets, and Steel Base. The RSR cap and tongue mount makes it simple, robust and compatible with any existing 2×4 capable base. The articulating mount also makes them safe to shoot at 10 yards and extends the lifecycle of the target itself by redirecting instead of absorbing all the delivered energy from the projectile.

the Noner is also offered in a combo with a head target.

Gunfighter Moment – Mike Pannone

Saturday, April 30th, 2016

The lost art of the question

What is it about the internet that has made asking questions something that has become all too rare in the training and firearms world? I have seen far too many instances of it and most especially in forums. Often there, questions are posed in an adversarial way that is actually an accusation which the one posing the question wants you to defend, deny or admit. It seems many are not looking for an answer but to validate an answer they already hold. Anyone that has trained with me knows I am all too glad to answer questions and that I won’t give one that is not well thought out … so why not just ask me something? Why does it have to be in reference to something someone else said? I often tell folks in my classes “I don’t care what anyone else said” and there are good reasons for that. It is because I have thought out, researched and validated my ideas and have already taken those of others into account. I also was not present when the named individual said whatever it was that he or she said and so I really don’t know what the response was EXACTLY. One word in a sentence can make something sound completely different than the original statement and so if I didn’t hear it, who am I to assume I know what was said? If I see a video I feel completely free to comment on it because I watched it. I see many comments that say “context is important here” but then fail to comment on the context that they think has been misconstrued even though you watched the video. If you want to make a point feel free but don’t say someone is misunderstanding something and then not say why.

The point here is very simple to articulate. One should ask questions to find new knowledge and not to stir up controversy for the sake of it. You need only to present a question in an inquiring manner and then evaluate the answer for yourself. Making blanket statements or asking scenario based questions in order to try and lead someone into a rhetorical position where you can find some perceived intellectual flaw is a waste of everyone’s time and ends up branding you as a zealot or a fan-boy. One final note, if you are unwilling to put your real name out in public then why should someone who uses their real name answer you, especially if the questions are argumentative or adversarial?

The effects of the internet on personal and respectful decorum have been terrible. People are far more willing to be antagonistic and disrespectful behind a keyboard than in person and in the end we all lose out.

Ask questions because you seek knowledge, not to argue a position you don’t seek to clarify. Don’t mention your perception of another instructors’ comments unless the author can reference a transcript or was present during the statement.

Finally, don’t ascribe any desired intent or target of the article other than what the author stated. Some people say exactly what they mean and mean exactly what they say. I happen to be one of those people.

– Mike Pannone

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Mike Pannone retired from the Army’s premier assault force (1st SFOD-D) after an explosive breaching injury. A year after his retirement America was attacked on 9/11 and he returned to help serve his country as the head marksmanship instructor at the Federal Air Marshals training course and then moved to help stand up the FAMS Seattle field office. In 2003 he left the FAMS to serve as a PSD detail member and then a detail leader for the State Department during 2003 and 2004 in Baghdad and Tikrit.

In 2005 he served as a ground combat advisor of the Joint Counter IED Task Force and participated on combat operations with various units in Al Anbar province. Upon returning he gave IED awareness briefings to departing units and helped stand up a pre-Iraq surge rifle course with the Asymmetric Warfare Group as a lead instructor. With that experience as well as a career of special operations service in Marine Reconnaissance, Army Special Forces and JSOC to draw from he moved to the private sector teaching planning, leadership, marksmanship and tactics as well as authoring and co-authoring several books such as The M4 Handbook, AK Handbook and Tactical Pistol shooting. Mike also consults for several major rifle and accessory manufacturers to help them field the best possible equipment to the warfighter, law enforcement officer and upstanding civilian end user. He is considered a subject matter expert on the AR based Stoner platform in all its derivatives.

CTT Solutions

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.