Yesterday, we came to the realization that we had run out of space on our server. Consequently, this evening the website will be down for a few hours while we upgrade the server to allow for more space.
Full-service will be restored, and new content added to the website, before morning.
This post commemorates our 22,000th active post. Whew, am I tired.
By Sky M. Laron, Public Affairs Officer,
Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.—U.S. Marines with Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity sharpened their combat skills at multiple training locations across Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Jan. 19.
“Every Marine is, first and foremost, a rifleman. All other conditions are secondary.” This adage from Gen. Alfred M. Gray, 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, has come to embody the fighting spirit of the Marine Corps.
“No matter what our occupational specialty is, we are all Marines—we are all warriors,” said Capt. Joshua Lum, MCTSSA Operating Forces Support Group operations officer and training event safety officer.
Lum, an infantry officer by trade, said the primary focus of this training was developing Marines’ mental and physical toughness, which was echoed by fellow event leaders.
“Every Marine at MCTSSA has a duty to the Marine to the left and the right of them, and the basic combat skills that we performed during our event will keep Marines in an always-ready mentality,” said Sgt. Megan Birge, MCTSSA Network Operations Center Telecommunications and Data Systems administrator and training exercise officer-in-charge. “This mentality will ensure Marines are constantly ready for the fight.”
Many of the Marines who fill the ranks at MCTSSA work on satellite antennas, radars, radios and computer systems enabling the technical support required by the operating forces. Yet, these skills are only part of what makes them effective in any battlespace.
Several dozen MCTSSA buddy teams negotiated through five stations that not only tested their physical and mental toughness, but required them to use land navigation, combat lifesaver, radio configuration and combat reporting, aquatic endurance and hand-to-hand combat tactics.
“Marines at MCTSSA are from technical backgrounds or non-combat backgrounds; we had participation from ranks of Private First Class all the way to the Sergeant Major and the XO,” said Birge. “It just goes to show that no matter the [military occupational specialty] or rank, training like this is important and needs to be done across all types of units in the Marine Corps.”
With all the technology and advancements at Marines’ disposal, it is also important to remember the basics, said Birge.
“Overall this was good training,” said Sgt. Spencer Trawick, MCTSSA Network Operations Center network administrator. “In combat, you are going to be doing much more than just your job.”
Trawick, who was raised in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana, added that he was used to hiking and land navigation because he did that type of thing growing up. It was getting his hands on the radios and refreshing his combat lifesaver skills that he found most beneficial, he said.
“Taking a break from the job and getting back to the baseline of what I signed up for was great,” said Trawick.
MCTSSA Marines trained on mountain tops and underwater, and traversed dry creek beds and ravines, putting their combat skills to the test. At the end of the day, these technical experts will go back to their laboratories, raydomes and office spaces to perform the vital task of supporting the operating forces, but their own warrior skills will be front of mind.
MCTSSA, the only elite full-scale laboratory facility operated by the Marine Corps, is a subordinate command of Marine Corps Systems Command. MCTSSA provides test and evaluation, engineering, and deployed technical support for Marine Corps and joint service command, control, computer, communications and intelligence systems throughout all acquisition life-cycle phases.
VIRIN: 180119-M-RY346-1003
Sgt. Spencer Trawick, MCTSSA Network Operations Center network administrator, treats a simulated sucking chest wound at the combat lifesaver station during combat skills training Jan. 19, aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sky M. Laron)
VIRIN: 180119-M-RY346-1002
Maj. Clayton MacAloney, MCTSSA Transmissions Engineering branch head, performs aquatic-based physical training or “Pool PT” during combat skills training Jan. 19, aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sky M. Laron)
VIRIN: 180119-M-RY346-1004
Staff Sgt. Wendel Matney (left), MCTSSA operations chief, lands a pugil stick strike while sparring during combat skills training Jan. 19, aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sky M. Laron)
VIRIN: 180119-M-RY346-1001
Sgt. Tekiera Edwards (left), MCTSSA assistant warehouse chief, and Pfc. Anthony Chavez (right), MCTSSA inventory management specialist, negotiate the land navigation course at the School of Infantry–West during combat skills training Jan. 19, aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sky M. Laron)
This is a sneak peek of the patent pending Armored IcePlate from Qore Performance.
It combines the “4 in 1” multifunction capability” of the IcePlate (Cooling, Heating, Hydration and Ballistic enhancement) into a single package with armor plate technology which harnesses some basic, though underutilized physics to create armor.The IcePlate which offers hydration nests within the armor plate.
Essentially, they’ve created the world’s first dynamic state armor. Although they’ve tested the armor plate to NIJ standards for lvl III & IV, they’re going to need to come up with some new test strategies to accurately measure the two components performance when used together.
They’ve also created a new 28-410 thread to QD elbow adapter to allow the hydration tube to travel up the side of the plate.
Look for the Qore Performance Armored IcePlate to hit the market in about 18 months.
I’m hearing from a lot of sources that US government employees who are supposed to attend the 2018 SHOT Show in Las Vegas have had their orders canceled due to the government shut down.
Believe it or not, this sort of thing has happened before. I am already on the ground in Vegas, and as in the past, will do my best to share those products I think will be of interest to you. If anything, you can then follow up with the company via other means after the show.
I can’t attend your meetings for you, and I know it doesn’t take the place of being here, But hopefully this will help out.
Middletown, Pa. (January 2018) – IWI US, Inc., a subsidiary of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) Ltd., brings innovation to the tactical shotgun market with their first bullpup shotgun: the TAVOR® TS12. This 12 GA gas regulated, smoothbore semi-auto shotgun feeds from one of three magazine tubes, each capable of holding four three-inch shotgun shells or five two-inch shotgun shells, for a total potential magazine capacity of 15 +1 rounds. The TS12 can be fed and unloaded from either side and configured for either right or left side ejection or operation.
“The TAVOR TS12 is our first entry into the home defense shotgun market and we held off until we had something unique and desirable that held the same characteristic quality and performance of the entire TAVOR line,” Casey Flack, CEO of IWI US commented. “The TS12 is it; compact, easy to use and maintain, and with a large magazine capacity, it is ideal for home defense, as well as a sporting shotgun.”
The TAVOR TS12 features a unique patented “Bullhead” bolt locking system, specific to the TS12. The 18.5-inch smoothbore barrel with a three-inch chamber is fed rounds through a tubular magazine system that automatically loads the next round when the tube is rotated in position. The muzzle threads are internal and compatible with Benelli®/Beretta choke tubes. One choke tube is included with the TAVOR TS12.
Compact in length at only 28.34-inches, the TS12 has a one-piece, full-length 1913 Picatinny top rail with M-LOK receptacles integral in each side of the forearm of the shotgun body, allowing multiple placement possibilities for the addition of accessories.
Available initially in a black finish, later versions will be offered in OD and FDE. The MSRP is $1399.00.
TAVOR® TS12 Specifications:
Gauge:
12GA/ 3″ chamber
Weight:
3.6 kg (mag empty) / 8 lbs.
Barrel Length:
47 cm / 18.5″
Overall Length:
720 cm (not including choke) / 28.34″
Height:
260 mm / 10.23″ (from pistol grip to top)
Magazine:
Tubular system, 15-rounds total capacity (five 2.75″ or four 3″)
Choke:
Internal muzzle threads / Benelli / Beretta Type (one choke included)
Picatinny Rail:
one-piece, full-length 1913 standard top rail
Safety:
cross bolt safety
To learn more about IWI US, please visit www.iwi.us.
This blog post was originally featured on Max Velocity Tactical, and is published here with permission from the author.
“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.” – Heraclitus
“Warrior Mindset is more than aggressiveness and determination, it is about over coming challenge and adversity. It’s about possessing, understanding, and being able to utilize a set of psychological and physical skills that allow someone to be effective, adaptive, and persistent. It also allows someone to use optimal decision-making, psychological techniques, physical and tactical skills learned in training and by experience.”
“The goal of a Warrior Mindset is to integrate the psychological with physical and tactical training to add a dimension that is often overlooked, but necessary to achieve maximal performance of a skill. If you only talk about mental toughness, but don’t actively train it, you haven’t developed into a complete warrior….regardless of what physical skills you have developed. You’ll find, with proper training, that you can possess the power to overcome any obstacle and change your outcomes if you train yourself mentally. This is the point in which you will truly bring out the Warrior Mindset within yourself.”
This post is about having the right warrior mindset, and how to action that in your life. It is also about all that is wrong out there in gun and ‘tactical’ training culture. These two things are opposites: on the one side you have those conducting training that will develop the warrior mindset, and on the other you have a world full of gun ‘derp.’
Firstly, to focus on the positive. If you consider yourself a self-reliant and capable individual, then you need to action the warrior mindset. By your thoughts, actions, training and capabilities, you are working to become an embodiment of the warrior mindset. This is not something that you need to be concerned about only if you are in a martial profession, because in the great American tradition of individual self-reliance, we should all be capable self-reliant individuals. Thus, you are a protector of yourself, your family and your children. However, what is mostly missed is the fact that the utility of developing the warrior mindset and associated tactical skills, is not simply tactical capability. No, development of an effective warrior mindset is a positive character building process and will filter across and benefit all areas of your professional and personal life.
If we dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of tactical training in order to develop a warrior mindset, then we are directly concerned with developing:
What is often missed, but is essential to a true warrior mindset, is talked about in the quotes at the top of the page:
These are the character building qualities that are essential to a warrior mindset and which will bleed across into your personal and professional life.
I am not writing this post to make you feel good. This is part of the problem – those who think they can develop these qualities by reading about them or watching videos. You are deluding yourself, You need to be actually pursuing these skills, training and qualities in order to invest in yourself. Those of us who developed these qualities by joining the military and serving had to do so by hard work. There are other professions that will also develop these qualities, perhaps in a less directly tactical method. If you have not had the benefit of training offered as part of a relevant profession, then you can still partake in it, but all I can offer you is hard work. Those of us in relevant professions may have been pushed to develop these qualities, but we will not maintain the mindset without continued hard work. No one can rest on their laurels. All I can offer you is training, hard work, and continual striving to do better by yourself and your family. Anything less than a commitment to that, and you are wasting your time.
This is where we get to the less than savory side. Most people are weak, want instant gratification, and are not prepared to do the work. They are sheep, and not worth the time. The internet is a horrible place full of idiots with unfounded opinions. We have a problem in the USA, and that problem is the fact that everyone has, or can have, a firearm and a stupid opinion, with no real experience or training to back it up. The result is a lot of people who are ‘gun owners’ but are less than a waste of time in terms of warrior mindset. Yes, that is fine, it is everyone’s right to be as much of a waste of oxygen as they want to be, it is not my job to fix that, and I will not attempt to. My job is to train those who are willing to do the work to invest in themselves.
So looking around out there we have a bunch of guys who constantly ‘build’ rifles which is a hobby much like adult lego, and has nothing to do with tactical training. We have collectors, which is also a non-tactical gun hobby. We have plinkers. We have all sorts of gun owning types, that have nothing to do with the warrior mindset. Many have fantasies of tactical ability, simply because they own a firearm. Most are obese, incompetent and weak minded.
The next issue is one of ‘tactical training’ and the current trends in American ‘tactical’ instruction. There are many instructors out there with real training and operational experience who should know better. But much of the current trend in rapid firearms manipulation and gaming, if left at that, will get you killed in a real tactical scenario. Does it have training worth? Yes. Does competition have training worth? Yes, in context. But if you wish to progress to a full warrior mindset you must see firearms manipulation and ‘gaming’ as simply a progression to more complex tactical range training. In essence, most of these students are stuck in a training zone that is going to be detrimental to them, and also does not allow them to develop the skills and qualities mentioned as part of the warrior mindset.
But there is often an unwillingness to progress to true tactical training, due to misunderstanding / ignorance, and also a lack of willingness, skill or facility on the part of schools to teach it. There are many ‘prepper’ types out there who are not averse to tactical training, but that is full of its own issues. Why? The majority of ‘prepper’ types are motivated by fear and are looking for band-aids to make them feel less anxious about their worries. Fear is not a good basis to develop the warrior mindset. For example, at MVT we have a cadre of returning alumni who train not only to be prepared, but also because it is part of their character, they have a warrior mindset, and they are truly investing in themselves. These students, if you like, come from the ten that Heraclitus refers to, the nine fighters and one warrior. The rest are sheep. ‘Preppers’ have many motivations, and if it is fear rather than genuine self-reliance then it is a problem. These types of students are fair-weather (or foul weather, really) and will often attend tactical training much in the way they will purchase an item of gear and put it on the shelf. They think they are ticking a box. They will not invest in more than one or two training events, and they are not doing the ancillary personal and physical investment to become capable as a warrior (which is why we now have fitness prerequisites for tactical classes – many were deluding themselves). When it seems fair weather, these types will let it go; they live in the hope that it will ‘be alright on the day.’ They are deluded. You can see this phenomenon recently with the political-fear motivated types, after Trump was elected and their fears of Obama/Hillary went away – they have relaxed and let it all go. This is cyclical depending on how doomsday the news is. That is not the warrior mindset.
One of the huge problems, and why many instructors and flat range gamer types will not progress to real tactical training, is the ‘militia’ elephant in the room. These are the politically or ideologically motivated types who have given camouflage clothing and tactical training a really bad name. As has been told to some MVT students by other prospective students “why would I want militia training” – thus entirely missing the point of training to develop the warrior mindset. True development of the warrior mindset should not actually be politically motivated, other than having ideological roots in true American values of the self-reliant individual and individual liberty (which yes, I know are under attack). But you should not be attending tactical training because the guv’mint is coming to get you in black helicopters (they probably are, I can hear them approaching my house now LOL). In fact, despite pretensions to being a ‘militia’, many such self-described groups are in reality politically motivated groups who are in terrible physical shape and have either none or very little actual tactical training or competence. They are far from approaching the warrior mindset.
Thus, due to the prevalence of firearms, we have a lot of people who are involved in one way or another in the shooting sports. Sadly, the ability to shoot a firearm gives some the delusion that this will impart tactical competence. Speed shooting gamers for one. Another sub-set is precision long gun. This is an admirable skill and a great sport. But do not delude yourself that the ability to hit targets at long range imbues you with any martial qualities. They may well have those qualities from some other area of their life, or training, but long range shooting in itself does not make you a sniper. This is a common misapprehension. Granted, I know that if I went downrange and stood in front of any of the speed shooting gamers or the long range precision types, they could shoot me with a higher hit probability than a totally untrained person. I don’t plan to be stood downrange if I was ever in a gunfight with any of these people – and this is where the checkers versus chess approach of ‘YDKWYDK’ (You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know) applies. Granted, anyone could shoot anyone if they went and stood downrange, but that is missing the point of training progression to develop the qualities of the warrior mindset.
It is due to misunderstandings of the nature of the warrior mindset, its development, the true tactical training progression, along with issues such as the ever present ‘militia,’ that we developed the concept of ‘TacGun’ here at MVT. The TacGun concept has been to a large extent a hard sell, due to problems with getting people to understand the benefits of it in personal investment and the development of the positive qualities of the warrior mindset. Character building, with benefits in your day to day life now, not just in some potential disaster situation. TacGun is designed to help you persuade other potential team mates and training buddies of why you do this training, and divest it from any militia or black helicopter connotations. The hard sell is often related to the reason why students are here in the MVT Universe – what are their motivations and why are they here? Those here due to a pursuit of personal improvement and development of the warrior mindset get it. Those who are simply comfortable with tactical training don’t see the need for it, because they are already there – even though it would help them to bring in others. Some are here just to get the training they want and disappear.
The primary misunderstanding among those that ‘shoot’ is not realizing the ability to ‘shoot’ is necessary but not sufficient to develop the warrior mindset and real tactical ability. Shooting in itself is not hard to teach or learn; you can spend a lifetime getting better, but it does not take long to teach it well enough to be tactically competent. In very simple terms, what is really needed is to be able to shoot, move and communicate in a tactical environment. Those are very simple words to write, and are glibly thrown around on the internet, but they describe in essence the complexity of tactical training. When we put you in a live fire environment and have you shoot, move and communicate, it is not easy to do at first. When we put you in a force on force environment with UTM rounds zipping past, it is also not easy to do. That is why this training develops those qualities referred to above. To those internet readers, commentators, and perhaps those who were in some branch of the military some time a long time ago, these are glib words to refer to. People can read the Ranger Handbook (for example) and think they can execute it. This is all so much crap. To be able to even execute these skills effectively at a very basic level, with others, requires training and practice. The more, the better. It is a process. To think you ‘know’ how to do this by reading and theoretical study is the height of hubris. And if you are just reading and sitting in front of your computer screen, how are you developing those other essential, practical, skills that make up the entirety of the warrior mindset?
You may have noticed that comments are off for blog posts. That is because I have no wish to discus this with the entirety of the internet. This is why we have the MVT Forum, which has a deliberate $25 per year membership fee, which joyously keeps it sane, rational and free of trolls. If you wish to ask questions and partake of genuine professional tactical knowledge and discussion, I suggest you join.
Below are a couple of example videos of the type of training that is included in TacGun, from weapons manipulation all the way up to full Small Unit Tactics:
Max Velocity Tactical operates the Velocity Training Center (VTC) tactical and leadership training facility near to Romney, West Virginia, where we provide training for US Special Operations Forces and Responsible Citizens. We have established a reputation on the leading edge of tactical live fire and force on force training. At MVT we are dedicated to developing and training tactical excellence at the individual and team level.
maxvelocitytactical.com/2018/01/11/warrior-mindset-firearms-culture
