Troy Industries has introduced two new divisions: Troy Asymmetric and Troy Prepared.
Troy Asymmetric’s mission statement is simple,
To provide world-class tactical instruction to government, military, law enforcement and corporate risk organizations.
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about this new undertaking, helmed by former FBI agent Kevin Miles.
Today Grey Group Training announced that John “Shrek” McPhee has signed on as Director of Training. Congrats to all!
Grey Group Training is pleased to announce that John “Shrek” McPhee is BACK ON TAP at Grey Group (Q the righteousduke “back on tap” T-shirt). As you may know, GGT is under new ownership and has chosen to invest in building a robust and comprehensive training program. In addition to providing excellent hands on training himself, John will be filing the role as the Training Sergeant Major here a Grey Group working next to Ramia, the Training Coordinator and primary contact for training. He will be leading the way by taking GGT into an organized progression of skills method taught by the best instructors in their respective fields. As a retired Army Sergeant Major, serving at the absolute pinnacle of warriors, with extensive combat experience in multiple theaters, no one knows training better!
Please be patient, as we will not overlook anyone that wants to reach out to John or take his classes. If you have already signed up for his class with Alias Training, please contact us (via phone at 910-323-4739 or email at info@greygrouptraining.com) and we will walk you through the simple process to move your booking to GGT. We are working hard to make the transition as smooth as possible. We will proactively re-enroll you into the SAME class on GGT and if you have already given a deposit to Alias (once your money is refunded) we will establish your deposit or enrollment fees. We apologize for any inconvenience and want to make this as painless as possible for you. At the end of the day this is about you the student, giving you everything you need, and making you as survivable and lethal as possible.
In addition to our commitment to provide excellent training, we are bringing added value to the student. We are proud to announce the following sponsorship agreements for Shrek: Arc’teryx, Velocity Armor, Mayflower Consulting, Kryptec Camo, Sheriff of Baghdad, and Combat Flip Flops. Students training with Shrek will receive a coupon code good for discounts on products from his sponsors. In addition, we will be offering “Training Packages” where students who attend a class with Shrek may purchase specific items your instructor endorses for a discounted price.
V/R
John Mcphee shrek@greygrouptraining.com
Ramia Whitecotton info@greygrouptraining.com
Tactical Fanboy attended the Haley Strategic Partners Winter Problem Solver course in Telluride, Colorado from March 31st through April 4th. This was his first time attending a mountaineering/survival course and this AAR is in his voice. You can read about the equipment he used here and TD1 here.
At the start of TD2, we met up at HSP headquarters, did an equipment weigh-in, then loaded up our packs and took a 1-1/2 hour drive towards the staging area. After being assigned to our teams (I was assigned to Team 1) and undergoing a team exercise, a map folding competition for speed, we headed towards the campsite. Early on in the march towards camp we underwent a simulated rescue mission, looking for victims [beacons] trapped under the snow. Team 1 headed downhill and managed to find two beacons, wading through thigh-deep snow in the process; Team 2 took the high ground and also found two beacons. Afterwards, we discussed the exercise and continued our march towards base camp.
One fairly challenging march later, featuring a modest incline, switchbacks, and requiring the use of our showshoes, we made it to the campsite. It was a wooded area featuring a hut, outhouse, and trash/recyclables area. The hut was home base for the majority of the class. It featured a stove and 8 sleeping mats, and functioned as a (mostly) dry place to eat or undertake a bit of classroom instruction. Our packs, and by extension most of our gear, was stored outside most of the time, hung on a rack.
Throughout TD2 through TD4, we practiced a variety of survival and mountaineering skills:
Shelter building was a primary focus. We built two shelters during our time at the campground; every attendee was required to sleep at least one night outside (I slept two). Team 1 completed two separate hybrid snow trenches/caves, while Team 2 completed two separate snow caves, the latter of which was large enough for at least six people, eight if space wasn’t a concern.
We practiced techniques for efficiently traversing up and down a slope. These techniques included different foot positions and use of our ice axes as another point of contact and for self arrest in case of a fall. We also practiced glissading.
We did a brief class on fire building. Afterwards, we were tasked with building a fire of our own. We separated into our teams and had to built a fire using a striker, a bit of a starting material, and whatever we could gather from the environment.
We practiced rope work as well. Aside from a few important knots, including the double fisherman’s knot, multiple forms of situational figure eights, and the munter mule, we also worked on rappelling and ascending on a rope, and the use of a pulley system, primarily for pulling up a rescue litter.
Other skills we worked on included navigation, methods on how to transport an injured person, and additional rescue work in the form of hunting for buried beacons.
At the start of TD5, we rose just before sunrise and cleaned up camp. We then geared up and started to descend from the camp grounds. Shortly after our return started, Travis announced a helicopter was coming to pick us up. We prepped our gear and went in two chalks; a third trip was made to transport our gear. It was my first time ever riding in a helicopter and it was an exhilarating experience.
We were dropped off at Telluride ski resort before the general public arrived so we could undertake our final challenge for the class, reaching the 13,230ft Palmyra peak. This involved traversing the increasingly steep ridge using minimal equipment. Thankfully, one of the ski resort SAR personnel was willing to make the climb first, placing footholds for the rest of us to use. Although that did take away some of the difficulty, it was still a challenging endeavor.
When we reached the peak, we enjoyed a “special treat”, took some photos, and began our descent, retracing our path up. It was a bit faster going down, but also required using some of the descent techniques we practiced earlier in the week. As we returned, the skiers started to flock in. More than a few were grateful that there was already footholds available thanks to our ascent. It was a fantastic end to the class proper, and of course we took the obligatory final class photo:
With this, the class was all but over. We descended into Telluride using the fantastic gondola system, where we enjoyed a great meal at a restaurant called ‘Oak…The new Fat Alley’. We then said our thanks and goodbyes to our two resident SAR personnel, and made the long drive back to HSP headquarters where we gave back our issued equipment, received our certificates of completion, and reflected on the class.
Final note: The Winter Problem Solver course offers a wealth of information regarding survival in a winter environment and mountaineering in general. However, due to the relatively short duration of the course in conjunction with the volume of information, it shouldn’t be considered a definitive source of skills for either of these topics; rather, it should be treated as more of an introduction. Additionally, this particular Winter Problem Solver was a “beta course” in that it was the very first run of the course. I can all but guarantee the course will become further refined and may even change in content as further courses are planned and run.
Anyone that wants to refine and enhance their chosen trade must follow this simple logical process of critical thinking: establish a desired end-state and then: know what you do, why you do it, how it works, where the common failure points are and why it is the best solution. Then you will be able to defend it against competing solutions or techniques when challenged. That is impossible when undefined or misdefined terms are used.
Often instructors will invoke the “fine versus gross motor skill” argument to justify or invalidate a technique without ever defining the terms. Truth be told many don’t even know what each term means. The below definitions should illuminate where these have gone awry and when they do properly apply.
Because the motor skills used for weapons handling at times may not lie specifically on one side or the other of the definition it is often taken as all skills are fine motor functions (think slow precise trigger pull on a precision shot versus a rapid pull of the trigger on a short range rapid string as an action using both). Two perfect examples of gross motor skills that are mischaracterized as fine motor skills are releasing the bolt via the bolt catch on an Stoner pattern rifle and the slide via the slide stop on a pistol. Neither involves “a refined use of the small muscles controlling the hand, fingers, and thumb.” Both are in fact either the use of the locked wrist, extended thumb and the entire arm on an M4 bolt release or the complete clenching of the hand on a pistol to release a slide stop given appropriate hand size or the use of the support side thumb to release the slide. Both when done properly place the hand on an anchor point on the weapon as a way to rapidly and precisely orient the active hand and thumb to the necessary location (tactile index points). Tactile index points are the magazine well on an M4, or a proper grip on a pistol when using either the dominant or support side thumb.
***How could a shooter effectively operate a trigger or magazine release on a pistol or carbine but not be able to operate the slide stop or bolt release?***
• “The term gross motor skills refer to the abilities usually acquired during infancy and early childhood as part of a child’s motor development. By the time they reach two years of age, almost all children are able to stand up, walk and run, walk up stairs, etc. These skills are built upon, improved and better controlled throughout early childhood, and continue in refinement throughout most of the individual’s years of development into adulthood. These gross movements come from large muscle groups and whole body movement.”
• “Fine motor skills can be defined as coordination of small muscle movements which occur e.g., in the fingers, usually in coordination with the eyes. In application to motor skills of hands (and fingers) the term dexterity is commonly used. The abilities which involve the use of the hands develop over time, starting with primitive gestures such as grabbing at objects to more precise activities that involve precise hand-eye coordination. Fine motor skills, are skills that involve a refined use of the small muscles controlling the hand, fingers, and thumb. The development of these skills allows one to be able to complete tasks such as writing, drawing, and buttoning.”
The terms used to frame a discussion and the definitions of those terms must be correct or all subsequent assertions will be incorrect. Skill and knowledge rarely exist apart from each other.
-Mike Pannone
Terms quoted or adapted from:
A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development
John W. Santrock, PhD University of Texas at Dallas
ISBN: 0073382647
Copyright year: 2008
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.
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.
A two-day open enrollment, Public Safety Medical Training TCCC certification course is available 3-4 May in Va Beach, VA from Trauma Training FX Inc. No prior medical training required. For those with medical training, this course offers 16 CEUs.
After the jump, take a look at the video. It shows the type of exposure you’ll get at this training. Considering the variety traumatic injuries that happen on an almost daily basis down range and what we saw earlier this week in Boston, you might want to consider attending this course. this is nothing to be taken lightly and a little stress inoculation is good for anyone who might face these circumstances.
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Tactical Fanboy attended the recent Haley Strategic Partners Winter Problem Solver course in Telluride, Colorado from March 31st through April 4th. This was my first time attending a mountaineering/survival course.
It was a bright, sunny, early morning when we all met up at the Haley Strategic Partners headquarters for Training Day 1. The day started with an opportunity for introductions, as we all stood in a circle and one-by-one we gave our name, occupation, goals for the class, and one thing we were good at. Students came mostly from all over the States, with one student hailing from Canada. It was great to hear all the various occupations people held (doctor, arborist, software programmer, writer…) and that a few of the students were taking a class like this for the first time, myself included. This also gave us an opportunity to meet our instructors, two Search and Rescue personnel/Sheriff’s Deputies in addition to our host, Travis Haley.
We then stripped our rucks and went over every item to ensure we were properly equipped for the class. We were also issued a logo’d Klean Kanteen and Moira fixed blade knife (more on these later) as well as additional class items and equipment as needed. After this, we repacked our rucks and stored them for the next day. The calass was also introduced to our beacons and completed a simple exercise to make sure they were functioning properly; this involved us sweeping for a signal at the far end of Travis’ yard that one of the SAR personnel had with them.
We stepped out for lunch, and upon our return convened to Travis’ office which was filled with, among other things, memorabilia from his military service. It’s here that we viewed a video presentation on avalanches. This was followed by a PowerPoint on weather identification and a PowerPoint on avalanches, headed by Travis and one of the SAR personnel respectively.
As a final exercise for the day we drove out to the hill above the classroom which we climbed as a group. Once at the top, we did a lap around the perimeter of the summit; both exercises served as a test of our general endurance for the trip ahead. Despite being acclimated to the environment, I didn’t find myself ahead of the rest of the group when it came to ascending or running. When we descended, Travis, instead of marching down with the rest of us, decided to paraglide down; the below picture doesn’t do the act justice.
With the exercise done, we returned to HSP for our final briefing of the day, followed by returning to our respective hotels in wait for TD2.
Stay tuned for a continuation of the HSP Winter Problem Solver AAR.
These are some pretty cool drills from www.wayofthegun.us. What do you think?
As there are techniques, there are just as many gun related gizmos, gadgets, gimmicks, and gossip. Bolt and strap on. Theatrical movements and dance steps. Tales of woe or implausible performance enhancers. Some live long and become center of debate issues while others die off quickly. One of the things I encourage on the range is discovery or tactile learning. In other words, learn by doing vice taking one’s word for it. One can now make the determination for himself on whether to shit-can or to maintain a technique or piece of gear for he sees that it will or will not offer positive development in a gunfight. Battlefield multipliers are often the simplest in solutions versus high tech gear or high motor skill movements.
Patrick McNamara
SGM, US Army (Ret)
Patrick McNamara spent twenty-two years in the United States Army in a myriad of special operations units. When he worked in the premier Special Missions Unit, he became an impeccable marksman, shooting with accurate, lethal results and tactical effectiveness. McNamara has trained tactical applications of shooting to people of all levels of marksmanship, from varsity level soldiers, and police officers who work the streets to civilians with little to no time behind the trigger.
His military experience quickly taught him that there is more to tactical marksmanship than merely squeezing the trigger. Utilizing his years of experience, McNamara developed a training methodology that is safe, effective and combat relevant and encourages a continuous thought process. This methodology teaches how to maintain safety at all times and choose targets that force accountability, as well as provides courses covering several categories, including individual, collective, on line and standards.
While serving as his Unit’s Marksmanship NCO, he developed his own marksmanship club with NRA, CMP, and USPSA affiliations. Mac ran monthly IPSC matches and ran semi annual military marksmanship championships to encourage marksmanship fundamentals and competitiveness throughout the Army.
He retired from the Army’s premier hostage rescue unit as a Sergeant Major and is the author of T.A.P.S. (Tactical Application of Practical Shooting).
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.
