Although you may not have heard of them, Tactical Tracking Operations School has been around for over 20 years. In fact, they were the only company for many years to provide specialized tracking instruction here in the US. The website has loads of information; 22 years worth, to be exact. There’s also info on their latest programs of instruction.
Earlier this evening, Haley Strategic Partners posted this statement on their Facebook page in response to the week old disclosure of video taken by Panteao Productions depicting Travis Haley discussing an AK. During that video, the weapon fired. Panteao Productions issued their statement on Monday of this week.
Press Release Feb 11, 2016:
On approximately Thursday February 4th 2016, Panteao Productions released a video through poor accountability and security with its servers by one of their instructors according to the owner of Panteao Productions. How and why this happened is still unclear, however assumptions can certainly be made.
This particular video was of me teaching a block of instruction on controversial Russian trigger finger/safety techniques, and why I personally don’t recommend them. During the filming, my AK was discharged inadvertently performing the demonstration. The range was set up for this demo, the weapon was intentionally off safe due to the block of instruction, and the barrel was oriented towards the target in the event the weapon fired as it did in this case.
Of course I take these matters seriously and if you know me or have been through any of our courses, you know our number one priority is safety. We pride ourselves on learning from our failure as it is our greatest opportunity and share those experiences with the people we serve.
There was also a communication issue with the inconsistent posts made on social media between the HSP team back in Scottsdale AZ and me being in Central America at the time the video was released. Now that I have seen the entire video (never seen by me before as it was in Panteao’s library), I have been able to review it and now share my thoughts. After reading a lot of comments, I think Pat Rogers said it best:
“One type causes injury/ death or comes close enough to warrant immediate measures to remove the person and his weapon. The other type is a down range ND, when the shot is discharged unintentionally, but into the target/ berm etc. These represent the majority of ND’s and this is where learning can occur. These are teaching/ learning points, and if handled correctly, will not likely happen again.” -Pat Rogers
I have had many failure points in my life (much greater than this)… I have ND’d. I have missed the mark countless times in my life even when it mattered most. I have zigged when I should have zagged. I’ve been impulsive and involved myself into fights without thinking of who’d it effect. My brothers have asked me for direction in combat and I was unable to answer. Hell, I have even taken life when it could have possibly been avoided… I have failed over and over in my life, yet I have been blessed with being accountable and educated by my shortcomings. This, in turn, allows my failures to continually become my greatest opportunities.
Travis Haley
Founder/CEO
Haley Strategic Partners
Panteao Productions has issued a statement to explain their involvement in NDGate, which swept social media over the weekend. Since the incident seems to have started with them, it seems appropriate that we share their statement.
But first, let’s catch everyone up who missed out. It all began Thursday evening when video surfaced showing tactical trainer Travis Haley appearing to have a negligent discharge of an AK rifle he was using for demonstration purposes. According to Panteao’s statement, they did not authorize the release of the video so they removed it from public access on YouTube, but by that time, the video clip was in the wild. Like we’ve said so many times, you can’t take the internet back. We posted an article which linked to an edited version of the video. Soon, that video was hit with a copyright claim by Panteao and was taken down. At that point, we figured they were in damage control mode and were playing whack-a-mole so there was no point in having an article up that relied on a missing video. Instead, we removed our article, with a decision to reengage once things settled down. However, the majority of the comments in our post were quite positive. They understood that NDs happen and that it was a valuable teaching tool.
For social media, comedy is the mother of invention, and over the weekend, dozens of remixes of the video appeared on Facebook and Instagram. Some were more amusing that others.
Eventually, Travis Haley chose to comment on the developing situation. Remember, that positive attitude that saw the situation as a teaching tool? Well, apparently Haley didn’t. Instead, he denied it had happened and claimed that Panteao was out to slander him. Granted, this whole situation would have been avoided had the video not made its way into the wild, but Haley’s response unfortunately had the effect of throwing gasoline on a fire. There’s a video below. When you finish reading this, make sure you watch the whole thing.
Some of Haley’s animosity toward Panteao may stem from this link on Panteao’s site: panteao.com/discontinued-video-titles. This move by Panteao was in response to Haley’s statement not long before on Facebook that the videos he had created while at Magpul Dynamics were no longer valid and that his fans should no longer purchase them. His position was that he had moved on to newer techniques. Magpul fans, and apparently Paneao Productions, took it as sour grapes. Perhaps concerned that he might eventually do the same to them, Panteao seems to have taken preemptive action. As you can see, this situation has been brewing for some time.
Now, on to Panteao’s statement (and accompanying video) on the situation:
February 7, 2016
This will be the first and last time we comment publicly on this incident. Given the firestorm surrounding the video which was recently released without our authorization, we felt it necessary to publicly state our position regarding the matter:
The relationship between Panteao Productions and Travis Haley ended over a year ago because of a disagreement over whether or not training should have an expiration date. Much to the disappointment of those who primarily use the internet to create and feed off of other people’s drama, and despite our past differences in opinion, we have nothing but respect for Travis’ accomplishments, and wish him the best in his future endeavors.
The video in question was not posted by Panteao for public consumption, and more importantly, was never intended to be seen externally. It was unlisted on our YouTube Channel, and was designated for in-house training purposes. It was intended to be a humorous reminder shared with crew members and collaborating instructors of what we don’t want to have happen during filming. It had been forgotten about until the link was shared publicly by one of the instructors we had been working with up until this point. At this time we are still unsure why they (the other instructor) felt the need to share the link publicly, regardless, once we became aware of the developing situation we deleted the video from our YouTube channel and had it removed wherever we came across it. There was nothing derogatory/defamatory intended by the video, or its description.
Anyone that has spent any serious amount of time doing this at the professional level knows that NO ONE IS ABOVE MAKING A MISTAKE. We have multiple layers of safety in place to prevent them, but at the end of the day there is absolutely nothing we are able to do that can entirely remove the human element from the equation. We decided to utilize the video as a tool to show our crew members that no matter someone’s level of past experience, background, or accomplishment that the possibility for an accident always exists. It served as a reminder to us; always wear eyes and ears on set, confirm the condition of any firearms the talent may be using to demonstrate techniques with, and to watch our position in relation to the muzzle whether or not a segment was intended to be live fired. Unfortunately individuals from the Haley Strategic camp have started spreading inaccurate statements about how the video was published intentionally to hurt Travis and that it was not a Negligent Discharge in the first place.
It is disheartening that Travis has failed to acknowledge what took place. We don’t care to speculate why someone with his abilities and background feels the need to deny their own fallibility, common to all of us, so vehemently. He handled the situation as best as anyone could at the time and pressed on during filming, as one would expect from a professional. Internally, we saw the opportunity the video represented for us, and utilized it to illustrate things that WE could do better on set.
The big question now is “was this really a negligent discharge?” or something staged or edited to look like one. The scene in question was not intended to be live fired, thus none of the crew had their hearing protection on, neither did Travis. It was strictly a demo of different Russian techniques. There were MULTIPLE individuals standing in close proximity to Travis, any of whom who would have reminded him to put his ears on if live fire was intended. In the crystal clear light of hindsight, one of the errors that occurred was having a hot gun for this particular scene. As the ones ultimately responsible for the safety of the production, that particular error falls on us, and it was one of the many lessons we took away from the incident. When the rifle discharged into the side berm, ears were ringing and as is common in these situations, everyone took a moment to look at each other and inspect for new holes. Travis summed it up best in the video “That didn’t work.”
So let’s talk about what works:
1. All Guns Are Always Loaded.
2. Never Let The Muzzle Cover Anything You Are Not Willing To Destroy.
3. Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger (And Out Of The Trigger Guard) Until Your Sights Are On
Target.
4. Be Sure Of Your Target.
Most importantly, do not allow yourself to become complacent. Familiarity breeds contempt, and contempt breeds complacency. In this business, complacency kills. We are saddened that this has become such a public incident, but since the cat is out of the bag, let’s all utilize it for the learning tool it is. We are all human, we all make mistakes, and there is nothing wrong in acknowledging that.
If you have any doubts as to what happened, watch the whole uncut sequence. At the end of the clip we’ve also included two additional references to the incident that Travis made later that same day during shooting. As we have maintained throughout this entire incident, we have nothing but respect for Travis and his past accomplishments, and we wish him the best. However, we are not able to condone someone attempting to rewrite their personal history to save themselves a little embarrassment, especially when in doing so our own reputation and professionalism is called into question. Let’s all spend our energy on more productive endeavors, and move on from this incident having learned an important lesson.
Fernando Coelho
President/CEO
Panteao Productions, LLC
I saw the Dry-Fire ProTimer at SHOT Show. It was created by a Veteran of the 75th Ranger Regiment in order to facilitate dry fire practice with a pistol. In particular, it’s very good at working on draw and presentation. It utilizes a replacement barrel, training cartridge and timer app. One important note is that the training barrel won’t chamber a live round in the proper caliber (of course, smaller rounds will fit).
The Dry Fire Pro-Timer training device (Patent pend. #) allows the user to receive immediate timing feedback when practicing shooting drills such as draw stroke, magazine changes, clearing malfunctions, and transitioning from a primary to secondary weapon system without having to fire live rounds. The recorded times are accurate down to one-thousandths of a second, and stored on a smartphone (through a downloadable App, included with purchase) enabling the user to compare speed and efficiency while utilizing different techniques and equipment.
Friday, June 17 – Sunday, June 19
2016
Wilderness Survival/ORV Elements Theory is designed to give students the necessary skills to become self-sufficient when things go wrong. Whether you are lost on a backpacking trip, have a breakdown in the middle of nowhere, or are involved in a full on Red Dawn situation you need to be able to make sure you can take care of yourself, and those with you, until help arrives.
This experience will allow you the hands-on opportunity to negotiate off road vehicles (ORV) and dirtbikes in different terrain and conditions. This course will show you how to triage and acquire your basic needs to stop a bad situation from becoming a tragedy.
For more information, and to sign up, visit www.costaludus.com – Wilderness Survival/ORV Elements Theory 3 Day Course.
An avid SSD reader is a military ethicist at the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. On the 29th of February his MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) called ‘Military Ethics – An Introduction’ goes ‘live’ on the FutureLearn platform. It’s a free course, open to anyone, anywhere who is interested.
For more information on the course, please check out the webpage and intro video at www.futurelearn.com/courses/military-ethics.
Thanks Dr Baker!
The U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Group assists U.S. Army Cadet Command with Adaptive Soldier Leader Training and Education at Fort A.P. Hill.
Yesterday I was standing in a fast food restaurant getting a refund from a mistaken drive through order when I got a good reminder of personal defense and security. When you have been a cop for more than a few minutes you develop some habits; some good and some bad. One good habit is the ability to see through people’s camouflage and see them for who they really are. Like the fireman with a good eye for smoke, a cop has a good eye for drug addicts. Inside the restaurant my attention was drawn to an angry customer who was standing at the counter arguing with an employee about how they messed up his order as well. When I stopped looking and started seeing the guy my decades of training and experience took over. While most people would be concerned by the large spider tattoo on his neck, it was his inability to stand still, large coat, and dark paranoid eyes that bothered me. At the same time as I was forming my opinions about his particular lifestyle, his head turned and he did a similar assessment of me. He looked me up and down and what he saw a short haircut, tan tactical pants, fleece jacket, and combat boots. While I cannot read minds I can read body language. I know the look on someone’s face when they are trying to remember if they have drugs in their pocket. While I waited for the guys fight or flight response to choose between his hands or feet I too pondered my own choices.
I learned and accepted a long time ago that people do terrible things for a variety of reasons. That is the world we live in. We do not get to choose all of our fights but we do have a say in the outcome. The best way to survive a violent encounter is to be the one inflicting the most violence. To me personal defense is an individual responsibility. With that responsibility is the burden of countless training hours required to familiarize ourselves with the tactics, techniques, and procedures of combat. After more than two decades of training and surviving violent encounters I have formed some pretty strong opinions on personal defense. My tendency is to simplify complicated ideas by breaking them down into basic principles. The three basic principles of self defense are: combat mindset, weapons, and brains.
Combat Mindset
Don’t live in denial; war is all around us. The first rule combat is to win with ruthless efficiency. Preparation for combat has many factors. First it requires the ability to focus on potential threats and not be distracted by the civilized world. Second is situational awareness of escape routes, physical boundaries, and empty hands. Last and most important factor is the willingness to take lives to save lives. Living a defensive lifestyle requires constant vigilance.
Weapons
The weapon is simply a tool to aid in winning. Having a handgun, rifle, or shotgun gives the individual the ability to inflict lethal injuries at greater than arm length distances. While I am a firm believer in always carrying a concealed handgun, but there are times due to circumstance or laziness that we find ourselves without a gun. If you don’t have a gun you still have access to tools. Look around, if it is heavy or sharp and fits in your hand it is a weapon and weapons are everywhere. It is just a matter of seeing things for what they can be and not what they are. Never forget that the true weapon is the individual.
Brains
The human brain is made up of many pieces but for self defense its best to think of the brain as two main parts: the advanced brain and the primitive brain. While the advanced brain has the ability to view complex tactical problems and create simple solutions, it is the primitive brain we need when it is time to dig in our claws and fight for our lives. There are times where we need to listen, talk, and be open to making compromises. There are times for war. Don’t confuse the two situations. Our brains, advanced as they may be, can also be easily distracted by danger, stress, and electronic devices. The best advices for a defensive brain is to stay calm, stay observant, and don’t stare too long at shiny things.
Lean, Smart, and Angry
The outcome of so many scenarios is dependent on choices and actions. The paranoid drug addict waiting for his food chose to leave as quickly as his feet could carry him. For both of us I am glad that he did because I did not want to go to war waiting for a new sandwich. I firmly believe that for every fight we avoid there is another more lethal waiting around the next corner. Avoiding conflict is not a victory. Wars that are narrowly avoided are just a series of hypothetical battles with hypothetical conclusions which results in a false impression of capability. If conflict is inevitable, and I think that it is, our most dangerous battles are in the future. The polar opposite of fat dumb and happy is lean, smart, and angry. If you want to live in a safe, warm, and comfortable world; never get out of bed.
About the Author
Roy A Woodall, Jr is a retired career Police Officer, U. S. Army Infantry Veteran, and private military contractor. As a freelance writer he is a frequent contributor to gun magazines and has authored several books on leadership, tactics, and survival.
