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Posts Tagged ‘Alias Security and Training Services’

Gunfighter Moment – Larry Vickers

Saturday, January 10th, 2015

Misinformation overload; I hate to sound like a broken record but once again I must say be careful what you read and take as gospel from the Internet. Every single day I read something posted as if it is gospel handed down by Moses himself and it is dead ass wrong in regards to firearms and their use. Attending a class by an established instructor like those listed by Alias will teach you more than you will learn in a year of researching on the Internet. Be careful and consider the source before you listen to a keyboard commando on the World Wide Web.

-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV

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Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical is a retired US Army 1st SFOD-Delta combat veteran with years of experience in the firearms industry as a combat marksmanship instructor and industry consultant. In recent years he has hosted tactical firearms related TV shows on the Sportsman Channel with the latest being TacTV of which Bravo Company is a presenting sponsor. Larry Vickers special operations background is one of the most unique in the industry today; he has been directly or indirectly involved in the some of the most significant special operations missions of the last quarter century. During Operation Just Cause he participated in Operation Acid Gambit – the rescue of Kurt Muse from Modelo Prison in Panama City, Panama. As a tactics and marksmanship instructor on active duty he helped train special operations personnel that later captured Saddam Hussein and eliminated his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. In addition he was directly involved in the design and development of the HK416 for Tier One SOF use which was used by Naval Special Warfare personnel to kill Osama Bin Laden. Larry Vickers has developed various small arms accessories with the most notable being his signature sling manufactured by Blue Force Gear and Glock accessories made by Tangodown. In addition he has maintained strong relationships with premium companies within the tactical firearms industry such as BCM, Aimpoint, Black Hills Ammunition, Wilson Combat and Schmidt & Bender.

Larry Vickers travels the country conducting combat marksmanship classes for law abiding civilians, law enforcement and military and has partnered with Alias Training to coordinate classes to best meet the needs of the students attending the class.

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 us some words of wisdom.

Gunfighter Moment – Ken Hackathorn

Saturday, December 6th, 2014

Of the vast number of people that carry guns for self defense, only a very small number are competent with them. In my business to provide an enhanced level of combat marksmanship to the private sector, law enforcement, and military customer for the past 30 years, I have noted a number of trends.

While the overall quality of most training and practice has provided a higher level of skill, the increase of people from all three markets that now have access and carry sidearms has progressed very little than it was decades ago. Yes, we do know much more about how to train and prepare people to use their sidearms for self protection. But, that does not equal necessary skill across the spectrum. I am often asked to provide a skill check or ‘test’ for those that take their combat marksmanship serious.

I offer the following ‘Wizard Drill’. It is very simple, requires only five rounds of ammo, and can be shot on any range that allows work from the holster.

IDPA or IPSC (USPSA) targets are ideal. Place a 4″ circle centered in the head of the target. The handgun you use should be the one you carry, in the manner you routinely pack it. Ammo should be the self defense or duty ammo you carry as well. The time for each string of fire is 2.5 seconds. Start at 3 yards. On signal, draw and fire one head shot strong hand only at the head. Repeat at 5 yards, but you may use both hands.

Repeat at 7 yards, again both hands are permitted. Last, at 10 yards draw and fire two (2) body shots in the allowed 2.5 seconds. When you are done, you should have three head shots and two body hits. A miss is a fail. You can drop 2 points and past the test, anymore is a fail. Set your timer at 2.5 seconds. I allow 2.7 as that is about the length of the buzzer on most timers. If you are using a pocket carry mode, you may start with your hand on the gun in the pocket. Otherwise, hands normal at sides, no touching of the gun until the buzzer. Hits in the 4″ head circle or cutting the line are considered down zero, outside the circle but inside the head perforation is down one point. Competent and practiced shooters may consider this drill simple, but let’s be honest these folks make up less than one tenth of one precent of the people that carry firearms for self defense.

Try it, you may be in for a humbling experience. Don’t be surprised to find that those little 2″ airweight .38 special revolvers and pocket 380 autos are nearly impossible to pass this drill with. In police work we call this “a clue”.

-Ken Hackathorn

Old Guy With A Blaster

Ken Hackathorn has served as a US Army Special Forces Small Arms Instructor, Gunsite Instructor, and NRA Police Firearms Instructor. He is currently an FBI Certified Firearms Instructor, Certified Deputy Sheriff with Washington County SO, Ohio, and a SRT member and Special Response Team trainer. Ken has trained US Military Special Operations forces, Marine FAST and SOTG units and is a contract small arms trainer to FBI SWAT and HRT.

Ken has provided training to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and been active in small arms training for the past 25 years. He has written firearms related material for Guns & Ammo, Combat Handguns, Soldier Of Fortune, and currently American Handgunner and contributed to at least six other gun/shooting journals. Ken was also a founding member of IPSC and IDPA.

To see Ken’s Training Class Schedule visit aliastraining.com.

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 SSD readers hard earned words of wisdom.

Gunfighter Moment – Larry Vickers

Saturday, November 29th, 2014

Consider the source; be careful what you believe on the Internet in regards to firearms, their history and implementation. Although plenty of solid information exists on the web, a lot of wrong, misleading and potentially dangerous information and advice is spread around as if it were facts carved in stone. I literally see multiple examples of this every single day on the web.

My advice is consider the source and cross check. In addition your own verification, thru experience if possible, usually points you in the right direction.

‘The problem with the Internet is it is full of people with nothing to say that say it anyway’ – Jeff Cooper

-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV

20130202-083903.jpg

Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical is a retired US Army 1st SFOD-Delta combat veteran with years of experience in the firearms industry as a combat marksmanship instructor and industry consultant. In recent years he has hosted tactical firearms related TV shows on the Sportsman Channel with the latest being TacTV of which Bravo Company is a presenting sponsor. Larry Vickers special operations background is one of the most unique in the industry today; he has been directly or indirectly involved in the some of the most significant special operations missions of the last quarter century. During Operation Just Cause he participated in Operation Acid Gambit – the rescue of Kurt Muse from Modelo Prison in Panama City, Panama. As a tactics and marksmanship instructor on active duty he helped train special operations personnel that later captured Saddam Hussein and eliminated his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. In addition he was directly involved in the design and development of the HK416 for Tier One SOF use which was used by Naval Special Warfare personnel to kill Osama Bin Laden. Larry Vickers has developed various small arms accessories with the most notable being his signature sling manufactured by Blue Force Gear and Glock accessories made by Tangodown. In addition he has maintained strong relationships with premium companies within the tactical firearms industry such as BCM, Aimpoint, Black Hills Ammunition, Wilson Combat and Schmidt & Bender.

Larry Vickers travels the country conducting combat marksmanship classes for law abiding civilians, law enforcement and military and has partnered with Alias Training to coordinate classes to best meet the needs of the students attending the class.

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 us some words of wisdom.

Gunfighter Moment – Frank Proctor

Saturday, September 20th, 2014

GOOD WEAPONS HANDLING SKILLS IN REGARDS TO BOLT LOCK RELOADS WITH THE AR-15

I live by 2 very easy to follow gun handling rules: #1 keep the pointy end of the death machine in a safe direction. #2 if you’re eyes are not connected to the sights then the trigger finger is connected to the frame of the gun. For the AR-15 I add rule 2a if the eyes are not connected to the sights the rifle is on safe and some positive pressure up on the selector lever. These rules have served me very well in every situation.

When this segment on reloads went on Trigger Time TVs youtube channel It got a lot of push back in regards to putting the rifle on safe during a bolt lock reload, as well as when I posted it to my company Facebook page.

Here is my detailed response to why I believe in doing it:

I’m more than happy to explain everything I do. Everything I do and believe in has a reason behind it. I’m also very open minded to new ideas and thoughts on how to do things better. I was a Green Beret for 8 years before I changed to my current rifle reload procedure. I was taught that it was OK to keep the rifle on fire during a bolt lock reload and when I was the Primary Instructor for the Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat Course I also taught it that way. It never felt right to me when one of my guys would ask me “do we keep the rifle on fire during the reload?” and I would say yes. I justified it in my mind by saying it’s OK because at that point we are still in the engagement. Through my entire Army career since I was 18 years old it has been programed into me to keep the rifle on safe when not shooting.

When I was going through the Special Forces Qualification course I developed another habit with the M-4. I put my thumb under the selector lever and push up against the selector lever as an extra measure of safe gun handling. I think it was some sort of subconscious thing that happened to prevent my gear or all the brush I was walking through from effecting the selector lever and firing the gun. I also press my trigger finger into the frame of the rifle when my eyes are not connected to the gun. These extra safety measures have never cost me even a tenth of a second getting the gun into operation and getting an accurate hit.

So I was watching some YouTube one day in 2012 and saw Pat McNamara talking about how he does rifle reloads. Pat puts the rifle on safe during the bolt lock reloads. Pat retired from the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment (D) and was the marksmanship instructor for his unit for awhile. After hearing pretty legit dude like Pat talk about it I decided to try it. It took me about 20 deliberate reps to program getting the gun on safe into my bolt lock reload. Since that day in October 2012 I haven’t lost even a tenth of a second on a bolt lock reload due to putting the rifle on safe during the reload. In my courses I will start the reload session with a competition. I have the guys set up for a bolt lock, 1 round in the gun and an empty mag. I compete against the whole class 1 shooter at a time. I let the other guy start, he shoots first and starts his reload to another shot. After his first shot I shoot, get bolt lock put the gun on safe and work my reload to another shot. I’m around 98% on getting 1 shot reload 1 shot on target before the other who had about a 1 second head start and they aren’t putting their gun on safe. I’m not saying that I’m magic, I’m a fan of proven reliable mechanics and very efficient mechanics at that. I do it this way to make a point that what I’m saying works and that getting the gun on safe won’t cost anything.

Pat’s term is “Always an enabler, never a disabler” in regards to the selector lever, and I completely agree and dig it the most. I’m not a fan of scenarios and “what ifs”. I am a fan of solid fundamentals and programing them to a point where you instantly apply those fundamentals to any situation you find in order to solve problems without overthinking. There are however some what ifs that can make it make sense when I say that the world could change in the amount of time it takes to reload a rifle. Let’s look at one of many scenarios that support putting the rifle on safe when the eyes are not connected to the sights. If I were deployed with my team and during a bolt lock reload I didn’t put the rifle on safe, I get the mag in then the bolt forward then get shot in the head and fall down and a rock or something fires the gun and my rifle shoots our only 18D in the head. That’s a pretty sad face day right there for a whole ODA that could have been avoided by a very easy mechanical function. As I said you can what if stuff to death but at then end of the day, it’s too easy to put the gun on safe during a reload and I’m gonna keep on doing it because I believe in it and based on my experience it works.

-Frank Proctor

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Frank Proctor has served over 18 years in the military, the last 11 of those in US Army Special Forces. During his multiple combat tours in Afghanistan & Iraq he had the privilege to serve with and learn from many seasoned veteran Special Forces Operators so their combined years of knowledge and experience has helped him to become a better operator & instructor. While serving as an instructor at the Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat Course he was drawn to competitive shooting. He has since earned the USPSA Grand Master ranking in the Limited Division and Master ranking in the IDPA Stock Service Pistol division. He learned a great deal from shooting in competition and this has helped him to become to become a better tactical shooter. Frank is one of the few individuals able to bring the experiences of U.S. Army Special Forces, Competitive Shooting, and veteran Instructor to every class.

All this experience combines to make Frank Proctor a well-rounded shooter and instructor capable of helping you to achieve your goal of becoming a better shooter.

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.

Gunfighter Moment – Larry Vickers

Saturday, September 6th, 2014

‘I was an early advocate of an ‘enhanced ‘ trigger in the M4 carbine but after seeing one double (fire two shots instead of one ) on a guy I became very wary of them. So with that in mind I was late to warm up to ‘enhanced’ triggers again for the AR platform. After using them again for a period of time I can recommend two brands by name ; Geisselle and Wilson Combat . The Geisselle has built a superb reputation within SOF and for good reason; they are excellent quality and are extremely durable.

I have also used the Wilson Combat TTU drop in unit with good results. Wilson Combat is famous for good customer service and quality assurance so between these two brands you can certainly find an AR trigger that meets your needs.’

-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV

20130202-083903.jpg

Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical is a retired US Army 1st SFOD-Delta combat veteran with years of experience in the firearms industry as a combat marksmanship instructor and industry consultant. In recent years he has hosted tactical firearms related TV shows on the Sportsman Channel with the latest being TacTV of which Bravo Company is a presenting sponsor.Larry Vickers special operations background is one of the most unique in the industry today; he has been directly or indirectly involved in the some of the most significant special operations missions of the last quarter century. During Operation Just Cause he participated in Operation Acid Gambit – the rescue of Kurt Muse from Modelo Prison in Panama City, Panama. As a tactics and marksmanship instructor on active duty he helped train special operations personnel that later captured Saddam Hussein and eliminated his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. In addition he was directly involved in the design and development of the HK416 for Tier One SOF use which was used by Naval Special Warfare personnel to kill Osama Bin Laden. Larry Vickers has developed various small arms accessories with the most notable being his signature sling manufactured by Blue Force Gear and Glock accessories made by Tangodown. In addition he has maintained strong relationships with premium companies within the tactical firearms industry such as BCM, Aimpoint, Black Hills Ammunition, Wilson Combat and Schmidt & Bender.

Larry Vickers travels the country conducting combat marksmanship classes for law abiding civilians, law enforcement and military and has partnered with Alias Training to coordinate classes to best meet the needs of the students attending the class.

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.

Gunfighter Moment – Ken Hackathorn

Saturday, August 23rd, 2014

Get on any of the internet tactical/gun forums and you will note an array of people arguing about meaningless issues like the proper way to press the magazine catch on their pistol or carbine, or some such topic. We see folks getting wrapped around the axle about issues that are not really all that important. One topic that gets some real traction is the issue of whether you should reload your pistol or carbine before it goes empty or at slide/bolt lock. Some instructors teach to count your shots and always reload before the gun goes empty.

Yea, right. They haven’t been in many shootouts if they believe in that sacred cow.

I once asked Jim Cirrillo about when did you know to reload in your many shootings. Jim used the NYPD issue 4″ Heavy Barrel M10 S&W .38 special revolver. He was a highly skilled PPC competitor, so in theory he should have been able to count 6 times or sense when his revolver was empty…right? Well, Jim’s answer to my question was very straight forward, “When the trigger went ‘click-click’ two or three times, I knew it was time to reload.”

The game boys of USPSA often complain about IDPA because IDPA dictates either slide lock reloads or tactical
reloads from behind cover. A common line from them is,” I want to reload when I want to, not when I have to.” I
would like to have a full head of hair and a 32″ waist line too, but reality is that you rarely get to reload when you want to, most of the time it is when you are pulling the trigger and there are no loud noises.

Running around the range leaving a trail of partially loaded magazines may be great fun when you can plan on how many targets you will engage with 2 rounds each, but just doesn’t work out very well in a world where you don’t know how many targets you will have to engage or how many rounds it will take to make them stop doing what it is that requires you to ventilate them. Plus, most folks don’t always have a large number of spare magazines on them.

Hope for the best scenario, but you damn well better prepare and train for the worse. I note that many folks now advocate carrying just one spare magazine in their hip pocket. Bravo for at least carrying a spare, but remember, if you ever need it, you will need it real fast. A belt pouch is a much better solution when that time arrives.

-Ken Hackathorn

Old Guy With A Blaster

Ken Hackathorn has served as a US Army Special Forces Small Arms Instructor, Gunsite Instructor, and NRA Police Firearms Instructor. He is currently an FBI Certified Firearms Instructor, Certified Deputy Sheriff with Washington County SO, Ohio, and a SRT member and Special Response Team trainer. Ken has trained US Military Special Operations forces, Marine FAST and SOTG units and is a contract small arms trainer to FBI SWAT and HRT.

Ken has provided training to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and been active in small arms training for the past 25 years. He has written firearms related material for Guns & Ammo, Combat Handguns, Soldier Of Fortune, and currently American Handgunner and contributed to at least six other gun/shooting journals. Ken was also a founding member of IPSC and IDPA.

To see Ken’s Training Class Schedule visit aliastraining.com.

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 SSD readers hard earned words of wisdom.

Gunfighter Moment – Frank Proctor

Saturday, August 16th, 2014

Why 9mm?

Back in April I received my Wilson Combat 1911 chambered in 9mm. I did a YouTube video with the gun and got lots of comments on it. Here’s the video if you’d like to check it out:

One of the comments I got was “Why would you set up a Wilson Combat 1911 in 9mm?” I replied to it and thought to myself here’s my next article for Gunfighter Moment. So here we go, my thoughts on 9mm.

I like to shoot and I like to train and see improvement and chase that dream of being as good as I want to be! 9mm training ammo is considerably less expensive than .40 or .45 allowing me to train way more, I dig that! Now let’s talk about the tactical application of the cartridge. I carry a 9mm pistol everyday for concealed carry and I carried a 9mm as a secondary weapon in Afghanistan and Iraq, I don’t now and never have felt under gunned with a 9mm.

For concealed carry I use a Glock 19 or S&W M&P 9. In both cases I have a concealable, very shootable (capable of delivering multiple hits quickly on a practical sized target from the muzzle out to 50 yards) and controllable pistol with 15-17 rounds of potent ammunition. I feel good about those capabilities. When talking terminal performance a couple critical things come to mind: shot placement and ammunition selection.

A .45 hole in a lung will produce the same effect as a 9mm hole in a lung, that effect is not instant incapacitation. However, if you research there has been a whole lot of stuff instantly incapacitated by a well placed .22 long rifle cartridge including some pretty large game animals. Without going into that subject anymore let’s talk about ammunition selection.

Not all ammo is created equal, ball ammo can be very lethal with good shot placement, but I think it would be much wiser to select carry or duty ammo that will offer better terminal performance. I have some first hand knowledge on Hornady Critical Defense 135g 9mm ammo. I watched it run through the FBI protocol and was amazed at the performance. It outperformed .40 and .45 duty ammo from other manufacturers. The FBI protocol test and evaluates the ammunitions, expansion, weight retention and penetration, preferably without over penetration.

I went on YouTube and found this video for you guys to check out. This is not the test I was at – when we did it we also ran .40 and .45 duty ammo from other manufacturers through the protocol and the results were not as impressive. Some of the ammo over penetrated and never expanded, some didn’t retain much weight through the auto glass. As seen in this video the Hornady 9mm expanded and penetrated almost exactly the same through everything.

Other thoughts on 9mm, it is a much more comfortable cartridge for a broader range of shooters to handle. That is one of the reasons many LE agencies and the FBI are switching to 9mm. I think another plus of 9mm is that if the gun is not uncomfortable to shoot and not cost prohibitive to train with more shooters will go out and train and increase or maintain their proficiency. Another thing I’m a fan of is magazine capacity. Having 15 rounds of some pretty potent and easy to shoot ammo in a concealable gun gives me a nice warm fuzzy for most anything I might encounter.

Well those are some of my thoughts on 9mm, thanks for reading and I hope to see you at a range sometime!

-Frank Proctor

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Frank Proctor has served over 18 years in the military, the last 11 of those in US Army Special Forces. During his multiple combat tours in Afghanistan & Iraq he had the privilege to serve with and learn from many seasoned veteran Special Forces Operators so their combined years of knowledge and experience has helped him to become a better operator & instructor. While serving as an instructor at the Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat Course he was drawn to competitive shooting. He has since earned the USPSA Grand Master ranking in the Limited Division and Master ranking in the IDPA Stock Service Pistol division. He learned a great deal from shooting in competition and this has helped him to become to become a better tactical shooter. Frank is one of the few individuals able to bring the experiences of U.S. Army Special Forces, Competitive Shooting, and veteran Instructor to every class.

All this experience combines to make Frank Proctor a well-rounded shooter and instructor capable of helping you to achieve your goal of becoming a better shooter.

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.

Gunfighter Moment – Larry Vickers

Saturday, August 9th, 2014

Support the National Rifle Association – I can’t make it any plainer than that.

My trip to South Africa reminded me once again how fortunate we are to have not only the 2A but the means to defend it, meaning a strong NRA. Straight up, the NRA isn’t perfect and I would definitely do some things differently if I were in charge, but it is our number one instrument in fighting the anti gunners. I’m a Benefactor life member and have been for years – I urge you to support the NRA and encourage others to do the same.

Stand together or we will hang separately.

History has taught us that for certain.

-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV

20130202-083903.jpg

Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical in a retired US Army 1st SFOD-Delta combat veteran with years of experience in the firearms industry as a combat marksmanship instructor and industry consultant. In recent years he has hosted tactical firearms related TV shows on the Sportsman Channel with the latest being TacTV of which Bravo Company is a presenting sponsor.Larry Vickers special operations background is one of the most unique in the industry today; he has been directly or indirectly involved in the some of the most significant special operations missions of the last quarter century. During Operation Just Cause he participated in Operation Acid Gambit – the rescue of Kurt Muse from Modelo Prison in Panama City, Panama. As a tactics and marksmanship instructor on active duty he helped train special operations personnel that later captured Saddam Hussein and eliminated his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. In addition he was directly involved in the design and development of the HK416 for Tier One SOF use which was used by Naval Special Warfare personnel to kill Osama Bin Laden. Larry Vickers has developed various small arms accessories with the most notable being his signature sling manufactured by Blue Force Gear and Glock accessories made by Tangodown. In addition he has maintained strong relationships with premium companies within the tactical firearms industry such as BCM, Aimpoint, Black Hills Ammunition, Wilson Combat and Schmidt & Bender.

Larry Vickers travels the country conducting combat marksmanship classes for law abiding civilians, law enforcement and military and has partnered with Alias Training to coordinate classes to best meet the needs of the students attending the class.

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.