I carry nearly every day and I make it a point not to rely on that pistol in a way that would cause me to go places I wouldn’t go if unarmed.

From the very introduction to my Covert Carry Class, I stress as a mindset for a civilian CCW carrier the following three escalation steps:

Avoid – bad places or people whenever possible (do you really need that snack at the circle-K at 2330 in a sketchy part of town?)
Evade – bad situations and people once identified (there’s no law that states you must stay in a place you don’t feel safe or if someone feels the need to lose their temper on the road just drive away.)
Defend – when the first two courses of action are no longer viable and you are in fear for your life or the lives of others.

*Be mindful not to get yourself into avoidable situations with a gun that you can’t get out of without a gun.*

You’re conduct day to day should reflect an aware and cautious professional. Being genuinely talented with a firearm and having good situational awareness are crucial to your own safety but not a guarantee. The better you are, the more confident you become, and the more likely you are to go to riskier places, because you’ve got “good situational awareness and a pistol.” Every skill should be used to benefit you. Live a confident life as a responsible and self-reliant citizen. One cautionary note; don’t let that confidence overextend your posture so much so that you can’t respond effectively or successfully, if something does go wrong or catches you off-guard.

Don’t go places or take chances that you wouldn’t without a gun just because you have one. You may very well be smart and fast and aware and talented, but it’s just you and maybe a friend or your family, not a 6 man assault team. Any mistakes can make for a really bad day for everyone, so judgment is king.

Be smart before you have to be hard. Trust me, it makes the “being hard” part a lot easier!

– 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.

www.ctt-solutions.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 some words of wisdom.

What are you willing to do to protect your loved ones?

I was helping a good friend teach a group of mostly women from his prosecutor’s office and a woman who is an avid long distance runner and spends a lot of time training mentioned she carries “sometimes”. My response was “why sometimes and not all the time?” She said if she was out with her kids she would carry to protect them but didn’t carry when she was by herself. That led to a little discussion as we waited for the break to end and in a nutshell here it is.

If someone were maliciously about to do something that would grievously injure virtually everyone that you know and love especially your immediate family

…and if it that injury was painful beyond words and lasted until the day they died?

…and if nothing either doctor or hospital could do to heal them?

…what would you be willing to do to stop them?

If someone beats, rapes or murders you, you alone feel the physical pain but the anguish is shared by everyone you love for their lifetime. If you are killed your children will always wonder what life would be like if mom were there or cry at their weddings because you were not there to share the joy. Your husband would wonder what that dream vacation with the kids would have been like or how you would have grown old together and spoiled the grandkids. Your family would mourn silently every time there was a gathering with the most obvious presence being your absence.

So if it is a way to explain to a friend or family member why you carry, why you train so much and why they should, then enlighten them. Explain to them that you carry to protect yourself and by doing so the emotions of everyone that your life touches in a significant way if you were prematurely taken. Imagine all the pain you could save by successfully fending off an attack? Remember as well the person trying to deprive you of your life and by doing so injure all those you hold dear brought it to you! Turn it around on him, turn fear into anger and fight with the savagery of a lion. He might have started the clock but you stop it! Do not be afraid to do whatever it takes to stop the attacker, to protect yourself and by default your loved ones. You owe it to your family and friends. Be loyal and steadfast and defend yourself with courage and righteous indignation just as you would them if they were there with you.

In the immediacy you will fight for your life alone but in your actions you hold the emotional weight of many potentially injured souls…those that love you. Remember, nobody is more concerned for the well being of you and yours than you!! If that fateful day comes it is your responsibility to be prepared in advance physically and emotionally and be equipped and trained properly.

What am I willing to do to protect my loved ones? Whatever it takes!

– 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.

www.ctt-solutions.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 some words of wisdom.

Put the gun down!

Thursday after a detailed cleaning of my CZ P09 I was doing my final test fire and zero validation before a few weeks of upcoming training. I went to the range with only 50 rounds and after doing a few reloads I decided to do an all double-action walk-back on a ¼ size IPSC plate. I do it in 05 yard increments from10-55 yards. If I shoot it clean it takes 10 rounds. I had 11 rounds left in the box so I loaded 11 and figured I could probably get to 55. It was a good day and I shot clean out to 55. I had one round left…nothing else in my gun bag. Every fiber in my body said “shoot that last round” but my rational mind said “unload, show clear and put the gun down.” I had set a training objective and met it; I had done what I set out to do in the manner I had prescribed so I was done. The last memory I had for the training session was setting a goal and achieving it with a proper repetition at the max distance. Unloading that last round into my hand and tucking it into a completely empty ammo carrier was an impromptu “training discipline pop quiz”. It’s easy to put 30 or 40 rounds back in your bag for later but that one cartridge was harder than hell not to shoot. What if I had shot it and missed? Then I would have capped off a great string with a miss and that’s all I’d remember.

The mental game is 90+% of shooting and it’s all about concentration and discipline. Don’t over-train, plan your session and shoot your plan. Set a goal, do your best to achieve the goal in the prescribed time and manner with a specified number of rounds…and then when you meet the objective or the ammo limit (whichever comes first) … put the gun down! You’ll shoot less but get better.

– 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.

www.ctt-solutions.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 some words of wisdom.

There are a lot of great courses of fire out there that truly test marksmanship skill but we should identify the advantage/disadvantage or relative level of difficulty of the same course of fire given the type of pistol/caliber combination used and the relative accuracy of the gun. To make the point as clearly as possible I will use a well-known course of fire that is one of my favorites, the 700 point aggregate. It will challenge even the best shooters and has been a part of my training for 15 years now. The 700pt Aggregate is extremely gun dependent and truth be told was designed to be shot with a match grade gun. Shooting it with my Vickers Custom 1911 vs. my Glock 22 w/stock barrel is truly the difference of night and day. My LAV gun will shoot sub 1.5” @ 25 all day long and my G22 is working to shoot 2.5” with the stock barrel. That disparity constitutes a 40% smaller group potential at the outset. The accuracy capability of the LAV gun vs. the G22 is a distinct advantage. That is compounded by the crisp flat 1911 trigger vs. the Glock Safe-Action (even with the best trigger job I can do with a full power striker spring). There is nothing wrong with the Glock, I like and have carried them for personal defence, protection work (PSD), combat and sport so don’t get wound up yet. There are certain advantages with certain guns that lend themselves towards certain courses of fire. If you shoot a course of fire that is both accuracy and speed dependent with a match grade 1911 in 45 ACP and then the same course with the identical gun in 9mm who has the advantage now? Obviously the 9mm has the advantage due to recoil impulse. Now shoot that 9mm 1911 against a Beretta M9? Now put in high round count stages that mitigate the accuracy and emphasize the capacity? The gun gives you or gives up advantage by design, accuracy potential and capacity even in the same caliber. The point I am making is one I just made recently to a close friend from my SOF days who asked me “what are you shooting the 700 in nowadays?” My response was “with which gun?” A Glock 22 on a 12 round course of fire with the potential of make-up shots has an overwhelming advantage over a single-stack 1911. Shoot whatever you have and shoot the 700 point aggregate but make sure when you compare scores take into account what gun you’re shooting. Depending on the course of fire it will make a world of difference.

1. Model
2. Caliber
3. Size (compact/fullsize/long slide)
4. Trigger weight
5. Relative accuracy from the bench (I had a big name polymer gun shoot 4-6” groups @ 25 right out of the box. That alone would put a 700 Pt. Ag in the low 500’s instead of 600’s.)
6. Capacity

– 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.

www.ctt-solutions.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 some words of wisdom.

Get all the “flair” off your gun… (Gratuitous “Office Space” reference)

If you’ve ever carried a load and walked the mountains, jungles, arctic or deserts…which covers being “anywhere”, you learned an axiom known by every SOF operator: after the first hour, every ounce feels like a pound. I see quite a few rifles with a lot of extra accessories that are completely unnecessary. While they fill a minor role, that role does not justify the added bulk, weight or adverse effects. I won’t name the ones I see as most offending but they should be self-evident after further evaluation based on the criteria below.

When evaluating and mounting accessories to a weapon system by function and location take into account the following so the rifle is in every regard as efficient and effective as possible:

Every accessory must:

1) Demonstrably enhance the effectiveness of the weapon

2) Not impede the use of bolt release, magazine release, safety or trigger or any other critical accessory like a flashlight

3) Have no negative effect on reliability

4) Be durable in the extreme

5) Not be prone to accidental activation/deactivation/release or entanglement with anything it will commonly come in contact with

6) Be accessible and operable while firing right or left handed (as ambidextrous as possible or necessary based on your skills and shooting style)

Every accessory must be simple to mount and remove and should be rigged so that the operator can easily strip the weapon for maintenance and return accessories to their original location. Side note: Paint markers are a tremendous help for marking location of accessories and screw tension.

When all else fails, get all the “flair” off your gun and start from scratch. Make sure every accessory on your rifle does something that truly needs doing…otherwise leave it in your extra parts bin.

-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.

www.ctt-solutions.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 some words of wisdom.