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Posts Tagged ‘Fieldcraft LLC’

BCM Welcomes Mike Glover and Aaron Barruga to the Gunfighter Program

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018

January 2, 2018

Hartland, WI – BCM welcomes US Army Special Operations combat veterans Mike Glover and Aaron Barruga to the Company’s Gunfighter Program.

Established in 2014, the Gunfighter Program has been a means for BCM to highlight some of our industries most experienced and skilled teachers in both tactics and the manual of arms. Each instructor in the program is a combat veteran that has provided years of instruction to our community of professionals and responsible citizens alike, after their military service concluded. These men are some of the finest our nation’s military has produced and it has been an honor to know and support them all.

Mike Glover – Fieldcraft LLC


A US Army Special Forces veteran with more than 18 years of military service, Glover has operated at the highest levels of the US Special Operations Forces, serving as a Weapons Specialist, Sniper, Assaulter, Recon Specialist, Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC), Team Sergeant, and Operations SGM. Glover’s last position was as an independent contractor for a US government agency, where he provided security services OCONUS in semi and non-permissive environments.

Today, Mike is the owner of FieldCraft Survival LLC, providing consulting services for companies in security, management and leadership, as well providing knowledge and equipment resources related to outdoors survival and lifestyle.

www.fieldcraftsurvival.com

Aaron Barruga – Guerrilla Approach

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Enlisting after the 9/11 attack, Aaron enlisted and served as a Green Beret in the US Army’s 1st Special Forces Group. After leading militia fighters in Afghanistan, conducting raids with Iraqi SWAT officers, and training foreign commandos in Asia, Aaron learned an incontestable truth about war: everything comes down to brilliance in the basics.

After completing his service, Barruga founded Guerrilla Approach LLC, where he is among the vanguard of GWOT veterans that are modernizing contemporary tactical training for US law enforcement and self-reliant citizens.

guerrillaapproach.com

Gunfighter Program
Meet the rest of the Instructors in the BCM Gunfighter Program here: bravocompanymfg.com/gunfighters

Gunfighter Moment – Mike Glover

Saturday, April 8th, 2017

WARFIGHTING OPTICS

The Hindu Kush mountain range spans 500 miles along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border with the highest point being over 25,000 feet above sea level. Literally meaning, “Hindu Killer”, the range was the site of the Bamiyan Buddhas, later obliterated by Islamic terrorists. Post 9/11, it was where US Army Special Forces would hunt them down and kill them.

During my time in the Kush, I was the primary gunner(18 Bravo – Army Special Forces Weapon Specialist) on all of my team’s mobile operations. My weapon system was typically a MK-19 40mm grenade launcher, or a M2 .50 Cal machine gun. Both weapon systems have ample power and the ability to reach out and touch the enemy with catastrophic effect at distance.

Dismounted, I ran my issue Colt M4 carbine with a full suite of optic, laser, and accessories that everyone in SF carried. On mission, there were many opportunities to employ magnification to take advantage of the maximum ranges of the 5.56 55-77gr ammunition we were issued, but our options for weapons optics was limited. The M68 Aimpoint and the Eotech 511 were both red dots, with no magnification. The Trijicon ACOG offered a fixed 4x magnification but was not ideally suited for close-in immediate threat encounters.

Not having the ability to positively ID a targets, spot threats, or shoot out to long distances severely limited our capability to accurately engage the Taliban and AQ during the early part of the war.

When magnifiers became available, they became immediately popular with the force. The 3x pushed our ability to ID and spot out further without sacrificing the speed of our EOtech 511s. Magnifiers also were a game changer in urban warfare, and became part of must have kit on a combat rifle. However, they were far from perfect. The ergonomics required an off hand manipulation to bring the sight inline behind the optic, in real settings the 3x magnification only extended the PID range a slight distance and finally, it added a not insubstantial amount of weight.

Ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain.

Fast forward a decade and the new go-to warfighting optic has transitioned from the red dot to a variable power optic. With an objective lens that the eye can immediately pickup without shadowing, they can be run on 6x when contact from a distance is the expectation, or dialed to a true 1X for CQB ranges. Today, with true 1x in a variable scope, there is no difference in performance between the red dot and a good 1-5, 1-6, 1-8 variable.

Right now, I use a Vortex Razor HD 2 1-6 on my BCM4 carbine and a Vortex 27X on my Surgeon .308. They have both the flexibility, ergonomics and utility necessary for a real-world engagements. If only we had them in 2001.

– Mike Glover
FieldCraft LLC

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A former Special Forces disabled veteran with more than 18 years of military service, Mike has operated at the highest levels of Special Forces. Deploying 15 times to combat theaters, he has served in the following positions: SF Weapons Specialist, SF Sniper, SF Assaulter/Operator, SF Recon Specialist, SF Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC), SF Team Sgt, and SF Operations SGM.

Mike is a certified U.S. Government federal firearms instructor, and has also has trained mobility with Team O’Neil Rally School, BSR Racing, and BW drivers courses. He is medically trained every two years in Advanced Medical Trauma and continually maintains his re-certifications for consultation practices.

Considered a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in planning and executing Special Operations in a myriad of complex environments, Mike has taken his 18 years of experience and is giving the American citizen the applicable training tools and training necessary to better protect themselves and their families here and abroad.

Mike has a Bachelors degree in Crisis management and homeland security with American Military University and is pursuing his masters in military history.

Mike currently lives in northern California, where he continues to consult for the U.S. Government in security and firearms instruction.

www.fieldcraftsurvival.com

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Bravo Company USA. Bravo Company is home of the Gunfighters, and each week they bring us a different trainer to offer some words of wisdom.

Gunfighter Moment – Mike Glover

Saturday, March 25th, 2017

This week’s Gunfighter Moment is a little different. Rather than a lesson from one of the Bravo Company’s Gunfighters, I’m going to tell you about Mike Glover’s podcast, “FieldCraft Survival” which offers even more access to this BCM Gunfighter.

Already in its 20th episode, “FieldCraft Survival” covers a wide range of subjects such as kit, tactical medicine, nutrition, weapons, and mindset. In fact, mindset is one of Mike’s strong suits and his talks are very insightful as he relates personal experiences into the podcasts. When he is joined by others, the interaction is engaging as one tip builds on the next. For those interested in pursuing a career in special operations, these podcasts offer excellent insight.

This isn’t Mike’s first go at podcasts. Previously, he’s been featured on the Global Recon podcast and had short go at a predecessor to his current endeavor called, “FieldCraft Survival Presents“. To subscribe from iTunes, visit itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fieldcraft-survival.

Mike’s podcast library offers a whole new dimension to his features here on Gunfighter Moment. It’s definitely worth a listen and I will put it on in the truck while driving. It is a great way to pass the time and pick up a new perspective along the way.

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A former Special Forces disabled veteran with more than 18 years of military service, Mike has operated at the highest levels of Special Forces. Deploying 15 times to combat theaters, he has served in the following positions: SF Weapons Specialist, SF Sniper, SF Assaulter/Operator, SF Recon Specialist, SF Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC), SF Team Sgt, and SF Operations SGM.

Mike is a certified U.S. Government federal firearms instructor, and has also has trained mobility with Team O’Neil Rally School, BSR Racing, and BW drivers courses. He is medically trained every two years in Advanced Medical Trauma and continually maintains his re-certifications for consultation practices.

Considered a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in planning and executing Special Operations in a myriad of complex environments, Mike has taken his 18 years of experience and is giving the American citizen the applicable training tools and training necessary to better protect themselves and their families here and abroad.

Mike has a Bachelors degree in Crisis management and homeland security with American Military University and is pursuing his masters in military history.

Mike currently lives in northern California, where he continues to consult for the U.S. Government in security and firearms instruction.

www.fieldcraftsurvival.com

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Bravo Company USA. Bravo Company is home of the Gunfighters, and each week they bring us a different trainer to offer some words of wisdom.

Gunfighter Moment – Mike Glover

Saturday, February 18th, 2017

Before the Global War On Terror, quantifying specific variables in a gunfight was like quantifying quantum physics. It’s a difficult undertaking without specific data – and any data was better than “I heard from a buddy that knew a guy.”

Now with the acceleration of the war on terror and concurrent advances in technology, we have a plethora of case studies, video, and stories from the men and women who were literally there. There is no more “theory,” but a wealth of the specific data we’ve been missing, and with that data we can begin to determine and extrapolate what works versus what doesn’t.

I remember getting into my first contact with the enemy. Looking back on it, it wasn’t what I expected – it wasn’t dynamic, it didn’t involve complex thought or replicate the things I was taught at the range. When analyzing this process I realized I didn’t even apply the basics I had been taught, it was all a reflex, all second nature and slightly reckless. I was confronted with a threat; it was him versus me and I realized afterward that I didn’t have time to prep my trigger, seat my stock, or even acquire a sight picture. The only things I had time to do were align and press, get my bore in line with the closest thing I could get to center and smash my trigger as fast as I could.

As I developed my skillsets in war the realization dawned that in an offensive action I only had milliseconds to react if the enemy I was hunting was ready and waiting for me, and that everything I had been taught was far more difficult to apply in reality. This is a stark contrast to other occupations – in a gunfight outside of deliberate actions and raids in the military, you react to or counter threats, which puts you behind the living curve.

For example: let’s say you’re a police officer, reacting to a domestic violence call. When you arrive the suspect is nowhere to be found. As you sweep the residence the victim of the domestic violence advises you that the suspect is armed and acting erratically so you are now expecting contact, and behind the living curve. Let’s say you clear into a corner-fed room, feeding into a bathroom that has visibility on the corner-fed room’s door, but your focus is on the blind spot of the dead space in that room. As you move your eyes and gun into position you see something, a flash of what you think is a light but instead it’s your eyes recognizing a foreign entity – in this case, the barrel of a revolver pointed right at your head. Your eyes get wide, your adrenaline tsunamis your being. Everything is in slow motion. Your eyes and brain see the threat, and the barrel of your gun is still in dead space…

Ok, let’s stop there, and consider what we know from our training. In training, we’re taught that once we step through a threshold we need to check corners and clear dead space. Right or wrong, that’s a fundamental – but every time I’ve done force on force or UTM/Sims training, if a bad guy sits one room deep he can kill every good guy who steps through that threshold, time after time.

I remember the first time I was taught to think outside of the convention in small-arm tactics – a team-mate of mine, who belonged to an elite CT unit, told me “don’t be in a rush to just clear and commit to a room. Clear a much as you possibly can prior to entry, even if you have to go prone.” That latter part of his statement really stuck with me, “even if you have to go prone.” This wasn’t advice being taught from theory, this was being taught from reality, from truly unpredictable situations experienced in warfare, and it made absolute sense. Committing to a fight in which your opponent is aware of and can take advantage of your weaknesses is committing to a losing battle, and there will be no second chance, no opportunity to learn from a fatal mistake.

Back to our earlier scenario. When someone has a gun, and they have it pointed at you, you need to be able to send rounds toward that threat and neutralize in immediately. Seeing a threat with your eyes that you’re not instantly ready to deal with puts you at the mercy of your enemy’s reaction time. Clear with your eyes with your gun in tow; and when expecting contact you must clear methodically and thoroughly prior to entering the breach point. Never race in unprepared, that leads to mistakes and sets you up for ambushes. While training is necessary, it doesn’t always reflect the situations we find ourselves up against, and can ultimately hamper our perception of reality. As long as your training institution understands this logic, and can work toward providing you with the tools necessary to get closer to reality, you’re with the right venue. Remember, experience is always better than theory.

– Mike Glover
FieldCraft LLC

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A former Special Forces disabled veteran with more than 18 years of military service, Mike has operated at the highest levels of Special Forces. Deploying 15 times to combat theaters, he has served in the following positions: SF Weapons Specialist, SF Sniper, SF Assaulter/Operator, SF Recon Specialist, SF Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC), SF Team Sgt, and SF Operations SGM.

Mike is a certified U.S. Government federal firearms instructor, and has also has trained mobility with Team O’Neil Rally School, BSR Racing, and BW drivers courses. He is medically trained every two years in Advanced Medical Trauma and continually maintains his re-certifications for consultation practices.

Considered a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in planning and executing Special Operations in a myriad of complex environments, Mike has taken his 18 years of experience and is giving the American citizen the applicable training tools and training necessary to better protect themselves and their families here and abroad.

Mike has a Bachelors degree in Crisis management and homeland security with American Military University and is pursuing his masters in military history.

Mike currently lives in northern California, where he continues to consult for the U.S. Government in security and firearms instruction.

www.fieldcraftsurvival.com

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Bravo Company USA. Bravo Company is home of the Gunfighters, and each week they bring us a different trainer to offer some words of wisdom.

Gunfighter Moment – Mike Glover

Saturday, December 10th, 2016

The Battle Rifle
Evolving at the Speed of War

In 2007, during the height of the war against extremists in Iraq, I was a sniper with the Commander In-Extremis Force (CIF)[a] operating out of Baghdad. We conducted unilateral operations against HVTs, targeting these as part of a larger task force known as TF-16. While conducting these operations we began identifying inefficiencies in the way we executed our roles as snipers.

An immediate issue was the multitude of different weapon systems and equipment necessary to carry out our main duty during different phases of missions – as snipers, we were tasked with containing the objective prior to a raid, which meant seeking high ground and containing from the top down providing coverage for the assault force. We used .300 Win mag MK13 sniper rifles, which were cumbersome but effective against enemy personnel. However, it was impossible to assault with these weapons, meaning we had to bag them in rifle packs and use carbines to make our way to high ground – complete with accessories and combat loads of ammunition.

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Our carbines utilized SOPMOD accessories – but on a 16-inch long M4 with a 6-inch picatinny rail, fitting a light, optics, BUI sights, lasers, and pressure pads as well as a universal night sight proved difficult. We had to work out how to overcome this issue, and work out a way to optimize and evolve our equipment to allow us to conduct an offset, assault a target and provide adequate coverage in and around a 300-meter area, even at night.

We began work on optimizing a Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR), chambered in 5.56mm, that not only met but far exceeded these requirements. We purchased and mounted free-floating 15-inch rails, and had the JSOC armor optimized to in order to keep a 75g Hornady round as flat as possible. In testing at Accuracy First in Canadian, Texas, we found the rifle successful at a thousand meters, after deciding on an optic setup that brought the whole package together.

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After extensive testing we had a rifle that gave us a platform allowing us not only to assault, but to effectively engage targets at a distance, at night. This was put to the test on a rooftop in Sadr City in 2007 when my senior and I, a legend in the sniper community named ‘Irish,’ took a shot from a couple of hundred meters out on a maneuvering insurgent after clearing the house. I looked at him, he looked at me and we shook our heads in mutual agreement. Our hard work had paid off.

– Mike Glover
FieldCraft LLC

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A former Special Forces disabled veteran with more than 18 years of military service, Mike has operated at the highest levels of Special Forces. Deploying 15 times to combat theaters, he has served in the following positions: SF Weapons Specialist, SF Sniper, SF Assaulter/Operator, SF Recon Specialist, SF Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC), SF Team Sgt, and SF Operations SGM.

Mike is a certified U.S. Government federal firearms instructor, and has also has trained mobility with Team O’Neil Rally School, BSR Racing, and BW drivers courses. He is medically trained every two years in Advanced Medical Trauma and continually maintains his re-certifications for consultation practices.

Considered a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in planning and executing Special Operations in a myriad of complex environments, Mike has taken his 18 years of experience and is giving the American citizen the applicable training tools and training necessary to better protect themselves and their families here and abroad.

Mike has a Bachelors degree in Crisis management and homeland security with American Military University and is pursuing his masters in military history.

Mike currently lives in northern California, where he continues to consult for the U.S. Government in security and firearms instruction.

www.fieldcraftsurvival.com

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Bravo Company USA. Bravo Company is home of the Gunfighters, and each week they bring us a different trainer to offer some words of wisdom.

Sneak Peek – FieldCraft LLC’s Minimalist Survival Kit

Friday, February 19th, 2016

 
FieldCraft LLC (SOFsurvivor on Instagram) released a preview of a Minimalist Survival Kit, available for order on 23 Februrary, 2016. In the video, he goes over the kit in detail, explaining why he chose each piece.

www.fieldcraftsurvival.com