Episode 7 of BCM’s original series, American Gunfighter, is streaming. Episode 7 features Northern Red Instructor Staff and US Army Special Operations Combat Veterans Chris Kovacik, John Ellison and Zach Harrison, discussing their motivations for training in both their roles as Special Operations Soldiers and as instructors of active duty military and counter terrorism professionals.
Directed and produced by Jon Chang, American Gunfighter is an ongoing series produced by BCM featuring elite law enforcement and military personnel sharing their thoughts and stories about their profession and craft.
Northern Red is a Private Military Firm specializing in training elite military and law enforcement units for counter terrorism, hostage rescue and close quarter battle missions. The Instructor Staff consists entirely of US Army Special Operations combat veterans with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
BCM (Bravo Company Manufacturing) was founded in 2005 by a veteran United States Marine in Hartland, Wisconsin, where the company maintains its HQ today. BCM builds weapon systems that are manufactured, reinforced and tested to meet the unforgiving needs of law enforcement, military, security and peace keeping professionals in some of the most high stress environments and situations in the world.
Northern Red’s open enrollment schedule for 2017 is online now. The Company continues to offer a marksmanship POI built around gunfighting as well as classes in hostage rescue + close quarters battle. Northern Red prepares students for real-world missions using an established professional standard based on decades of combined combat experience from the Company staff of US Army Special Operations combat veterans.
October 28. 2015 – Northern Red has launched the Company’s 2016 Open Enrollment Training Schedule on our website NorthernRedTraining.com. Including dedicated pistol, dedicated carbine and integrated pistol carbine programs, these classes focus on mindset, combat fundamentals and decision making under stress.
Northern Red offers a host of additional custom tailored small unit tactics classes available to military, law enforcement and security professionals. Contact reservations@northernred.com for more information.
Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Northern Red open enrollment Gunfighter instructor team consists exclusively of combat veterans with US Army Special Operations experience. Every class features a minimum of one instructor per ten students, insuring each student will receive individual attention and instructors can provide oversight for a safe training environment.
A common misconception is that all Special Operations guys are gun gurus: that they are students of caliber, ballistics, barrel length, gas systems, etc. The reality is quite different. As an 18 Bravo(US Army Special Forces Weapon Sergeant), of course I had to possess the skills to effectively employ my personal weapon systems (carbines, pistols and crew served) in combat as well as the ability to maintain and repair them.
But that is maybe, 5% of the job.
Just as important were the skills needed to lay mortars, be familiar with foreign weapon systems used by indigenous allied and enemy forces, conduct helicopter and airborne operations, perform tactical combat casualty care, use communications systems to call for medevac or close air support, plan actions on an objective, employ small unit tactics under fire, be proficient in hand-to-hand combat, speak a foreign language, maintain a high level of physical fitness and drive everything from cars and HMMWVs to off road vehicles, to name a few.
Over time, those who were personally interested in any of those topics had a great laboratory to work in. So when I look back at how I ran my kit, I see it was driven by considerations for many tasks, but above everything, my combat set-up was most influenced by my time as an athlete.
I spent a good part of my life playing football, from Pop Warner to high school and ultimately college ball. Everything from diet, to work outs to hobbies was driven by becoming bigger, stronger and faster than the day before. In the game, speed kills. If you can see the field and understand the game, you can put yourself in the right space, at the right time, with total control of your body, to deliver a devastating hit to your opponent.
I saw it no differently in combat.
Where the battlespace diverges from a playing field, is that the environment is not set. It can be an interior, where you are moving to a point of domination, or a killing field, where rapid maneuver allows you to destroy the enemy. This makes being quicker on the uptake in assessing the battlespace and finding those sweet spots vital because, in the end, it all comes down to fire superiority and flanking. When I set up my kit and my weapon systems, it was driven by what was going to make me as fast as possible at that fundamental principle of combat.
My unit was tasked with a Direct Action mission. The vast majority of our infils were conducted with vehicles. The targets were almost always compounds. That meant that our realistic threats were typically within a 100 meter radius. It also meant we were never more than 200 meters from our gun trucks with crew served weapons (.50 cals and MK19 grenade launchers).
We started with 14.5″ SOPMOD M4s. As issued, an M4 carbine is expected to deliver a sub three inch group at 100 yards with issued ammunition(62-grain Green Tip). It was a light, reliable and, at sub three minutes at 100 yards, delivered a reasonable degree of accuracy. Was it possible to shoot these weapon systems and get sub one inch groups at 100 yards? Absolutely. But it is a combination of skill, ammunition and platform that delivers that capability.
Given that our mission set rarely required we engage with our M4’s out past a 150 meter radius, when we received MK18 upper receivers many, including myself, switched to the more compact and maneuverable platform. With the issued ammunition and our skills, it matched the accuracy of the SOPMOD and was faster in the tight spaces we encountered on all of our missions.
Given that we ran a large number of missions at night, every carbine had a PEQ-15 on it allowing for accurate shooting out to 200 meters with our night vision goggles. I personally went with a rubberized Hogue AR pistol grip, because it was far more “grippy” especially when using gloves. I also used a Surefire M900A as it gave me a vertical grip, a pressure pad and a weapon light in one package. I ran a Arredondo Oversized Mag Well to give me a slight edge on speed reloads and finally, I topped it off with an EOTech 511 because not only was it the fastest combat proven weapon optic for our mission, but it was compact and allowed for more rail to mount the PEQ and rear iron sight.
That carbine was built around my mission. It performed it exactly how I needed it to. When I was putting together this article I had to look back through old emails to see what half of the items were even called, but each component either helped me go faster or made my task of shooting easier and was reliable enough to let me focus on the big picture.
In the end, that is the ultimate goal of any piece of kit.
This is an announcement from Grey Group Training regarding the availability of open enrollment courses with Northern Red.
Instructors are J.D. Potynsky and Tom Spooner, who are both BCM Gunfighters.
Northern Red stands ready to provide security solutions in high-threat environments — and develop others to do the same. Shaped by the toughest military training in the world, and forged in today’s hostile and war environments, the Northern Red team is considered to be part of what some define as “The American Warrior Class.”
Their goal is to create the security and stability, nationally and internationally, to help foster peace and economic growth. Northern Red proudly takes on dangerous, complex engagements that require courage, capability, as well as the ability to work independently, creatively and strategically.
In short, Northern Red delivers… Warrior-Class Security Solutions for an Unstable World.
Here is what Northern Red has to say about training and training with them:
“In a world growing more uncertain by the minute, we need all the well-developed professionals we can get. Northern Red offers experience-based security development and tactical training to candidates who possess the courage and capacity to mitigate a wide range of dangerous combatants, scenarios and environments.
Their development programs are designed based on a combination of our instructor’s personal experiences in war zones, and their experiences in many of the world’s elite military training programs.
There will be tests of skill, stamina, improvisation, memorization and how to remain lucid under chaotic circumstances. By the end of your training, you will have been educated and focused on performance, effectiveness and solutions — the same goals and skills required of the world’s very best warriors.”
Between the booth girls, calendars, advertisements, and the average chick in an action movie, a lot of us guys have an image that pops into our heads when we hear “girls” and “guns” in the same context. Guilty as charged. When I go into my “man cave” it’s a gun room, totally devoid of anything feminine other than a 9mm 1911. Because of my background in male-only military units and a male-dominated industry, I think of the Hot Shots calendar or Kate Beckinsale in Underworld. Gun culture is a predominately male endeavor. Guys, that’s something we need to strive to change. I’m sure a lucky few have a wife or girlfriend who wants to go blaze away. For the rest of us, here’s a few good reasons to get your better half out behind a gun:
1. PROTECTION: I’m pretty comfortable with a gun. I’m pretty comfortable with the idea of taking someone’s life in legitimate self defense. I generally feel pretty good about my abilities to defend those I care about as well. However, I can’t always be around, and I bet a lot of the SSD readers can’t either. I’m gone 50% or more of the time personally. A couple of nights ago, my girlfriend had a shady looking/sounding person start beating on the door. At 3:45AM. In the country, in a really sweet house in the middle of a very large nursery. Most of us knuckle draggers would be thanking God that our prayers were answered while we try to decide what blaster to grab. My much better half was not as amused. Home alone with two kids and two dogs who were absolutely going bonkers, she was freaked out. Luckily, she did the right thing and consolidated the family in the back bedroom, got out the Glock 19 and Surefire light I gave her, called 911, and waited for someone to come through the door. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. 60 minutes later when the Deputy arrived to a call of someone beating down a door and screaming to let them in (3 miles from the station…ponder that for a minute), he said they found a dazed person walking down the road claiming their car had broken down. Think about that response time. An HOUR to get to a call of someone breaking into a house while acting deranged. Had they busted through a window with the intent to harm, the cavalry was a long time out. Whether it’s your wife, girlfriend, daughter, mother, neighbor, friend, cousin…if you have the ability to help them defend themselves in the world we live in today, why wouldn’t you?
2. WOMEN VOTE: There’s no doubt that we’re in a politically tumultuous time in America. I personally feel that if the current administration gets re-elected, gun rights will be on the agenda for them as they continue their assault on the Constitution. Women have voted more than men by 3-5% in every election since 1980 according to Rutger’s University’s Center for American Women and Politics. When I vote this year, make no mistake of what I am voting for. I am not voting for a political party. I am not voting for Romney as a person. I am not voting for taxes, entitlements, big corporations, small business, war, peace or anything else. I’ve got my own uber-conservative views on all that stuff. But when I cast the ballot, I am voting for my guns, and my right to buy, own, and sell them. My 2nd Amendment RIGHT to keep them. I believe gun control only punished law-abiding citizens, and I exercise my right to vote to keep that removal of my ability to defend myself and my family at bay. We need all the help we can get with that, and while I don’t have any statistics I’d bet males make up the majority of the staunch 2A advocates. As we try and use the system to protect our way of life against the liberal/socialist agenda every vote counts.
3. QUALITY TIME: We all make concessions in a relationship. I spent a lot of time in malls, shops, wine tastings, cocktail parties and other absolutely miserable crap like that in the past to try and make girls happy. I spent most of that time wishing I was at the range. I spent tens of thousands of dollars on purses, shoes, jackets, little dresses, and jewelry. I swiped the debit card for all of that stuff thinking about how I’d rather give Shooter’s Supply that money. It would have been pretty cool to have been able to do something with the significant other that actually involved anything I cared about. Just imagine for a moment your wife or girlfriend wanting to go shoot instead of whatever else. Imagine not having to hide the new guns you bring home, but having that new Glock or AR welcomed into the household. Pretty cool, huh?
There are a lot of reasons for gun guys to encourage their girls to become gun girls. These three stuck out for me, but no matter your reasons I think getting more women involved in shooting sports and defensive training is a great idea. Northern Red and Stoic Ventures offer female-specific shooting courses that come highly recommended, in addition to your local Concealed Carry class that everyone needs to take. Also, there is an increasing number of women’s shooting organizations popping up around the country, check and see if there is one local to you. Just don’t be mad when your guns start disappearing into her safe.
Instructor J.D. Potynsky’s background includes service on an ODA in 3rd Special Forces Group at Ft Bragg, Program Manager and Country Manager in Iraq for a 200 man Private Security Contract, and time as Director of Training for TigerSwan before founding Northern Red.
This is a two day pistol and carbine gunfighting course and everyone I’ve talked to speaks highly of the course and instructor. He usually has a buddy or two along to help with run courses and they will be some of the best shooters out there. You will definitely get your money’s worth. Contact support@greygrouptraining for specifics.
While this course runs several times per year, the next iteration is 3 and 4 December at Trigger Time in Carthage, NC.
