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By: James Yeager I would like to pass along some information that might make your tuition at your next firearms training class go further. This is directed toward tactical training but will most likely apply to other areas of instruction as well. The motivation for this article is watching students go through the same evolution as I did and wishing they didn’t have to climb the same costly, time consuming, frustrating, ladder. I remember my very first training class. It was very exciting and a little scary. Who were the other pistoleros? Would they laugh at me? Would they be...

NOTE: This article is the property of SWAT magazine and is posted here with their permission. It is copyrighted and may not be copied or used in any way without the permission of SWAT magazine. DRIVING OUT OF THE KILL ZONE Tony Scotti and James Yeager Authors A book could be written about the skills, tactics, and decision making processes necessary to successfully drive out of a Kill Zone. This article will concentrate on what has become one the most important skill sets needed to escape a vehicle ambush, the combination of reversing out of the Kill Zone and returning...

By: Scott Gatlin After a couple of years of picking up my own dry cleaning (shirts and pants), I recently picked up a dress for my wife. As I was walking to my truck in the parking lot, an elderly lady in a passing car rolled down her window and said, “Honey, you are dragging that dress through the puddles.” She was right, and the dress went back to the dry cleaners. As I drove home, I realized why I had dragged the dress. I had become accustomed to carrying my dry cleaning to the truck at a certain height,...

NOTE: This article is the property of SWAT magazine and is posted here with their permission. It is copyrighted and may not be copied or used in any way without the permission of SWAT magazine. Dogmatic Doctrine Here we are in the year 2008 and except for small pockets of reality we, as tactical trainers and shooters, really haven’t progressed very far in the last 20 years. What is it about us as teachers and students that cements our position? What is it about us gunmen that makes us so unwilling to change? The Earth is not flat and the...

By: Tracy HightowerThe first thing we need to understand about Weapon Retention is that the best defense we have for countering a weapon grab is our brain. If we employ good mindset, awareness and sound tactics, weapon retention should never be an issue. In most instances where people have had to fight for their own weapon, they can point back to a mistake they themselves made that allowed it to happen. Whether it was because they were in condition white and allowed someone to get to close to them and attempt to remove their weapon from a holster or, when...

By: James Yeager I frequently get calls and e-mails vaguely asking, "What will I learn in this course?" The prospective student really doesn’t know what question to ask or what the right answer should be if they hear it. I have often sent people to other training schools after realizing the student wants to learn something in which my school, Tactical Response, doesn’t specialize. I am writing this to help students make a more educated decision about which course to purchase and from which school.Shooting and other defensive courses (knives, hand to hand, etc) can teach you in three distinct areas....

By: Tracy A. Hightower The O.O.D.A. Loop is a process we go through hundreds if not thousands of times in a single day. It is a process that defines how we humans react to stimulus. Colonel John Boyd coined the term O.O.D.A. Loop, in the 1950’s. Colonel Boyd, known as the “Fighter Pilot who changed the Art of War”, was an F-86 pilot and commander of a fighter group during the latter part of the Korean War. He believed that when at a disadvantage a competent pilot could still overcome that disadvantage by “Attacking the Mind” of his opponent. His...

By: James Yeager One of our brothers, a student, is dead. We will call him Rob. Rob was murdered September 13th, 2003 about five miles from my home. While some details are sketchy we do know a few things at this point. One of the things I know for sure is that Rob, who was a Carry Permit holder, was shot to death, while unarmed, with his four-year-old daughter standing near him. We have had many students including men, women, police, military, civilian, American, foreign and every nationality you can imagine. I have had a school since 1996 and quite a...