This past weekend I attended a Will Petty (88 Tactical) VCQB class put on in Salt Lake City by Reactive Gunworks. This was primarily an LEO course and I was one of just 3 civilians in the class of 20. The focus of the class was definitely from the LEO perspective which translates very well to the civilian world. This class was so much more of a class on problem solving than a "shooting" class.
The class was broken into 3 primary segments, Ballistics, Drills, and Force on force.
Ballistics was all about the science of what happens in a gunfight and how it relates to the vehicle. It was looked at both from the point of view of outgoing and incoming fire. Forever the SOP around a vehicle was that the only cover they provided is behind the engine block or the wheels. We explored the characteristics of rounds through various parts of the vehicle (doors,pillars, windows, etc) in a variety of calibers including 9mm, .40S&W, .45, .50 AE, .357Sig, .357mag, 5.56x45, 7.62x39, .308, 6.5 creedmor, and .50. It is absolutely impressive just how much punishment an average vehicle can absorb. One of the major items we looked at was the characteristics of a gunfight around vehicle. Most engagements around cars are
sudden,
very short duration and
very high intensity. When looking at using a vehicle for as cover it is with this in mind.
The Drills portion was all about processing info, prioritizing and solving the problem (ending the engagement). Will is a master at ratcheting up the stresses and the drills to progress to get results that were beyond what was expected. Processing info came as identiying shooter, location, strongest position, available cover(stacking pillars) etc. Stresses were built from just continuous chatter, to yelling, to becoming an obstruction, causing malfunctions mid drill, etc. Will does a great job of taking a static 360deg range and building drills that really help to simulate a dynamic environment.
Finally, Force on Force. This really speaks for itself. There is nothing like taking a hit from a sim round to help you to understand that your head really wasnt down, or that your really didnt have the angle on that C pillar.
This is really a simplified description of the course as a whole. It was one of the more rewarding classes I have taken. Everyday I am around cars in so many different aspects of my life. My chances of something happen in this realm are monumental compared to my chance of needing to jock up and clear a bunch of structures. I believe in continually developing and getting varied training, and I am very glad that I was able to attend this class. As always it is now time to absorb parts of this into my normal individual training. It is not about a one time now you know it kind of deal, it needs to be continuously developed.
A special thanks to Andrew from Reactive Gunworks for sponsoring the class. All of the LEO were there n/c and he included lunches, snacks and all the water& gatorade you could drink. We also got an afternoon of some great jumps at Skydive Utah.
Here is a link to an article at Breach, Bang,Clear by someone who writes much better than I .
http://www.breachbangclear.com/will-pettys-vcqb-observations-and-takeaways/A link to 88 Tactical:
https://88tactical.com/Reactive Gunworks:
http://www.reactivegunworks.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html
