Kentactic
I am not a big fan of Tactical Response. They have posted their philosophy, prerequisites, etc. The problem is who the instructor you get is. There can be a very wide range of quality. I have only a small amount of experience with them but find there to be a bit too much bluster and not enough substance.
As far as people teaching shooting and moving I have found the opposite. Almost any decent instructor is teaching shooting, maneuver, cover, and space/time. Some intro pistol courses or "level 1" courses may not get into it much but it generally depends on the level of the shooters that you have in the class you happen to be in. Any instructor needs to always think SAFETY first and as a result you will find they often need to teach to the lowest skill set in the class not highest. The higher the course level this is not as much an issue. If an instructor is not concerned with this then DO NOT train with them....I have seen too many NDs/ADs and thankfully only 1 training related GSW and that was self inflicted.
Erik I dont know which of the "mainstream" training courses follow the SWAT paradigm that you are describing. Almost any training is going to establish fundamental first then build. I spend a probably inordinate ammount of time training with a wide variety of different instructors (Costa, Proctor, Smith, Cowan, Petty, Holland, Doyle, Mcnamara, etc) and their instruction is far from standardized. If anything it has moved away from an institutionalized format. As an example Will Petty's VCQB is probably a ton more realistic and more likely to be a situation that you will be in than utilizing light infantry tactics. That doesnt mean I dont find those classes valuable as well. Most of those guys are doing small unit, small team (2-3 guys) courses as well. You may not see it on their course registration pages as they tend to be word of mouth out to shooters they have experience with because of that whole safety(....read liability) thing. I would love to get down to take some Max Velocity classes as well. I really like he course of instruction that he seems to be developing and have heard nothing but good things.
For a very good pistol course that I have found really helped my skills to develop I would look at Frank Proctor, Nic Smith, or Mike Panone. If I were to suggest one I would probably start with Proctor or Panone. Panone gets out to LA on a fairly regular basis. Nic Smith is currently overseas and when he is home instructs mostly on the East Coast....though he is possibly moving out to So.Cal and will be teaching more on the Left Coast.
In the end get something out of whatever training you attend TR, MV, whatever. Travel is the one thing that adds the most to the cost of training. Find any reputable trainers coming to your area and take the class. Dont get focused on just one trainer. There are some very good trainers I am glad I went to but probably wont go back to just because of a "feel". Sometimes I get to a class and find that there is a bunch of guys on a shooting vacation getting to use all the cool guy gear they bought....those are the crap classes. I have taken multiple pistol, carbine, heavy carbine, patrol, vehicle, CQB, small unit, precision rifle, low/no light, and force on force sim courses. Whatever you do go into it with the right mindset about learning and taking from the class skills you can continue to develop well after the class is over.
Chris
