Over the years, conversations with our tactical athletes have left the impression that shooting schools, a vital training element for tactical units, are selected using less than formal approaches. As part of our long term goal of providing our tactical athletes a methodical approach to selecting the best schools for their units’ training requirements, we solicited information from our tactical community and here’s what we’ve found so far:
List the top 2 shooting schools that you have attended:
Answers were widely varied but the only school to receive multiple mentions was Mid South Institute.
What makes these 2 schools stand out:
Again, the answers were all over the map but 3 elements seemed to emerge:
-Quality of the facility/range
-Quality of the instructor
-Unconventional training methodology offered
Briefly Describe your/your unit’s evaluation process for choosing a shooting school:
The preponderance of respondents indicated that “word of mouth” played a large part in their selection. Other common themes were instructor’s tactical background/real world experience and location.
How does your unit evaluate the training it receives from shooting schools:
Military respondents indicated that the evaluation is done through an After Action Report (AAR) but little additional information was provided as to what quantitative metrics those reports contained to determine if attendance was effective. Other respondents indicated that there was no formal feedback to evaluate the decision to attend this or that school.
In general, what makes a good shooting school:
A few themes emerged with this question, primarily the knowledge and real world experience of the instructor. Respondents indicated that the most effective schools had focused concentration on shooting fundamentals but also pushed the limits with new techniques.
We’re still looking for more respondents as well as ideas about how MTI can help quantify the process of selecting a shooting school to ensure that the most effective training is delivered to our tactical athletes.
If you haven’t take the survey, do so here.
If you have ideas pertaining to our efforts, email Rob.