NTI, 2008

31 May 08

NTI, 2008, is winding down tonight with our banquet and benediction. It was held here in Harrisburg, PA at the West Shore Range Facility, as it has been the past few years.

Half the exercises were live-fire, and half were scenario-based (force-on-force). Challenges this year were, once again, unique, imaginative, and required critical thinking and precise, aggressive action. I love this event! It concerns itself with software, rather than hardware, which is why it is largely ignored by gun rags.

The NTI requires a vast amount of work by Skip Gochenour and his Crew, and we all thank them for continuing to do this important work for the benefit of all of us.

Targets are, as always, three-dimensional mannequins, all dressed, and all either representing threats or not. Threats include pistols, longarms, bombs, blades, flammable liquids, and bludgeons. Targets and "non-targets" are always mixed in with each other, and non-targets always constitute the majority. Targets are reactive and fall when hit in the central zone. Some are standing. Others are sitting, kneeling, and prone, Some must be hit multiple times, and some use cover. Talking with non-targets often yields useful information.

This trip, I was armed with my SA/XD 40S&W, Kahr PM45 as a back-up (both in Comp-Tac holsters), and my S&W Scandium 38Spl Snubby in my Rusty Sherrick shoulder-holster as a second back-up. In addition, I carried three Cold Steel blades (Vaquero Grande, Six-inch Ti-Lite, and Culloden neck-knife), Fox OC, and a Cold-Steel "Sharkie." I'm currently using a Comp-Tac leather gunbelt, and, of course, a Concealed-Carry Clothiers vest. I shot Cor-Bon DPX ammunition through all three pistols on all live-fire drills. My XD is equipped with a LaserMax, which I used at the NTI for the first time. My flashlight is a Firstlight Tomahawk LE. All equipment ran fine!

I started in the "Fine Arts Museum," where I was obliged torescue my young niece during an armed robbery. This event was at the 360-degree range, and I went in alone. I rescued my niece right away, but I was subsequently compelled to carry her with me as I looked frantically through a labyrinth of corridors and rooms for an exit. All my shooting was one-handed! Ranges were all under five meters.

My LaserMax was amazingly fast, and, in one instance, enabled my to successfully shoot a target to my immediate right from a radically angulated wrist. The LaserMax's on/off switches are not conducive to rapid on/off manipulation, so I left it on most of the time. In one instance, I accomplished a precise, brain-stem shot on a target holding a bomb. I was able to drive the laser dot up his body midline and onto his head so fast that I saw the bullet hole instantly appear on the exact spot where the dot was. I found the laser extremely useful!

I had to be cautious about extending the pistol while moving. In close environments, the pistol must stay retracted except when shooting. And, Ihad to aggressively stay in motion. Remain in one place too long, and you'll quickly be flanked and overwhelmed.

I mistakenly shot a security guard. He had a pistol in his hand, and I finally saw the "Security" spelled across his T-shirt just after my third round hit him. I was going too fast!

Next, I found myself at a outdoor "Family Picnic." I was between two picnic table crowded with relatives. Suddenly three armed thugs threatened us all. I dropped my food, drew my pistol while moving, and gunned down all three. I reverted to my regular sights.

After getting everyone down and behind cover, I then had to run to a car, retrieve a rifle, load it, and, using the car as cover, engage a target 120M away and a second one fifty meters distant. The second target could not be seen until I got to the car.

You have to use cover skillfully and move quickly. When covering long distances, as was necessary here, you need to run in a zig-zag pattern. It is usually less risky to shoot around the side of your cover, rather than over the top.

The next drill was at the "ATSA Medical Center." Again, I had to pick up my niece and, in the attempt, blundered into an armed-robbery, in progress. Once again, the laser was extremely fast, ane, when combined with explosive movement, which keeps bad-guys guessing, I was able to neutralize VCAs andmove aggressively to complete the rescue of my niece, who was being held hostage. I executed a precise brain-stem shot on the hostage-taker, once again with intense speed. The laser allows you to keep both eyes open (which one should endeavor to do anyway, but which is difficult for some), and you always know where the muzzle is tracking.

At the "Carpet Shop," I had to rescue my entire family who were there waiting for me but found themselves accosted by armed arsonists who were trying to burn the place down. In this drill, you don't have any of your own equipment. You are unarmed when entering, and are compelled to use a strange weapon, this time it was a lever-action 44Mg carbine. The building is dark, so you are also compelled to use a dim, bulky flashlight.

The first person I encountered was someone identifying himself as the store owner. He had a pistol in his belt. I tried, in vain, to get information from him, so I took his pistol from him (which turned out to be unloaded and worthless) and ordered him to run out the front of the store. I was not about to let him behind me, still armed!

I then entered a series of darkened rooms, engaged several VCAs with the carbine, and then emerged out the back of the store and engaged the arsonist who was holding a road flair and a can of gasoline.

The Winchester Carbine has a cross-bolt, manual safety of the worst kind! When in the "on" position, the hammer will fall normally, but the gun willnot fire. So, you don't know if you have an empty chamber, dud round, or the safety is "on." This genera of manual safety is obviously a death-trap and should never be put on any serious weapon. I confirmed that fact, the hard way!

I then checked into the "Roach Motel!" Having just gotten off an airplane, my guns and ammunition (in boxes) were in my suitcase. As soon as I got to my room, I started charging magazines. I heard angry voices coming from the room next door, in broken English. When I had three rounds on one, I loaded and holstered my pistol and promptly started charging the second magazine. When I get only the fourth round into that one, my room started filling with smoke!

Instantly, I put the second magazine into its holder, grabbed my suitcase (which contained the rest of my ammunition, and two more guns), exited my room and started making my way down the hallway to an exit. The hallway was also filling with smoke! In the process, I had to gun-down one VCA holding a hostage and one charging target. A janitor, holding a grease-gun, nearly got shot!

The key is aggressive movement! You have to make decisions quickly and move assertively. You can't dwell on every detail. These isn't time!

The last, live-fire drill is the "Skills Demonstration," where each participant is required to draw and fire on single and multiple VCAs at various distances. I found that I was not able to draw and fire quickly and still turn on the laser, so I reverted to standard sights, which, of course, worked fine. The pressure switch used by Crimson Trace may be faster, and next time, I'll try it.

The temptation in all such "Square-Range" drills is "relaxing too soon!" You have to discipline yourself to reload, move, scan, and seek cover with every drill.

My Tomahawk flashlight can be locked-out, so it will not turn on inadverte ntly, and, as one would expect, reactivating the controls can be accomplished quickly. My copy is mounted on a belt carrier, which is immensely convenient, but I found it necessary to lock the flashlight off when moving aggressively through buildings, as it can easily get turned on accidentally.

In ATSA Village, each of us participated in five, individual drills. We were all armed with five-shot revolvers and Simmunitions:

While in a flea-market, a bomber comes through the door, blows himself up, and simultaneously the lights go out! Of course, we had flashlights, and I was able to disorient several suspects with my Tomahawk's strobe feature. However, in such circumstances, you have to stay in motion, even when it means leaving the relative safety of cover. I stayed in one place too long and was outflanked. You have to keep them guessing!

I went to the court-house just in time to witness another suicide bomber blow himself up. By the time I figured out what was happening, it was too late! Other participants were able to see it coming.

When I went to the human-resources office to renew my CCW Permit, I witnessed two lesbians applying for a marriage licence. As they did, the estranged boyfriend of one of them came in, saw them, and became enraged. I tried to exit, while assisting a disabled person do the same, but he would not let us past him. I decided to disengage and retreat to the back of the office where there was some cover, all the while trying to protect the disabled women.

The VCA then turned his attention to the two women. He punched one, knocking her down. He then grabbed the other, and, dragging her with him, left. I did not go after him. Some participants did attempt a rescue, but I decided that I did have enough information to insert myself any more than I already had.

In a shopping mall, I was accosted by an aggressive pan-handler. I escalated verbally, but could not disengage. When he grabbed me, I palm-heeled him in the jaw in an attempt to knock him out. It distracted him log enough for me to break away.

At a local clinic, as a nurse was taking my blood-pressure, I witnessed a suspicious man taking bottles of drugs from a shelf. When he saw me, he motioned for me to be quiet. I called the nurse's attention to him, and asked her if she knew him. She became frightened and indicated that he was stealing the drugs. I got her behind me and behind a corner, drew my revolver, and announced a verbal challenge. I positioned my pistol so that he could notsee it and I simultaneously used the corner for cover. All he wanted to do was exit, and I was more than happy to let him!

The local Sheriff responded to most of our calls and, of course asked lots of questions. Many participants volunteered way too much information and thus painted themselves into a corner.

The best system to use it this:

When you are a witness and nothing more, answer questions posed by police, but don't volunteer information, particularly about yourself, and don' answer questions that weren't asked. The moment you become a "suspect," politely indicate you want to talk with your lawyer and then immediately stop answering questions, ending the conversation completely.

When asked, "are you okay," and you believe you are, always answer, "I don't know." Never say you are okay, even when you have no reason to think you are anything else.

Actors in ATSA Village work to strain whatever coping mechanism you're accustomed to using. When what you're doing is working well, they'll alter the exercise so that it doesn't work, forcing you to tweak your plan. They do their best to provide you with a worthy challenge!

The NTI is always a humbling, exciting, painful, often-dismaying, learning experience. It does not attract ego-maniacs nor pretenders who seek only shallow accolades. It attracts serious Operators and Gunmen who want to carry their skills to the next level and thus fearlessly enter the various drills, prepared to learn important lessons through both success and failure.

It is not to be missed! Go to _http://www.teddytactical.com/index.htm_ (http://www.teddytactical.com/index.htm)

/John