I Passed By the Skin of My Teeth

I have just completed the final phase of CLEET Phase IV Firearms Training for Private Investigators.  So far I had aced everything in the program.  But, not this time.  Phase IV humbled me.  I am accustomed to being near the top of my classes.  I struggled for the middle of the class and the middle was barely passing.

Our instructor was Major Mike Reed, Chief of Detectives for the Sapulpa Police Department.  Mike is a veteran police officer and a gifted firearms instructor.  He is a certified Glock and Colt armorer. The ease with which he can pull his Glock and punch the center out of the kill zone is simply amazing .... and again humbling. He also has great patience with those less skilled.

In this course, the name of the game above all is to handle your weapon safely. A few folks had a problem with that and were almost ordered to leave the range which is an automatic fail for the whole course.  It has to be that way.  You can't have a person mishandling a loaded firearm. People could get killed.

The next goal of the course is to master the mechanics of smoothly and quickly drawing and re-holstering your weapon, quickly reloading it under combat conditions and even quickly clearing jams under combat conditions.  We practiced all of these operations again and again.

The final goal is to quickly draw your weapon, using all of the other skills above and put two or three rounds into the kill zone of your target within a few seconds.  The times range from three seconds to six seconds. For example, a the three yard line, you have three seconds to draw and put three rounds into the kill zone, two the heart and one to the center of the face.  It's not nearly as easy as it sounds and it all gets much harder as you back out to twenty five yards.  The video below shows why shooting fast from all of those positions is necessary:

We drilled and then fired again and again.  As the practice continued, the enormity of what we were practicing finally sunk in. This was not about plinking tin cans for sport.  It was not even about  killing a squirrel or a buck for dinner.  The kind, gentle man who was our instructor was teaching us how to quickly and reliably kill another person who had become a threat. That skill is truly awesome burden to bear that should require much sober thought before taking it on.

There is a final written test to be taken next week and after that some administrative paperwork.  When that is done, barring any complications, I will be a licensed, armed private investigator.  So, how do I feel now that it is over?  First, I'm glad that it is over. The two days of shooting was physically challenging for me and I was in pain much of the time.  I'm glad the pain is over. Aside from just hurting, the pain was also maddeningly distracting.  But, my shooting days are not over.  If this class taught me anything, it taught me that carrying a weapon is a terrible responsibility that requires constant training and improvement. I was humbled by the course and the skills of our instructor and that in turn showed me what I need to do.  I guess that is a good place to start.