Lone Star Preparations, LLC.

“Train like you fight” was a thing for like 5 minutes in 2008. Everyone was “suited up” in full regalia (with helmet and gas mask on) for their basic pistol class; walking around in full gear to shoot their annual qualification.

Then the pendulum swung back the other direction, as it was discovered that it is nearly impossible to learn or develop any new skills while wearing gear. The only effective way to learn and retain information is “slick.” Folks walking around in tank tops, no duty belts, retention-less ‘range holsters’ to better learn and absorb new concepts; this has pretty much ruled the day ever since.

I’m fine with both, to a degree and within reason.

The issue I’ve seen “running slick” is we get really good & proficient slick, then we go out in the field, now wearing our actual uniform duty gear (soft armor, actual duty belt, retention holsters and mag pouches) and things change. From punching the gun out, to hits, groups, times, reloads, assuming shooting positions behind cover…all change or are slightly different (and maybe radically different, depending on officer age, previous injuries & gear) than the way we learned and got really good at on range. NOT optimal when doing these tasks out in the field for life or death.

Now you add plate carrier, helmet, gas mask, & gloves on top of the duty uniform. Cheekweld changes on the long guns, all shooting positions change, balance changes, speeds of movement changes, getting in and out of positions change, and endurance levels are affected.

So yes, we need to be training in full gear at least SOME of the time. Folks will never want to “suit up” on their own, I almost always have to make them wear duty gear when I’m lead instructor. Then they are miserable, complaining the gear hurts to wear…this is your duty gear…you are expected to wear this stuff out in the field…in an emergency…when it is life or death…

I, personally, wear full duty gear (or a coyote tan mirror of it) 70% of my training days. This keeps me acclimated to wearing it for longer periods of time, moving in it & shooting in it. It costs me nothing to wear it.

Setting a standard to maintain in training helps keep hits tight & right in the varying & unpredictable contexts that is real life.

Working newer shooters up to a standard is a careful process involving a balance of some context sterile marksmanship/manipulation work progressing to layers of more and more contextualized applications of skill. You simply can’t drop the frog 🐸 into the rolling boil of crisis and expect it not to panic & jump out. You can never over prepare, get too many repetitions & reinforcements.

DH1 moves peepz through this process; sending them down this path with an understanding of the end goal.

Tools owned/issued but never used (especially in conjunction with each other) is a recipe for disaster. You will never discover problems & limitations until you train with all tool combinations in contextual environments.

The “iron will, iron men, IRON SIGHTS” crowd quickly fall dangerously behind the power & ability curves when having to use those irons in conjunction with masks, lighting, moving & movers.

Those in charge of training have an obligation to make sure realistic & relevant training is happening with all issued & available tools. But the finger cannot be solely pointed at the training units.

The individual officer should be working with these tools, in isolation & in combination, on their own to ensure personal preparedness.

When you water down the standard to the point that the skill will probably not work in the actual situations the skill is intended for AND you remove all context from the standard, you are almost guaranteeing an epic failure in critical incident.

Realistic standards and contextually relevant application of said standard is CRITICAL to crisis point success.

Quals are NOT training. They are a minimum standard that SHOULD reflect what technical skill is at minimum necessary in critical incident. Realistic training that requires application of said standard is mandatory and must be frequently provided. One eight hour day a year, or every six months, will not do it. Not if you want to do well.

Make your standards realistic and frequently train to exceed them. If your peepz can show up to quals and shoot a passing score in the 90% cold, with no practice from the last time they qualed, your standard is probably inadequate. Raise your standards, place them in context and (here is the part no one wants to do) train to meet them.

The sword 🗡 and the stone 🪨 (modernized).

Technical skill is the act of moving your body to perform specific tasks; Programming these motions into Systems 1 or 2 (as deemed appropriate).

Tactical skill is the process of making decisions & taking actions to gain advantage; sooner rather than faster being a preferable path to move down.

Realistic, focused, repetitive training environments that apply both in isolation as well as in unison allows officers to move through stressful, rapidly evolving chains of events faster, with greater accuracy & greater survivability. Successful outcomes rule the day, and they should not be happening by happy accident.

To master one & neglect the other greatly increases chance of injury or defeat. The shooter with a 0.2 draw from concealment may not survive the encounter as they get quickly out maneuvered, rapidly placed in serious disadvantage & unable to apply their skill effectively. The master tactician may not make their hits in time to save their life; suspect beats them to the punch (by skill or by luck).

Choose your training courses carefully, my friends. Your Return On Investment may be the life you save.
(old pic from last year when helping with a VCQB course)

Instructor weapons.
Shooting demonstrations for students (for hits, for time or for both) with a $3,000 gun opens the door for student doubt & disbelief. The mental shortcut of “the gun must have a lot to do with how easy he’s making this look,” or “if I had that gun and not this piece of crap I’m issued, I could do that, too. I’m disadvantaged with this crap I have to use” is a logical & natural path to take.

So my instructor weapons are LCD baseline guns. No red dots, 12lbs. gritty triggers, etc. By making my times and hits with “the worst case scenario” gear, I’m showing that these tasks are completely do-able to those that are forced to use such gear & everyone else with ANYTHING better should have no excuses.


Do I showcase & recommend quality gear to those who may have an option in what they carry or what their department issues? Hell yes.

Do I have high quality loaner weapons on standby for students to use when their budget rifle fails mid-class? Absolutely.

But what I demonstrate with is very minimal so people see that everyone, regardless of gear, can meet the standard. It is all skill based, not gear dependent.

Got everything packed & ready this weekend for 40 hours of Patrol Rifle Instructor this week. Always looking forward to meeting everyone and help others help others.

Growth (on a diet).
It was a hell of a run. As trainers & trainees, we have been really spoiled these last ~5 years. Ammo flowed like water, high volume live-fire repetitions ruled the day, round counts for some classes could border on ridiculous if needed, and we were able to really push the limits of repetition. It was a great time to learn & move down the path toward mastery. We were very fortunate. But everything comes & goes in cycles. Where we are heading we have been before.

We went through this in the ~2007-2012 timeframe. We had to learn how to maximize training with lower round counts while still keeping content mastery a priority. What’s old is new.

Ammo availability is probably not going to change for at least 4 years, except it may get worse. This IS already starting to affect training. Round counts for classes are going to have to be reduced; training sessions are going to have to see round count reductions as well. I have been making adjustments in this area for all of my classes, with the reduced round count Defensive Handgun curriculum actually being put to use.

So having finished my third reduced round count Defensive Handgun, it is more of an odd change for me than it is for the class. Classes ran smooth, still emphasized , still worked movement, still worked threat mitigation; just content modification & presentation on my end has seen adjustment. I think my workflow for this format is about set.

This is a career long process REGARDLESS of ammo availability.

Happy New Year 🥳
May this year be a good one!

I’m looking forward to seeing y’all on the range!

I’m looking forward to being a student with y’all in classes.

I’m looking forward to setting others up for success. #2021

“It ‘twas the end of the year, so all weapons were cleaned, oiled & checked; made ready for training in the January cold, ice and wet.

More stickers were delivered from with speed, just in time for all of my 2021 class needs.

All Care Under Fire moulage was checked, packed & made ready; sitting on standby for training dealing with bleeding that’s fast, rapid & steady.

And the targets were made ready & staged in the range house with care, for the 2021 training cycle soon would be here.

In closing out this year with preparations for the next; we are thankful for the chance to help shooters do their best.”

Can’t believe next year starts in less than a week. We are ready; let come what may. If 2020 has reminded us of anything (or re-taught us anything), it is to remain flexible, adaptable and understanding. #2021 ?

Awesome week with the
This week was a definite bright spot in the year 2020. The quality of student the brings out never disappoints. Legit professionals I hope I helped with their own journeys of setting others up to succeed.

Growth.
Growing pains are going to be seen and felt. And some days will be more frustrating than others. But stay the course and the groups will get tighter, quicker...
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