Year: 2008

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December Ramblings

I apologize for the gap in blog entries since my Thanksgiving post.

So, anyway… Lisa (my webmaster) scrunched my TAS Skull Guy with my favorite Overloaded-AR pic and hung some Christmas lights on it, and I think it looks pretty damn festive! (Nothing like a skeletal zombie with a Santa cap and locked-and-loaded AR to remind you of the Yuletide spirit, right?). Then she hung some falling snowflakes for me. Not too shabby! Only problem is, since we activated my website snowflakes, we’ve had 18 freakin’ inches of snow in East Central Wisconsin!  (Coincidence? …. or psychic phenomenon?)

Yeah, right. This is Wisconsin. It snows here. A LOT. Let’s move on.

Training issues are paramount right now. We are reading a LOT of stuff from people in the Sandbox and in Intel that suggest that there will be terrorist activity inside the CONUS sooner rather than later. Our recent presidential election  has encouraged the Hadjis to believe that our response to terrorism will be muted, if not null and void. Who knows? I will state at the outset that I have zero confidence in Barry Obama’s ability to lead American warriors. Zero.

Anyway, my greatest concern, as always, is training our Good Guys where to place their bullets so they can terminate the fight as early as possible. This is not an academic exercise. I repeat: THIS IS NOT AN ACADEMIC EXERCISE. 

I have been a hunter my entire life. At no time in my hunting career did any of my mentors tell me that it was OK just to wound or cripple an animal. Why not? Because they knew that a crippled or wounded animal would live on and it would be harder to harvest. And while I have limited personal experience in hunting dangerous game (i.e., animals that fight back more often than not unless incapacitated early in the fight), the imperative is clearly to put your quarry down before he puts you down.  Well, guess what. If we train LE/Military personnel to just shoot a Hadji anywhere, as we are apparently doing, we are going to have the same damn problem.

What we have to do is train our people to shoot the "good stuff". It’s not an academic exercise. It’s survival training.

If your survival depends on you killing a moose for your winter’s meat, learning to kill moose is survival training. I learned almost 30 years ago where the vital anatomy is in a bull moose, and that a bull moose will provide more than enough meat for a young family for a year. Such food surplus may make the difference between survival an annihilation. If your survival depends upon you killing the predator before he kills and eats you and your family, that’s an imperative of a higher order.

If your survival depends on dropping Hadjis to the turf, it’s survival training of a different sort, but it’s still survival training.  Either way, you need to learn how to place your shots where they need to go. This is what Tactical Anatomy is all about.

Two weeks ago a gang of lowlife Hadji scum terrorized Bombay, India (sorry, for you politically correct types, that would be Mumbai), wounding and killing hundreds of people. No disrespect intended, but the cops who responded to the call were woefully inadequately equpped to deal with the problem. They lacked the training, the weapons, the ammo, the comms, the… you name it. 

Could that happen here in America? You bet it could. Do we have the means to defeat such attacks? Perhaps. Fewer than 40% of American police patrol cars have rifles in them. From what I am aware, fewer than 10% of American patrol cops have training in fighting with their patrol rifles. And NO ONE is training American cops in any kind of two-man team fighting, the kind of fighting the Bombay cops desperately needed. There are people ready to start that training, and moreover, there are trainers ready to conduct that training.

Learn what you need to learn.

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“Buddy-Team” Tactics

12/1/2008

"Buddy-team" Terrorist Tactics at Mumbai

 

This link to this article written by a U.S. Marine officer was sent to me by email. I believe there is enormous tactical value in this article:

From what I can gather there are a few interesting observations to be made of the tactics in use in Mumbai:

It appears the attackers were organized into buddy pairs, allowing one to shoot while the other moved, and so forth. Interestingly, the buddy pair has is a later innovation in small unit tactics and has only been slow to trickle through regular infantry formations. In World War I, the smallest element of maneuver (on paper) might have been a battalion or company. The Germans, in developing “storm troop tactics” then innovated even smaller maneuver elements, which we might call squads today. The role of platoons and squads became only greater in WWII. After WWII, General S.L.A. Marshall conducted a massive study of the reactions of men in combat (See “Men Against Fire”) and the result of his work was the genesis of the Fire Team. The Fire Team is now the smallest doctrinal unit of maneuver in the US military. In the Marine Corps, it is led by a Corporal, includes an automatic rifleman with a Squad Automatic Weapon, and two more riflemen.

During the Iraq War, two innovations have taken place: first, within the Marine Corps, the concept of the “buddy pair” or “buddy team” has spread dramatically, though it is still not doctrinal (it should be). The idea may have begun in the special forces, though I am not sure. The advantage of smaller and smaller units of maneuver is that if they rehearse their actions and build cohesion within the unit, they develop ever greater levels of capability *at that level*. A well-trained buddy pair with the right mindset and enough ammo can take over a city block, house by house, while under fire. The other innovation that has taken place in Iraq is to take the Fire Team and make it into a motorized element, inside one vehicle. This is less in favor now that everyone realizes that moving around in vehicles makes you seem more like robots to the locals and they then have less of a problem with killing you. In any case, all of these changes have one large thing in common — a decentralizing of decisionmaking and maneuver.

 

And now in Mumbai it would seem we have seen the ultimate result: autonomous buddy-pairs, with a great deal of rehearsals and navigation practice, each with its own set of goals, possibly redundant comms with brevity codes. I would imagine that each team had multiple preplanned routes to each of its objectives before they finally converged on the location for the last stand. Along the way, as some have wondered, they may have stopped for quick logistics reloads of ammo and water.

Here are some thoughts, in no order:

1. The school shooting at Columbine springs to mind when looking for analogies.

2. One of the advantages of a buddy pair, as mentioned above, is the ability to fire and move. One fires while the other moves, and then they switch. In this way, moving from cover to cover, they take ground. But this concept becomes interesting when considered against the fact that the terrorists seemingly had no one firing against them, and they did not have to disciplined in taking well-aimed shots . . .

3. . . . A photographer noted how “cool” and “professional” they looked as they sprayed from the hip. Shooting from the hip is not extremely professional, but this only is if one wants to take well-aimed shots. Perhaps shooting from the hip is very professional if one wants to spray in across a broad angle while maintaining a wider field of view than if behind the sights of your weapon. In other words, if facing no armed opposition, you have the luxury of spraying broadly, and the most dangerous thing to you is an armed threat that comes from outside your narrowed peripheral vision while using your iron sights.

4. Note this sentence, from the AP article: “They weren’t aiming at anyone in particular. It was like they wanted to empty their magazines and do as much damage here as possible before heading to the Taj,” I would argue that the terrorists, while being superbly motivated, and having planned intricately for their assault, are nevertheless poor marksmen. Given the details that we are learning of their attack, the most surprising thing is that more people weren’t killed.

5. It seems that there is a convergence taking place within the realm of small-unit tactics. Infantry units, terrorists, police forces, criminal and narco-gangs, and so forth are all converging in terms of the tactics they use against one another. The only tactical difference between 5 terrorist buddy pairs and a Marine rifle squad is their goal: the former seeks a position to create the most carnage indiscriminately for the longest period of time while the latter might be sweeping or clearing an area or conducting a manhunt, meaning it seeks to use the utmost precision in its application of force. If I may presume: the terrorists have learned fire and movement from us, from watching us, and from reading our manuals, which are posted online. But our tactics are not geared toward indiscriminate slaughter. The question is, will they develop any tactical innovations that allow them that advantage?

Update

I’ve received email requests to show a YouTube clip of the Val Kilmer/Robert de Niro “buddy pair” from Heat, which illustrates the concept of mutual support. — W.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdV63b4VkrM&feature=related

 

I am intrigued by the inclusion of the "buddy-team" you-tube clip from the movie HEAT with this article. I have been showing the HEAT video clip to my law enforcement classes for several years.

Initially my emphasis was solely to demonstrate the fundamental need for precision shot placement, which is the core of my training program. In the clip this is demonstrated by the Kilmer and DeNiro characters initially, then subsequently by the Pacino character on Sizemore. But about a year ago the effectiveness of the disciplined DeNiro/Kilmer "buddy-team" against a numerically overwhelming but disorganized police force hit me like a brick between the eyes. Since then I have been emphasizing to everyone I train that we in law enforcement have an urgent need to train our people for rehearsed as well as extemporaneous "buddy-team" fighting because whether the offenders are a pair of disaffected teens, armed bank robbers, or jihadist terrorists, the tactics required to counter the threat are EXACTLY THE SAME.

The final point I would make is that unlike military units, law enforcement personnel face a much higher probability that dealing with an active shooter(s) situation will require them to fight alongside a person who is not their dedicated "buddy-team" partner; in fact, they may have never met before, may not have commonality of weapons, or even of ammunition! To make this work on any level–national, state, or regional–presents us with a daunting task. This sort of preparedness requires a high degree of commonality of training within and between agencies such that any two officers responding to an active shooter call can rapidly default to the same base rules of engagement and comms and proceed forthwith.

American law enforcement needs to be moving in this direction. Much as I want to believe that our local, state, and federal agencies will rise to the occasion, experience has taught me that institutional inertia (the resistance of large organizations to change) will preclude such a move. It is up to the rank and file, the Warriors who have chosen to Protect and Serve, to recognize the need for this level of preparedness. They will need to forge alliances, form training programs at a grassroots level, and implement that training.

The alternative is annihilation.

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Thanksgiving 2008

This morning I walked downtown to Kristina’s Cafe for a late breakfast. Late, for me, because I had spent a couple of hours learning the nuances of processing book and target orders through the PayPal feature on the new website. At about 0900 I decided that I’d better get out of the house or my computer screen was going to get a non-standard response of 230 gr JHP through it.

The air was crisp, as it should be in Wisconsin in late November, and I couldn’t help noticing the twinges of pain in my knees as I walked to Kristina’s. My waitress, Tammy, brought me my coffee and a copy of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which isn’t a bad newspaper for a communist party publication. By the time I’d read the first section I was thoroughly bummed and decided to just concentrate on my steak & eggs and my new copy of American Handgunner.

I left Kristina’s and went to the bank to make my deposits, then walked down to the post office to pick up the handful of mail orders were waiting there, then walked home. I have to admit that at this point I was pretty cranky.  And I’ve got good reason to be cranky.

In the past month, the American people have elected the most avowedly Socialist president in our history. The media is feverishly echoing the Obama Machine’s planted stories about him being the Second Coming of Lincoln (sorry… I’ve read the history of Lincoln’s presidency, and his roughshod abuse of the Constitution, and I’m not all that impressed). Yet I read on Obama’s website that the first thing he wants to do when he sits in the Oval Office is sign a bill that will overthrow any and all state and federal laws limiting abortion. I read that he wants to make the Assault Weapons Ban more Draconian than the Clinton version, and he wants to make it permanent. I read that he wants to create a compulsory national youth workforce that would be funded on a level equal to the level we fund our military (can you say "Hitler Youth and Brownshirts rolled into one", boys and girls? I knew you could).  And I see a Democrat-controlled congress that has no clue how to deal with our nation’s current fiscal crisis throwing taxpayer money that hasn’t even been collected yet around like blood in a slaughterhouse. Our nation’s economic lifeblood.

Over and above all this are burdens I must bear that I will not share on a public forum, but which have been and continue to be very hard. I am NOT whining. But these burdens are real and sometimes crushing, and it takes no small amount of  discipline at times to keep moving forward. Those of you who know me personally know whereof I speak.

Anyway, about halfway home, walking up the gentle hill to my house, something made me take notice. I won’t speculate, but it wasn’t just idle thought. I suddenly became aware that I was walking home. It’s only about 5 blocks from the post office to my house, but 2 years ago there was no way I could cover that ground on my own two legs. Some folks may take being able to walk 5 blocks for granted, but not me!

All my life I’ve been an active guy. I am not an athlete, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t tried to be one. And I’ve succeeded to a modest degree in a few sports: football, rugby and freestyle skiing as a young man, then basketball for many years in my middle years. But 5 years ago I blew out what little remained of one of my ACL’s, and the downward spiral started. It took 4 years to finally get all the surgeries done… the last one was January of 2007, a right total knee. In the intervening time I’ve begun to walk again, something I used to take for granted.

So this morning when I trudged up the hill to come home, it struck me that today, the day before Thanksgiving 2008, I have a lot more to be thankful for than I have to be fearful of.

I have a good job (I like being an ER doc) in a good hospital. I have a good family: a smart and loving wife of 30-odd years who sees the details I tend to gloss over; two loving and loyal daughters and a stalwart son, three good sisters and a brother and all those good nieces and nephews. A brother-in-law who is dearer to me than any man on the planet, smarter than me by a damn sight, and my best advisor. I live in a lovely small town miles from any Interstate, and a good long way from any big city. I have a good local gun club where I have good friends who share my love of shooting and hunting. I have a wonderful local police department that does a damn good job of making our town a safe place to go for late-night dog-walks. I belong to a church that provides the spiritual support I need on a level that most people who don’t do what I do and teach what I teach wouldn’t be able to comprehend, and my pastor, Father Bob, thinks what I do and teach is rock solid. I have forged a network of people who support me and care about me and what I do. I have forged a snail-mail relationship with my two United States Senators (one good, one not-so-good) and my Representative, and despite the fact that the guy I didn’t want to get into the Oval Office did in fact succeed, I thank God that I live in a nation where that Office is still only accessible by the Will of the People.  And I have my eccentric Tactical Anatomy training business that seems to be beginning to appeal to people.

So, tonight, the eve of Thanksgiving, this most uniquely American of holidays, I find myself  profoundly grateful for the good things that have been granted to me.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and may God Bless America.

Especially now.

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Caliber Wars: The Blame Game

 

11/1/2008

Caliber Wars: The Blame Game

I am frequently asked some variation of this question: "My department issues such-and-such ammunition for our WonderAuto issue sidearms. I’m worried that this caliber/bullet/gun won’t get the job done. What do you recommend?"

My answer has to be predicated on the understanding that I am NOT a ballistics expert. I’ve studied a lot of the terminal ballistics literature, have seen, treated, and reviewed a LOT of gunshot wounds, but I am not an engineer or ballistician. I defer to the works of such leading lights as Duncan MacPherson and Gary Roberts when the discussion centers on the performance of ballistic projectiles in flesh.

However, when it comes to the "performance" of flesh when struck by ballistic projectiles, I do have some significant experience.

And when it comes to the effects of service caliber handgun bullets on flesh and bone, I have formed the confirmed opinion that where the bullet is placed is far more important than which bullet, caliber, or platform you use.   

Dr. Gary Roberts kindly permitted me to reproduce the following photo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo is actually a digital composite of photos of several ballistic gelatin blocks. As you can readily see, all 6 bullets penetrated the FBI required minimum of 12", and not penetrated deeper than 14". All the bullets expanded as advertised.  

Keep in mind that service caliber handgun projectiles create a temporary cavity, but the velocity of expansion of the temporary cavity is much less than that of high-velocity rifle projectiles, and as such do not contribute to wound effectiveness to any real degree. So when we talk about handgun wounding effects, we’re talking about the damage caused by the permanent or "crush" cavity created by the path of the bullet through tissue. 

Wound Track Geometry 

If you visualize the "wound tracks", or the permanent cavities created by each bullet in gelatin as cylinders, we can calculate the nominal surface area—or as I like to call it, the bleeding area—of each wound track by use of the simple formula: 

                        S.A. = pDH  

Where D is the diameter of the permanent cavity, and H is the length of the wound track. D will vary as the bullet expands, but for the sake of simplicity let’s assume D equals the expanded diameter of the bullet. By this method we see that the bleeding area of the 9mm wound is: 

                        B.A. = p x 0.61" x 13" 

                               = 24.9 sq. in.  

And the bleeding are of the .45 ACP wound is 

                        B.A. = p x 0.84" x 13" 

                               =34.29 sq. in.  

The bleeding area of the 9mm wound is 74% the size of the .45 ACP wound, or put another way, the amount of bleeding caused by the .45 ACP bullet is about 25% more than that caused by the 9mm bullet.

In other words, you’re not getting a whole heckuva lot more wounding potential with the .45 ACP than you do with the 9mm. Both calibers, if shot into vital target areas, are going to cause catastrophic damage. But both calibers, if shot into non-vital areas, are going to cause equally trivial damage.  

So what’s the point of caliber wars?  

What indeed? Research has shown that the differences in wounding effectiveness of the various currently accepted service handgun calibers is roughly equivalent. 

But what seems to happen over and over again is that an agency has an officer-involved shooting (OIS) in which the outcome was suboptimal… basically, the offender didn’t collapse in a shower of blood & brains instantaneously… and then the powers that be in that agency then look for SOMETHING to blame for the failure to incapacitate (FTI). 

In the hundreds of OISs I’ve reviewed, by far the predominant cause of FTI is that police handgun bullets didn’t penetrate/perforate any of the offender’s vital internal organs.

“But we shot the guy twice in the head!” one police administrator complained to me.

“Right,” I replied. “One shot through the left cheek that exited in front of the ear on the same side, and one shot through the other ear. Both were superficial wounds.”

"No matter," the administrator told me. The cause of the FTI was clearly, to his mind, the "substandard" issued ammunition (.40 S&W 180 gr GDHP, the same bullet that has accounted for 23 successful OISs in a metropolitan police department I’ve worked with closely over the past 3 years… and 19 of those 23 offenders ceased utilizing valuable atmospheric oxygen).
 
The agency in question has since switched to .45 ACP as their issue caliber, and a new handgun that accommodates this round, necessitating replacement of the agency’s entire inventory of handguns, holsters, magazine carriers, etc… at a huge cost to the taxpayer.
 
I tried to convince that agency’s Command Staff that they would be better served by investing that money in training, but the decision had already been made. I am not optimistic about the likelihood that this agency’s next OIS will be any more successful than its last one.
 
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Terms and Conditions

Persons using the information provided do so at their own discretion. Tactical Anatomy Systems LLC will not be held liable for any misuse of teaching or other materials.
 
The training and methods provided by Tactical Anatomy Systems LLC is the intellectual property of James S. Williams. Persons may not use these training materials or products for financial gain.
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HRT Target

Tactical Anatomy HRT Target

Currently in prototype only, we are partnering with manufacturers to bring a realistic and durable  HRT (head) target to meet the needs of SWAT/sniper law enforcement teams. Specifications include high ballistic tolerance (able to stand up to at least 100 rounds of .308 ball ammunition), ease of use, and instantaneous verification of each hit in the vital brainstem zone of incapacitation.

Check back on our website soon for information on availability and pricing.

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Training Targets

Tactical Anatomy Systems™ Training Targets

While 3D visualization is the core of the Tactical Anatomy Systems™ training philosophy, we recognize that a simpler and more economical target has its place. This is why we are introducing our paper target series. These targets are high-quality photo reproductions of an armed adversary with the vital hit zones outlined in low-contrast color. Each target set includes one each of the basic angles of presentation: frontal, left oblique, right oblique, left lateral, right lateral, and posterior.

We anticipate availability of these targets in early 2009. Keep this page bookmarked until then.

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About

Dr. James Williams

The Tactical Anatomy Systems™ training programs were developed by James S. Williams, M.D. in response to a perceived need for more effective shot placement in police shootings, and for more effective combat medical care. Dr. Williams used his experience as a hunter and a competitive shooter in conjunction with his extensive trauma medicine experience to develop the Tactical Anatomy model, targets, and instructional systems. He has a wealth of firearms training experience and is an NRA-certified instructor.

Dr. Williams is a fulltime emergency physician with Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit experience in Canada and the United States, and currently is Medical Director of Emergency Medicine at a rural hospital in west Texas. He served as Medical Officer for the City of Ripon WI Police Department for ten years, and as Medical Officer and SWAT Team member of the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team as well. An experienced competitive shooter in smallbore pistol, combat pistol (Wisconsin IDPA Revolver State Champion, 2001, 2005, and 2009), trap, and sporting clays, Dr. Williams brings a unique blend of medical and firearms experience to the field. He is an NRA certified firearms instructor and a Staff Instructor with Massad Ayoob Group.

Dr. Williams’ background is also unique in that he had 8 years experience as a public school teacher before returning to university to take his medical degree, as well as several years experience teaching at the college/university level. He had experience in curriculum development during his teaching tenure, which helped him gain the insight needed to develop the Tactical Anatomy three-dimensional visualization training program.  His classes are highly interactive, profoundly informative and uniquely formatted to maximize learning.

Dr. Williams is a member of IALEFI, ILEETA, and was a member of ASLET until that organization’s demise.  He has been a speaker at law enforcement meetings around the U.S., including the annual ASLET International Conventions (2003-2006), ILEETA 2008-2010, and IALEFI 2006-2009 as well as being the keynote speaker at the IALEFI Annual Training Conference in 2007. In addition to these major conferences, he regularly speaks and trains at smaller law enforcement conferences around the country.

 

 

 

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Training Original

Training is the heart and soul of Tactical Anatomy Systems™. Our courses are primarily designed for active law enforcement, security, and military personnel, we also offer training to qualified civilians as well.

A self-described “training junkie” himself, Dr. Williams has studied firearms, defensive tactics, and the use of deadly force under many of the leading trainers in the world. This input—in combination with his medical training and experience—has shaped the curriculum and content of the Tactical Anatomy Systems™ syllabus.

Local or regional agencies/academies may engage a Tactical Anatomy Systems™ course dedicated to their own personnel, or host a class open to neighboring law enforcement personnel. Through our many partners in law enforcement, we offer classes in various locations throughout the year. See UPCOMING CLASSES for a course coming to a location near you.

Tactical Anatomy: Shooting With Xray Vision

Our trademark class and the core of the TAS training philosophy, Tactical Anatomy is an 8-hour course for law enforcement that will take your officers from a state of basic handgun competency to proficiency in 3D target organ visualization. Topics include:

  • Ethics of the Use of Deadly Force
  • Statistical realities of Officer-Involved Shootings
  • Terminal Ballistics Review
  • Dynamic Realities of Officer-Involved Shootings
  • Gunshot Wounds and Incapacitation
  • Vital Human Anatomy and Physiology
  • Visualization of Anatomy in Three Dimensions

Dr. Williams uses a combination of anatomic models, drawings, photos, Xrays, and computer modeling techniques to train personnel in the elements of anatomy as they apply to the police marksman. Topics are presented in a manner and at a level that is easily grasped by non-medical personnel.

Moving out of the classroom, the fundamental concepts are reinforced with simple yet effective practical exercises using computer simulator training (FATS, MILO, etc), and/or force-on-force training.

This course has proven to be very effective in improving OIS hit ratios in the real world, and the learning is highly retained.

Class size is limited to 20 students. Please see Upcoming Classes for scheduled classes, or to host a class contact us for facilities and pricing.

Tactical Anatomy: Shooting With Xray Vision for SWAT

Demands placed on SWAT, Tactical, and Sniper team personnel require them to operate at a significantly higher level of proficiency than their brothers and sisters in patrol division. This interactive course includes the topics covered in basic Tactical Anatomy, but spends significantly more time on topics pertinent to special teams, including:

  • Terminal Ballistics
  • Bullet Design and Performance
  • Effects of Intermediate Barriers
  • Body Armor: Yours and Theirs
  • Hostage Rescue Shooting
  • Immediate Medical Care
  • And much more…

Because each agency’s special teams have unique composition, equipment, and tactics, each SWAT class is tailored to the specific agency’s needs. Input from your agency is heavily relied upon in planning of each class.

8-hour and 16-hour classes are offered. Please contact us for facilities and pricing.

Tactical Anatomy Instructor (Advanced)

This course picks up where the basic Tactical Anatomy course leaves off. This is a 16-hour class designed for the police firearms instructor. Trainees receive teaching tips and techniques in addition to thorough coverage of the core curriculum. After completing this class, an instructor has all the tools needed to fully train patrol officers in the concepts and practices of Tactical Anatomy.

The topics included in the basic Tactical Anatomy class are covered in more depth and detail, and in addition Advanced topics include:

  • Adult Learning: Theory and Practice
  • Effective Training Management
  • Exercise Planning
  • Diagnosing and Correcting Student Errors
  • Multimedia Presentations
  • Accessing Specialized Equipment

This is a highly interactive class. Attendees are expected to “bring their brains”, to ask and answer questions, and to challenge fixed ideas and dogmas that block effective learning.

Tactical Anatomy Instructor is very popular class that consistently receives “10 out of 10” ratings from attendees. See ABOUT for comments on this class.

Please see UPCOMING CLASSES for scheduled classes, or to host a class contact us for facilities and pricing.*

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Tactical Anatomy: Shooting With Xray Vision for Civilians

Every year the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report and other Department of Justice documents demonstrate that private citizens used deadly force justifiably in self-defense roughly twice as often as police do. Dr. Gary Kleck in his landmark study published in the Journal of the American Medical Assocation in 1996 proved that private citizens use firearms in defense against criminals more than two million times annually.

Given these facts, and recognizing that Americans’ right to keep, bear, and use firearms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution, Tactical Anatomy Systems™ is honored to offer the same training in 3D target visualization to qualified private citizens as we offer to police. By “qualified”, we mean anyone who can legally own/carry a firearm and provide proof of good character.

Our 8-hour Tactical Anatomy for Civilians class includes all the classroom topics covered in Tactical Anatomy: Shooting With Xray Vision. Practical exercises may be limited in scope due to facilities and equipment issues. Special attention is given to self-defense topics unique to women and physically disadvantaged citizens.

Please see Upcoming Classes for scheduled Tactical Anatomy for Civilians classes. Practical firearms training is a recommended prerequisite, but is not strictly required.

Tactical Treatment of Gunshot Wounds

Tactical Anatomy SystemsTM  offers several options for training in the treatment of trauma in the tactical setting: 4-hr Basic, 8-hr Intermediate, and 16-hr Advanced  level courses. Both the Intermediate and Advanced courses are detailed enough that upon completion you should have all the Instructor tools you need to go home and train your whole cadre or department. These courses are designed for SWAT and military personnel, not EMT’s. Their purpose is to train operators in the core techniques needed to save the life of a buddy, a civilian casualty, or even oneself in the tactical environment.

These courses have been developed over several years out of my trauma experience as a certified Emergency Physician, an EMS Medical Director, and after taking tactical medicine classes offered by colleagues around the country. The curriculum of these courses continues to evolve as more information comes my way from tactical medics and docs returning from the Sandbox and elsewhere.

So what does Tactical Anatomy ‘s  TTGSW class consist of? To be honest, it depends on how much time you allot for training, and the level of skill and training the class has coming in the doors. My most basic TTGSW class is a 4-hour block that covers the basic principles of field treatment of gunshot wounds, edged weapons wounds, and blast trauma, with hands-on practical exercises in using the basic survival tools that every soldier or cop should have on hand in a violent confrontation. If we have a more advanced group with more time, we go into more advanced scenario-based training incorporating simulated wounds and simulated-fire and live-fire environments, officer-down extrication procedures, airway management, and IV access. 

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FIREARMS TRAINING

Tactical Anatomy Systems™ , in conjunction with training partners in the Midwest and from around the nation, has offered top-quality innovative firearms training to law enforcement and private citizens since 2001. Our instructors are all certified by NRA and/or law enforcement authorities.

We strongly emphasize safety in all our firearms training courses. Basic proficiency in safe gun-handling and the manual of arms with the weapon(s) in use for each class is a prerequisite. Safety violations are swiftly and sharply dealt with.

Tactical Anatomy Systems™ Patrol Carbine

Patrol Carbine is an 8-hour, 500-round rifle course emphasizing the basics of fighting with the semiautomatic/select-fire carbine or rifle. This is not a shooting class, it is a fighting class. Attendees may use any reliable semiauto or select-fire carbine/rifle, but we strongly recommend that attendees use the same weapon or type as issued by their department. Bear in mind that our courses are built on the AR15/M16 platform. See ABOUT for comments on Patrol Carbine from some of our past trainees.

Topics include:

  • Safety Review
  • Ballistic Capabilities of Carbine and Rifle Calibers
  • Shot Placement
  • CQB Stances
  • CQB Sighting
  • Use of Cover
  • Shooting With Movement
  • Shooting From Positions of Disadvantage
  • +/- Full Auto Techniques

Please see UPCOMING CLASSES for scheduled Patrol Carbine classes, or contact us if you wish to host a class for your agency and/or neighboring agencies.

Tactical Anatomy Systems™ Defensive Rifle for Civilians

At Tactical Anatomy Systems™ we firmly believe and support the Second Amendment. As such, we freely offer the same training to qualified private citizens as we do to law enforcement, within statutory limits. By “qualified”, we mean anyone who can legally own/carry a firearm and can provide proof of good character.

Modeled on our Patrol Carbine class, this 8-hour, 300-round class is an introduction to fighting with the semiautomatic carbine or rifle. Attendees may use any reliable semiauto or select-fire carbine/rifle, but we strongly recommend that attendees make every effort to bring a quality firearm to class. Limited “loaner” carbines may be available. Bear in mind that our courses are built on the AR15/M16 platform and the .223/5.56×45 cartridge.

Topics include:

  • Safety Review
  • Ballistic Capabilities of Carbine and Rifle Calibers
  • Shot Placement
  • CQB Stances and Sighting
  • Cover Stances
  • Shooting With Movement

Please see UPCOMING CLASSES for scheduled Patrol Carbine classes, and contact us for pricing or if you wish to host a class.

Tactical Anatomy Systems™ Force-on-Force for Civilians

Defensive-minded private citizens’ opportunities for taking force-on-force training has been extremely limited until now. Tactical Anatomy Systems™ is pleased to offer this cutting-edge training modality to qualified private citizens. This training provides the closest possible experience to being in an actual deadly force situation, and through widespread use in law enforcement has proven to save good people’s lives.

Force-on-Force for Civilians consists of four 4-hour blocks of instruction. Each block consists of a series of deadly force scenarios designed by our certified force-on-force instructors. Trainees receive two-on-one individual instruction from our personnel.

Block I is the mandatory prerequisite for all other blocks of training, and includes our comprehensive safety briefing. Blocks I and II include multiple force-on-force scenarios using Airsoft-type weapons. Blocks III and IV may only be taken after successful completion of I and II, and involve use of SIMUNITION™ training guns, ammunition, and safety equipment.

Please see UPCOMING CLASSES for scheduled Force-on-Force classes, and contact us for pricing or if you wish to host a class.