AR-15 Rifle Operator course

[Strategic Tactical]

AR-15 Rifle Operators Course (Basic/Moderate Skill level):

STG is offering an AR-15/M-4 rifle class. Topics that will be covered include general care and cleaning, equipment setup, basic and advanced marksmanship, quick reaction drills, reloads, unorthodox positions, sight picture, and weapons handling drills. This is a great class for individuals who are new to the AR-15 weapon system or are looking to advance their skills. Cost is $100 with a $65 non-refundable deposit required to reserve each student’s slot. Each student will need an AR-15 style rifle (We do have rentals for $40 a day). Upon registration being completed, the student will receive an email with additional information. Contact us with any questions or to register. Space is limited.

Prerequisite: None

Next Course is: July 7, 2012

Call us at 801-915-4118 to register or with questions.

[nesplin]

I realize this is very late, but I just joined this forum and it seems like this information might be useful for this audience. If it isn’t useful or is messed up in some way I am sure a moderator can get rid of it.

I took the AR-15 Rifle Operators Course from Strategic Tactical Group on July 7 of this year and wanted to present a brief AAR for your consideration.

Gear:

I used my Bravo Company middy for this class and it ran awesome. It is set up with an Aimpoint pro, a VCAS sling, some magpul furniture, and a surefire G2X light, all of which performed exactly as expected. In particular I recommend the Aimpoint PRO for a very reliable red dot that costs about half the price of a T1 or equivalent.

I exclusively used P-mags with the little windows and loved them. It wasn’t always possible, but a quick glance at the window on the mag was helpful in knowing when to do a tac reload and I rarely ran my carbine dry. I carried my mags in custom kydex belt mounted carriers that proved more than sufficient for the demands of this class. A higher round count may have made a chest rig of some sort necessary, but we had plenty of time to top off mags and two on my belt was plenty.

I used my 1911 in a Milt Sparks VMII for my secondary and it worked perfectly.

The class:

The group of shooters who turned up for this class was remarkable for its variety. There were shooters there who clearly had years of training under their belts and a few who admitted to never firing a gun before. I confess I wondered how Chris and Landon would balance that, but they did awesome. After a few minutes getting one brand new carbine zeroed we started shooting. We shot for accuracy, then speed, and got into malfunction clearance pretty quickly. One thing in particular that I liked early on in the class was the focus on a thorough scan during the after action drills. Chris would choose students at random and ask them what they saw during their scan. It was an awesome way to reinforce the usefulness of the search and assess after shooting and before relaxing.

One group showed up to the class with AK47s that had some pretty serious issues, and again I want to applaud the way Chris and Landon handled that challenge. When one of the instructors was focusing on the AKs the other would wander up and down the line giving more focused and personal feedback to the shooters who had a bit more experience. For the record I want to say that I think it was awesome for completely inexperienced shooters to sign up for this class, and I don’t want to sound like I am speaking ill of them at all. I was proud to shoot with them.

After lunch we did some single handed malfunction clearances and then moved into ‘hot house’. Chris and Landon walked us through a very quick and dirty course on slicing the pie on corners and clearing rooms. They were careful to point out that it wasn’t a course in advanced swat tactics etc, but it was great that we all got time moving through the house in case we need to make movement like that in our own homes. It was also awesome of them to provide a few rounds of frangible ammo so we could use our carbines in those exercises. The only thing that I thought was less than awesome about the class was the down time while the other shooters were working their way through the shoot house, but the time I got to spend in there made it more than worth it.

Summary:

The class was awesome. Chris and Landon did a remarkable job of balancing a wide variety of shooters in a one day course, and I would recommend it to anybody who wants to improve their carbine manipulation. It was awesome to be able to spend time trying to clear rooms alone in a shoot house environment with one-on-one instructor feedback, and the focus on actually seeing things while scanning during after action drills has proven very useful. I didn’t spend a lot of time with Landon, but Chris was incredibly knowledgeable and was an awesome instructor, and I look forward to training with STG again.

On a personal note, I can’t wait to find out if the future will bring the pink AR or the ATV to Chris’ household.

[Eugene]

Awesome review Thank you!

[Strategic Tactical]

Nate,

Thanks for the review and kind words. After teaching firearmswith all weapon systems for so long, you kinda forget how much people appreciate what we do. It was great to have you out and hope we get to see you again! As for thee will grace our new household, Looks like it will be a pink AR-15 in .22 for my daughter. Thanks to everyone who supports her in this little endeavor of hers. I'm pretty proud of her for doing this on her own! Be safe everyone and hope to see you on the range!