first hand experience on intense firearm training

[ZombieAssassin]

https://www.frontsight.com

From everything I've read, Front Sight sounds pretty intense and well worth it. I also know that it's internet, so I'm looking for people that have received training from them.

OFADAN, what do you know about their training? What does OFA offer that is intense, realistic, and useable instruction?

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[OFADAN]

Zombie, it isn't right for me to comment on Front Sight because they are a competitor and we share some of the same students but I can comment on OFA. The best way for me to articulate how we train and what we train and "why" we do what we do is to give me a call or PM your number and I'll call on my dime. I'm a more effective talker than typer. Honestly asking our students is going to be the best intel you can gather. Please take a look at wichaka's DH1 write up to get an idea of how we run our basic level courses. Nice write up I might add!

wichaka's article: http://www.northwestfirearms.com/forum/showthread.php?p=46045#post46045

What I would suggest for you and your wife as decision making criteria before choosing to train anywhere is the following:

1. Safety, Safety, Safety - I'd check out a school's safety record. If you call OFA we'll tell you we have insurance and we'll tell you exactly our safety record. I'm confident FS will do the same if you ask. Safety should be the highest priority for one who wants to train. Questions you should ask of a school is how many instructors to students? What kind of insurance do you have (shows commitment to the student)? How many accidents have you had? What emergency response plan do you have in place?

2. Philosophy - do they teach the way you can learn best (each school is going to be different) and do they use methods that work best for my wife and I? Schools have a teaching and student philosophy. Some obviously care deeply about their students and will relate with them on a human and personal level - others are more cold and 'stand offish'...some schools insist instructors operate off a 'script' even to the point of memorizing their instructional script while others have an outline to follow but the school allows the instructors to be themselves. Some schools are more military-like and others are more laid back. You need to figure out which is best for you and your spouse.

3. Cost - you must consider all the costs associated with training including the cost of the course(s) because attending one course is never enough. First they're addictive and fun, second you cannot possible learn it all in one class regardless of how long it is, third you'll probably want to re-take the class over again (using different guns/different hands @ each class, use your right hand one time, left hand the next, primary gun one time, back up gun from ankle holster then next...) Also, ammo - ammo is expensive and hard to come by so which courses are going to use my ammo effectively. Third is travel, where can I go that will minimize travel and related expenses?

What I can tell you about OFA's philosophy is this: Safety is our Number 1 concern - period! Second is student experience and value, third is taking care of the staff and facility. With that I can tell you we have an impeccable safety record - so even though we do 'realistic' training we do it in a safe manner.

Our staff is comprised of unique individuals from various survival backgrounds - we bring a different perspective to the same problem. We have instructors who have BTDT in various survival situation so reality rather than entertainment is important to us. I can tell you we look at survival/self defense from as holistic and realistic perspective as we can.

In our intermediate level courses (the next course above the one wichaka took) we use as close to real life fighting that is humanly possible with force-on-force scenario based simulations which includes dealing with the problem AFTER shots have been fired - what do say to responding LEO, how to handle the fight in court etc. We also fully integrated empty hands, edged weapons, improvised weapons and firearms into one fluid system which I'm unaware of anyone doing exactly the same thing. Please start talking to our intermediate level to advanced level students and ask about their experiences.

We do offer week long courses but not as often as our student feedback keeps telling us the one and two day formats are better for learning and more affordable. We like the week-long formats but people get fatigued later in the week and learning starts to suffer as a result.

I don't know if I added much - wichaka wrote an article on our DH1 course recently and this other LEO wrote an article for the Portland Police Bureau regarding our Advanced Handgun Tactics course - perhaps these two can share some insight on how we do things. http://www.oregonfirearmsacademy.com/rapsheet.pdf

 

[Bend]

OFADAN- Good post!

ZA-

I have yet to go to OFA. I have been to FS. I do know of one thing you will get at FS that you will not get at OFA and that is a repeated did I say repeated sales pitch to buy memberships and real estate. Its very distracting. YMMV.

 

[greenLED]

What does OFA offer that is intense, realistic, and useable instruction?

Being an OFA graduate, maybe I can give you an idea of what they offer. Overall, I would say all their classes beyond Basic Handgun Safety (BHS) pass those three requirements with flying colors (and then some more). BHS is also a great class, but you're looking for their intermediate and advanced classes, so...

One thing that was impressed upon me while at OFA was that they don't teach you how to shoot; they teach you how to fight with a firearm. That may sound like a cliché, but it stuck in my head because any old monkey can do the former, but mastering the latter is a completely different ballgame. Plus, you get to fully understand the legal, social, personal, and financial implications and consequences of carrying.

There's no ninja skills or macho-ism in OFA's instruction. Going through "The Adjudicator" (their Force on Force simulator) will give you an entirely new perspective on what it *really* means to have carry (and possibly use) a handgun for self protection. IMO, there's no better way of really testing and interiorizing a lot of the lessons you may have read, hear, or thought about until you go through their scenarios. Nothing like having to talk (or maybe shoot?) your way through a life-or-death scenario to really put things into perspective. If that weren't enough, you get to dissect your scenario after the fact and reinforce your learning that way (what did you do right/wrong, what could you have done differently, why did you turn a no-shoot into a shoot situation, how can you avoid, avoid, avoid, communicate with police, innocent citizens, other legally armed citizens, that sweet old lady that seems to want to shoot you while you're trying to get to your car??). Doesn't get much more intense, realistic, and useable than that!

Not having been to FrontSight, I can't comment on their instruction in detail. However, from the reviews and opinions I've read, I don't see what I would learn from them that I wouldn't learn from OFA (and then some more, at a lower price, and closer to home).

 

[ZombieAssassin]

I'd rather support local businesses, so it's encouraging to read first hand experience about OFA. I should have used the search function to come across wichaka's review.

 

[greenLED]

Zombie, I went'a searching for my old reviews of OFA classes (posted elsewhere on the net). I couldn't find my review for BH1, but here are the ones for the Low Light/Night Fire classes:


Low Light

Given the <broken link removed> on this board, I figured this would be a good place and time for me to write a review of Saturday's Low Light/Night Fire class. I have to start by saying this is by far the most challenging class I've taken at OFA so far. I thought I could walk and chew gun at the same time, but adding a light to the gear list completely messed up my gun handling skills. Luckily for me, Tim, Will, and Shawn, who were working my side of the line, were very good at spotting my problems and offering suggestions to overcome them. Thanks guys!


Lectures:

The lecture(s) part of the class first reviewed the basic firearms safety rules, safety while moving, OFA's emergency protocol, and the fundamentals of marksmanship. This is stuff we should all be familiar with after visiting OFA so many times, but it's nice to have it reviewed at each class. OFA's emphasis on safety is something that has impressed me from day one. Dan did a great job emphasizing how critical it would be for us to be "plugged in" and aware of safety protocols during the night exercises. He also talked about tactics and how that relates to target indicators when using lights. There are quite a few new rules and procedures that need to be learned and practiced when using a gun and a flashlight at the same time, and Dan did a great job explaining those. Among the salient points I remember are:

- Redundancy: "one is none, two is one, three is two" - always have a backup. I learned this the hard way at the firing line, when my SF A2 went south...
- Consistency: Put your tools in the same places all the time - this helps develop "muscle memory" and it's easier to find your gear when operating under stress
- "Two second" rule: Don't turn on your light for more than two seconds at a time. Related to this rule are:

- MOVE!! Every time you use your light, verbalize, or manipulate your firearm at night MOVE!! The bad guys will be shooting at the light, your voice, shadows, backlighted profile, the sounds you make as you manipulate your gun, etc. so MOVE!!
- Use minimum light for a given task. Do not fall into the hype of wanting to use 1000 lumens flashlights for Low Light/Night Fire conditions. Too much light will work against you , either by destroying your night-adapted eyes through backlighting, light scattering, etc. Too much light puts you at a tactical disadvantage, and you might even light up your partners with that honking searchlight! Tim had a great anecdote of him using either a Mag85 or a Mag 100 at the firing line - he pretty much lit up the entire threat area with a single light, thereby ruining everybody's night vision. He said there was so much light, he couldn't even see his sights and with all the smoke and fog it was just a huge mess. Dan also told us how he cleared "the tower" at Thunder Ranch just using a Photon light. So, again, when your eyes are dark adapted, a scorching bright light will work against you, especially when you're indoors.

Dan then taught us how to manipulate our flashlight while performing reloads and malfunctions. We did the "chicken wing" thingy to keep control of the light while clearing malfunctions and doing reloads. We also practiced using lanyards and tiger rings. This was all done in the classroom at first but was later done "for real" on the range, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Dan also instructed us on the different types of flashlight grip and searching techniques. We reviewed the FBI technique, Chapman's, side-by-side, Harries, Rogers. Dan strongly suggested we master several of those, since each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and their utility depending on the situation. The message I took home was: don't get too comfy with just one flashlight technique because it looks cool or you shoot better with it - you may end up in a situation where doing a Harries places you at a tactical disadvantage and it'd be better if you used the high FBI, for example. It's all about having several tools available in your box, and knowing when to best deploy them to one's advantage (yeah, simpler said than done). Oh, yeah, and DO NOT use the "reverse Harries" technique (flashlight hand over strong hand) or you risk serious injury (read: hand fracture) to your hand from the slide moving back.

During the next round of lectures, Will gave an excellent presentation on flashlight technology. He discussed the main advantages of LED and incandescent (incan) flashlights. In general, LED lights have longer runtimes, but less throw and less color rendition. Incans have shorter runtimes, but more throw and better color rendition. For their size, LED's are becoming brighter than incans, but there really isn't a "single best" - it depends on your application. Will then described the different types of switches a flashlight might have. Momentary switches are preferred for defensive use - either twist-on (aka twisty) or click-on (aka clicky) types of switches work well. Among the clicky switches, "reverse" type switches are not recommended because they don't allow easy control over the light's operation. Will then described the parts of a flashlight beam (hotspot and corona), and compared several flashlights with different beams. For defensive use, a good balance between the hotspot (so you can see further) and the corona (so you can see around the threat) is the preferred type. Finally, he talked about night vision, and how our eyes respond to different colors and intensities of light. The bottom line is that you should be using the least possible amount of light to preserve your night vision. Low intensity colored LED lights are best for this - white is the worst in terms of preserving your night vision. People were mostly using red and blue LED lights throughout the night - I had a yellow/green SF A2 that worked excellent outdoors.



Range:

Daylight exercises:

We started with a review of basic handgun drills - pretty much an overview of DH1 and DH2 basics. Since it was rainy and windy, we were shooting at steel threats. It took a while for me to get "warmed up" and used to all the extra layers of clothing I was wearing. Also, I had so many pockets that it took a bit to sort out where I was putting the spare ammo, spare mags, lights, gloves, etc. Once I got a routine going the exercises became easier. Terry will be happy to know I did not forget to sweep after reholstering. Once again, emphasis on marksmanship skills, verbalization, movement, and after action drills were emphasized. As before, we were given "dummy rounds" to simulate malfunctions. I love having the exposure of "surprise" malfunctions. We did the exercise where we setup a malfunction, grounded our guns, and then relocated to shoot somebody else's gun. I love that drill. Not only it exposes me to an unanticipated malfunction, it also allows me to shoot different platforms. I think it was a Khar of some sort that I got to shoot - nice little gun. I missed the chance to ask John if I could shoot his 1911; maybe next time. Throughout the "warm up" session, we gathered in "school circles" and the instructors demonstrated what we were going to do next, made sure we understood the procedures, and answered any questions we had.

After we got "warmed up", we started practicing flashlight drills. We tried all the different techniques, as well as transitioning from one technique to another. Movement was added to the drills as well. We also did a couple of exercises with our eyes closed, so we could get "feel" for all the gear. So far so good for me. Once we started firing, things got really interesting. Like I mentioned before, I thought I could walk and chew "gun" at the same time, but having a light in my hand completely reset my gun handling skills. I dropped my main light several times (thank God for backup lights), got tangled with the lanyard, fingers pinched and twisted by the tiger ring, couldn't set up a steady shooting platform, had trouble clearing malfunctions... you name it. I realize now that part of my problem was that I wasn't really letting go of the light. Although I had it attached to my hand via a tiger ring or a lanyard, I would not let go and clear it completely before clearing malfunctions. This resulted in pinched fingers, incompletely clearing malfunctions, dropped magazines, etc. Like I said before, it was quite a challenge. Next time I'll bring an extra arm or 2. On top of the my "dexterity" problems, I was also trying a few different lights, and things weren't going very well, so I decided to stick with just 2 lights and focus on practicing with them. I finally decided to use a Gladius and a SF A2 for the night portion of the class and drop all the other lights I had on me (don't ask how many I had...). Focusing on just 2 lights and repeating the drills over and over helped me a lot.

continued...

 

[greenLED]

...continued review of Low Light:

Night exercises:

Once night fell, the class got really exciting (as if I hadn't had been exciting enough already!). We pretty much repeated the light/gun handling exercises we did in the late afternoon. However, the difficulty was raised up a notch not being able to see what I was doing. My SF A2 gave up the ghost early during this section of the class and at one point I ended up with no main light, a dropped backup one, and no ammo for reloads. What do you do? You FAKE IT! Yup. Don't just stand there with your slide locked to the back! I forget when this concept was introduced, but I was surprised at how it came back to me in an instant and I followed through. I got better with practice, but clearing malfunctions an keeping track/control of my light at the same time was still challenging.

I liked the fact that we practiced different flashlight techniques. I realized that with the high FBI I was aiming the light at the moon, and with the low FBI... I don't know where I was naturally pointing the light. I did not like the low FBI technique - it's cumbersome to do when you have a light with a rear switch. I can see how it'd be really easy to do with a body-mounted switch (think Maglite), but it's a bear with a SureFire-type of switch. In addition, one-handed shooting adds to the challenge. I did better with the side-by-side techniques, since I had a little more control of the gun and could point the light a bit more naturally downrange and onto my threat. Still, I struggled trying to find the right grip style. The technique I felt most comfortable with was the Harries. It provided me with the most stable shooting platform, allowing me to shoot better than with any of the other techniques.

Another major problem I faced while shooting was that I couldn't see my front sight. With the FBI technique I could sort of light up my front sight with the sidespill, but the one-hand platform is something I need to practice a lot more to improve my marksmanship. The bezel of the Gladius I was using protrudes at least an inch beyond the muzzle of the G19 I was using, so when doing the side-by-side techniques, I simply couldn't see the front sight. Will gave me some pointers (use the profile of the sight against the threat, grip the light a little differently, etc.). I had read somewhere that you could use the muzzle flash to aid in target acquisition... not so for me. I didn't have much success in seeing the front sight, which was reflected on the positioning of my hits. The Harries technique was the only technique that allowed me to see the front sight... and BOY, did I see that white dot glow!! Hey, I even placed some good shots on the threat. However, lighting up the front sight required me to bring my support hand high above against my strong hand, twist my wrist awkwardly, and also kinda twist my strong wrist a little so the gun wasn't completely vertical, and my support wrist bent back a lot - an uncomfortable position. The G19 I was using had the stock white dots; I'm not sure if having tritium sights would've helped me, given all the trouble I was having handling all the extra gear. Maybe other people can pitch in with their experience using trit sights?


Comments on lights I used:

I guess I should comment a bit on the lights I was using. The SF A2 felt comfortable in my hand, and I could work the switch easily in all the techniques I tried. Before it broke, it did a good job of illuminating the threat area. If you are going to use a lanyard or a tiger ring on it, be aware that the stock lanyard clip is plastic, and it WILL break open when you twirl the light around to reacquire a grip on it - there's a funny video somewhere of a fellow shooter showing this. The Gladius seemed brighter than the A2 while shooting - or maybe it was brighter than the lights people next to me were using. Like I mentioned before, it was a bit too long for me to illuminate the front sight, and it was a bit big in my hand compared to the A2. However, the flanges on the tailcap are extremely helpful for acquiring a good grip on the light - this was particularly useful when doing a Rogers grip, but also helped when doing the Harries. I also used a Pila GL3 (old style, so it looks like a Wolf-Eyes light). Bigger and heavier than the Gladius but a nicer, wider beam. Doing the side-by-side grip was a challenge even though I had a lanyard and a couple of o-rings on the light. I also briefly used a SF L1 (Cree version) - smallest of all the lights I had, nice, bright beam with decent sidespill. I think this is about the smallest light I'd comfortably use with a gun. Anything smaller would be hard to grip and/or operate the switch. The SureFire L1, A2, and the Pila GL3 had the disadvantage of having round bodies that were harder to hold in a cigar grip.

There were several other people with SureFires (G2's, e2e's, Z2's), Streamlights (Scorpion, TL2, TL3?). I'm curious to see how those lights worked for them. Of course I brought my SF M6 along, but I only used it to light up the pasture behind the range. At one point we tried to find the "buffalo" out there. I forget the distance, but I could illuminate it with just my Gladius. Will was using his HID spotlight and, IMO, there was too much scatter from the beam to see the buffalo properly, even though the HID is many, many times brighter than the Gladius. It also shows how in complete darkness a Luxeon LED can shed a whole lot of light. Again, this ties in nicely with what we were taught earlier - when your eyes are well dark-adapted, you don't need a whole lot of light to see and shoot well.


Afterthoughts:

Speaking of shooting, the final exercise of the night was extremely helpful. The Red Shirts sent us to the Wood Shack for a break while they did "something" on the range. Joe entertained us with a few jokes while the ceiling lights ruined our night vision. We were then taken back to the range and instructed on what to do. I don't want to give away the exercise to those who read this and haven't taken low light, so... I'll just say that Rick's comments after the fact sent chills down my spine. I have to agree: that was probably the most important lesson I learned that night. After that we administratively unloaded and cleaned up the range.

All in all, another OUTSTANDING training experience at OFA, and definitely the most challenging class I've taken so far. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone wanting to learn how to properly use a flashlight in conjunction with a firearm. In fact, I'm calling the OFA Queen later today to sign up for the DH2/LL combo early next year. Many thanks to all the instructors for the great training experience.

 

[greenLED]

Here's my review of Advanced Low Light:

After taking OFA's Low Light/Night Fire (LL/NF) class, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate of Advanced Low Light/Night Fire (Adv LL) as well. Just like I've done before I want to share my thoughts on the class. I try to do this as a way to "debrief" myself and review some of the concepts that I learn after each class, but I also think it might be valuable "food for thought" for people who haven't been able to take these classes.

Just like some of the other classes I've taken, Advanced Low Light presented unique challenges for me. This time I was better prepared in terms of the clothing, gear and lights I brought to class and had a basic understanding of how to use them in conjunction with a handgun. There were also 6 or 7 of us taking the class so the instructor-to-student ratio and the individual attention we got was awesome. These three factors worked in my favor throughout the class. On the other hand, I was challenged by a series of equipment malfunctions early in the day and the increasingly the bad weather as the day progressed. It was windy, rainy (even frozen rain), cold, muddy... my hands were numb most of the day, and I the next morning I realized my fingertips kinda got "cooked" by the cold. Next time, I'm bringing those nifty hand warmer thingies (and thanks to RBB and Will for letting me use theirs!). Overall, this was one of the classes I've enjoyed the most at OFA and I'd definitely recommend you take it.


Lectures:

These were spread out over the day. As is customary with OFA teaching, we started reviewing the Four Firearms Safety Rules - maximas we must observe at all times. We also reviewed OFA's emergency response protocols, and discussed what safe behaviors were expected of us while on the range (fingers off the trigger and high up the frame, safety on/decock before moving, breaking tunnel vision before moving, communication with our partners, etc.). I may sound like a broken record, but I really appreciate the attention to safety that is observed during classes - I feel safe while at OFA, and I know it's upon my shoulders to keep my fellow classmates safe as well.

Dan also reviewed the fundamentals of marksmanship, and gave us tips on how to improve those as we faced the different training exercises throughout the day. Three things I remember quite well from his talk are these: go slow through the exercises, be alert and AVOID "sympathetic fire", and don't overcompensate pointing upwards when you can't see the front sight of your gun (somebody shot a cable behind the threat area last time... an oopsie we didn't want to repeat).

Most of us had been through DH2 and its Adjudicator runs, but it was very useful for me to have Dan review materials on "Tactical Indicators" and techniques for clearing enclosed areas. To be honest, after my last Adjudicator run, I wasn't all that eager to go in there... and this time in complete darkness... "AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!!" came to mind again and again.

The materials on flashlight techniques were still very fresh in my mind after taking LL/NF (and I had been practicing them), but it was also good to review those in lecture. You can read more about them in my review of LL/NF.

Something that really set the lectures apart from previous classes is that they were not as one-directional as previous classes. That's not to say other classes at OFA are that way; on the contrary, discussion and questions are always encouraged. However, this time, I felt as if we were having more of a round-table discussion than previously. I'm not sure if it was because of the smaller class size, because most of us have taken several classes at OFA (and most, if not all, had just taken LL/NF), or if it was done that way by design of the class itself. I actually think it was the latter, but more on that later. Regardless of the reason, I thought it was a great way of interacting with Dan and reinforcing our learning among ourselves.


Range:

Daylight exercises:

We had a brief "warm-up" session, basically practicing the essentials of marksmanship and reviewing DH1 skills from different distances. As I mentioned before, I had a series of repeated malfunctions with the G19 I was using. I was getting Phase 1 and 2 malfunctions left and right! It was great practice clearing all those malfunctions, but clearly I couldn't sustain that many failures througout the entire day! We changed ammunition, tried a couple of other "little" things, and finally I was back into the full swing of things. This thread here deals a bit more with my search for a possible explanation on one of the factors that might've been affecting me. I'm still not sure what I was doing differently from previous classes to cause all those malfunctions, but at least now I have a lot more things to think about next time on the range, and hopefully I'll be able to pinpoint how I can improve my skills based on that knowledge.

We took turns running through the Adjudicator in broad daylight, in preparation for the evening runs. Back on the firing line, we incorporated shooting behind cover exercises, and later added movement (DH2 skills) and the use of flashlights into all of these (LL/NF skills). There were a few new exercises I hadn't been exposed to, which I think were very useful. In one of them, we had a threat moving sideways in front of us and we had to track and engage them.

I did that exercise with OrigamiAK's G21. It was my very first time shooting a .45 and I gotta say, that bugger's got some kick to it! I was surprised by a couple of things, though. First, I thought the recoil would be too much for me to control. I could feel the "kick" on the wrist of my strong hand, but it was relatively easy for me to realign and re-engage quickly. I was also surprised at how much better I seem to shoot with a larger caliber pistol. I am not sure whether it was the full size pistol being more accurate, me keeping a better grip on it (larger gun, larger caliber, I expected more recoil), or me simply being more focused because I was shooting a new platform. Regardless of what it was, it was a very interesting experience and I want to thank OrigamiAK for letting me borrow one of his guns.

continued...

 

[greenLED]

Please, bear with me, this is the last bit - Advanced Low Light review:

Nightime exercises:

Dan warned us early there was going to be a lot of movement throughout the class - and he wasn't kidding! I felt this was, by far, the most dynamic class I've taken so far. Threats were moving, we were moving, innocent bystanders were moving, the ground was... you get the picture. It was a great learning environment, and since there were so few of us, we were somewhat "free" to move left or right without too much risk of bumping into each other every time I moved in "the other right" direction.

After darkness fell, we ran through some of the same exercises we had practiced before and a few new and very interesting ones. Shooting in complete darkness is a totally different experience, that's for sure! Although I had LL/NF fresh in my mind, and I had been practicing flashlight grips before the class, it was still challenging to deal with an extra item in my support hand. More on lights later... We practiced shooting from close to medium-range distances (under 20 meters). Movement was extremely important throughout the exercises. Like I just mentioned, I was moving, threats were moving, bystanders were, partners too... it was GREAT!! I felt the simulation of movement on the threat area, combined with our own movement on the firing line was a great exposure to what we (God forbid) might encounter in a real defensive situation.

Something else that I felt was a really strong point in this class is how much verbalization was encouraged througout the day. I almost literally had shouted myself hoarse by the end of the day. Simple commands work best. Clearly tell threats, bystanders, partners, etc. *exactly* what you want them to do.

Finally, I have to mention something that ties back to my comment about the Red Shirts giving us some "freedom" to react differently to the different exercises. In one of the very first exercises incorporating *full* movement (threats, bystanders, us, etc.) we were given the command to shoot at steel targets at the sides of the threats. I was not 100&#37; confident I could do that without hitting bystanders, and chose to verbalize but not shoot. I realize this is something that I may not have a choice on under certain "real world" circumstances, but the exercise also made me realize that just because a gun is out, it doesn't mean I have to shoot. Like wiser and more trained men had told me: "I don't know what I would do if fit hits the shan", but for that particular exercise I chose not to shoot and practice other skills instead. We had a setup where a kidnapper is holding a hostage. The objective was to place a shot to the head of the threat. After some strong verbalization I decided, for the sake of the exercise, that I would shoot... and hit the hostage. That gave me lots to think about.

We also had a "dueling" exercise where 2 of us stood side by side and tried to flip a series of small steel targets from one side of a pole onto the other. I struggled trying to get good shot placement, but couldn't really do it. I tried a couple of different flashlight techniques, but I simply couldn't see the front sight and aim properly. I did hit the targets a couple of times, but overall my night marksmanship needs a lot of improvement. I noticed other people with tritium night sights had better shot placement and commented on it to Rscanady, who quickly turned that into a learning moment for everyone in the class (thanks, Ryan!): tritium sights are a great aid, but you may not get to pick which gun to use in a fight, and if you've trained exclusively with tritium sights you may end up not being able to shoot adequately without them. Make sure you practice without your fancy sights as well.

Adjudicator runs:

One by one, we were pulled out of the line and taken to a first run through The Adjudicator. Once again, I have to say how impressed I am with the safety protocol OFA instructors follow to ensure only authorized equipment gets brought into The Adjudicator. It's always hard for me to talk about Adjudicator experiences without giving away the punchline... I'll say this time, the clearing exercise had "live" threats, not paper ones, making things a whole lot more interesting. Let's just say the scenario had me navigating from point A to point B. To reach my destination and exit the scenario, I had to maneuver inside and "clear" a building setup with windows, rooms, walls, hallways, etc. Dan was my "coach" as I worked through the problems that presented themselves as I progressed through the building. Nervous as I was, I still managed to make some good calls, and some bad ones too. Let's just say Will is a good shot, and I discovered blood is very slippery when it gets on your gear!

The night run through the Adjudicator was similar in nature: get from point A to B, clear the structure as you go, etc. The entire setup was different from the daylight design, and there were other challenges to contend with. As before, I made some good decisions, some bad ones, and learned a lot. I still have a very clear image of a bright orange circle appearing briefly from a door opening and pointing in my direction... I ducked for cover! Overall, I learned a few effective ways to deal with advancing threats. Distance, cover, and verbalization are powerful allies! Also keep in mind: slow down, take your time, think 2 steps in advance what you're going to do, use light wisely (if you can see them, so can they, and they shoot back! - light can be used as a way of "communicating" with a threat), seek cover even when threats are complying with your commands. Speaking of commands... leave the chit-chat for tea time! Don't let them fool you into lowering your guard. OK, let's leave it at that.


Flashlight geekdom and skills:

This time I streamlined my flashlight arsenal and was using a Fenix T1 (new light design from a reputable Chinese manufacturer) and a SF e2e as my backup light. I used mostly the T1 as it was sent to Will and I for a thorough "tactical" review (you can read about it here). The e2e performed flawlessly. I had been practicing flashlight techniques, and it was easier for me to handle the extra item in my support hand this time around. That said, I'll leave the "tiger ring" thingy to the experts... too much fumbling around and stuff getting in the way for me. Maybe the tiger ring will grow on me with practice. I'll definitely keep practicing (after all, we gotta practice the stuff that's hard, right?), but found the "chicken wing" technique works very well for me when manipulating the gun with one hand, even with the small lights I was using and all the extra layers of clothing I had on me.


Afterthoughts:

I can't say enough good things about this class. I loved the added challenge of the extra movement and marksmanship skills, and also the "freedom" to react in different ways to some exercises, and how some of them felt a lot closer to the "real" world than before. I also felt this time I "let go" and really got to make better use of my verbalization skills. The entire class was run superbly, with everyone doing an outstanding job at teaching us, whether inside The Adjudicator, the classroom, on the line, on the fiddle table, or by the fireplace. A BIG thanks to all the Instructors and also to my fellow students and friends taking the class with me.

I still have loads more to learn and practice, and I very much look forward to seeing you again during the January DH2/LL/NF combo class!

Something explicitly mentioned in those reviews, and I'd like to reinforce is how much they reinforce safety in *each*and *every*single*thing*you*do*out*there. OFA's safety track record is impressive. Actually, I wouldn't've trained there if I felt unsafe or if any of the instructors would've given me "the rogue gunslinger attitude".

 

[Ocanada]

Now, I haven't been to Front Sight, although I have checked out the web site to look at what they have to offer and scheduling.

I come from North of the border about three times a year for training. I do a lot of research on training and schools, as usually it is my Canadian peso, and not my agencies that I am forking out for fees, travel, gas, hotels and ammo. On top of that, I must apply early to meet the government requirements to bring firearms south.

I have attended, among others, F.A.S., O.F.A., Valhalla(now I.C.E.), Glock, N.R.A. civilian and police instructor courses. All good training and schools.

But, O.F.A. is a stand out. Training content, realism, safety and cost are all factors that I look at.

Cost is a big one for all of us. Having said that, if I think that I am going to get superb training, the budget, as my wife knows, goes out the window. O.F.A. staff have gone to the other big name schools for training. I am very happy to let them pay the costs to learn from the best, and then teach any learned tips and tactics it to me at lower cost.

Safety factors. When you attend O.F.A. courses, you notice that you become a team with the instructors right away. You are made to be responsible for everyone on the range. Instead of only the instructors being "safety officers", the whole class is involved. Makes for a very safe, yet relaxed way to learn. After two days, whether you know any of the other students or not, you are a team.

Realism. Valhalla was a fantastic place to learn. Huge buildings and 1000s of acres. Out of this world. What O.F.A. gets done with the range, land, shoot house and classroom are very effective, realistic and well thought out. I have been there a few times and never been in the same scenario, force on force, or drills. They are constantly learning, evolving and passing along what works. There is no one O.F.A. way doctrine. Safe, repeatable, defensible and universal is what works for you in your situation. And no secret ninja turtle crap that won't work for you to be able to protect yourself and your family.
A point made above about week long courses. I would agree that two intense days, maybe three, are better for the average person than week long. Fatigue and remembering all you have been shown come to play if you are totally worn out.

Student to instructor ratio is important. I think it is around 3/1-4/1 at O.F.A.. That means more help for you, allowing more time to practice and move on to other drills and scenarios. There is hardly any down time at all.

Instructor backgrounds are varied. Attorney, paramedic, security specialist, sheriff, gunsmith, and various adjunct instructors from all walks of life. They have all been to lots of schools to keep themselves current. The nice thing, no wasted time on b.s. or war stories taking away from your range time. Without asking, and they don't offer it up, you would never know the been there done that, got the medal backgrounds. It's about you and your training, not about them.

By all means do your research well and ask around for reviews before you throw down you hard earned money. But, for local to you, you would be well served by checking out O.F.A.. And by the way. Training. It's an education, fun and becomes addictive.

Peter

 

[Dutchy556]

No FrontSight experience here either, but I'll throw in a HUGE +1 for OFA.

The facility is great, the instructors are great guys and very knowledgeable. The force-on-force and live-fire scenarios they run are the best part of the experience, IMO. Running through The Adjudicator changes your perspective completely, as GreenLED mentioned.

I would consider the training at OFA to be intense, realistic and usable (your criteria). I just took the GLOCK defensive handgun class and did several force-on-force exercises with airsoft and a live-fire simulation of an active-shooter scenario in addition to sending about 850 rounds down range from a variety of ranges and positions, while moving, while utilizing cover, at moving targets, with no-shoot targets down range as well, etc... Lots of focus on team building...


Like I said I cant speak for FrontSight, but I am MORE than satisfied with OFA, and I would strongly encourage you take some classes there.

 

[tionico]

GreenLED, and Canada.... thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to write your "feedback" on OFA. Making me seriously reconsider my statements above..... I can tell by your reports that their "style" is precisely the sort in which I know I do best. Relational, practical, hands ON, dynamic. I may well go and take their basic class and see how that goes.