In the Driver's Seat

So moving away from politics for a bit, and ranting about tactics.  Not that this will get me any more fans either...but I am okay with that.

My beef today is with those instructors who teach vehicle tactics with emphasis on shooting in the car through windshields, windows, and other mediums.  I actually have a few close friends who are "guilty" of doing just that, and as much as I respect them, I most certainly do not agree with them.

As we are seeing more and more officers ambushed in their vehicles, it is time we stop trying to teach officers tactics which will NEVER work for them.  And I am saying this out of experience.

I hated my CQC instructor in the military, but I have to give him this: he made his points clear.  When it came to shooting from a vehicle he had each one of us fire one round, only one round, in a close car through the windshield.  Caveat, he had us remove our ear protection prior to doing it.  Now obviously, that will never fly these days with the gentler, kinder, type of training we run with officers, but twenty years ago it was fine...and it taught us a valuable lesson.

If you never fired a round in a confined space without ear protection, you are up for a rude awakening if you ever have to do it for the first time in combat.  And honestly, last I checked, I am yet to see one officer drive around his cruiser with ear-pros on, so teaching officers what to do in the event of an ambush using unrealistic training environment is not only not conducive, but down right detrimental to the officer.  Because, whether you like it or not, when a round is discharged in a car's cabin, not only will the noise be deafening, but the over-pressure is sure to throw you off your equilibrium.  Even for those who fly the "auditory exclusion" flag stating that the noise will be remediated by the body's amazing capability to protect itself, it will not help with the physics of pressure hitting one's ear drums!  Fire more than one round, and you have, without a shadow of a doubt, put yourself out of the fight.  Your ears will ring, you will be dizzy, and unable to adequately find your footing or follow up on those shots because the world around you will be a mess.

We regularly see all these big-name celebrity instructors continuously teach all these tactics in a car.  They use handguns, carbines, and shoot through every part imaginable of the vehicle.  But what they don't tell you is that if you were to take those plugs out of your ears you would be a mess.

So what is one to do if ambushed while seated in a car?  Is everything lost?  And the answer is a most definite "NO".  You just have to make sure your firearm (or muzzle) is actually sticking outside the parameters of the vehicle, as in through the window, so the pressure is not contained in a tight tin box, and thus does not interfere with your brain functions due to over pressure issues.

I am all about good training.  I am also about separating the BS from reality.  Safety is paramount so I do not recommend trying shooting in a car without ear protection on your own, but try to imagine what would happen if you did.  We all know that ring and "crack" when a shot goes off and we are unprepared for it on the range.  Now magnify that by a thousand.  Still want to try it?  Didn't think so...

Stay safe and watch your six.

BK Blankchtein.

Masada Tactical Protective Services, LLC

www.dhirubhai.net/company/masada-tactical www.facebook.com/BlankchteinBK