In Praise of Performance-Based Training (or I could fail this course?)

When is the last time you took a training course that you could actually fail? A course where you had to demonstrate performance in front of classmates, measured against non-arbitrary criteria?

If you are like me, it has been a long time.

I recently completed the Coast Guard’s Firearms Training and Evaluation – Pistol (FT&E-P) at our Training Center in Yorktown Virginia. I was happily surprised by the thoughtfulness of the course design, quality of the course materials, the skill of the instructors and coaches, and the focusing effect from the self-imposed stress of potentially failing in front of other people.

1.??????Thoughtful Course Design: Thirty-five years ago, I would have described our approach to pistol training as the following: give the students the most basic safety training and, under very controlled conditions, turn them loose on the range to see who qualifies. I’m using some exaggeration to make my point, but that’s how I remember our training approach. I don’t recall ever being taught to safely holster and un-holster, clear jams, combat reload, etc. Today’s course was amazing. Instead of sitting in front of PowerPoint slides showing us how to do things, we practiced the basics of holstering, loading, clearing jams, safely unloading, stance, etc. The best anecdote to illustrate how well the course was designed, occurred when I watched a company of new Coast Guard recruits handle and shoot pistols safely and professionally. After watching them shoot, reload, move behind a barricade, shoot again, and then re-holster, I asked everyone who had shot a pistol before this day’s training to raise their hand. To my surprise, only 3 hands went up!

2.??????Quality of the Course Materials: What most impressed me was what wasn’t presented to the students. Think how hard it is to have an expert on any topic create an entry level course that doesn’t completely overemphasize details that aren’t important to a new performer. This excess information occurs because experts have moved beyond the rules and are cognizant of all the exceptions to the rules. Nice information to have, but in the training context, the addition of the numerous exceptions can become confusing and distracting to new performers. This course didn’t do that! We got the material we needed and nothing extra. Refreshing!

3.??????Skill of the Instructors and Coaches: One of the innovative course design details is the inclusion of shooting coaches who complete a qualification program where they learn how to coach. My three coaches were fantastic. They gave specific actionable feedback. I applied it and it worked-my shooting improved! The instructors were all in their final phase of qualifying to run this course across the Coast Guard. They were professional and knowledgeable. I would trust any of them to run the course in total.

4.??????The Focusing Effect of Self-imposed Stress: This almost sounds petty as I pen these words, but the stress of practicing and shooting in front of a group of students caused me to study and practice. I found myself driving to class reciting the four fundamental firearm safety rules and standing in my office practicing drawing and aiming without slouching forward.

In summary, if you haven’t taken a performance-based course that you can actually fail recently, you should. This course renewed my faith and commitment to our analysis and course design process and reminded me what great people we have in the Coast Guard. If you don’t know where to start, I’d recommend taking the basic Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) class through a local community college. Not only will you experience a performance-based course you can actually fail, but you’ll learn valuable skills and maybe save a life.