The spirit of this blog is to celebrate being good at wide range of skills rather than being excellent at a single skill. This is exemplified in my About The Name page, where I talk about the origins of “swift, silent, deadly,” and being a Jack of all Trades. I’ve also mentioned it in articles like my article called “Embrace The Coyote” from a few years ago. Today I’m going to cover similar ground, but through the lens of developing a well-rounded training resume.
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Firearms Training
The seed for this article was planted while reading some instructor bios. Many shooting instructors follow their own advice and seek training for a variety of instructors. I applaud them for that. As instructors they should be well trained, keep up on industry trends, and be open to learning something new. I (almost) always read the bios of instructors with whom I want to train. The number of firearms training I want to attend is nearly limitless. Here is a (very) brief list of high-priority classes for me over the next 10 or so years:
Advanced Covert Carry Pistol, Mike Green/Green Ops
Tactical Shotgun Skills, Rob & Matt Haught/Symtac Consulting
Defensive Shotgun Instructor, Tom Givens/Rangemaster
Master Handgun Instructor, Tom Givens/Rangemaster
Firearms Instructor Development Course, Mike Seeklander
Master Handgun Instructor, Tom Givens/Rangemaster
Gunsite 250, Gunsite Academy
Cognitive Pistol, John Hearne/Two Pillars Training
Applied Defensive Handgun, John Holschen
Pistol Shooting Solutions, Gabe White
Rifleman Series, Reid Henrichs/Valor Ridge
Urban Rifle, Clint Smith/Thunder Ranch
Revolver Roundup, Various
Thunderstick Summit, Various
These classes have a heavy emphasis on one thing: shooting. Sure, there’s some variety: pistol, rifle, revolver, and shotgun, but all are gun classes. Frankly, I’m already pretty good with a rifle, pistol, revolver, and shotgun. I could sign up for three to four of these classes per year (except Gunsite… it’s very expensive!) and start adding names to my training resume. Unfortunately, that misses something: what if I encounter a life-and-death problem requiring something other than firearms skills?
Non-Firearm Emergencies
There are a huge array of potentially life-and-death problems that could confront you, your family, or your community. There are medical emergencies. Obviously there are gunshots, but much more likely are chokings, diabetic emergencies, and heart problems. Accidents still happen, and cardiac problems can emerge even in the apparently healthy. These problems will kill you just as dead as a deranged gunman. Are you trained to deal with them? It would be a good idea for any well-rounded human to have some high-quality, broad-range medical training.
Driving is the single most dangerous activity you engage in on a daily basis. Driving kills about 40,000 Americans per year. Keep in mind that says nothing about those who are paralyzed, lose limbs, end up with a colostomy bag, or are mentally disabled after an accident. Yet very few of us seek out any kind of driving training be high school Driver’s Ed. Because, “I’ve been driving my whole life,” right? Sounds kind of like, “I’ve been shooting guns my whole life,” doesn’t it? Some high-performance driving training is a very good idea for anyone looking to prolong their life.
What if I encounter a life-and-death problem requiring something other than firearms skills?
What if you find yourself in a wilderness survival situation? As a SAR team member, I can tell you it happens to average folks all the time. If you’re not putting yourself in a position to potentially need these skills – through hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, hunting – you’re missing out on what nature has to offer! And if you are, you need some survival training.
What if you get in a fight, but it doesn’t merit deadly force? Have you had some pepper spray training? What if it does require deadly force, but you’re not standing on the five yard line with a static target and a clean draw? Have you had some combatives training?
A Well-Rounded Training Resume
A well-rounded training resume includes shooting. I love attending shooting classes and I really value the firearms training I’ve taken. But if I’m being honest, most of the reason I continue to take classes is because I enjoy. I suspect that’s the case with most of the hardcore training crowd. But consider this: it’s not a lot of fun for most of the people you’re trying to convince that they need training. Yet you know they need it…sort of like you know you need some medical training and some driving training and some combatives training. Put your money where your mouth is and do something outside your comfort zone!
If you look at my firearms training, even that is fairly varied. Pistol class are my favorite, but not the only thing I’ve attended. I have also attended revolver classes. I haven’t only attended defensive classes, I’ve also attended competition-oriented training. I’ve also trained extensively with the rifle…and have gone to a couple shotgun classes. In my humble opinion, you should be well-rounded and versatile, and I truly want to lead from the front. I believe that you should have at least some preparation to deal with the things that might kill you.
Guns are cool and gun classes are a lot of fun. You should be skilled with guns in the event you need one. But you should also not neglect to be skilled at other things that could kill you. You NEED to have some solid first-aid training. The TCCC classes are a heck of a lot of fun, but they’re the equivalent of going to a high-round-count CQB class…excellent in outlier scenarios, but not highly applicable to day-to-day life. If you can make the time, attending an EMT course would be well worth the investment.
My Well-Rounded Training Resume
Personally, I want to be known as the guy with the most well-rounded training resume around. So if you see a dearth of nationally-known firearms trainers on my resume, keep scrolling. There’s also two years of intense medical training, two five-day, high-performance driving courses, multiple wilderness survival courses, some heavy-duty digital security training, 400+ hours of lock defeat training, and more. I want to be dangerous in multiple domains.
But I have my deficiencies, too. I haven’t attended a driving course in two years†. I will definitely be making that a priority in the next year or so (finances permitting). You’ll also notice a lack of combatives training‡. I have some, but haven’t made it a priority in several years. Over the next couple of years I hope to get to Cecil Burch’s IAC class, Craig Douglas’s ECQC and EWO, and Greg Ellifritz’s Extreme Close Quarters Gunfighting.
Though I’m proud of my training resume, I don’t post it to brag. But I do want you to know that I have some credibility on the topics I write about. I also want you to know that I practice what I preach. And finally, I hope that it inspires even one of you to seek a broader curriculum vitae than just being the best gunslinger you can be. It’s a big, broad world out there. You need a lot of skills other than just a sub-second draw and cutting a couple hundredth off your splits. Expand your horizons and seek a well-rounded training resume.
†When I wrote this several months ago, I had not. As it publishes we are doing a 48-hour “precision driving” block in my police academy class.
‡I’ve also just completed our Subject Control/Defensive Tactics module in the academy, which actually wasn’t too bad.
