I’m sure we have all heard the phrase, “shoot, move and communicate” before. How hard do you train for the “move” component to this philosophy.
Bubble bursting time
The ability to deliver effective fire while on the move or in motion is a critical skill. While it would be nice to have ideal range conditions for any incident, the reality is far from a static condition. In fact, the training hierarchy has a disproportionate amount of rounds fired in training from a static condition. There are four levels of training we all need to go through, each one requiring proficiency if not mastery before ascending. The first level is static, both the shooter and target are stationary. The second level is the shooter is active, the target is stationary. The third level has the shooter stationary and the target active. The fourth and final level has both the shooter and target active. When you think of this training hierarchy, think of a pyramid where level one is on the bottom. As you ascend up the pyramid, the volume is reduced until at the very top were we have fourth level conditions, we spend an infinitesimal amount of our training time and resources. However, the realities of a gunfight will more than likely have one if not both parties active. If you aren’t scratching your head by now, cue the dumbfounded look.
First, best sight picture
It does take effort and commitment to develop proficiency, it is even more perishable. However, it is not the moving part that is “hard” it is the ability to place a round on target while moving. Here is another scared cow we will slay, if you are moving so slow so as to have minimal disruption to your sights you are not moving realistically. The key here is going to be to focus on your “first, best sight picture”. The moment your sight settles on the target zone you will have a window of opportunity to break the shot. In order to be successful, you need above average trigger management skills.
Reverse engineering
Let’s jump ahead real quick. I don’t care what you have been taught, if your shooting platform wasn’t designed from the beginning with movement in mind you will be in for a rude awakening. You will be hard pressed to take a static stance, the ones we see most on the range and get it to move. We recognize the realities and have reversed engineered the shooting platform so it supports movement first, we just tend to shoot static more often. The moment we go active, the benefits to this philosophy come to the surface in a big way. So, I don’t care what you have been taught, they all suck because they either are teaching you to move artificially (slow) or an attempt to teach you a tempo (timing) of your shot. None of this is realistic.
The tactical imperative
There is a lot more to movement than I care to cover in a finite blog, but what I will say is trigger management is the key to delivering effective fire; whether you are standing still or in motion. Yet, for some reason when we start talking about movement we become brain-dead and think it has to do with our ability to move. The reality is you may have to hustle and once you reach a certain speed you will have to acknowledge you will not get the hit and waste your ammunition. This is where the tactical imperative is easily defined. You will need to choose because you will not be effective at both. Choose which is the most important at that exact moment. If it is more important to move, then high port and haul ass. If it is more important to shoot, then stop plant and engage the target.
This is why it is a Thinking Man’s Game, there are no free lunches. Focus on trigger management and not how your lower unit moves.
