Lessons Learned the Hard Way

The March 2010 issue of SWAT Magazine has an excellent article by Paul Gardner entitled "Al Tarmiyah Firefight! Lessons Learned the Hard Way." As a Marine Rifleman in Iraq in 2003, the author was severely wounded in a firefight, permanently paralyzing him below the waist. With the grit and determination for which Marines are famous, Mr. Gardner recently completed Trident Concepts' Combative Carbine 1 course despite being confined to a wheelchair and, in the article, he describes in detail both the firefight in which he was injured and how the lessons he learned in the Trident Concepts class that would have prevented his injury.

Gardner summarizes the lessons learned that he learned as follows:

• Assuming [that he] killed the bad guy with one shot to the torso area.
• Performing a slow reload.
• Retaining [his] empty magazine during the middle of such an intense
  firefight.
• Stowing an empty magazine in the same location as [his] fresh magazines.
• Looking down at [his] weapon while reloading.
• Having [his] rifle in the Low Ready [position] while reloading.
• Standing bladed and not taking advantage of [his] ballistic plates.

Note that the last lesson is situational. If you are a soldier, law enforcement officer, or the rare civilian equipped with body armor and ballistic plates, squaring your body to the target takes maximum advantage of your ballistic protection. If, on the other hand, you do not (like most civilians) have ballistic protection, the bladed (or Weaver) stance (as taught at GunSite Academy, which I have attended, and some other schools) gives your opponent a smaller cross-section of your body to shoot at and may result in a more stable stance.

Gardner's article alone is well worth the cover price of the magazine and the same issue also has an excellent article on concealed handguns by Pat Rogers. SWAT Magazine is available by subscription or at well-stocked newsstands.

By: Guardian