If you haven't trained with Louie Awerbuck or Scotty Reitz you might want to consider it. The two of them together is a unique experience to say the least.

We started the days drills shooting on Louie's mirage targets. The target features a desert camo pattern with demanding hit zones. Additionally, it's 3-D representing correct anatomical features. The day started with non standard responses with optional head shots. Louie would give us the maximum round count for the string of fire and it was up to the shooter to determine how many rounds they would fire and what hit zones would be targeted.

Several times throughout the day he would give a fire command while we were unloaded. The best solution seemed to be presenting the pistol and magazine at the same time, and then inserting and racking during the draw stoke.

Several drills started with a single round in the chamber without a magazine. While there is no tactical niche for such a drill, it did re-enforce basic manipulations.

A couple of note worthy quotes were put forth.

Survival is a side effect of winning.

Your mind solves the problem before your hand moves for the gun.

The firing drills intensified to include shooting on the move stepping off to the right and left , man on man drills on steel, shooting at extreme angles, and precision shooting out to 25 - 30 yards.

Louie had a Para 1911 set up with Ashley big dot sights. The rear sight was a Novak with a 3/16" semi curricular notch cut into it. The sight picture placed the big dot front sight in the rear sight notch that aligned like traditional sights, equal height, equal light. It was a very usable set up.

The current Ashley express sights places the big dot front sight above a coarse and shallow V notch rear sight which is great for running and gunning up close, but a bit too loose for precision. The new set up should address both areas well.

We ran a interesting team drill yesterday which placed one target in front of the other. The targets where at extreme angles and bladed off. Each of the two shooters had a designated target and the drill require lateral movement and or changing elevation (taking a knee) to make the shot. Often the shooters had to criss cross each other to make the shots. With three teams on the line at once, not only did you have to look out for your partner, but other teams as well.

During day two and three there were many discussions on the philosophy of fighting. Louie's contention is that we are losing our senses and have become too reliant on technology and equipment. I couldn't agree more. We were reminded over and over again, do not over think the problem.

We shot an interesting drill on day three. The entire class was on the line and we were assigned either a head of body shot on the mirage targets from under ten yards. The command to fire would be given between 30 seconds and 12 minutes and we'd have two seconds to break the shot. We were instructed to get into our most comfortable position. The fire command came at the seven minute mark. Out of thirteen shooters only three made the shots. I and many others were astounded. Louie, reminded us again, Don't over think the problem

The night shoot consisted of shooting complex problems on the mirage targets, the high speed mover, and Louie's trade mark moving hostage taker target system. There were no shoot targets placed in front of and behind the target array. You really had to thread the needle to make the shot.

One of the high lights on day three was shooting the knife attack system from inside of a vehicle. We ran two man team drills responding to the front, rear, and sides of the vehicle. The response rear was very challenging. The targets charged from behind the vehicle. We'd watch the targets in the rear and side view mirrors and as soon as we detected movement we would roll out of the vehicle and engage. It was raining lightly and the mirrors and windows were beaded up with rain drops. A very humbling experience.

This was a fantastic class.