Tac Tuesday...Extra Credit

Just another wonderful day in the life of your favorite blogger. Tac Tuesday was a culmination of several different tactics rolled into one. House clearing, in the dark, with a flashlight. I am proud to say that I did verbalize, took advantage of cover and concealment, and used different firing positions. We also did some weak hand drills that included shoot from cover and tac reloads.

HOUSE CLEARING: The area was set up as an apartment. One long hallway was set up and three rooms were set up on either side of the hall. The scene went down as such, once we cleared the blue shooting gate, game on. There were two suspects in the apartment, or attempting entry to the residence. I cleared the gate, drew my light and then my weapon and proceeded to cover. We did not have a lot of tarps and walls to work with, so I pretended I was coming from the front entryway to the hall. Seeing as I had no cover out in the open, I rushed to the wall and sucked it. The RO did remind me that the 180 rule was in effect, so I always had my weapon pointed downrange.

From the wall, I backstepped until I could clear the large living room to my right. There was a wall at the back with a window. I popped the light on the room, sweeping left to right. I immediately saw the threat in the window and killed the light. I ducked around the corner and squatted low. I came around the corner again and called out "Show your hands! Don't Move!" Before I could shoot, the RO called "Threat Gone/No Shoot." I then proceeded to clear the rest of the rooms.

The next room was actually a small hallway leading to the back of the 'apartment.' It was laid out like a deranged Tetris piece. I pied the doorway and cleared what I could. Without violating the 180 rule, I pied a little notch to the immediate left of the door. I stepped in and put my back into that corner to stop and assess my next obstacle. The next 'doorway' was a divider to my front and another one set back about five feet on the opposite wall. This made an 'S' turn type of obstacle. I moved to an arm's length from the divider and started to pie around. I popped my light on real quick and instantly saw something that did not seem right. I went dark and moved back about three steps. From that vantage, I moved fast around the partition and engaged the threat. My double-tap ended the exercise.

AFTER ACTION REPORT: I did very well. I was one of only two people to verbalize the first threat. Remember, he was the jag-off in the window. Why engage someone outside the homestead? He was not an immediate threat , and I was more secure inside than out. My light discipline was very good. I hit the light only when necessary, and took advantage of manipulating my position to present a different target. *NOTE* When using a light, the uninitiated will most likely key in on where that light is and target it. The RO for this course reminded me that most, if not all, injuries and wounds encountered in low light occur about the hands and arms. Usually the hands that hold the light. Ouchie!

The point he made to me was I should hold the light in different positions. I can take advantage of different aspects to put the aggressor's attention elsewhere. Also, for those of you without night sights, when you index on target, hold the light behind your sights and then shoot. It is a neat trick to be able to reference your sights in a dark room, and scares the beejeebers outta anyone who sees the shadow of a hand howitzer.