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Firearms training doesn’t just happen on the range. It doesn’t just happen in the classroom. And it doesn’t just happen at the beginning of an officer’s career, never to be expanded on thereafter. Firearms training starts in the classroom, should move to the range, include projected simulation judgmental scenarios and incorporate tools for force-on-force judgmental training as well. The holistic approach to firearms training has to be embraced to provide the officer with the greatest base of knowledge and experience to call upon when use of force is necessary, and survival/victory is the reward for doing everything right. Unfortunately, death or serious injury can be the penalty for doing anything wrong.
As you read through the sections, consider what your firearms training program provides… and what it doesn’t. What do you need to add? What are you wasting time on? Are there any bad habits that are being trained in or necessary skills that are being neglected? None of us ever wants to find ourselves in a shooting situation but if it becomes necessary, none of us wants to find out that our training was lacking. Even worse, no training officer or firearms instructor wants to see an officer injured (or worse) because of a failure to train. The responsibility we firearms trainers carry is immense and we’d better be committed to it beyond others’ ability to understand.
All the articles featured in this eHandbook are by Lindsey Bertomen. Lindsey is a retired police officer and retired military small arms trainer who has been a contributor to OFFICER Magazine for years. He teaches criminal justice at Hartnell College in Salinas, California, where serves as a POST administrator and firearms instructor.