All in Training Methods

Can Instructors Use ST Presentations for Their Own Classes? Yes!

Can Instructors Use ST Presentations for Their Own Classes? Yes!

Special Tactics Staff
Training Methods

We have recently received some requests from instructors, asking for permission to use our presentations and learning materials in their own tactical schools and courses. The good news for those instructors and all the other tactical instructors out there is that you do not need permission to use any of our materials in your own training. Just like a high school teacher does not need to get permission from the textbook publisher to use a textbook in his/her class, any tactical instructor or school can use any of our materials, as long as they don’t steal them or break any copyright laws. If you are interested in using our materials for your course or school this article includes a few suggestions and ideas that might help.

Outcomes Based Learning Hardcopy Now Available

Outcomes Based Learning Hardcopy Now Available

Special Tactics Staff
Training Methods, Weapons Training

We are happy to announce that our Outcomes Based Learning Professional Handbook is now available in hardcopy (paperback) from our online store. Emphasizing realistic, scenario-based evolutions, the OBL approach greatly improves combat effectiveness. Embedded in this post are links to both the hardcopy and e-book versions as well as re-prints of the last two articles taken from the OBL book.

CAT-C Marksmanship: Unexpected Outcomes and Hidden Challenges

CAT-C Marksmanship: Unexpected Outcomes and Hidden Challenges

Special Tactics Staff
Training Methods, Weapons Training

This article is adapted from our new Outcomes Based Learning (OBL) Professional Handbook. It discusses how unexpected training outcomes can present hidden challenges, even for those who are experienced at implementing OBL. The article takes a real-world example from a CAT-C course that was implemented properly but did not end up achieving the same desired outcomes across the board. The results are surprising and can teach us a lot about how to get more out of training.

CAT-C Marksmanship: The Origins of Outcomes Based Learning

CAT-C Marksmanship: The Origins of Outcomes Based Learning

Special Tactics Staff
Training Methods, Weapons Training

This article is adapted from our new Outcomes Based Learning Professional Handbook. The article discusses the difference between outcomes-based training and process-based training using the Combat Applications Training Course (CAT-C) and traditional Army Basic Rifle Marksmanship (BRM) training as examples. In an outcomes-based course like CAT-C you start with the desired outcomes and build every aspect of the training around those outcomes. This approach has proven itself to greatly improve real-world combat effectiveness.

DISCUSSION: A Better Way to Train - Part 1

DISCUSSION: A Better Way to Train - Part 1

Special Tactics Staff
Training Methods

Many of the world’s premier training and education institutions, including prestigious universities like Harvard and Yale are predominantly still operating the same way they were one-hundred years ago. Are there new, better ways to train that people are ignoring? We want to start by opening up the discussion to our readers. Visit our Facebook page and post your comments under this article.

Advanced CQB Training 1: How to Train Footwork

Advanced CQB Training 1: How to Train Footwork

Special Tactics Staff
Close Quarters Battle, Training Methods

It is one thing to learn or understand new footwork techniques. It is another to be able to apply those techniques effectively in a high-stress situation. Mastering footwork requires a great deal of practice and as we mentioned earlier, it is not just about the quantity of practice. The quality of practice is even more important. This article covers some practice/training techniques for refining and optimizing your CQB footwork.

DISCUSSION: How to Train with Limited Resources

DISCUSSION: How to Train with Limited Resources

Special Tactics Staff
Training Methods

For this week's discussion, we would like to hear your ideas for how to conduct, realistic and effective training, despite the ever-present challenges of limited resources. Whether you are a military leader, law enforcement officer, security professional or armed citizen, you have likely come up with some creative training techniques to make the most of limited time and resources. Feel free to include ideas relating to any aspect of tactical training

A Good Selection Course Never Ends

A Good Selection Course Never Ends

Special Tactics Staff
Training Methods

According to the Special Tactics philosophy, two critical factors have a greater impact on combat performance than any other: training and selection. While we have written several online articles on training, we have yet to cover selection. The following article offers some concepts and guidelines that can help any unit (regardless of size) improve its selection, promotion and incentives system. The article is adapted from our newest book, Winning the Fight: A Conceptual Framework for Combat Performance Enhancement.

The Biggest Obstacle to Tactical Progress… and How to Beat It

The Biggest Obstacle to Tactical Progress… and How to Beat It

Special Tactics Staff
Training Methods, General

When tactical professionals get together to train or share ideas, they often waste most of their time arguing with each other and have little to show for it at the end of the day. With the threat level rising both at home and overseas, wasting precious training time and failing to make progress as an individual or a unit can have deadly consequences. Therefore, we believe that trying to solve the age-old problem of the “tactical argument” is a very important effort.

Winning the Fight Now Shipping

Winning the Fight Now Shipping

Special Tactics Staff
Warfare Theory, Training Methods

Winning the Fight is now shipping and the Amazon Kindle version is coming soon. One of the oldest maxims of combat, is that the core fundamentals for success remain the same whether you are defending your home from an intruder or commanding a combined arms task force in conventional warfare. This book provides clear, concise, practical guidelines for how to increase your chances of victory in any hostile encounter and is designed to radically change the way you think about problems, assess threats, train for combat, plan contingencies and adapt to unexpected changes.

 

 
Comprehensive Combat Fitness Now Shipping

Comprehensive Combat Fitness Now Shipping

Special Tactics Staff
Fitness, Training Methods

We are very glad to announce that the Comprehensive Combat Fitness manual is finally ready to ship. The manual provides detailed instructions for creating a comprehensive fitness program designed to directly enhance your combat performance in a real-life scenario. The manual is designed to be flexible and does not aim to replace your existing fitness program, but rather to help you achieve greater results using whatever works for you. It provides scientifically proven methods to integrate your workouts, manage your recovery, measure your progress and adjust routines to your specific mission requirements and body type.

 
Combat Fitness (Part 2): Performance Evaluations

Combat Fitness (Part 2): Performance Evaluations

Special Tactics Staff
Fitness, Training Methods

This second installment in our three-part article on combat fitness provides some examples and suggestions for how to develop “combat performance evaluations.” Most performance evaluations in military or LE units test only one skill/attribute at a time (marksmanship, fitness, casualty care) in an isolated environment. An effective combat performance evaluation tests multiple skills/attributes simultaneously under realistic conditions, with little or no warning provided to those being evaluated. The article provides examples for both law enforcement and military, with low-budget and high-budget variations included.

 
Combat Fitness (Part 1): A Mission-Focused Approach

Combat Fitness (Part 1): A Mission-Focused Approach

Special Tactics Staff
Fitness, Training Methods

Many debates on tactical fitness focus on the question of which exercise or routines are the most effective. We believe the more important question is, how do we measure whether a fitness program actually improves effectiveness in a given mission set? Part 1 of this three-part article offers five common sense fitness principles that provide a good starting point for answering this question. Whether you are a unit leader/commander or an individual citizen, the same core principles of combat performance evaluation, program development, physical performance testing, personalized adjustment and worst-case scenario planning can help greatly improve your combat fitness and mission readiness.

 
Good Training vs. Bad Training

Good Training vs. Bad Training

Special Tactics Staff
Training Methods, Small Unit Tactics

Quality tactical training is essential for keeping our military and law enforcement professionals at the top of their game. However, many training courses, schools and unit-level training exercises fail to achieve true, sustainable performance enhancement. This article provides a simple list of twelve questions to help leaders and students gauge the quality of tactical training programs.