AAR _ CCJA / Tom Perroni Carbine Course _ 21 March 09
This is my after action report of the one-day, M4 Tactical Carbine & Patrol Rifle Course taught by Tom Perroni at the Commonwealth Criminal Justice Academy (CCJA), Northern Virginia, on March 21st.
Bottom line up front: A triple-crown winner: Great training, great instruction, and a great price. You can’t beat this level of real-world tactical training for only $150.
There was a range of shooter experience in the class - - from relatively newcomers to the AR platform, to folks with recent real-world operational experience OCONUS. There were no prerequisites for the class.
The day lasted almost 12 hours and started with about two hours of classroom time going over basics. Tom provided a comprehensive handout with lots of good information on the AR covering disassembly, care, cleaning and marksmanship fundamentals. He also showed a cool x-ray view video produced by the FBI with slow motion operation of the AR.
Over 9 hours of range time followed, well into the hours of darkness:
Some of the classroom material may be a little too basic for most anyone who has any experience at all with the AR; but the range work compensates for that in spades, and pushed the limits for an open-enrollment course without any prerequisites - - it was continuous hi-speed, fairly-advanced tactics & training.
There were up to 4 Instructors on hand at any one time.
We started out with BZO sight-in at ~25yds on paper targets. Tom teaches to sight-in iron BUIS, and co-witness red dots afterwards; but adds that his way is a way, and not the way. Some teach to sight in the red dot sight first, and then sight in the BUIS separately, and see how they match up.
We shot all steel targets from this point forward - - some plate (‘lollypop’) targets, some USPSA/IDPA-style steel.
After BZO, we did a little of everything: we started with ‘walk-back’ drills with 2 shots on steel from 25yds to ~150yds. to get warmed up. We did the usual transition drills (carbine to pistol), and malfunction/reload drills that you would normally expect in a basic carbine class; but then, we did a lot of advanced stuff that really pushed us out of our comfort zone: We then ran box drills and ‘snake’ shooting-on-the move drills around big plastic barrels. There were four barrels that were lined up ~5’ apart in a straight line heading down range. The shooter would engage the target with a constant rate of fire while navigating the barrels (pass one on the left the next on the right, etc.) down the range, then back up the range walking backwards.
We also did a lot of shooting from cover, shooting strong side/support side (Tom likes single-point slings, and did successfully show their main advantage of easily switching from strong side to support side), shooting around and through an old Suburban Tom uses for his Executive/Personal Security Escort courses (..which, by the way, was bullet-free at the beginning of the course, but now needs a little Bondo in one spot on the rear panel - - oops. I’m still amazed that the rear-seat window panel survived unscathed)
We did Break Contact/Peel back drills, which are pretty-advanced training drills in anyone’s book. We also did ambush/vehicle egress drills from the Suburban. Really cool. I really learned how much I didn’t know, and that working in/out/around vehicles sure looks a lot easier in the movies.
Building good habit patterns, all shooting started with verbal commands from an instructor; e.g., “contact front/left/right!”; with commands repeated by the shooter - - team effort focus.
Finally, as darkness set in, we did low light and no-light shooting with both the long guns and the secondaries. I’ve taken low light training with a handgun, but this was my first time shooting carbine at night with a weapon-mounted light. It was interesting to see the sight picture ‘white-out’ for a second or two as the light reflects off the muzzle blast. It was my first time experiencing that, and it would definitely be a consideration for quick follow-up shots in a home defense scenario. That was worth the price of the course to me, right there.
All in all, I conservatively shot about 600 rounds of carbine and about 150 rounds of pistol…most shooters shot considerably more, I believe.
Miscellaneous notes:
Physical fitness. Some of the breaking contact / peel back drills were physically demanding. We had a couple of folks in class dragging a bit, and comment about their (lack of) aerobic fitness. My legs were pretty sore the next day. It is definitely good to work up a little before taking training with wind sprints (or some similar aerobic training), and leg presses / stair climber work.
We had one slight injury with a band-aid level scratch from a piece of something. Not positive where it came from, but maybe a splash-back from a target – just a guess). Very minor; but a good lesson learned, nonetheless: Eyepro is mandatory.
Another personal opinion: Electronic earpro should be mandatory, especially in a course like this where verbal movement and control commands are so important. In between scenarios, those with low-tech plugs were somewhat comical in the way they yelled while everyone else engaged in normal conversation. (Sorry, Alex - - didn’t mean to ‘out’ you J. P.S., Alex was one of the better shooters out there - - he really made the steel ring).
Tom and his assistant instructors were always open to comments and solicited feedback from the class at every opportunity to make the training better. He was very professional and never said a disparaging word or ‘talk down’ to a student at any time. He never ‘kicked back’ and kept fully engaged the whole time we were out there.
My equipment: Primary: Colt LE6921 lower with a Commando SBR upper (11.5”); LMT SOPMOD stock; Aimpoint T-1 Micro in a GG&G QD mount; Vickers/BlueForce padded 2-point sling. Ammo: Surplus Radway Green & Guat 5.56. All ran great - - not a single issue all day. (P.S., during the classroom portion, Tom instructed on the proper lube of the AR, and had lube handy for those who needed it. - - this surely contributed to the fact that there was NO interruption in training at all, for the entire day, for maintenance issues). My Secondary: a Les Baer 1911/.45 in a BladeTech kydex holster using Fed Am Eagle ammo. Only had one problem: one Tripp Research Cobra mag choked with a stuck follower. (I was the odd man out, with one other shooter having a 1911 . . the predominant secondaries were polymer, with lots of Glocks on hand).
Overall, CCJA and Tom Perroini is a well-kept training secret in the Northern Virginia area . . . I’ll definitely sign up to train with Tom again, anyday.
AAR: Perroni's Tactical Training Academy
This was a one day basic carbine course to teach the shooter how to fight with a carbine.
Well on a whime i decided to sign up for this course to check Tom's( Tom Perroni )
facility. I think i signed up about 5 days before this course took place.
I really did not know what to expect from this since it was a basic course, i was just trying to get some trigger time with my new aimpoint.
Well the class went about 12 hours and i can say i got my moneys worth.
Class Room:
The day started at 9:00am at the class room in Fredricksburg, Va. There were staff into's and each of his staff members gave a breif bio on themselves. The class progressed quickly with a review of fire arms safety and then a review of how to field strip and lubricate your rifle.
Tom described how and why he and his staff do what they do the range and all questions by the students were answered. There were 12 people in the class with all ranges of experience, from begginer to been there done that.
Range:
The range was about ten miles out side of Fredricksburg and is a 800 acre farm which lets you shoot out to 500 yrds. We started with zeroing of your rifle at 25 yrds then 50 yrds.
The range session progressed quickly with a version of a walk back drill, then led into box drills, serpentine drills, strong hand and weak hand shooting from barricades.
Everything was done safely and there was a great instructor to student ratio.
Overall:
I was impressed by Tom and his staff and have nothing but good things to say. I wish them great success in the future. If you live in or near Va. You should check them out.
I am sure i left some things out, but if you read this and have any questions i will be glad to answer them.
Larry.
