33 Years of Preparation

Training Training and Tactics
1

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It was the summer of 1979 and my new wife and I had retired early for the evening. We were renting a ranch-style house and our personal safety was the furthest thing from our minds. We hit the bedroom while it was still light outside, with the windows left open. We had also just adopted a dog from the local shelter, a shepherd/collie mix which was in the air conditioned bedroom, behind the closed door with us. Since we were unsure of the dog’s house training, we had a piece of plywood we would use to block her in the kitchen when we weren’t home. The kitchen was on the opposite side of the house from the bedrooms, where we kept the piece of plywood.

So off to the hay we went, windows open, no lights on and both cars in the garage. With the AC humming and the dog in the bedroom with us, my wife woke me up just before midnight.

“Did you leave the hallway light on?” she asked.

I lifted my head off the pillow, and sure enough, I could see the light around the edge of the door. The dog was at the door growling, but in my indifference to such indicators, I discounted it as a new dog in a new home. Not thinking much of the situation, I told her that I may have hit the hallway light switch on the way in earlier that evening. I got up and opened the door to find not only the hallway light on, but the piece of plywood placed across the door from the outside.

In those micro-seconds that my brain was processing what I was seeing, I began to hear noises from the other side of the house. A chill ran up my spine – we were experiencing a home invasion and I was totally unprepared to deal with it in any way.

Up until that point in my life, I had little exposure to firearms and shooting. I had an old Lefever 16 gauge shotgun buried in the bedroom closet, and by the time I found it and loaded it, we would have been long dead if that was the intruders’ intent. It was at this point in my life I became interested in firearms, competitive shooting, home security and learning the skills needed to survive such scenarios.

My wife and I were lucky that night – the intruders saw a home with no lights on, no cars in the driveway and open windows. We were lucky that they (evidently) had no intention of confronting the occupants or that they were violent. We figured the piece of plywood was placed across the bedroom door because they heard the dog growling. The chills still run up my spine to this day knowing that these intruders were at our bedroom door while we were asleep, oblivious to their presence and totally unprepared to deal with them. Things could have turned out very different that night, and thus began my quest to do all I can to prevent such a thing from happening again.

Fast forward 33 years…

September 13, 2012, 12:42 AM. I am sound asleep and my iPhone rings. Awoken from a sound sleep, I pick up the phone and look at the display – it is ADT calling. Before I could answer the call drops and the display of my wife’s iPhone lights up the bedroom – it is ADT and they are calling to inform of a breach at window 6 on the lower level. A Walther PPS and a Surefire 6P light are in my hands within seconds and I go to the bedroom door with my passive detection skills on hyper drive from the rush of adrenaline. The preparations we had made, the lessons we had learned and “programming” I had worked on for the last 33 years was in full play.

While I stood at the bedroom door listening, my wife stayed on the phone with ADT. As I listen, I can hear no noise and see no lights coming from the first floor that we normally don’t leave on. With the Walther in my right hand and the Surefire in my left, I slowly make my way down the staircase, slicing the pie as I go.

Once I arrive at a preplanned spot on the first floor near the base of the steps, with my back to the wall I continue my passive sweep - listening, looking, feeling what my intuition is telling me. At this point, I have tripped passive sensor number 2 on the first floor and the interior siren begins wailing. It was at this point I consciously realized that the siren was not sounding when we received the call.

ADT informs my wife, who remains in the bedroom, that the sensor is tripped.

“Jim are you OK?” she calls down the steps.

“Yes” is my short response as I make my way to the lower level doorway, which is closed and locked, just as we had left it.

I reach the doorway and once again, listen. There is still no physical indication of an intrusion, but I also realize that could change very quickly once I open the door to the staircase. Gripping the Surefire with two fingers of my left hand, I reach over and gently crack open the door.

Standing at the top of the steps, with the door cracked open a few inches, I listen and I feel. If a door or window is open, I know that there will be a flow of air up the stairs and through the door, completing a convection current up through the open second floor bedroom window. I stand there listening, looking and feeling – the lower level is silent and illuminated only by a LED night light with no signs of cool, incoming air. I reach around the side of the door opening and flip on the light switch, prepared to hear any disturbance that might come. Once again, I am greeted with silence and after a few moments, I begin my descent down the stairs.

Using the same strategy as coming down the first set of steps from the second floor, I slice the pie and make it to my preplanned spot that puts my back to the wall and gives me a nearly full view of the lower level. At this point I trip the lower level motion detector, and another siren begins its wailing. It’s funny how I hardly even notice it and how the piercing sound coming from it seems dull, as being occluded from my hearing. It is from this position that I have view of window number 6, which I have “hardened” because of its vulnerability at ground level. For someone to come through that window, there would have to be a major disturbance to it that can be heard and seen. Window #6 is secure.

I do a final obligatory sweep of the lower level, checking the other window. One other time in the 4 years since we moved into this house and had the ADT system installed, we had a false alarm for a fire detection. Luckily my wife was home when that call came in to confirm that there was nothing burning inside our home.

Post Event Analysis

I’ve spent the last few days reviewing the event and how we handled it. Luckily, it was a “non-event” in terms of an actual defensive scenario but a great exercise to see how our planning played out.

In comparison to 33 years ago, we went from zero preparation/zero skills to having learned how to keep our home secure and having an instantly executable plan of action ready and rehearsed. Though my handling of the event could use improvement, I feel confident that our preparations put us in a much better position to keep ourselves reasonably secure.

A few observations;

• Once I knew an “event” was unfolding, my mental conditioning and planning kicked in and was put in motion without conscious thought of what I should do next.

• Though I didn’t consciously think about it at the moment, I think I realized before I went down the first flight of steps that there was a high probability of a false alarm because the interior siren would have been sounding if there was an actual breach. But, I wasn’t about to place all my trust in an electronic device.

• Auditory exclusion – it really does happen.

• Because of the time spent on the range and shooting IDPA matches with it, the Walther felt (feels) like an extension of my hand. Zero conscious thought was given to its handling and the various positions I used, from close retention to extended arm.

• Because of the lighting we leave on every night, the Surefire was only used for illuminating areas not covered by that lighting.

• I’ve practiced the Harries, FBI and neck-index flashlight techniques - I seem to have defaulted to a cross between the neck-index and FBI in this case. If I had to fire under stress, I’m not certain I would have done so single-handed or reverted to the Harries. Perhaps that’s something I need to spend more time on.

• Though it seems to work well, we are now planning some additional upgrades to the ADT system.

• If at any time I had detected an actual intrusion, my plan would have been to carefully retreat to the second floor to assume a planned/rehearsed defensive position while having ADT put the call in to the police.

• ADT stayed on the phone with my wife, constantly asking for updates – especially as I tripped the motion detectors. They were ready to place the call to the police had I signaled my wife to do so or if my wife heard sounds of a struggle. I have to admit, it was very reassuring having that resource while the event was unfolding.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to offer your comments and suggestions – I remain a lifelong student of the techniques of self-preservation.

2

Interesting story. Glad to hear it turned out to be a false alarm.

3

Why did you leave the safety of your bedroom, that I “assume” has only one entry and exit point, to clear your house by yourself? In 33 years have you taken a tactics class? You don’t know what was down there, wait for the cops. They’ll clear the home in force and you can say safe in your bedroom with the wife from a position of cover and concealment. That being said, if you have children in the house rock on and secure them best you can.

4

Glad you were prepared and that everything turned out OK, but I have to agree with Apricot. Unless you are securing other loved ones, lock the door, tell ADT to fire the sirens, and wait for the cops.

Think of it this way: Literally going out and looking for trouble leaves your wife unprotected and increases the chances she will be a widow. Nothing in your house is worth it.

(And just so you know, the tone I’m striving for would be akin to giving one of my friends a big hug and then looking them in the eye while talking to them in a very low voice. This is not meant to scold you or talk down to you)

5

Interesting read. Looks like you take security seriously, which gives you a leg up over most of the sheep out there. But as a LEO for about 23 years now, I have to agree with the earlier posts. Your putting yourself at risk by searching a house by yourself(even your own), its a far better idea to hunker down and call your local PD. Lets say you do discover several intruders downstairs, and like a lot of crooks they are loaded on meth. They won’t be very impressed with you pointing a gun at them. If they start moving, ignoring your commands now what? Just something to think about.

6

Very good write-up! It’s making me re-view my own home security setup.

7

Agreed.

OP, I’m about to sound mean. I don’t mean to piss you off or belittle you - but when these kinds of learning experiences take place, it helps if they sting a little to help you remember them. At least it does for me. The lessons I’ll never forget are the ones that were accompanied by hundreds of pushups, low crawling around a building, or whatever. Since we can’t do that here, harsh language will have to suffice, unless you’re willing to do pushups on the honor system:D I have personal (family) experience with this very same situation, and but for the grace of God nobody was killed - but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

You fucked up bad, starting with

Awoken from a sound sleep, I pick up the phone and look at the display – it is ADT calling. Before I could answer the call drops and the display of my wife’s iPhone lights up the bedroom – it is ADT and they are calling to inform of a breach at window 6 on the lower level.

Your perimeter intrusion detection system just tripped. You want to go see what happened before you call for help? Fuck that. Trust your instruments, especially since it was a window sensor that was tripped - perimeter sensors hardly EVER false alarm. Your wife should have said, “We’re OK, and are upstairs. Send the police now! There will be a house key on the ground on the east side of the house on a green lightstick.”

Then she should have grabbed the house key you keep on a hook in the bedroom with a lightstick attached to it (HINT.), cracked the lightstick, and tossed it out your bedroom window. While she was doing this, YOU are covering the stairs. You are now in an elevated position with only one access - a textbook fatal funnel, and a HUGE position of advantage. If someone wants to get to you, they have to advance in a 6’ wide space, up stairs, while you fling lead at them. All you have to do is wait. Ray Charles could do it at this point.

Then -

With the Walther in my right hand and the Surefire in my left, I slowly make my way down the staircase, slicing the pie as I go.

You had a two-pronged test at this point, and you flunked it miserably. A) Did you HAVE to go down there, to defend a child or someone on the first floor? No. BZZZZZZZZZZt. and B) Have you learned how to do this and done it for real? If not,

You quite literally have NO idea how stupid going downstairs into the face of an unknown threat was. Remember what I said above about the fatal funnel? If the intruder(s) have half a brain, they have someone watching that stairway, and you creeping down it, telegraphing your movement with your light, is going to end up like Nintendo Duck Hunt, with Canonshooter playing the part of the duck. Let the cops do their job. If anyone with a bad attitude and a weapon was down there, you’d have had a sucking chest wound and an unprotected wife upstairs for no reason at all.

If your alarm system goes off, you let it go off and you let the alarm company roll the cops while you Alamo up, unless you HAVE to rescue a child or another innocent person. But before you even think about doing that, you need some serious, serious professional training, including force-on-force - which will probably cause you to think about it even harder. A couple of days of FoF will convince you that the solution I proposed above is your best chance of survival, times ten.

There are damn few people who would have a chance of successfully solving a situation like that, and if you were one of them, you’d know. Don’t fucking do that again.

Takeaways -

  1. you did everything wrong after installing the alarm system. Learn from this experience.
  2. If the alarm system goes off, you Alamo and let them roll the cops.
  3. your wife should be armed as well as a last resort if they make it through you.
  4. GET SOME GODDAMN TRAINING.

Now - I’m going to tell the personal story that causes me to have such strong opinions on this.

About 8 years ago, my grandparents were sitting in their living room watching TV about 11:00 PM. As was their habit, they had armed the alarm system after they were done going in and out for the evening. Suddenly, the alarm started SCREAMING (and I do mean screaming - I added a 150dB siren that required its own power supply on their system). My grandpa, normally a pretty sharp guy who kept a Glock 36 in the armrest of his recliner, got up, looked around the living room and kitchen, didn’t see anything wrong, and shut off the alarm system…then told the alarm company not to roll the cops, and sat back down and started watching TV again.

About an hour later, he got up to go to bed. As he went down the hallway toward the back of the house, he felt a cold draft coming down the hall (this was in February). Now he thought something might be wrong, so he went back and got his Glock and headed back to the back of the house again.

He found the source of the draft. The bathroom window on the back of the house was pried open about three inches, the screen was hanging by a thread after having been cut out, and the window sill was covered with blood. Grandpa gets a clue at this point and calls the cops.

The cops show up in about ten seconds. Because, you see, Grandpa’s house is about 1 minute from the cop shop, and about 2 minutes’ drive (or a 15 minute run through the woods) from a maximum-security state prison. And there had been an escape that night. The assholes had REALLY torn themselves up getting over the razor wire in the process.

When the cops got there, they cleared the house and basement, and the detached (unlocked, of course…old people…) garage. They found a blood trail across the back yard and up to the living room window, where the assholes had seen they were dealing with a couple of old people (drapes not drawn, and no motion detector lights), whereupon said assholes proceeded to the detached garage where they got into and bled all over the inside of the car looking for the keys, then left a pile of bloody paper towels that they had used to try to stop the flow of blood. Then, they went to the toolbox in the garage and got a big pair of tin snips, went to the bathroom window, cut the screen, and then used the tin snips to pry the window open. When the alarm went off, they dropped the tin snips and hauled ass, and were eventually caught a couple of hours later hiding in a poolhouse in a woman’s backyard (dogs were going apeshit at the poolhouse when she let them out).

Now - imagine the outcome had there not been an alarm. Or, imagine the outcome had they stuck around for 60 seconds to see that Grandpa shut the thing off and didn’t even come look to see what had happened.

Two convicted killers, btw.

8

Not meaning to add to the pile-on but wanted to echo others’ comments. I’m nobody, but I’ve taken a few tactics courses. In one the instructor, with 20+ years in SF, related that the basics of his plan in the case of a home invasion:
[ol]
[li]Ensure his family was safe in the bedroom
[/li][li]Lock the door
[/li][li]Call the police
[/li][li]Verbally warn the intruder he was armed, police were en route, and that if they approached the bedroom they would be shot.
[/li][/ol]
The last thing you want to do is try clearing your house alone, he explained, unless you have to get to another family member, etc. He actually had one student get angry at him for this, saying something like ‘You’d let those dirtbags take all your stuff?’
‘It’s just stuff. It can be replaced.’, was his reply.

9

Adding to some of the good points that other people made, why did you choose a Walther PPS as your home defense gun? It is small and easier to conceal than many other handguns, but that hardly matters with home defense. I would at least use a more capable firearm.

10

Good replies, everyone. I learned something today.

11

This brings up a overlooked topic. Everyone on this site post all the time to new members and old that trainig is important, and it is. But the vast majority of open enrollment classes offered are for marksmanship but are woefully thin on tactics.

12

Not trying to pile on, but I will echo the sentiments of everyone else in this thread. I have had training on home defense/room clearing from a highly respected, extremely knowledgeable instructor. One of my big take aways from the class was, and I quote, “clearing a structure by yourself is fucking stupid. Don’t do it if it can be avoided.” Having to get to a loved one in another part of the home is an extenuating circumstance that would lead to leave my “safe room,” but other than that I’m staying put until the police arrive if I think there is a chance someone is in my house. Let them come to me, and I have the advantage of covering the point of entry from a concealed position.

Keep in mind that a bad guy doesn’t have to even know the layout of your house in the dark. All he has to do is wait in the dark in a concealed postion and listen or watch for you moving through the structure. You have to take in a lot of information and process it across all of your home. Even though you know it better than him, he’s got a big advantage over you.

13

And most people need that marksmanship training first.

14

He said he shoots it well. Works for me.

15

First, good on you for taking your self defense seriously. We have yet to hear your background or training experience, so I won’t dispute any action you took until I know that. It sounds like you’ve had at least some training, so good on you for taking that first step, just take what others have written as some constructive criticism on your path to being proficient in your defense and well being.

I’m not sure who Jeff Franze is exactly, but I’m fairly certain I attended the same class that he spoke of, and that quote (and the material we went over) was eye opening IRT the tactics involved in clearing a structure by yourself. The knowledge that I gained there really made me understand WHY the instructor made that quote. Being a Type A individual, like most gun guys are, it’s hard to sit back and wait and not get the bad guy yourself…trust me, I still struggle with the thought of that…but it’s a better proposition.

Just some anecdotal evidence to support mine and the other posts here. Shortly after that class I mentioned above, I attended a low/no light shoothouse in which we used airsoft pistols in a FoF exercise at the end of the class. I brought my brother-in-law for this class as well. He has no formal training, other than what I’ve passed along to him, but he’s a good shooter and at least has the basics. He was in this (fully furnished) shoothouse with me for this exercise where we were pretty much “hunting” each other down as if it were a HD scenario.

I was using all these tactics that I’d learned over the years, both light discipline/techniques and room clearing techniques, and I mean I was really working it…or so I thought. I had just come out of a room and into a hallway that opened into a foyer where the “front door” was located, kitchen separated by a short wall to the left of the door, and an entrance to a “living room” opposing the door (there was more to this room/structure than just this, but that’s what is important for now).

I had seen a flash of light, so I knew someone was somewhere on that side of the structure. Without describing how I broke the room down into red zones, I made my way to the right side of the living room, taking concealment near a china cabinet at the edge of the entrance. Using lighting techniques, my plan was to cross the entrance while IDing whether someone was in the living room or not (I had decided that entering that space was more risky than crossing until I had cleared the left side and into the kitchen). Trying to take all this sensory data in, I peeked around the china cabinet, turned light on, light off, and was about to move when all of a sudden I felt that sting I was hoping I wouldn’t have to feel in the exercise. My brother-in-law was hiding behind a couch and just enough in the shadows that I didn’t see him when I had my light on, and tagged me blindly (shot at the light and not necessarily me).

Now, I really blame myself because I did make a mistake with my light/movement discipline/timing, but that’s the point. It only takes one mistake to get tagged. You can do all the right things when “hunting” someone, but the person who gets a bead on the other guy first will usually win. Its much easier to get a bead on someone when you are static, from a position of cover/concealment, and they are moving trying to find you! I learned from my mistake, but above that learned that training is no guarantee for success, especially when clearing a structure is involved.

Just food for thought, and hope that puts it into perspective.

16

My sincere thanks to all for your input, it was the reality check I needed.

I left a secure position on the second floor - bad move, one I won’t do again.

I like the idea of the key on the lightstick, something I never thought of - thanks for offering that. What I need to figure out allowing the police entry is that I brace all doors every night. Call me over-the-top, but one of the vulnerabilities I see is someone kicking the door open and getting to us quickly - I brace the doors to slow them down and give me time to take up a defensive position. All the doors have been upgraded with long screws and HD hardware, but I know that will only slow someone down, not prevent them from getting in.

The PPS is my EDC and what was out that night. Since it is my EDC, I’ve spent plenty of time getting comfortable/competent with it. That said, I would do the second floor Alamo with a long gun.

Thanks again to all for your input - it is why I posted this here and only here.

17

Good on you for taking the advice in the spirit in which it was intended. And I like your thinking behind barring the doors, but perhaps you could fix the situation by adding security storm doors with good locks (and by good, I mean Abloy or Fichet). You’d be invulnerable to any kind of stealthy assault (within reason. If CAG is coming for you, you have bigger problems than a security storm door will fix) , but you could still toss a key out and have them unlock and enter normally. Or just add one to your front door and keep rocking with your other doors.

I have HEAVY steel security storm doors on all my exits, and since they open out, you’d play hell kicking one of them in. Of course, someone who was highly motivated could back a truck up quickly, throw a chain or tow strap around the bars, and rip it off the front of the house…but they’d still have to get past the attractive steel regular front door with a 3-point Fox-type lock on it. There ain’t a foot made that could kick this door in, and I would bet it would take four or five full-power strikes from something like this http://www.columbussupply.com/products/?productid=157 to even have a chance of getting through it. By that time, well…:smiley:

If you have this kind of threat level, or like me, you just think it’s fun/funny to harden the fuck out of your house, check into the 3m Security Films for the glass, too.

18

All but one door have heavy (but not as good as the one in your link) storm doors. I think someone would have a hard time getting them open without making somewhat of a racket. The one door without remains braced all the time.

One of the aspects we focused on when setting up the motion detectors was to provide maximum coverage on the main level. For someone to get past these would require taking out the entire system first. If the call from ADT included a report that any of the motions were tripped, there is no way I’m leaving my second floor stronghold and the 14.5" midlength* would be in-play.

*I’m working on a 11-87 build specifically for this purpose. I’ll post details in the SG forum when it’s done.

I guess in retrospect, the report of only a lower level window trip with nothing else is what prompted me to investigate. Anyone coming through that window gets nailed by a motion detector before their foot even hits the floor, then they need to get past multiple detectors if they come through the door at the top of the stairs on the main level. In other words, as long as the system has not malfunctioned, there is no way for any intruder to only trip just a window if they have actually entered the house. The system caught me quickly.

The lower level windows have been “hardened” so that basically, someone would have to completely destroy the window to get in. The sound of breaking glass and wood is hard to hide.

My “training” - I will include in this category everything that I consider educational on the topics of shooting, home security and personal safety;

  1. I’ve been a competitive shooter for over 30 years, including NRA Bullseye, Action Pistol and am currently active in IDPA. I’ve also dabbled in NRA high power with a SA M1A.

  2. I became a NRA certified pistol instructor about 20 years ago, but never used the certtification to train anyone else (my bad)

  3. I am an avid reader. My bookshelf has selections from Massad Ayoob, Bill Jordan and Ed McGivern (yes, old stuff), and various videos (Magpul, Janich, etc.). Much of my more recent reading has been on this site and any credible errornet sources.

  4. A few years ago I had the opportunity to attend a 2 day “summit” where multiple instructors came in for a series of 2-3 hour presentations (which included live fire instruction). The instructors included Michael Janich (blade), Rob Pincus, Southnarc and Chris Fry. It was a good experience, re-enforcing what I already knew and revealing how much I don’t know.

So, I certainly don’t consider myself an expert on any of these topics. I enjoy taking in a variety of information from multiple sources and deciding how to best apply it to my own needs and concerns.

FWIW, we live in a low crime area of a low crime state. The worst we usually hear about are burgulars hitting the high end neighborhoods - not about home invasions or assaults (though there have been a few publicized cases in NH since we moved here).

On a more light-hearted note, my wife always give me “that look” when I brace the doors before we retire for the evening.

“You’re not going paranoid on me, are you?” she’d ask, but perhaps only half joking.

“It’s easy to do, so why not?” is my reply, though wondering in the back of my mind if she has a point.

Since our event last week, she’s bracing the doors herself.

19

I like the alarm system that can hear intruders before they touch the house or your belongings, before they cross your property line.

20

To the OP, a lot of folks have ripped you a new one for doing an unnecessary one man clear. I agree that it is ill advised although there is little choice if you have little ones downstairs. There are so many unknowns and with your level of training/experience, that’s a very dangerous game to play. Competition does not make a gunfighter. You’ll never meet a squared away dude who thinks one man room clearing is anything but a last resort event.

Like everyone else has said, harden your home and in particular your bedroom. Make a plan and use that fatal funnel leading into your bedroom to YOUR advantage (corners can be your friend). I’m not going to write an essay on specifics as there are other threads with a lot of useful HD info.

On a positive note, while I’m not going to comment on your specific tactics, your response was definitely in the top few percentile of average homeowners. You had a plan (hopefully you have a better plan now) and you didn’t go full throttle into the unknown. Take care and stay safe.