How a Non-Gun Guy Is Getting Trained to Defend

How a Non-Gun Guy Is Getting Trained to Defend

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My name is Ken. I was born in 1958 and I live in Alpine Utah. I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when I was 18 and served a full-time mission for the LDS Church in Italy for 2 years. I am happily married to Pam now for over 30 years and I have 6 wonderful children and 3 (so far) beautiful grandchildren. I am not a writer. I have never done anything like this.
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At the time of this writing I still do not know exactly how I am going to get this “published” on the internet for anyone else to see but I know it is possible and I feel very strongly that I need to do this. If this is not the proper way to get this experience out please let me know what is the proper way. I am convinced this will be helpful to many but the writing itself may not be pretty. I am sure that my mind will go much faster than my fingers will type. I will try to re-read all of what I write and expect my spell checker to be overworked but I already know it will not be perfect and to me it will be no big deal. I hope it doesn’t bother you too much.
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With this I intend to write about my experiences with the personal defense training I have been receiving from DOA Tactical (www.doatactical.com) out of St. George, Utah. My greatest desire with this blog is to help other people who are similar to me come to the realization that they too need to be prepared to defend themselves and their families in hard times, that I personally am convinced are coming in the near future.
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In the past, I have never been a “gun guy” or what some people call a “prepper” (someone who feels an active urgency to prepare for “the last days” or for the possible coming financial or societal collapse). As a member of the LDS Church however we have long been counseled from Church Leadership to prepare ourselves for potential hard times. Future hard times could come in many different possible forms; threat from enemy foreign countries, weather related or other natural disasters to name just a few. With the current global economic volatility, it is obvious that we are all precariously vulnerable to financial setbacks individually or worse if our nation’s economic situation does not recover or change its direction quickly.
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Although I have been fortunate throughout my working life to be gainfully employed almost non-stop since I was 14, within the last 2 years I had the scary experience of being out of work and looking for a job at a time when good jobs were not easy to find. Gratefully I have a wife who is devotedly obedient to the counsel we receive from our Church Leadership to be prepared for hard times. Over our 30 year marriage she has been very diligent in carefully obtaining a supply of food and household items in anticipation of potential hard times. Just a year and a half ago we lived 6 months on that supply without the need to ask for financial help from our church or from family as I sought employment. I did obtain a small loan from a friend for an immediate pressing obligation but we have since repaid that debt. I am very, very grateful to my Heavenly Father for the counsel we received to be prepared and for a wife who obeyed that counsel. It truly came in very handy at that very crucial time.
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Since that time I have felt a pressing sense of urgency to replace what we used and to continue, to an even greater degree, our preparations for further hard times that may come. Pam and I decided that she would take on the task of organizing the food supply and household items for us and our children who live close by. My responsibility is to prepare for family protection and security and any physical equipment we might need to stay safe, warm, or mobile to work through any potential hard times, and be able to provide for a future. On my preparation list I thought it would be prudent to get a few extra shells of buck shot for my shot gun just in case I ever needed to bag a pheasant, duck or goose to eat. I also wanted to get some extra .22 Caliber Long Rifle bullets for my little Ruger 10/22 rifle for use or barter. During the time that I was in the process of finding the best price for ammo I came to the very disturbing realization about 2 specific concerns:
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1) Many of my friends and acquaintances laughed at my efforts to obtain an emergency supply of food and stuffs. It really started to get to me when they would say things like, “Well, if anything really bad does happens and the stores do actually run out of food I know where I can go to get some, ha ha.” Although you never know how you will act at the time of a real emergency, I can tell you that I am not going to feel too charitable if someone comes asking for my family’s food, especially if that person had just as much of an opportunity to be prepared as I had, but chose to ignore the counsel.

And, 2) As I started to become more aware and knowledgeable about guns, ammo, and our laws governing guns and ammo it became clear to me that there are many within this country that would rather the normal citizen not have access to guns or ammo. Before this time I was blissfully unaware of those who want to change the laws in this country so that the normal law-abiding citizen cannot purchase, own, or use a gun or a rifle. I’ve learned that many would love to do away with the rights guaranteed us through the 2nd Amendment. Thus, I started becoming more and more interested in taking advantage of my 2nd Amendment Rights while I still had the ability to do so.
My job also has me going into some pretty sketchy neighborhoods late in the evening to interview students throughout the year and so I had already been contemplating for quite awhile obtaining a pistol for personal defense. When I saw that guns and ammo prices were going up quickly and that many political people were putting forth different bills that would limit or eliminate my right to “keep and bear arms”, I decided it was the time to go ahead and exercise my right to purchase a pistol.
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My first pistol was a Springfield Armory XDm 3.8” Bi-Tone Compact 9mm. I loved it. It felt good in my hand and it looked really cool. I figured that since I had some experience with shot guns and small rifles I would be able to learn to use it properly on my own. I picked a 9mm pistol because I wanted both my wife and I to be able to shoot it accurately. A 9mm has less recoil than a .40 or .45 making it easier to shoot it and return to the target to shoot again. I figured that as long as my wife and I took the time to become very accurate it would be able to serve its purpose. I read a few articles on-line about handling and shooting a pistol safely. Pam and I took it to the range a couple of times and we shot it pretty well, but not great. Quickly I became very concerned that we might not be using it properly or aiming it correctly, and I did not want to start right from the beginning to develop bad habits. I needed to get some serious training.
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To determine where to get the proper training I asked some people I met at the range. I also asked a few friends and family members and I looked on-line. I found that there is A TON of training options out there. Some seem too cheap or inexpensive to give me the confidence that they will do for me what I need them to do. Others seem very, very expensive or are much too far away for me to be able to access them practically or regularly.
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I was very thorough in the search for the right training options. Through a military friend of mine I finally heard out about DOA Tactical. Their resume was huge. These guys have lots of military training and experience. They have had long and active careers as U.S. Marines. They are trained in advanced marksmanship and shooting skills. They have had to put that training to good use through several live fire/return fire missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. They now do contract training for military personnel and law enforcement agencies, but their real passion as a company is to provide the highest quality training possible to the normal citizen like you and me for a price most of us can afford. Then they want to give us the ability to return repeatedly to perfect those skills for FREE! I could not find that value anywhere else. >>
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This is the reason that I feel so strongly a desire to tell as many people as I can what is available to anyone who wants it. Yes, this is absolutely and unabashedly an attempt to promote DOA’s training to everyone because everyone needs to beware of DOA Tactical. If the time ever does come where “the **** hits the fan” then you will want to be able to keep yourself and your family safe. Having this knowledge will give you the confidence to be able to always take care of yourself. I also believe that the more people who know how to handle a gun, and have the training to really protect themselves will be a huge value, not just to their own family, but to their neighborhood and their community as well.
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If you go out to their web site you will find this list of training options:
1. Concealed Firearms Permit
2. Defensive Pistol
3. Long Distance Sniper
4. AR15 Tactics
5. Weapons & Tactics
6. NRA Classes
I have already taken the first 3 Classes and intend to take them all, repeatedly. They are very aware of the importance of offering this training at a good price so that anyone who wants to take a class can afford to. My wife and I both have our concealed carry permits now and are continuing to improve our pistol knowledge and skills through taking the Defensive Pistol Class regularly. Below is a description as you would find on their website of the various Defensive Pistol classes, after which I describe my experiences in these classes:>>
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“LEVEL 1 CLASS: DEFENSIVE PISTOL>>
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The back-bone of all Defensive Weapons Systems is, the Concealed Pistol. At DOA Tactical, this is the gateway course to all of our Comprehensive Defensive techniques and philosophy. This building-block course will introduce to both the beginner and advanced shooters our unique and field-proven systems.
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Requirements: Your preferred firearm, 2 magazines minimum, 250 rounds ball (range) ammo, ear and eye protection, strong side hip holster and belt, plus protective vest ( if desired or required).
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Details: 90 minutes of theory in a classroom to prepare the shooter for the most effective Defensive Shooting Method available, as well as the fundamentals of strong hand presentation, safety, weapon familiarity, basic threat assessment, stance, breathing, reloads, common malfunctions and more.
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After the Classroom there will be 4 hours of range time. We will then put the shooter through exercises that will utilize all of these elements and show the immediate results of our unique methods. We guarantee our shooters will consistently hit targets from center-mass size, down to golf balls, regardless of their prior shooting skill level.”
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I was skeptical at first about the “guaranteed” results, but once I decided to get my training from DOA Tactical I invited a couple of my friends who were also starting to get interested in becoming trained in the use of their pistols, to participate with me. The cost of the training was $250 a piece but because we were able to get a group together for the training they gave us all a $50 discount. They didn’t need to do that, but they offered it and we took it gratefully.
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In the 90 minute class session they taught us how to have a personal defensive attitude and awareness. Up until then I was very concerned that I would ever have the ability to really use my handgun even if the situation required it. Even though I have not had to use it, and hope that I never will, I certainly have a different mental preparedness than before and am grateful for it. They emphasize understanding that a person who is willing to kill you or hurt you or yours for your money, possessions or just because you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, is behaving no different than a deranged animal. There is no reasoning or discussing or negotiating with them. Once you get the right “mind set” then you can start to prepare yourself to act in a trained, muscle-memory-way to protect yourself. I know that I think differently now than I did before the training. I have thought it through in my mind enough to know how to react in a given situation. I know that I will be in control at that time and not be under the control of someone else, which was the most important thing I wanted to get out of the class.
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Once we got to the range and started practicing the actual techniques, they were very precise in their observation of our movements. They made sure that each and every student performed the steps in detail exactly each and every time. Before we ever fired a live round we repeated the steps over 100 times. Muscle memory, muscle memory, muscle memory. Now the training had provided me with the next most important thing, that of knowing EXACTLY what I needed to do for practice once I left the training to continue to become more and more proficient with the pistol. Now I know how to practice correctly. The old adage that my father taught me when I first started playing sports comes back to me here, “It’s NOT just ‘practice that makes perfect’ it’s really ‘perfect practice makes perfect.’”
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There was another very important discovery I made in that first training class. I discovered that I needed to purchase a different gun. At the very beginning of the class session as we were getting to know each other John and Brent of DOA Tactical went around the room making sure everyone had their guns unloaded and the slide was back and chamber open. As they did so, I noticed that they commented on the different types of pistols the students had. So I asked the question that everyone wanted to know, “What handgun would you recommend to someone if they could get whatever they wanted?” The answer was a Glock, specifically a Glock 19 (The Glock Compact 9 mm). When I asked why? the answer was because it works. When you point it properly at a target it shoots accurately every time. It is a workhorse. It is proven. There is nothing on the Glock that will get in your way. When you really need it to fire when in an emergency, it will fire. My concern was that it did not have a safety feature. John held up his right index finger and said, “This is my safety feature. If my finger is on the trigger it will fire. If my finger is not on the trigger it will not fire. Don’t ever put your finger on the trigger if you do not intend to fire it, EVER!!! But don’t ever draw your gun if you do not intend to fire it, EVER!!!”
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He went on to explain that guns with safeties built into them can also be a liability when needing to be able to draw your weapon and fire in a high-stress live situation. It made sense to me, but I figured that was why I was taking the training so that I would know how to handle my gun in high-stress live fire situations. The Springfield XDm 9mm that I had has a “grip safety” so that the gun will not fire without someone gripping the handle of the gun properly and intentionally. I didn’t see how that could ever be a problem. Of course I would grip my gun properly before trying to fire. How hard could it be, right?
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Well, John’s point was made in a striking manner that very day. At the range after we had been practicing, shooting, and being led through different drills, they had us do a drill that proved his point. In this drill they had a silhouette target of a “bad guy” with a gun down range about 15 yards. They had us stand facing the target and then they put 2 people in front of us, between us and the “bad guy” target, as if we were just a small group of friends talking in a mall. The scenario was; what if a crazed someone came into the mall with a gun pointed at passersby? What should we do? In the drill I was to look up, notice he had a gun and then while reaching with my left arm to pull my “friends” behind me out of the way, I was to draw my concealed weapon with my strong side right hand and shoot the “bad guy” before he gets a shot off.
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They had us practice in slow-motion at first until we were comfortable with what we were trying to do. Then he had us go live. On my first live speed try, as I pulled my gun from my holster, in my attempt to move quickly, I pulled the gun from my holster without gripping the handle completely up at the top, thus not depressing the grip safety and therefore when I pulled the trigger nothing happened. I pulled the trigger 2 more times. Nothing. John just said, “You’re dead”. This very same thing happened to a couple of other students that had various types of safeties. That night I put my XDm on KSL.COM and as soon as I had it sold I bought a Glock 19. I love it. I have repeated the class and have never had a problem with it. I am very comfortable with it. Now that I have some training under my belt and I have the proper respect for the gun, I am not concerned about it not having a built-in safety. In fact, now “I never leave home without it.”
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One final note on the Level 1 Defensive Handgun training: By the end of that day, I was able to draw and shoot golf ball-sized targets repeatedly in milliseconds. They would put out several golf ball-sized targets, spread out in front of us at varying distances, and at varying angles then tell us which one to shoot. We would draw, shoot, re-holster the gun and then they’d yell out the next target. You had to react immediately without thinking, and shoot without hesitating. It was absolutely amazing what we were able to accomplish in such a short amount of time, or should I say what THEY were able to do for us in such a short amount of time. As I said earlier, going into the training I was skeptical at best, but I am definitely a believer now and I am living proof of what they can do.
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I hope you enjoyed reading this blog on my first gun training experience. If you have any questions or comments feel free to either post them here or email me directly at AlpineCarrier@gmail.com. I encourage you all to go to www.DOATactical.com to learn more about this type of training from them. I will follow up with a blog about the LEVEL 2 CLASS: ADVANCED DEFENSIVE PISTOL in a couple of days. Take care, be safe, be prepared, and get some training. Ken