Training – I’m the best!! No . . . REALLY . . . . Just Ask Me!

I was originally going to say that I was going to “tip-toe” into this topic. Hell with it, I’m to old to “tip-toe” any more, besides, when I do my feet hurt.

I have noticed a disquieting trend of late with in the “Instructor” (more on the quotes in a minute) community of a “my way or the highway” – “that other instructor sucks!!” attitude. Enough so that I feel the need to comment on it.

Let’s chat about the quotes above – what is an “Instructor” anyway?? Bottom line, it’s a person who shares HIS/HER knowledge with a “student” who is someone looking to learn from the “Instructor’s” knowledge or skill set. Period. End of Definition.

Is the value of a certain Instructor’s knowledge or skill higher than that of another’s? Nope. That is a decision to be made by the “student” – and NOT the instructor. Is the Instructor “better” than all other instructors? I suppose it depends on the size of their ego. Mine is pretty damn big – yet I certainly understand that other Instructors possess skill sets I do not. So, again, this evaluation of who is the best is best left in the hands of the students.

Does the Instructor possess a skill set so evolved that their techniques are simply “right” while everyone else’s is “wrong”? – see above . . . ego . . . head size . . . . manhood size . . . testosterone / estrogen level . . . . Again, the only one who can effectively evaluate whether the Instructor’s skill set that they are attempting to teach enhances the student’s skill set is . . . the student.

Over the past 40 years of learning gun handling from more instructors than I care to count, I have had many that I would list as “exceptional” . . . and many that I would list as “poor”. Yet, from each and every one I learned something – however small. Since I have been slogging through the NRA Instructor classes for the past 2 years, their primary goal for their instructor courses comes to mind – to teach the “knowledge, skill and attitude” to make the person an effective instructor. The most important of these? Attitude. As an Instructor I should be willing to learn from every situation, every mistake, every success, every failure and every other Instructor out there to further my own personal skill set. Nor is the student left out of this equation either – if their attitude is poor, their level of learning will also be poor.

And yet, today in the Instructor arena there seems to be more and more judging of other instructors by other instructors. It goes something like this: “They” do it wrong, “They” are unskilled. “They” will teach you poorly. While “I” will teach you the “right” way. “I” am a much better instructor. 

I suppose this is simply human nature. Heaven knows I am certainly judgmental, no denying that at all. And of all the skill sets a person can learn, the weapons handling certainly lends itself to chest thumpin’ testosterone drippin’ muscle flexing types. Yet for me, where things start to go sideways is when one Instructor starts to condemn another Instructor because they don’t do or teach things the “right” way. I do not see how this can serve the shooting community, the Instructor community or those of us who are life long students. In this instance, in this situation I will make an exception and clearly state my opinion of Instructors who participate in this behavior . . . .
. . . . they are wrong.

Training – Completed the NRA Basic Shotgun Instructor Course today!

And . . . . that’s a wrap!  I finished up the 2-day NRA Basic Shotgun Instructor course put on by Crawl – Walk – Run Firearms Training of Ames, Iowa today.  Darin was the T/C and did a great job.  This was my 3rd course from him.  I like his style of presentation.  He’s simply a great instructor to teach HOW to teach the NRA courses.  As for content, see my earlier post on the rifle course – all things are the same – busy, intense, lots of information . . .

So, next stop – Training Counselor training in Kansas City this September.  Really looking forward to that as well!!

Commentary – Life at the speed of “life”

There’s a myth among folks that, as you get older - “life will slow down”.  In your teens and twenties, who really cares.  You’re young, strong – ready to learn and make your mark on the world.

In your 30s and 40s – you are IN life;  work, children, children, children, work, work – miscellaneous “bumps and illnesses” – work, work, children . . . .  The road can seem endless at times, you are experiencing “Life at the speed of “life” “ in a very intimate and personal way.  And . . . . you hear about this mythical time when all will slow down and you begin to reap the harvest of your efforts – that mythical thing called “time”.  Time to sit on the porch, time to vacation, time to fish, hunt, camp – oh to only reach “that time in your life”.

Your 50s and 60s are spent in enlightenment – the realization that life will always be lived “at the speed of life”.  And, there is a bit of a dread that builds – what if I have to slow down – because of hearts or lungs or joints or sight – it can be a pretty disconcerting list, enough to force a person to loose focus on life and be concerned with “what if’s”.  Of course, life also takes care of that by throwing “little bundles” your way.  I received mine on Monday . . . . .

Please meet Miss Lucinda Richelle., her lovely mom and old-fart Grandpa.

       
Beautiful Grandma MrsBill and Grandma D as well as sisters and Da Daddy
       
She is a reminder that life has continued for millions of years – and will continue long after I’m dust.  She is a reminder of everything that is new and lovable and possible is the world that we live in.  And, she’s a reminder I’m not as old as I some days feel – probably only 10 years or so until her and gramps hit the “take your daughter to the range” day together.
Life simply happens at the speed of life – and some speed bumps are a very welcome thing indeed.

Quick Welcome to Janet

Welcome!  Please, stop by often and share your thoughts!  I will do my best to answer any questions you might have in a timely fashion!

Bill

Head in the Game – Chatted with the LT today

The LT popped up on my Facebook Chat this morning. Spring fighting season has started. He had his first “dance” last week – his crew sent a few more on to their 72 virgins, took no casualties. A good day.

But then, for too many days – nothing. I’m not even his parent, just his old Assistant Scoutmaster, yet he is in my thoughts and prayers frequently.   I worry.

So, I was more than happy to see his icon appear with the green square attached. Even in his remote piece of the crap pie that is Afghanistan, he shows up on facebook – simply amazing. Did the usual male grunt bonding stuff and finally I asked if his crew was stilling kicking the ass of his dance partners.

“Smiley Face . . . just dropped 5 bombs and 4 155mm rounds today, back to business as usual around here hahaha”

We are truly in bizzaro land. “Back in the day”  correspondence from the US to the Central Highlands – 2 weeks, when things were working great. Today, about 20 seconds, question to response. Very, very strange.

I signed off then, told him to keep his head in the game and soldiers at the ready. I never say “stay safe” – safe is dead. I want him on the hunt, I want him to shoot first, I want him to drop all the munitions he can get his hands on, I want his guys hungry for the next fight. Then, I want them all to come home – life is truly too short.

Da Rules – Rule 4: Be sure of your target, and what’s beyond it!

I was doing my “morning read” and came across this story of an accidental shooting involving a “bird”, a mohawk and a drunk. (H/T – Bitter. That sentence should be enough to get you to read the story!)   And, it got me to thinking of my youth . . . . .

Just incase Jim is now glancing at my blog from time to time, Da Rules:

1: ALWAYS keep your firearm pointed in a safe direction.

2: ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.

3: ALWAYS keep your firearm unloaded until you’re ready to use it.

Now, on to Rule 4: Always be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.

Shooters harp on these rules constantly – real shooters anyway. I have seen the passing “yahoo” who seems oblivious to any firearm safety rules what-so-ever, but in the community I move in, that is a rarity. And, most shooters will gently – but firmly – remind you if any of Da Rules are broken. I appreciate that, it works to keep our sport and training much safer.

However, once off the range, and in the field, things can go south quickly. In the time it can take to press the trigger that last little 1/64^th of an inch, an afternoon’s enjoyment can teeter on the edge of disaster.

It was a very warm October afternoon in the early 60’s. My cousin Mike had just been presented with a new single-shot .410 shotgun for the season by my Uncle Victor (it was always Victor, not Vic). They were “home”, visiting my Mom and Grandmother, Uncle Victor’s family as well and enjoying the early days of hunting season in eastern Michigan.

We had spent an energetic morning walking the fields (sans dog BTW) and had not really seen much of interest. Uncle Victor suffered from terrible arthritis – a by product of WWII, flying B-17s and way too much time in the cold and wet and damp of southeast England. It was time for a rest.

I appreciated being able to tag along. I was too young to hunt, my father had probably been dead for over 5 years by then and I was happy to be there – even if it was just walking along.

Our rest took the form of squirrel hunting, sitting on the ground next to a tree, remaining quiet and still, and waiting for the little critters to forget about our intrusion and to resume their fall nut-collecting duties. After about 45 minutes or so, I watched Uncle Victor slowly raise his shotgun (pump 16 gauge if memory serves), aim at a tree probably 40 yards away or so and wait for the descending squirrel to get much closer to the ground. About 4 feet off the ground Uncle Victor fired his round, the squirrel dropped like a rock . . . . . . . and a man simply fell over on his side.

Our world exploded!! This older gent had obviously fallen asleep. He had farmer coveralls on, tan in color, a tan over coat, tan hunting cap – we was simply invisible to us all – until Uncle Victor shot him in the upper-left face. We were totally shocked – he was totally pissed and bleeding like a stuck pig!! Words were “exchanged” – to put it mildly. Luckily, the two men knew each other and the older gent’s temper cooled quickly. He was typical of the men and farmers of that era - now that he knew it was an accident he simply did a “ho-hum, I’m bleeding like a stuck pig, I’d better stop it” – he pulled a handkerchief from his hip pocket – rejected the call to go to the doctor’s and just held it over his wounds. Finally, after a clear demand from Uncle Victor, Mike and I were designated to go with him to his car and see him to the doctor.

Slowly we walked . . . . bleed, bleed, bleed . . . . he opened his trunk and slowly wiped down his gun and cased it . . . .  bleed, bleed, bleed . . . .  he took off his coveralls and folded them before he stowed them away . . . bleed, bleed, bleed . . . then, still holding the handkerchief over his wound, he drove to the doctors where we met up with my Uncle Victor.

Luckily, no real damage was done. His eye was OK, the shallow pellets were removed and the deeper ones were simply left in place. I would see that man on and off for the next half-dozen year or so (until I left home for the military) and up until the last time I saw him I could see three very clear and distinct black dots on his left forehead – the remaining pellets from our hunting accident.

That story is nearly 50 years old – far older than I care to admit. Yet, it is so vivid, the surprise of the man falling over – even today there is a bit of a catch in my heart . . . . It’s a good reminder to:

Always be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.

Review – NRA Basic Rifle Instructor Course

I attended the NRA Basic Rifle Instructor Course this past weekend. What an exhausting, busy, detailed, fun and enjoyable time it was!
I want to break the review into a number of pieces:

• Instructors
• The NRA Basic Instructor Course
• The NRA Basic Rifle Shooting Course
• The NRA Basic Rifle Instructor Course

Instructors:
When you take an instructor course, you take all 3 of these courses. You may opt out of the Basic Instructor Course (BIT) if you have taken it within the past year, but it is well worth sitting through again just to have the experience once again – especially if you are taking it from a new Training Counselor (T/C). With this course we had benefit of two T/Cs – Mr. James Appleby and Mr. Ray Odle.

Jim Appleby: Jim was the lead instructor and presented around 60% of the information. He is an accomplished shooter in his own right, an experienced trainer and T/C and presented the course in a very active, open and interesting way. He engaged us entirely for the two days, so much so that the 7 AM to 10 PM first day was gone before you even knew it had started. I would not hesitate in the slightest to recommend taking an instructor course from Jim – your time and money will be well spent!

Ray Odle: Ray was Jim’s team presenter. The course was divided in such a way that Ray’s strengths and experience were used to broaden the course and lend a second POV to the entire experience. Ray has a long history of teaching competitive rifle shooting and brought a wealth of information on building rifle shooting positions that were then experienced on the firing line. His ease in the classroom reflected his years of experience teaching new rifle shooters and fine-tuning even the most experienced shooters as well. Here too, I would not hesitate a moment in recommending a shooting course from Ray, your time and money will be well spent!

When you take a NRA Instructor course, you actually take three courses – co-mingled into a single experience. You take the Basic Instructor Training, you take the actual discipline you came to learn to teach, in this case the NRA Basic Rifle Course, and then you take an instructor course for the discipline you came to learn to teach, in this case the NRA Basic Rifle Instructor Course.

 Officially, this course should take a minimum of 14 hours – our first day – with homework – was 15 hours. Of course it was followed by warm, home-made brownies and vanilla ice cream with warm fudge sauce, so it was truly worth the hours spent! Our second day began at 7:30 AM and ended at 4:00 PM – another 8.5 hours for a grand total of 22.5 hours in two days. Honestly, we still could have spent more time. This is something to consider when selecting a T/C. Find some folks that have taken their course – you’ll get a pretty good idea if you want to spend your money with that T/C. If they say something like:  “Yep, got that baby done in half a day!!”  You may want to pass on that T/C.  As more me, with Jim and Ray, I feel like I got my money’s worth and then some!!

Basic Instructor Training: If you have no experience as a trainer – you need a starting point, you need to learn the basics. That is the purpose of the BIT program – to teach you the basic tools to organize and present a NRA course in a consistent and professional manner. This segment is divided into 7 separate areas:

• An Introduction – what is this course about
• Policies and Procedures – What is the mission of an NRA trainer, how you become a trainer and the NRA training program policies and procedures. 
•  
• Roles and Responsibilities of Trainers – Why are trainers so important, what are their responsibilities, how they can project a positive image, a trainers concerns for a student’s rights, and an description of other important NRA training programs.
• Organizing Your Course – How do you organize an NRA course, the necessity of leadership, course selection, finding an appropriate facility, what to look for from course participants, required equipment and materials, how to promote and finance the course.
• Generating Publicity for Your Course – How do you get the word out about your course?
• Preparing to Teach – How do you prepare and present a lesson, the eight requirements for effective training, basic teaching principles, how to set up a classroom and keep it safe, teaching methods, training aids, the actual presenting of lessons to your peers in the course and how to use the NRA lesson plans effectively.
• Training Athletes with Physical Disabilities – how can you accomplish this?
• A host of Appendixes covering a wide range of more detailed information.

This is listed as a 6-hour training. Good luck with that! There is so much to take in. The foundation of NRA training is TPI – Total Participant Involvement. This means that a student does not just sit in their chair and simply watch a power point. They are involved in exercises, they touch things, they learn and then teach each other. It is a very involved and dynamic environment. Through this method, the goal is that the student retains around 65% of all material taught. 

When you apply this to the BIT portion of the weekend, you begin to learn the process. You are taught a principle, you are broken into teams (we had around 30 student) of anywhere from 2-4 and you then teach the entire class the principle you just learned. Once your 3-5 minute lesson is over, you are immediately critiqued on how you did as a team and an individual – your knowledge of the material, your “presence”, your use of aids and the “flow” of the presentation. What began as an intimidating process on Saturday morning ended as a simple exercise by Sunday afternoon. This process, this experience is the entire foundation of learning to teach an NRA course. It was very effective and progress was quickly and easily seen throughout the two days.

NRA Basic Rifle Shooting Course:

The Basic Rifle Shooting Course is taught to you, by the participants of the  class, through the use of the techniques learned through the BIT portion and then practiced on each other by actually teaching the Basic Rifle course. The recommended length of the basic rifle course is 14 hours – good luck with that too. While I have not taught this course yet, I can easily see it as a solid 2-day course that could easily run 16 hours.

The course is divided into seven different lessons: 

• Lesson I – Rifle knowledge and safe gun handling.
• Lesson II – Ammunition knowledge and the fundamentals of rifle shooting
• Lesson III – Firing the first shots.
• Lesson IV – Standing rifle shooting positions.
• Lesson V – Prone and kneeling rifle shooting positions.
• Lesson VI – Sitting rifle shooting position and review of positions.
• Lesson Vii – Rifle sports and activities.
• Appendix – A host of addition information and details.

So from the “teaching an instructor” POV, each teaching team within the class would prepare and give a short lesson on portions of each of these lessons. You will certainly have and give a lesson on the three primary rules of gun safety – and then be presented with instant feedback from your peers in the course on how you did, both bad and good. The accelerated improvement using this teaching method was really amazing to watch. Even the improvement from the first group to the last group – presenting the very same topic – was stunning to watch.

NRA Basic Rifle Shooting Instructor Course:

The course detailed above WAS the instructor shooting course, as taught by the individuals actually taking the course. The NRA lesson plan book shows every individual topic of each lesson on the left side of the page, with suggested (and required) material on the right side of the page. It’s very clear, easily keeps the instructor on task and insures that everything the NRA wants covered is, indeed covered. The “instructor” portion actually comes from the act of teaching your fellow students. As I said above, progress was rapid, visible and very encouraging.

Range Work:

As part of the NRA Basic Rifle you were taught the five basic shooting positions – Bench Rest, Standing, Prone, Kneeling and Sitting. This too was taught, on the line, using BIT techniques with a three man team at each shooting position: the Shooter, the Coach and the Instructor. Each individual was rolled through each task with most of the shooting positions. Here again, and entire day could easily be spent on the shooting line. We compressed that down to about 2 hours. Still, quarter sized groups at 50 feet were seen at many shooting positions.

Examinations:

There are three examinations given in this course – one for the BIT portion, one for the NRA Basic Rifle course and one for the NRA Basic Rifle Instructor Course. Each has 50 questions, some are “fill in the blank area” type and you must achieve a 90% on each exam. Honestly, with the level of involvement in this course, 90% is not particularly difficult. Plenty of time is given to take the exam with open books allowed if you are uncertain of specific wording.

The final part of the process is an individual exit interview with the T/C to review your missed questions, review the paper work you needed to fill out to send into the NRA and to collect your NRA fees for certification. This was obviously the shortest part of the class!

I have been a trainer for over 40 years. I can honestly say the NRA’s approach to teaching new instructors is very, very good. If you are looking to take an NRA class, this assures you get a very consistent level of training that is approved at the NRA national level. It assures you the trainer is knowledgeable in what they are teaching and has been fully evaluated before being allowed to get a teaching certificate. If you are thinking of becoming an NRA trainer, you can be assured you will be given a solid set of tools, and solid support that will allow you give your students the best experience possible.

Bottom line – a BIG TWO THUMBS UP on the weekend! Many thanks to Jim and Ray!