Get Organized! Part 2: Developing A Training Plan

 I briefly touched on training in Part 1 of the Get Organized! series. This post will go into more depth on training. In order to draw upon maximal prior experience from myself and my associates, it will continue the focus on a local defense force.

Assessment

Before an effective training plan can be devised, it is necessary to determine the baseline capability of each team member. Take a few minutes to consider what skills you anticipate being necessary for mission success, then design and implement a realistic, safe, and practical means of assessing each. Members of our hypothetical local defense force have three main operational responsibilities: Move, Shoot, and Communicate. On a basic level, these can be assessed as follows:

Movement

1. Practice cross-country movements on foot while carrying a load of 30-45 pounds. An individual who can move five miles with minimal halts is capable of at least some meaningful action.
2. Utilize topographic maps and satellite imagery to navigate to selected points. The individual should be capable of field navigation with a map and compass, and not dependent on a GPS or other electronic device. While useful, GPS or network availability is not assured - dense forest canopy easily degrades GPS signals. Field navigation is essential if acting in a search-and-rescue capacity.
3. Practice short sprints with a rifle while carrying basic individual equipment, as well as engaging man-sized targets at at least one hundred yards between sprints. This assesses both movement and shooting competency in a physically stressful environment.

Shooting

1. Practice engaging man-sized targets out to at least three hundred yards from field positions. Roughly eighty percent of firefights occur within two hundred yards, and ninety percent within three hundred yards. A minimally competent rifleman should be capable of hitting with at least fifty percent percent of his shots at three hundred yards. Shooting from a bench is useless except to assess the mechanical accuracy of a weapon/ammunition combination or develop elementary skills.
2. Practice snap shots. An individual who can hit a man-sized target at fifty yards within two to three seconds from his choice of high or low ready has a satisfactory rifle snap shot. In a local defense capacity, firing more than a handful of rounds is unlikely, and misses do not count! Snap shots are easily practiced via dry fire.
3. Practice reloading the rifle or shotgun from a variety of field positions. Spare magazines or shells must be accessible when prone, sitting, or kneeling. Reloading can be practiced in your backyard or living room using dummy rounds and/or empty magazines.

Communication

1. Practice making SALUTE (Size/Activity/Location/Unit Identification/Time/Equipment) reports. These can be practiced face-to-face or over radio, using any reference photos, videos, illustrations, or other depictions.
2. Demonstrate capability of using all functions of the selected handheld radio(s). Amateur and GMRS nets are an outstanding opportunity to test skill and equipment capability.

In my experience, scheduling a few hours at an informal outdoor range is ideal for beginning assessment of paramilitary skill. Incorporating field positions and physical activity is a natural evolution from recreational shooting. Hiking with a moderate load is another appropriate means of assessment.

Planning

Once individual aptitude has been satisfactorily assessed, an organization training plan should be developed. It should start at a level of intensity/complexity suitable for the median member of the organization. Some individuals may require remedial training on some topics; remedial training can be supplied by peers, independent study, trainers, or any combination thereof. Be polite but honest when discussing an individual's skill and fitness levels; false flattery does not help them improve.

For the sake of the article, we'll make some assumptions about the results of our initial aptitude assessment. Let's say that four men showed up at the initial event: Kirk, Ron, Al, and Joe. That afternoon, each attendee shot about fifty rounds at varying distances out to roughly four hundred yards.  Kirk and Ron have experience hunting and demonstrated unspectacular but solid marksmanship, with hit rates of approximately 70% at three hundred yards. They were also able to complete a five-mile hike with 25-pound packs without issue. Joe is an F-Class competition shooter and aced the shooting portion, but suffered a serious back injury in the Army and is unable to meaningfully move in the field. Finally, Al is younger than the rest and has minimal experience shooting, but is in very good shape.

How should we proceed? Well, the logical thing is to use each man's strength to improve the others. Kirk and Ron should be teaching fieldcraft, Joe should instruct on the rifle range, and Al can assist the others in developing personal physical fitness plans.

In general, training should be planned as a progression of lesson series, each developing a different skill and building upon each other. Periodically, refresher training on past material should be conducted. With this in mind, we arrive at the following notional schedule for the first two months of the organization:

Lesson 1 (Range)

• Rifle Fundamentals
• Introduce Movement & Shooting

Lesson 2 (Range)

• Movement & Shooting
• Introduce Bounding

Lesson 3 (Field)

• Bounding
• Field Movement Techniques

Lesson 4 (Classroom)

• Introduce Map-Reading & Patrol Fundamentals
• Tabletop Patrol Exercise

Lesson 5 (Field)

• Map-Reading & Patrol Fundamentals
• Field Movement Techniques

Lesson 6 (Classroom)

• Radio Communication
• Tabletop Patrol Exercise

Lesson 7 (Field)

• Radio Communication
• Field Movement Techniques

Lesson 8 (24-Hour Field)

• Plan and execute patrol incorporating all previous lessons
• Assess individual and team capabilities

This schedule is a serviceable template for a local defense force, and will produce a small unit with a decent grasp of some fundamentals within two months. The schedule should be generally maintained to avoid "bouncing" between subjects while not truly mastering any of them. While it can be very tempting to introduce lesson plans based on current events, my experience has been that these are quickly forgotten.

Criticism

Once the initial lesson series is complete, sit down with your team and critique it. Discuss which elements worked and which did not. Building on this discussion, determine the training focus for the next series and build out a training plan based on your previous experience and organization goals.