»IT’S NO SECRET THAT MANY OF US writers are also trainers. We are thinkers and communicators who share our knowledge, wisdom and experiences in an effort to influence others to make good decisions when they otherwise might have drawn the short straw in one of life’s many challenges. The question that we all have is whether we make a difference in the lives of those we encounter. Oftentimes, we’ll never know, but a small percentage of those we’ve had the chance to train and educate provide feedback in the form of successes they attribute to our influence. That gives us the real-world validation that confirms we are on the right path in our efforts.
I have been fortunate to have trained those from the law enforcement, military and responsible citizen communities with every type of small arm imaginable — all with the hope they would never have to put their knowledge and ability to the test but with the confidence that, if they did, they would not just be survivors but winners.
In each of these categories, I have had real-world validation of the information and skills passed on to others by me and members of my staffs, much like many of my colleagues who spread the word about the safe and effective use of firearms.
What follows are three true stories that made a difference from the categories above.
Police Training
A young deputy sheriff in a rural county on the West Coast was just starting the evening shift after being briefed about an increase in drug trafficking through his county. His thoughts lingered on the training he had attended the previous week, where he was issued his new SIG Sauer pistol in a transition class with an extra day of tactical training added in. The tactical training had consisted of drills and concepts that included handling techniques designed to maximize the ammunition available in the pistol, situational awareness applicable to the environment of operations and one portion that was not in the lesson plan but was covered more as a topic of conversation.
That topic was about intuition, the “sixth sense,” and the benefits of trusting something not tangible but very real when in the midst of a critical incident. For some reason, that last topic really struck a chord with the deputy, as this was something he had never really thought about. Little did he know that later that evening, all three of those areas of training would become critical to his survival.
His intuition told him that something about this situation just didn’t feel right.
Near the end of his shift, the deputy was patrolling a stretch of highway known to be a conduit for drug traffickers when an oncoming car passed at or near the speed limit. As the deputy glanced in his rearview mirror, he noticed that the car had no tail lights visible. Intuition told him that something more than just an electrical problem was likely, as the whole back end of the car was dark. Even if it was an electrical problem, it was a traffic safety problem that couldn’t be ignored.
The deputy quickly reversed direction and initiated a traffic stop. His intuition told him that something about this situation just didn’t feel right, especially when the brake lights on the subject vehicle worked while all of the other lights on the rear of the car were not visible.
Upon positioning the cruiser to provide a degree of cover and to illuminate the car in front of him, the deputy exited his vehicle, keeping his full attention on all aspects in his field of view. The single occupant of the suspect vehicle maintained an upright, forward-facing position with no apparent movement. This seemed singularly odd to the deputy.
With the lack of visibility due to the darkness of the night as well as the feeling that something just wasn’t quite right, the deputy released the security straps on his holster and put his hand on the grip of the gun as he approached the open window of the driver’s side of the car.
From here, as he describes it, everything started happening in slow motion. Just as he was about to ask the driver for his driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance, the driver suddenly shifted in his seat and started firing a handgun at the deputy. The deputy drew his pistol as he moved to cover and fired what was later discovered to be 11 times. After he was behind cover, he topped off his pistol while maintaining a visual perspective of the crime scene.
“You might not remember me, but I was in your class recently, and what you taught and showed us saved my life last night.”
The suspect, who expired at the scene, was a known drug trafficker with a warrant for his arrest. Being a previous offender, he had no intention of being arrested for his third strike and spending the rest of his days in a prison cell.
The deputy stayed up all night helping to process the scene and write the report. Before he went home, he made a phone call.
That phone call was to me. It started with, “You might not remember me, but I was in your class recently, and what you taught and showed us saved my life last night. I wanted to thank you.”
He said that it was strange because he could hear me speaking to him as he responded to the surprise attack, telling him to shoot with the intention of hitting whatever the target is as many times as it takes to stop the fight, to get to cover, to top off the weapon when the situation permits and to maintain situational awareness until help arrives and the scene has been declared safe.
It was a bit of an emotional moment for me to know that my training had been directly involved in saving the life of one of America’s finest young law enforcement officers who put it on the line on a daily basis. We had scored one for the “good guys.”
Military Training
As many of my readers know, I spent just more than four decades in the military, mostly in the reserve program, specializing in small arms training and competitive shooting at the national and international levels. Some of my most rewarding times were spent with a Mobile Training Team that focused on small arms and individual weapons training for deploying personnel of all services who were preparing to fight in the Middle East and elsewhere. Although not an integrated part of standard deployment training, our team went the extra mile in training for survivability in a combat zone.
One of the extras that we did was to have our students safely sequestered in the pits of properly equipped ranges as we fired different types of weapons over their heads. This helped familiarize them with the sonic crack of bullets passing nearby as well as the report of the firearms. When possible, we fired from different distances to give an idea of how close the weapon might be to the students at any given time. At the longer distances, there was a distinct difference in time between the sonic crack and the report of the gun that created the crack.
Three men, with body language indicating nefarious intent, approached her vehicle.
This extra training was validated by one of our students, who, along with several others trained by the Mobile Training Team, had been integrated into a larger group of warfighters.
When on a routine patrol in a moderately built-up area, the unmistakable crack of supersonic weapon fire was recognized by our students, who immediately took cover while the rest thought somebody was just shooting off firecrackers in an attempt to harass them. Needless to say, those who had not had the experience of listening to bullets whizzing by previously were quickly educated by those who had and subsequently took cover as well. Fortunately, after they were no longer exposed as targets, the shooting stopped and the patrol continued on its way — luckily unscathed and educated on what it sounds like when being shot at as opposed to what it feels like to be shot.
While it is impossible to track the thousands of military personnel that we trained prior to deployment, we are unaware of any that met their end as a result of hostile fire.
The tactical training had consisted of drills and concepts that included handling techniques designed to maximize the ammunition available in the pistol.
Private Citizen Training
A young mother came to me asking for help with a pistol that she had been given by her uncle for personal protection. She had no instruction and little knowledge of how the pistol worked or should be handled. As a result, while she was trying to unload the pistol shortly after receiving it, it discharged, fortunately in a direction in which no one was hurt. Needless to say, I was more than happy to assist with the pistol as well as a few considerations regarding personal protection with a firearm.
Fast forward to a few years later, after more lessons and the purchase of a Colt 1911 for her primary sidearm. She told a man trying to convince her that a smaller caliber would be more appropriate for such a little lady, “I can handle it. Besides, it’s hard not to bleed through a half-inch hole.” Her math might have been slightly off, but the point was made and the conversation ended.
Soon after her purchase, she was traveling home on a shortcut down a narrow country road when she came upon a vehicle with the hood up blocking the road. She had no choice but to stop, and there wasn’t a convenient place to turn around. Three men, with body language indicating nefarious intent, approached her vehicle, as she later described it to the police. Thinking quickly, she locked the doors and just cracked her window for communication purposes. As they got closer, she told them to go away and leave her alone. When one of the men tried to open her door, she placed the muzzle of her 1911 on the inside of her partially open window and said, “Which one of you wants it first?” As she states it, their eyes got as big as dinner plates and they ran back to their car, slammed the hood and took off at a high rate of speed.
Three men matching her description in a similar car as she had previously described were captured and charged with the rape and murder.
As soon as she got home, she called the police with a description of the men and their car.
Several weeks later, three men matching her description in a similar car as she had previously described were captured and charged with the rape and murder of a woman in an adjoining county.
The fact that the woman I had provided marksmanship and personal defense training for was willing to use it when put to the test was an overwhelming validation of the help I had given her.
As a side note, she has gone on to become a top-notch trainer in her own right and an accomplished shooter, hunter and advocate for women seeking knowledge regarding firearms and personal defense.
Those who had not had the experience of listening to bullets whizzing by previously were quickly educated by those who had.
Why We Do It
These three true stories and others like them are why people like myself and my colleagues continue to share our knowledge and abilities with others. It invariably makes a difference to those with whom we come in contact. In the majority of cases, we never know the effect we have in our training and writing, but the few cases we do hear about help validate our efforts.
