EAG Carbine Operators Course 2008
"See the motherf***er, shoot the motherf***er, quit thinking about it." - Pat Rogers
Pat Rogers is a retired NYPD sergeant and Chief Warrant Officer of Marines with more than 30 years in service. His company, EAG Tactical, was founded in 1992 and provides tactical training and security consulting services to various military, law enforcement and government entities. Pat has worked in the Middle East, South America, the "emerging republics" of the former Soviet Union, and other locations around the world. He is also a regular contributor to SWAT magazine. On top of all this, Pat makes time each year to instruct a limited number of open-enrollment classes at various locations around the country.
One of Pat's regular teaching stops is the Boone County Sheriff's Department range in Lebanon, Indiana. During the summer, the BCSD plays host to a number of well-known instructors, offering courses in all manner of armed and unarmed self-defense disciplines. BCSD is a progressive department that recognizes the value of a trained police force, and, equally as important, a trained citizenry. Sheriff Ken Campbell regards armed citizens as the "first line of defense" against crime, and takes great pride in bringing first-class training opportunities to central Indiana. The Department is fortunate to have Ken at its helm, and we Hoosiers are fortunate to have such a resource available.
I had previously taken the EAG Carbine Operators Course in 2004 and 2007. I chose to sign up again in 2008 partially as a
skills refresher, and partially because Pat is always adding new elements to his course curriculum. Once again, I twisted the
arms of my shooting buddies Doug and Aaron to attend, as well (I think I had them at "Wanna go?").
THE STUDENTS
There were 19 students in
the course (held June 20-22), including several alumni of this and other EAG courses. Pat's courses tend to be more military
and LE-centric than others I've been to, but Boone County classes are always diverse, and this one was no exception.
Students ran the gamut from the expected military, law enforcement and security contractor types, to engineers, lawyers,
computer techs and a commercial airline pilot on the civilian side.
THE HARDWARE
The variety of equipment used by the students was almost as diverse as their backgrounds; some
ran the whole weekend with just a couple spare mags on the belt, while others jocked up in vests or plate carriers with
body armor, lots of mags, hydration, the works. Everyone was shooting an AR variant of some sort, with most being fairly standard
16" carbines, though a couple piston-operated guns and several registered SBRs were also present. I wore the Eagle Industries MOLLE
plate carrier with cummerbund that I purchased prior to this summer's ISSMC match. It is an improvement
over the non-cummerbund model I wore to last year's carbine course, as it distributes weight better and is easier on the shoulders
when wearing it for long periods of time. The Spectergear Universal Mag Pouches and Camelbak hydration system were carried over from my
old rig and continued to work well. As usual, my Glock 34 rode in my
outstanding RM Holsters "Sport Slide" kydex paddle holster, and I carried two spare mags
in RM kydex mag carriers on my support side. Empty mags went into a Maxpedition "Rolly Polly" dump pouch, a handy piece of kit
which I have used for several years now. I once again shot the course with my Recon Carbine, utilizing the
GRSC 1-4x scope in a LaRue Tactical SPR-E mount and wearing a Viking Tactics VTAC padded sling, which has become my sling of choice for
all my carbines. Carbine ammo was Silver Bear 62gr HP with a zinc-plated steel case (economy and availability were the influential
factors here); pistol ammo was a mix of Independence and S&B 115gr FMJ.
THE COURSE
TD1
Weather was sunny and warm, with a high in the low 80s – a bit humid to some out-of-staters, but gorgeous by Hoosier standards!
We started with a welcome from Sheriff Campbell, a review of general safety and range medical procedures, and some brief bio
information from Pat. After introductions, Pat jumped right into the main lecture portion of the
course, covering the mechanics of the basic fighting stance (the goal of which is to deliver rapid, multiple shots as efficiently and
effectively as possible); the four conditions of weapon readiness (only three of which are applicable to the carbine); iron
sights vs. optics, with a dissertation on the pros and cons of various types, and a briefing on the common problems and
fixes for the EOTech sight by Mike H; different types of slings; developmental history of and currently available types
of AR-15 magazines; how, where and when to lubricate the carbine, as well as spring replacement intervals and other
preventative maintenance issues. Pat then went into the basics of manipulating the carbine, including the "make ready" sequence,
loading, reloading, trigger reset, sight offset at close range, the importance of follow-through (re-acquire sight, ease to reset), and the post-engagement sequence (get off the
gun and assess/scan, roll gun to check ejection port for malfunction, close dust cover, on safe). After explaining a bit about
the design of the excellent EAG target, Pat lined us up and broke us into
relays to begin the shooting portion of the course.
Live fire began with establishing zeroes from the prone @ 50 yards. This process went fairly quickly, as all but one of the students had optics and were able to easily make the adjustments indicated by the zeroing grid incorporated into the EAG target. After lunch, we fired single shots and pairs at close range (3 to 7 yards), to practice our trigger reset and to get a firsthand look at the importance of maintaining the proper offset (due to the height of the AR's sights over bore, you need to aim approximately 2.5" above your intended point of impact inside 15 yards or so). Pat then described various techniques for firing multiple shots, including controlled pairs, hammer pairs and the "non-standard response" or NSR, and we immediately put those into live-fire practice from the 3 yard line. We then moved back to 15 yards and fired from braced kneeling, speed (unbraced) kneeling, double knee or "Monica" (which also allows high/low and left/right variations), and squatting (aka "rice paddy prone"). After that, we discussed speed and tactical reloads, and fired strings of 2-reload-2 from 15 yards, using every magazine on our bodies. This not only allowed us to work on the reloading procedure itself, but also gave us practice in accessing our various mag pouches – even those in relatively hard to reach locations.
TD2
Due to a range conflict, we started the
day late (12:30) and shot until about 8:30 in the evening. Conditions started out sunny and hot, and even though
threatening clouds moved through later in the afternoon, we escaped any serious weather issues. Given the heat and humidity, eating and hydrating constantly throughout the day was critical to keeping up one's energy level and staying focused on
the task at hand. We started the day with a series of warm-up drills, including brain shots from prone and standing at
50 yards, pairs to the brain on command from 25 yards, failure drills from 15 yards, and single brain shots, hammers and
failure drills from the indoor ready position at 3 yards. We then covered static turns (engaging targets at 90° left and right
offset), first doing it dry to get the footwork down, then going hot and engaging targets with a failure drill or NSR at 7 yards. After that
came a lecture on the mechanics of shooting on the move, followed by engaging targets with hammers and failure drills while
moving from the 25-yard line to the 15, from the 15 to the 10, and from the 10 to the 3. Next, we covered transitioning to the pistol in the
event of a carbine malfunction inside 15 yards. Pat (and every other instructor I've trained under) had previously taught that
transitions should happen inside 25 yards, However, this year he moved the distance up to 15 yards, stating that
most students' pistol skills were seriously deficient at longer ranges. We then set up Type 1 and Type 3 malfunctions at
the 15-yard line and practiced clearing them before firing a failure drill (2 shots center mass, 1 shot to the brain).
A note: 15 yards is not a hard and fast rule, and I understand Pat's reasoning for moving the distance up. That said, Doug,
Aaron and I all found it a bit frustrating when we would have a malfunction inside 25 yards and immediately transition to the pistol
in accordance with years of prior training, only to have Pat stop us and instruct us to clear the malfunction and finish
the drill with the carbine. After getting our fill of malfunction clearances, we moved back to 25 yards and again shot the
Modified Navy Qual.
The next instruction block covered multiple-target engagement sequences: "Roadhouse Rules," where each target gets one round before
before anyone gets seconds (single shot to target 1, hammer on target 2, single shot on target 1) and the "Box Drill," which is
essentially firing a failure drill on two targets (hammer on target 1, hammer on target 2, brain shot on target 2, brain shot on target 1).
We applied these techniques statically from 7 yards and on the move from 10 to 3 yards. After that, we progressed into dynamic
left and right turns, where the turn rolls right into shooting on the move, from the 7- to 3-yard line. That was followed by
shooting the Modified Navy Qual again, from 35 yards this time, and finally by more accuracy drills from the prone at 50 yards.
TD3
The final day was mild, with periods of sun and clouds. We began with the same set of warm-up drills we had shot at the beginning of TD2, then we moved immediately into
shooting the Modified Navy Qual for a final time. This was the real deal – 5 rounds standing, 5 rounds kneeling, 5 rounds prone,
with reloads in-between, from 50 yards, in 25 seconds. All rounds were supposed to be kept inside the 8" center-mass circle on
the EAG target. Score starts at zero; each round outside the circle adds a point and each second over 25 adds two points. Each second under
25, however, subtracts a point. The lower the score, the better, and the best approach is to find the optimum balance between speed and accuracy. We shot the MNQ
"on the clock" twice as a relay, then individually for record.
After lunch, we broke down the MEU(SOC) course into its individual components and started practicing them. These drills included:
2 standing/2 kneeling/2 prone at 50 yards, 2 standing/2 kneeling with a reload in-between at 50 yards, and running from the 50-yard line to
the 25 and firing 2 rounds standing and 2 rounds kneeling. We then shot the complete MEU(SOC) qualification course,
which Pat has been using as a benchmark in his courses for the past several years. We fired the course twice - once for practice and once for score.
The MEU(SOC) is a good course of fire and a good measure of a student's performance, as it incorporates shooting at various distances (3 to 50 yards), from multiple
stationary positions as well as on the move, on single and multiple targets, and including a tactical reload – all under
time pressure. The Marines who do this for real go out and qualify in full gear - rucksack, body armor, 13 loaded mags,
pistol, helmet, goggles, gloves, comms, the works - and in any weather, and they shoot better scores than lightly loaded
students like us do on a sunny day... I stand in awe of that kind of capability, and glad they're on OUR side! On my
practice run, I shot an 85, which didn't make me very happy despite being a passing score. When I shot it "for record," I
scored an 88, which is about my average, but several points below my performance last year. Props to Aaron and Doug for improving their
scores over last year, and kicking my ass in the process!
After the MEU(SOC) course, we dialed things down considerably by doing some shooting from "asymmetrical prone" positions, including
Supine, Urban and SBU. These positions allow a shooter to minimize his exposure when shooting from around or under
low cover such as automobiles, curbs or fallen logs. We learned to sacrifice the traditional stock positioning and
cheekweld in the interest of putting the sight on the target and getting effective hits. Many of us shot tighter groups from these
positions than we did from conventional prone! As storm clouds started to roll in, we finished the course with "occluded sight" drills,
which involved masking the objective end of the red-dot sight but leaving the sight turned on, and using the combined image from both
eyes (one seeing the dot, the other seeing the target) to aim. We also shot with our electronic sights OFF, using the
sight window as a pseudo ghost ring. Both techniques allowed students to accurately place rounds from 7 yards out.
Total Rounds Fired: 1069 carbine, 71 pistol
EQUIPMENT PROBLEMS
A fast-paced, high round count course like this tends to take its toll on guns and gear
- especially stuff that is marginal to begin with. In addition to the occasional ammo or mag issue, we had several major
problems with carbines. One brand-new Rock River carbine had a loose receiver extension that allowed the buffer detent to
escape into the lower receiver, binding everything up until the extension could be properly tightened and the castle nut staked.
A POF piston gun had constant reliability issues, until the owner was informed that even piston-driven ARs need to be
regularly and thoroughly lubricated. A Noveske-built SBR had a short-stroking problem (the owner switched to his backup gun - also a
Noveske - which ran flawlessly), and Pat's HK 416 was taken offline on TD3 for an extractor replacement. My Recon Carbine experienced
four non-induced malfunctions over the course of the three days: two failures to fire (light primer hits), a failure to feed and a failure to
extract. I solved the problem with an immediate-action drill each time. My maintenance routine included snaking the bore,
wiping down the bolt/carrier and lubing every night, and adding a couple extra drops of lube in the bolt gas
holes at lunch or if the gun started getting sluggish. Doug's BCM 11.5" SBR and Aaron's 16" HBAR also ran well throughout the course.
AWARDS
After the brass call from
Hell, Pat got us out of the rain for some closing words and to present our certificates, as well as to award the top
shooters in the class. The high shooter and the runner-up (i.e. "first loser" - that was me) on the Modified Navy Qual received an Aimpoint mount from LaRue Tactical
and a sling from BlueForce Gear. The shooter with the high aggregate score on the
MEU(SOC) course received a sling from Viking Tactics, a spring kit from Tactical Springs.com,
and a complete set of furniture from TangoDown, LLC. Thanks go out to all the
mentioned companies for their support, as well as to Magpul Industries, which contributed a new PMAG
for each student.
IN CLOSING
It was, as always, a pleasure training with Pat and company, and alongside an outstanding group
of guys. While I didn't make the kind of improvement in my performance that I had the previous year, getting to shoot the
drills again under time pressure and Pat's watchful eye ("this is Pat angry... this is Pat happy... same Pat") was certainly beneficial,
and the Modified Navy Qual is a very challenging drill that I'll be practicing at my home range on a regular basis. Thanks go out
to Pat and to the brothers Hueser (somebody on another forum called Mike & Mark "the best instructors you've never heard of,"
and I totally agree!) for putting on another great class, and to Sheriff Ken and his crew for continuing to bring first-class
training opportunities to central Indiana. I recommend the EAG Carbine Operators Course without reservation to anyone interested in learning how to fight with a carbine.
