Author's Note: This story was written for SOF Magazine (on their nickel). They failed to publish it because of pressure from other facilities of this type.
Where the trained get more training
Author's Note: This story was written for SOF Magazine (on their nickel). They failed to publish it because of pressure from other facilities of this type.
Where the trained get more training
Throughout the United
States there are a number of facilities where one can go to learn
combat tactics and to become proficient with a firearm. Some of
them are very good, some are marginal. Blackwater is in a class
by itself.
NOTE:
Al
Clark, John Matthews, and Dale McClellan have left Blackwater since this article was written.
Al and Dale have formed a new company called Special Tactical
Services and will be in the training business, big time.)
When Al
Clark was in the Navy, he used to bitch about having
to go all over Hell's half acre to get different types of weapons
training. None of the ranges the Teams used had everything. The
guys would have to travel far and wide to get pistol, rifle, shotgun,
tactical entry and long range weapons training. He decided when
he retired from the Navy, he'd build a facility where all of the
different types of training would be available at one site. While
discussing his plans with another Navy man, he was told of a young
SEAL officer who was talking the same way. The two met, talked
it over, and the rest is history. Al decided to leave the Navy
instead of waiting to serve his 'twenty'. He got out after 14
years of service and has never looked back. Now Al has the facility
he dreamed of and is thrilled with the way things are progressing.
By looking at the training schedule, it is apparent that things
are going well. As of November, the first half of 1999 was already
booked. With the ranges having the latest in computer controlled
targets, a great chow hall (I would describe it more as a cafeteria),
satellite TV systems in the dorms and plenty of hot water in the
showers, I would put Blackwater ahead of any of the civilian or
military training sites I have visited.
Gary Jackson, a retired SEAL Warrant Officer, is the Operations
Manager. These days he has his hands full. Juggling courses and
figuring out who can fit where in the schedule is a full time
task. Ordering supplies and insuring the correct ammo and sufficient
amounts are in stock for the students is also part of his job
description. I asked Gary if he thought Blackwater would be this
successful this quickly. He only smiled, pointed at the wall sized
calendar and shook his head as though amazed at the rapid acceptance
of the center.
"I knew we had a good thing, but the word is out now and
we have to work hard to get the pieces put together so that they
fit. When several Teams need to train at once, it becomes a challenge
to make sure that everything is laid out so that everything meshes
properly."
Although some of the staff who instruct and operate Blackwater
are former SEALs, that fact has nothing to do with the courses
offered here. The staff at Blackwater has been chosen for their
particular expertise with various firearms or tactical skills.
As Al told us before we started the Three Day Tactical Shotgun
Course. "My background is with the Teams, but I ask you,
what does that have to do with anything? You guys have come here
to learn to use the shotgun better than you presently can. I am
here to make sure that happens." He was and it did.
We started out the first day with a brief personal introduction
to the other members of the class. There were three Department
of Defense weapons instructors, an Air Force Policeman, a police
weapons instructor, two SEALs, a house builder, an employee of
Blackhawk Industries
(manufacturers of nylon web gear), a merchant marine engineer,
and this writer. Al gave us our first lesson, a safety brief and
description of the various types of shotguns, their features and
capabilities. For the sake of trivia, we learned how the gauge
size of shotguns is determined - it is based on the number of
balls of lead the diameter of the bore of the gun that equal a
pound of lead. Therefore 12 lead balls that will fit in the barrel
of a 12 gauge shotgun weigh one pound. The only exception to this
rule is the .410, which is .41 caliber.
After the short classroom session, those of us who needed ammo
went to the storeroom to draw it - a combination of over 
600 rounds of buck, bird, and slugs. Then
we proceeded to the first range. It was here we learned the fundamentals
of firing the weapon - - the RIGHT way, for those of us with limited
experience with the shotgun. Our first rounds were fired from
7 yards into a paper target to show how the gun produces a pattern.
My shotgun was a Vang Comp Systems (www.vangcomp.com)
modified Remington 870. By the time the echo from the first shots
had subsided, Al had called the entire class over to look at the
target where the bird and buckshot patterns had struck the paper.
Where the birdshot had hit the target, there was a 6 inch diameter
hole. Eight out of nine of the buckshot had hit inside the X block
on the silhouette. None of the other barrels came close to having
as tight a group. The rest of the patterns looked as though somebody
had stood back and thrown a handful of shot at the target. I must
qualify this by stating it was definitely not my skill that enabled
me to do this, but the way the Vang modifications effect the ballistics
and pattern of a shotgun.
"Does anybody here think they can miss a target with birdshot
at 7 yards?" smiled Al
. "Before this class is finished, all of you
will realize it is easy to do."
He was right. We all missed on occasion in an attempt to get our
techniques down and our speed up, but the misses came less and
less frequently.
We fired slugs as a demonstration
of now accurate the shotgun can be when properly used, and to
give us confidence in the weapon. The accuracy of the weapon depended
both on the operator and the type of round. Bernie, a DOD weapons
instructor, nailed a tight two inch group of three rounds at 100
yards using Sabot rounds out of his 870. I was impressed. After
a small amount of coaching, none of us missed the silhouette targets
even at 100 yards, most striking center mass. We learned a method
to rapidly drop into the prone position and crank off an accurate
shot. Soon we had this time under two seconds. Not bad, as a few
of us had to get coordinated enough to drop into the prone position
without doing bodily damage to ourselves. The first few attempts
were a scream to watch as we drove elbows or knees into the gravel,
or almost ate our weapons because we didn't shove them far enough
forward before hitting the deck. Most all of the drills and skills
we learned were against the clock. Speed was secondary to accuracy,
but as we became better shots and had the drills down pat, our
times sharply decreased.
Al's assistant instructor, John Matthews, an Elizabeth City, North Carolina cop, elaborated as to how the majority of police departments in the United States and elsewhere are vastly under trained in the use of firearms. There are, of course, exceptions to this, but many people who are paid to carry a gun as part of their duties who are not even close to proficient. John says that North Carolina is about thirty years behind the times in the arena of firearms proficiency.
He went on. "Lack of consistent training and lack of embracing
the modern times of examining shootings that actually happen and
not covering the basics of fundamental marksmanship. We are in
a combat role, why do we still shoot bulls eyes? That's my question.
When you draw that pistol up, either you're gonna be moving or
the target's going to be moving. The days of Wyatt Earp standing
out in a dusty street - - I think we kinda left that a long time
ago."
As Al
Clark says, "The guy wins who screws up the
least." We began to understand what that meant. Some of our
class members would come in with a great time in the drills, but
if we missed a target, we got a zero. No graduated scores. "Three
fast misses don't equal one slow hit." Al reiterated. "Work
on your moves and your time will come down. If you see the grass
and dirt of the berm jump after you shoot, that is not a sign
that the lead shot passed through the steel plate, you missed!"
We worked on accuracy and then just kept at it until we had shortened
the times. I tried counting every move I made and then practiced
until the count got quicker. That seemed to work for me, but everybody
had their own personal method.
The Facility
To get there, drive down Route 168 out of Virginia Beach and
take a right at the second traffic light after you cross the North
Carolina Border. Then drive until you come to a gate and a sign
with the Blackwater logo. It is a simple matter to continue along
the dirt road for several miles until you arrive at the facility.
Be aware the area here is teeming with wildlife and it is not
unusual to observe several deer crossing the road to the facility.
An occasional black bear may also be seen - - still moving, unlike
the one mounted over the fireplace at the Lodge.
When you turn the last corner and are able to see the buildings,
it quickly becomes obvious that the operators of this center are
quite serious in their endeavors and nothing has been spared to
make this a top notch facility. The buildings are brand new (Ground
breaking was June 16, 1997 and May 16, 1998 was grand opening.)
and the place is well laid out and neat. Off to the right are
the dorm facilities and the tactical house. Straight ahead is
the main building which houses the classrooms, store, administrative
offices, cafeteria, armory, and conference rooms, lounge, where
tall tales may be spun and examples of taxidermy are displayed.
A large black bear looms out at you over the fireplace and several
other animals watch you through plastic eyes.
The gun cleaning area is off to the side of the main building
where there is room for more than a dozen people to clean weapons.
The benches are chest high and there are compressed air nozzles
for blowing dust and dirt out of weapons.
The well-lighted rooms have four
bunk beds in each with a spacious closet for each occupant. There
are two heads (bathrooms to you landlubbers), each with several
shower stalls. On both sides of the dorm building is a large room
with a couch and several chairs. A TV in each lounge is fed by
a satellite system. There is also a refrigerator and water cooler
in each of these rooms. Magazines are there for the perusal of
the guests.
Construction of the airfield and 1000 meter known distance
range will begin soon, as will the skeet and trap range. The management
of Blackwater feels there is a demand for a quality place to go
and vacation and shoot sporting clays. This could be the place.
There are some national class shooting competitions planned which
will take place during 1999.
Hogan's Alley is operational and nearing completion. This is
a most impressive structure where training in urban warfare can
be conducted utilizing live ammunition. The Sim City portion of
Hogan's Alley is under construction and will enable Tactical Units
to shoot the Simunition® FX-Marker in force-on-force drills.
There is a street down the middle upon which a vehicle can be
driven for some of the executive protection and other types of
training.
The tactical house is probably
one of the best in the country. It is two stories and has all
features required. There are areas of it that simulate a shipboard
environment. The bar in the front can be used for a hostage rescue
scenario, as can the rest of the building. All the walls are ballistic
and can stop any round up to 5.56 mm frangible used in the house.
There are walkways around on the top of the structure where the
instructors are able to observe the action down below. To the
East of the building is a lake that can be used by combat swimmers
to approach the building using Underwater Breathing Apparatus
and then they can assault it in a more realistic manner. Farther
off is the drop zone where troops can be parachuted or fast roped
in as part of the training scenario.
All the targets are manufactured on site by Jim Dehart. Jim
is also the grounds keeper and all around head of maintaining
the facility. He served his last 15 years in the Navy managing
and constructing the U.S. Navy's most comprehensive and sophisticated
small arms range complex for one of the SEAL Teams. Jim is a genius
when it comes to designing and building target systems and leads
the way in developing individual steel target holders, sophisticated
movers, turners and even complete tactical houses. Jim was looking
for something to do when he retired from the Navy and Blackwater
came along just at the right time.
Blackwater Target Systems (BTS) also offers for sale, targets
and setups for other ranges. The Blackwater ranges can be leased
by organizations that meet their specifications, so that training
can be conducted by the group's own instructors. They also can
be used for Field Training Exercises by military units. Ammunition
may be purchased from Blackwater at am extremely competitive price.
On the second evening of the class, we went to the Rogers Range
and fired at static targets using various methods of illumination.
We used large hand-held flashlights, small-hand held lights, and
weapon mounted lights by Sure-Fire. These were the best choice.
I was able to fire on targets in rapid succession after a very
short burst of white or red light. The physiological ability of
the human eye to retain an image for about a tenth or a second
- known as persistence of vision - makes this possible. The ports
on the Vang barrel make the muzzle flash less of a problem with
night shooting, but it is still a consideration.
The Rogers Range is designed to
support a computerized reactive steel target configuration, custom
designed by Bill Rogers. It can be used with pistol, shotgun,
and submachine gun in daylight and night scenarios. We had the
most fun here and it was also the most challenging of the evolutions.
Several of us (yours truly included) took our fair share of ammo
to qualify on this range. We had to hit three pop-ups that appeared
and disappeared at the same time. Just a second after we hit the
last one, a 'bad buy' appeared behind the 'hostage.' This guy
had to be hit with buckshot without hitting the 'hostage.' As
soon as that target was hit, the shooter would then take cover
behind the doorframe and load two more rounds into his weapon
in less than two seconds. One round went into the 
open
breech and the other was shoved into the magazine tube. At this
point, the shooter steps forward and fires at two pop up targets
that have, hopefully, just appeared. These stay up for about two
seconds. The whole scenario only lasts around eight seconds. Needless
to say, I had to climb over a big pile of my expended casings
to fire the qualifying rounds. However, it is a good feeling knowing
you have accomplished something that you feel is damned near impossible.
In the words of Al
Clark, "An instructor has about twenty seconds
to gain the confidence of his class. I can stand here all day
and tell the class what I want them to do, but when I get up there
and demonstrate that it's possible to do it, then they realize
what I am asking them to learn in the next hour is within their
capabilities."
During training, each of us was given individual critiques,
some of it harsh, but with good humor thrown in. Some of the more
experienced members of the class would offer tips, based on Al's
instruction. This made our learning speed accelerate and drew
us closer together. At Blackwater each person is observed up close
by the instructor to insure they are doing things exactly the
way intended. Nothing is left to chance or the whim of the student.
In one case, I was taking too much time with unnecessary hand
movements in reloading. Al quickly pointed out what I was doing
wrong and I was immediately able to cut my time in half, and later
cut it some more. If you want to learn a weapon, you have to run
a lot of rounds through it. It helps, however, to have somebody
on site who knows the right way to do things and can pass that
information to you with your complete confidence that they are
doing it the right way.
Comments from students in the three day tactical shotgun course:
Bob (SEAL) "I was impressed with how accurate the shotgun is from one hundred yards in. It was pretty shocking to get seven rounds out on one target in that short time."
Paul (Air Force Security Policeman) "I would say that the biggest thing in the course was the confidence I have gained in the weapon and my ability to use this weapon. I feel now I would not hesitate to use the shotgun in a hostage situation if called upon to do so."
Mike (DOD Instructor) "We learned a new way to reload a lot faster and the need to expand our range to make it a lot more versatile."
Bernie (DOD Instructor) "Outstanding and exciting. Compared to all facilities I have been to in the past, I would give this a nine."
Chris (DOD Instructor) "We gathered some drills and picked up some techniques for teaching the reload speed."
Tony (SEAL) "No comment.Great training, great facility, I'll be back".
Jack (Merchant Marine Engineer) "I love the facility, but I think with Al's ability as an instructor, he could teach a course in a corn field."
Steve (SOF Writer) "Incredible. Best training I have had on a firearm. The shotgun just moved to the top of the list for my favorite weapon. It is versatile and accurate."
Staff: Some of these instructors are not on the full-time staff of Blackwater. When a class is scheduled, Gary Jackson arranges to fly the instructors here and take excellent care of them. They are able to get time off, either through taking leave, or comp time, and their employers are very cooperative as they realize the value of what these people are doing.
Al Clark: Director of Training (Al Clark has formed a new company, SPECIAL TACTICAL SERVICES with his partner Dale McClellan) Al served over 11 years as a SEAL, earning numerous combat decorations and becoming a senior weapons instructor while serving with numerous SEAL Teams. During his career, Al has focused on advanced weapons instruction and tactical employment methods. He possesses a broad base of experience on which to draw his knowledge.
James G. Smith, Milwaukee Police Department
James has over 17 years street experience in urban law enforcement
and training police officers to defend themselves and control
subjects. He is currently assigned to the Milwaukee Police Department.
James is one of the nation's leading developers of unarmed control
systems training programs for law enforcement. He served as a
defensive tactics consultant to a variety of federal, state and
municipal agencies. He is a certified trainer of instructors for
the State of Wisconsin Standards Bureau, and a unit production
manager and technical advisor for the award winning training film
"Surviving Edged Weapons", by Caliber Press, Inc.
Todd Jarrett, Current World Practical Shooting
Champion
Todd, during the past decade, has won dozens of matches and, most
notably, three National Championships. At Blackwater, Todd will
teach the latest techniques in the sport of competitive pistol
shooting. Todd has been a Gold Team Member since 1990, the winner
of the U.S. Nationals in 1991, the Miller Invitational 1991-1993,
"A First;" 10 Major Championships in a row, USPSA National
Champion 1997, and many more achievements.
Al Baker, Lieutenant S.A., NYPD-Emergency
Service Unit,(retired)
Alfred Baker is presently the Director of Training at Armor Holdings,
Inc. and the international tactical trainer specializing in ballistic
shields. An Army veteran, he has 25 years with the New York Police
Department working directly with hostage-barricade situations
and managing violent, emotionally disturbed people. He invented
the use of tactical robotics, is an authority on ballistics protection
applications from vest to rifle-threat barriers. Al commanded
the NYPD-ESU Specialized Training School and co-founded the Emergency
Psychological Technician Certification Course at John Jay College
of Criminal Justice. He is a member of the NY State Expert Training
Committee and the recipient of over 42 departmental awards and
commendations. Al also has a BS degree in behavioral Science,
NY Institute of Technology, Summa Cum Laude.
Kenneth A. Thatcher, Los Angeles Police
Department
Ken is a highly decorated officer with 27 years on the force wit
the LAPD. Twenty-one of those years were spent with the Special
Weapons and Tactics Team. he is currently serving as an Element
Leader with the LAPD SWAT, Metro Division. He a recipient of the
Medal of Valor & Police Star. He's provided security details
to presidents and heads of state visiting Los Angeles. Ken has
served hundreds of high risk warrants and participated in two
years of specialized tactical training in preparation for the
1984 LA Olympics. He is an international lecturer and member of
the SWAT Training Team.
James R. Attaway, Firearms Tactics, &
VIP Protection Instructor
Having over ten years experience as an Army Delta Force Operator,
James has served as a team member, Team leader, Training Instructor,
and Troop Sergeant for three assault teams. He is extremely knowledgeable
in the planning of tactical operations involving vehicles, buildings,
and aircraft. He was the Primary Instructor of US Army Delta VIP
Protections training for two years. James led and trained a six
man Delta Force assault team for four years, supervised and trained
two 20 man protective security details for U.S Ambassadors and
high level cabinet officials in high threat areas overseas. James
was Shift Leader of General Schwarzkopf's security detail during
the Gulf War. He has also designed a specialized course of instruction
in CQB for the U.S. Secret Service Counter Assault Team.
Al Zitta, "Z-Man", Recognized
Expert Within the Firearms Industry.
With over fifteen years of experience, Allan Zitta is known for
quality workmanship. In 1982, he invented the "Accu-Wedge",
a device know the world over for taking the rattle out of the
AR-15/M-16 rifle and enhancing its performance. Al is also a Vietnam
Veteran, having served during 1966 and 1967. he also builds custom
rifles, pistols and racing pistols for the top world class shooters.
His development and creativity is well respected in the firearm
community. His class is a "must attend" for all levels
of armorers.
Sharon Zaffiro Edington, Champion Ladies
Pistol Shooter
Sharon began shooting in late 1983 and became competitive in three
gun competition in 1984. She competed in the first U.S. Nationals
in 1988. Colt, C-More Systems and Bianchi International presently
sponsor Sharon. She is two-time National Rifle Association Bianchi
Cup Ladies National Champion (1996/1997) and three-time IPSIC/USPSA
Ladies National Champion (1994/1996/1997)
She is also a four-time champion of the Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Three-Gun Ladies National Championship (1986/1987/1988/1991/1997). Sharon is the IPT Ladies Champion and has many other achievements.
