Training Scars: The Unintended Consequences of Practice Routines.
One summer, about a decade ago while deployed to Iraq, I found myself reading, “On Combat” by Dave Grossman. It was my first deployment with the Teams and I was incredibly eager to learn as much as I could. Our platoon was conducting direct-action raids each night. The mission: Capture or Kill bad dudes (paraphrasing). Grossman’s book, to me, was an academics approach to what we were living each night. The book goes into detail with many examples of training methods and habits that affected the outcome of real-life police and military, for better or worse. We trained for 18 months for our mission in Iraq. We were ready, or at least we thought we were. The more missions we conducted, however, I realized how different the training world is from actual combat. I became frustrated because our training was/is incredibly difficult, demanding, and dangerous, but it was still lacking. What was it lacking? I didn’t fully understand at the time. So here I am, a decade later with a decade’s worth of combat and training knowledge. I finally have a clear picture of what my training was lacking and what many current training routines are getting wrong. Here is a list of the most prevalent and destructive training scars I’ve seen. Please note, this article isn’t intended to say that certain training methods are better or worse, (although it definitely does) rather it is intended to highlight the possibility that the routines we use to improve our skill or make us “Safer”, can actually degrade our training and even put us in danger.
Hyper-Specialization in One Modality:
In Special Operations we train for everything, literally. We send Operators to schools ranging from Sniper and Medical courses, to Jet Ski Rescue, Rally-Car Driving, High Altitude Parachuting, Mixed Martial Arts, Photography, and Language School, just to name a few. Being a jack-of-all-trades is a frustrating existence because it’s difficult to be specialized enough to be a master in anything. It requires an intense level of commitment and dedication to the craft. The upside, however is that you can do anything, not literally, but damn near close. You’re able to jump out of a plane at night, land in the ocean, attach an outboard motor to a boat, install the motor, navigate the boat to an insertion point, jump in the water with dive gear and navigate to a target, climb aboard a ship, then assault the ship using close-quarters tactics… The montage is more exciting than the reality, because the reality takes years of meticulous training and planning. It requires an Operator to trade their own specialization for a general knowledge of those skillsets, all of which are perishable. Fast forward to the world outside of the Special Operations. Hyper-specialization is all around us. It allows us to be the top 1% athletes. It gives us the competitive edge in competition. It’s what helps us standout as individuals and gives us our niche on Instagram, #winkface. It’s also our weakness.
I train a lot in mixed martial arts, among other things. More recently I’ve gone down the rabbit hole with Brazilian JiuJitsu (BJJ). While I’m not even nearly the best on the mat, I often find myself sitting on top of an opponent in a very dominant position. Fight training would teach me to smash my opponents face with strikes because that would end the fight quickly and efficiently, but since BJJ doesn’t allow striking, a majority of my opponents will lay on their backs with their hands guarding their necks, awaiting a choke instead of a punch. We call this, “Playing JiuJitsu.” These opponents are playing by the rules of sport. The negative affects from training this way can be devastating in real combat. Combat requires the use many tools, not just one. After all, there are no rules in combat.
Lack of Fitness and Types of Fitness:
It’s easy to include fitness in the paragraph above, but it’s such an important part of any training routine that it needs stand-alone attention. I think everyone understands that you need to workout. How should you workout and why should you workout, are a bit more confusing. Athletes train with purpose for the game, which is specific to their sport. Special Operators train with purpose for their mission, which usually means, “Be ready for anything”. If we’re deploying to Afghanistan, for instance we will focus on cardio and rucking through the mountains. However, we still need to be He-Man strong, lightning fast, and be able to swim…just in-case. Really, we’re just changing our strengths without giving up our capabilities. We’re always ready for any mission because we have to be. Plus, being physically fit makes everything easier and makes you harder to kill.
I’ve been teaching combat to students for a long time. I’m always in awe when I see someone show up for combat training and they are either obese, weak, or that middle-ground we call, “Skinny Fat.” First and foremost, good on those people for coming out and trying. I mean that sincerely. Small, consistent efforts are a great way to get back into shape. But to prioritize skillsets, tactics, or techniques over physical fitness is just plain wrong. Physical (and mental) fitness absolutely must come first, or at least in parallel with other modalities. All Special Forces training first starts with a weeding out period that is both physical and mental. The training is designed with purpose, and it is F’ing successful at breaking weakness. Once students are filtered, that’s when the skillset training begins, building them up. You wouldn’t build a house on a crumbling foundation. Physical fitness IS the foundation for all training.
Social Media Training Versus Real Training:
The prevalence of social media in society has a powerful affect on the way we think, act, and train. The positive affect is that information flows freely and now we see regular citizens having access to top tier training. Look at how CrossFit has created an entire community of everyday people who are superhuman athletes. I know a librarian who can outshoot most Green Berets (Shoutout to Dex!). These are good things! They help us push the boundaries of human performance. The negative affect, however, is that misinformation also flows freely, and in seemingly higher quantities than the former. I cringe when I scroll through my Facebook or Instagram feeds as I look at all of the tactical “instructors” out there preaching their “expertise”. Now, this part may offend some people, but… if you haven’t seen combat, you cannot be a tactical expert… Reread that last line. You cannot and should not teach people how to use tactics if you have not done them in real-life. “But I was in the military”… No. “Well, I was a cop”… No. It doesn’t matter what role you’ve held or what training you’ve had, if you haven’t tested it under the pressure of real-life combat, fighting, or otherwise, then you have no business teaching it.
There is a difference between competitive shooting and combat shooting, and the latter should be exclusively taught by combat veterans, police or military. A company that sets a great standard for this is T-Rex Arms. These guys put out some of the fastest shooting you will ever see and they have incredible knowledge in gear and drills to train smarter. What I respect the most is how they draw a line between shooting and tactics. They are fully forthcoming that they have never served as police or military and they don’t pretend to be tactical experts. There needs to be more transparency like this in our industry. Consumers need to be extremely weary of who is teaching them. My advice: Ask your instructor what their background is. Then when you’re shown a technique, ask ‘Why’. It’s mostly for your own knowledge but it’s also a great way to call bullshit on an inexperienced coach.
Nowadays you can throw a stone in any direction and hit a tactical gear brand that is selling the newest hotness. Untrained consumers add as much of that crap into their digital carts as possible, thinking they too will look and perform like the bearded, tattooed Operators they see in the brand’s lifestyle posts. The gear is always shiny and new, crisp and clean. Each Operator looks freshly manicured and high-speed. In other words, they look completely opposite of how soldiers actually look in combat. The first question I ask students donning new gear, “Where’d you get that from?” I follow it up with, “Have you tested it?” Most students look confused when I ask the latter. Test it? I mean, I’ve used it… but. Gear and equipment need to be so intertwined in your routine that you feel naked without it. A ruck, kit, wetsuit, holster, helmet, or any other piece of essential gear needs to be tested in real-life, extreme environments. You should be able to feel your way through your equipment at night, under stress. In the Navy, we used to “dip test” our diving gear. Meaning, you would jock-up in full gear and literally dip yourself in the ocean to see if you would float or sink. Operators know their equipment, inside and out. The kit I wore, I kept the same for almost a decade, not from laziness or nostalgia, but because I had learned through hard lessons what worked and what didn’t. Don’t get sold on hype, buy a pair of hiking pants and then drag your ass through the mud. You’ll find out quickly how much you like your Lulu’s (Lululemon has not responded to my multiple requests for sponsorship).
Training to Stay in the Fight:
This last section is specific to shooting, although the lessons can be translated elsewhere. Let’s discuss range training habits. I’ve trained thousands of people and I’ve seen the full spectrum of talent, from no-shit gunslingers to some of the most dangerous and sloppy gun owners imaginable. I used to think what separates the former from the latter is practice and repetition. But more recently I’ve changed my stance. I’m now fully convinced that what separates the good from the bad is not just repetition, but rather THOUGHTFUL and PURPOSEFUL repetition. There is a difference. A police officer shows up at our range, tells me he’s been shooting for 15 years, he’s NRA certified, and has actually been in gunfights. I say, cool, let’s watch you shoot… What happens next is underwhelming. I can’t honestly say my 9-year-old daughter would outshoot him, but she would come close. However, after watching his performance it was clear that he had repetition and muscle memory, but it was the kind that gets you killed. I’d like to highlight a couple fatal training scars that this officer had, in hopes that others learn from them.
Finger OFF the trigger while eyes are in the sights. This is the absolute most common training scar I see. A student is looking through their sights, aiming at a target, and their finger is off of the trigger. Where does this stem from? Insurance and bureaucracy, i.e. big military and police departments. How can we train a large number of people to have a basic competency with a weapon, while simultaneously making sure that they don’t accidentally send a round into a crowd of people? Let’s implement rules that basically force us to never be ready to fire. And that’s exactly what these training departments do. We’re trained to keep our “finger straight and off the trigger until ready to fire.” This safety rule has been completely misconstrued. It doesn’t say, “Only place your finger on the trigger right before you fire.” Here is the question I pose, if you’re not ready to fire, then why is your gun drawn in the first place? If you draw your weapon, it’s because you’re preparing to fire. Once your eyes are in the sights, have your finger on, with the slack taken out of the trigger, then you, the thinking shooter, can decide if you need to shoot or not. This type of training has been used in Special Forces for years. It saves lives.
Failing to Scan for Threats After Shooting. Go on YouTube immediately after reading this and type in, “Speed Shooting”. Count how many competitive shooters scan for threats after shooting a course of fire. You’ll be surprised if you find any, and that’s because competitive shooting has no threats to scan for. This is not a dig at competition shooters. We need both styles of training in our lives to become truly great, however your muscle memory MUST be geared towards combat shooting (if self-defense is your goal). What I’m talking about is after you fire and the target is down, looking up and down, left and right, or any other direction, with your eyes through the sights, scanning for anything else that may be trying to hurt you. Why don’t people do this? Two reasons: First, it’s tedious and time consuming and people are inherently lazy with their training. Second, students love to learn techniques on social media. When they see a competitive shooter not scanning, they emulate the same moves. Remember, the race is to get the gun OUT of the holster. There is no race to put the gun away.
In summary, we want to build muscle memory, because under stress, that’s all we have. But muscle memory is so powerful that we need to be incredibly responsible with what regiments we adopt. Think through every aspect of your training routine, from physical fitness to mental toughness, and all of the skillsets in between. What are the unintended consequences from my routines? Keep working towards your goal, but train smarter, not harder.
Respectfully,
Mike O’Dowd
Mike O’Dowd is the Founder of Defense Strategies Group. Mike spent over 9 years in Naval Special Warfare with extensive combat operations experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. He served as a JTAC, Intelligence Analyst, Lead Breacher, Communications Specialist and various other qualifications for his team. He spent his last 3 years in the Navy teaching combat shooting and helping to develop the modern-day Combatives program at the Basic Underwater Demolition School (BUDS). He has trained thousands of military members, government employees, law enforcement, and civilians. He has an MBA from University of California, San Diego and a Bachelors from Boston University.
