Review of the Tactical Rifle II Course at TDI

With “warm up” out of the way, we quickly transitioned to working on other skills.  We first reviewed magazine changes, emphasizing correct form over speed – “slow is fast.”  We moved closer to the firing line and practiced doing proper magazine changes – we’d load 3-6 rounds in a magazine, fire until the bolt locked back, perform the magazine change, then fire another We then reviewed positioned shooting by lining up on the firing line and shooting five-shot strings from sitting, kneeling, and off-hand standing.  We performed each shot string from each position at the 25, 50, 75, and finally the 100 yard firing lines and inspected our accuracy after each shot string.  Afterward, we reviewed moving and shooting by performing the same “box drill” we performed during TR-I.  Here’s some photos of my friend John R. performing the box drill which gets you moving forward, side to side, and backward while firing:

The final exercise before we broke for dinner combined all the skills we’ve learned and reviewed, and upped the ante by adding a clock timer.  At the sound of the buzzer, the student began by firing two shots on target from an off-hand standing position:

The student had to perform a magazine change, and got to a kneeling position and fire two more shots:

The student then dropped to an unsupported prone position and fired one final shot:

Each student performed this exercise twice – my best time to completion was 22 seconds.  The student above managed a 15 second time to completion, which was the fastest time I witnessed in the class.   After completing this timed exercise, the class was dismissed for dinner, but our day was far from over – we returned at 7:30pm for the low-light component of the course.

When we resumed the course after dinner, the first topic of review was the proper execution of drop outs performed on the TDI pistol range:

After reviewing what we learned about doing drop outs during TR-I, all students were given the opportunity to perform some drop outs and  incorporating the use of our weapon mounted lights:

After performing these drills, the class went back to the rifle range and performed what was to me the least valuable exercise during the course.  I don’t have any photos to show because it was pitch black out on the rifle range.  The exercise involved shooting from several simulated non-standard/non-traditional situations and positions.  Examples would include shooting prone against a curb, shooting under a car, shooting laying on your back between your legs, laying on your side with your feet up against a wall, etc.  For me to have had any hope of gaining mastery over these skills, I would have needed to first run through them during the day when I could actually see.  To try and learn it and perform it in complete darkness was an exercise in frustration.

Fortunately, after completing the above exercise, students then made their way to one of the Live Fire Houses, and performed a house clearing exercise at night which was far more instructive and valuable.  The house clearing exercise wasn’t terrible different than the daylight house clearing performed during TR-I.  But the cloak of darkness adds an entirely new and interesting element which necessitates some subtle changes in how the exercise is performed.

We wrapped up the night shoot at roughly 9:45pm – having started at 9am that day, we were all quite ready to call it a day.

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