If you don't know who ex-Delta Force operator Paul Howe is, I'd suggest you read Blackhawk Down by Mark Bowden or at
this. He is a great American and a great guy. My interest in guns tends to be toward fine guns and hunting guns and not toward black guns even so I did purchase one a couple years ago. My lack of knowledge on such a gun made me want to seek professional training to help me feel more comfortable with the platform.
I chose to train with Paul over others because of his experience and his philosophy. Paul stresses accuracy over speed which I wholeheartedly agree. I suppose this class may turn some people off as it is not a "cool guy" class. Basically everything you learn in a Magpul video or any other “cool guy” video, unlearn it. There is no fancy maneuvers, no point shooting, no shooting on the move, no high speed tac reloads, no ninja rolls, or any silliness or anything remotely dangerous. There's not even alot of shooting compared to other classes. In total I believe I shot 500 or so rounds. I had brought 700 rounds of surplus green tip on stripper clips. At the end of the day 2 I had at least 6 or 7 boxes (each box holds 30) left that I gave to Paul since I couldn't travel with it due to Jet Blue's silly rule. They do not allow boxed ammo in the same case with the gun. Apparently they just want to charge you for an extra luggage.
Classes are assisted by instructor/students. These instructor/students arrived four days prior to our class. There Paul teaches them how to teach others using his methods. Each must pass his standards to move on to the 2 last days where they are assigned a student to assist him on each method. Our instructors were mostly Army reservists from Oklahoma but we also had a Texas sheriff, and a doctor. They were great. The Reservists were good ole boys who were some of the nicest guys ever. And they were a hoot as well. There is nothing funnier than a redneck making fun of another redneck for being too redneck. I had my own Jeff Foxworthy show at the barracks. The instructor/ student ratio was almost one to one. 22 students to 17 instructors. I shared my instructor with a great shot from Houston named Lee.
Paul lays down a foundation known as his standards, various shooting positions at various distances that must be met under a certain time. It is not easy. He says use his standards as an analogy to a gym program. Every time you go the gym, you don't just go in a start lifting, you have a list of workouts you do for the day. His standards are used much in the same way. After this course you can take it home and use it to practice all you have learned here.
On the first day my T1 red point optic failed on me, requiring me to shoot with my iron sights. Since I have poor vision, I knew I was going to have an even harder time now. Lee graciously offered me his spare Aimpoint CompM3. I originally accepted but later declined. I figured I better learn to shoot irons well, in case my optics ever failed in real life.
My shooting definitely improved by the end of training. I was easily engaging targets at up to 300 yards with irons. I would have never taught I could do that prior to coming class. Paul teaches finding your natural point of aim and bone supported holds to allow you to shoot more accurately while shooting faster.
The first day we learned the shooting system and all the standards. This is the day where most of all the shooting occurs. The following day we were split into two teams. One team would start with the "scrambler," which is a course where you run to each target and engage steel anywhere from 100-300 yards away using various shooting platforms. The course also includes some pistol shots as well. This was a hoot. The other team would start with tactical lessons from Paul. He taught how to approach a barricade and use it for cover. Coming out and owning the battlefield. After that he taught us precision hostage shooting. On his hostage targets his daughter is used as a model so don't miss. The next module was shooting shirts. This was to show us that in real life there are no references as there are in paper targets. Once that was completed we began shooting the 100-7 drill and then started the standards, recording our times to see where we needed to practice. One of the Magpul guys, Mike aced them all. I know, I was shooting right next to him. The class concludes with Paul giving a demonstration on how to properly clean an AR. He likes the gun lubed and wet.
The things I learned:
Why he uses a 100 yard zero and starting at the 7 yard line to give you a baseline zero.
Finding your natural point of aim.
Supporting the gun with bone and not muscle.
Ambi safeties blow. At least mine does. It causes you lift your trigger finger to accommodate the safety going into fire. In other words it slows you down.
Carburetor Cleaner works great to clean your gun and it’s a lot cheaper.
Keep the AR wet.
Texas has some of the nicest people I've ever met.
Given Paul's credentials, the $450 ($50 of that is for lodging at the barracks, otherwise its $400) is quite possibly the greatest deal in tactical training. Paul is approachable and will answer any question you ask him. He gives you an honest answer for why he chooses his methods and techniques and why he doesn't use others. He has no tough guy attitude or any false bravado like many other tactical trainers out there. I can tell he is comfortable in his own skin and doesn't need to prove that he is a bad ***. He knows it and people around him know it too.
I thought it was funny when he made a comment to his wife, who is very attractive by the way, that she knew he was on a diet yet she baked him cookies. Connie basically just rolled her eyes. I thought it was funny that a man who passed probably the most rigorous and demanding selection process in all the military and survived arguably the most deadly battle in modern warfare didn't have the strength to resist his wife's homemade cookies. I guess we all have our weaknesses.
Funny story. Ideally you should travel into Houston Airport and travel 2 hours north to CSAT. I have a friend stationed in Ft Hood so I flew into Austin to spend a night with his family. He lent me his truck for the weekend so I can drive 4 hour east to Nacogdoches. I had forgotten to pack my razor and was too cheap to buy a new one so I went unshaven for a couple days. When I got there and met all the reservists, each one saw the truck with a DoD sticker on it and kept asking me what I did. I guess they saw a guy with longish hair (at least by military standards) and unshaven they must have taught I was some contractor or SF guy. I let them know I was not, just a wussy (rhymes with wussy) civilian and the truck belonged to my buddy.
Since Paul was California boy from San Diego that “escaped” when he turned 18, we both reminisced about the good ole days when California was actually an awesome state. He talked about hunting in Santee and I talked about shooting with my pop in Irvine and how I managed to experience the tail end of the good ole days of CA before it turned into turdsville.
I hope to return to Nacogdoches to train with him again. I hope to take his home defense course next year.
Paul explains why you should hold at the low ready to a couple Houston PD.
The Reservists came in two vans and two LMVTs. They let me check it out and sit in the cab.
Each guy gets ready to shot the standards.
Paul explains how to clean the AR and how to seal it completely so if you ever get dusted by a helicopter, high winds, etc. the gun is still good to go.