Combat Shooting Methods for Real World Encounters

GUNFIGHTERS Ltd.

COMBAT SHOOTING METHODS, Inc. 

LOUIS M. CHIODO

FOUNDER, GUNFIGHTERS Ltd.

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GUNFIGHTERS Ltd., P.O. Box 212273, Chula Vista, CA 91921-2273, USA

Phone: (619) 482-1786 Fax: (619) 482-0927

Website: www.gunfightersltd.com

INSIGHTS INTO THE TRAINING PROGRAM

FIREARMS TRAINING PHILOSOPHY

The purpose of firearms training is to prepare an officer to use firearms in a fight against an adversary in what usually begins as a spontaneous attack initiated by the adversary. Our firearms program is not about shooting. It is about fighting. When the concept of fighting is taken out of firearms training, we have forgotten the purpose of our training. Experience has taught us that training is not enough to ensure success. Improper training or training that is inappropriate for a given environment can cause injury or death simply because what was trained failed at the moment of truth. The handgun training presented in the courses offered by my company, GUNFIGHTERS Ltd., can give an officer an incredible advantage over his adversary when confronted with a violent, close-quarters engagement.

PROGRAM GOAL

My goal is to instruct officers in time-tested, relevant, and realistic combat shooting methods that have proven to work in the dynamic, high-stress environment of close-quarters combat. The close-quarters combat shooting methods taught in my courses have been tested where it counts – in combat!  Each officer that attends training will leave with a greater ability to dominate their adversary by delivering rapid, combat accurate fire upon the adversary.   My training programs are not about shooting. They are about fighting!

REALITY BASED TRAINING

The training program has been designed to prepare an officer to effectively respond to a lethal threat when any and/or all of the following are present:

·         The incident is usually spontaneous

·         The suspect has the initiative and the officer is reacting to a lethal threat

·         The officer experiences extreme life-threatening stress and perceives his/her life is in jeopardy

·         The Sympathetic Nervous System is activated

·         The officer does not have fine and/or complex motor skills during high-stress situations

·         The distances involved in the shooting will generally be at close range (within 7 yards of the suspect)

·         Close-quarters combat shootings are generally extremely fast, occur under poor visibility, and the not behind cover

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

W. E. Fairbairn

In the early part of the 1900’s in Shang Hi China, William E. Fairbairn was the Officer-in-Charge of firearms training for the Shang-Hi Police Department. He began the process of developing combat shooting methods to replace the training programs that were present in his department. The reason why he sought changes in training was simple. At that time in history, Shangi-Hi was one of the most dangerous places in the world and the members of that department engaged in “urban combat” in the back alleys, streets and dwellings of that city against a ruthless adversary.  Simply stated, his department’s training methods were failing in combat. Those officers who had the courage to fight lost their lives because even though they were “trained”, the methods were inappropriate for the environment they were facing in combat. In short, training failures lead to the death of brave men in the field.  As more appropriate training was developed, the situation was reversed and success in combat replaced defeat.

Col. Rex Applegate

During World War II, Col. Rex Applegate took the lessons learned from Fairbairn’s experience in Shang-Hi China and further developed training methods while he was the Office-in Charge of training for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during the war years. The methods that were refined and further developed by Col. Applegate were immediately applied in combat by OSS operatives. Program development was enhanced by direct feedback by those who had to apply their training to stay alive. This process ensured that the methods were not based upon theory but reality. During the post World War II era, many of the methods taught in handgun training programs have become based upon target shooting or competitive shooting methodologies. The result of this has inundated training programs with unrealistic training that doesn’t prepare the operator for combat.

Louis M. Chiodo

Through my direct affiliation with Col. Applegate, I was able to gain the knowledge of both his and Fairbairn’s experience and further develop the methods that will enable me to rapidly develop an individual’s ability to employ a handgun in close-quarters combat. Whether the methods are applied on the “battlefield” of urban America by law enforcement or in the streets, back alleys or structures where current military operations take place, the methodology is equally applicable.

TRAINING METHODOLOGY / PHILOSOPHY

The cornerstone of my training programs is that the methods taught are uncomplicated and once learned easy to retain over time. No special equipment or facility is necessary to produce the most effective combat hand-gunners.  Simplicity rules and everything taught has been developed to work under the stress of combat. My years of study, research, and application of these methods have allowed me to fine-tune the method of instruction to rapidly gain results.  By their nature, handguns are weapons designed for use when in close-quarters to an adversary. The methods needed for those engagements are distinctly different than what is conventionally taught in many training programs. My curriculum addresses the unique circumstances present when an officer is in close proximity to the adversary and tenths of a second separate life and death.  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Worked directly with Col. Rex Applegate in the development of weapons programs

Louis M. Chiodo, Founder GUNFIGHTERS Ltd. – 22 years Law Enforcement training experience

Designed, developed and implemented a program of instruction for the largest state police agency in the United States for the Combat Pistol, Tactical Rifle and Combat Shotgun

Designed, developed and implemented a program of instruction for the integration of the weapons training program into an Integrated Use-of-Force Program

Designed, developed and implemented a Force-on-Force Training Protocol to integrate simunitions and other technologies into the training program

Trained in excess of 500 weapons training and use-of-force instructors within his employed agency / and trained military and law enforcement instructors and personnel from countries throughout the free world.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTOR CREDIT

 Guest instructor for numerous engagements for The International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI)

 Instructor, California Highway Patrol Academy

 Guest instructor for Bruce Siddle’s PPCT

 Guest instructor for  the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office

 Guest instructor for the Gryphon Group (Corporate security Personal Security Detail instruction)

 Guest instructor, California Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.)

 Advanced California Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) certified

 Certified instructor by the State of California for the following weapons systems: Pistol, revolver, shotgun, tactical rifle, side-handle baton (PR-24, Expandable baton (ASP) and pepper spray

 Developed the Task-Oriented Qualification System  (TOQC) and the Task-Oriented Combat Qualification System  (TOCQC)

 Developed the weapons training program for the largest sate police agency in the United States.

ARTICLES AND CREDITS GIVEN IN VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS

The Close-Combat Files of Col. Rex Applegate – Col. Rex Applegate

 Extreme Close-Quarters Shooting – Ralph Mroz

 Defensive Shooting For Real-Life Encounters – Ralph Mroz

 The Snubby Revolver – Ed Lovette

 Tactical Defensive Training for Real-Life Encounters – Ralph Mroz

Combat Handguns, September 2000, page 14 – Ralph Mroz

Combat Handguns, November 2001, page 106 – Ed Lovette

Combat Handguns, February 2002, page 32 – Ralph Mroz

Combat Handguns, March 2002 page 6 – Ralph Mroz

Guns and Weapons For law enforcement, October 2001, page 18 – Bob Pilgrim

The Police Marksman, November/December 2001, page 21 – Ralph Mroz

 Magnum, the Shooter’s Magazine (South Africa), June 2001, page 72 – Don Gold

 Guns and Weapons For law enforcement, April 2002, page 18 – Bob Pilgrim

 Combat Handguns, December 2002, page 16 – Ralph Mroz

 Combat Handguns, February 2003, Page 80 – Ralph Mroz

 The Firearms Instructor, Issue 34, 2003, page  4 – International Association of Law enforcement Firearms Instructors  

 Combat Handguns, May 2004, page 106 – Ed Lovette

 The Edge, Great lakes Self-Defense Association – Volume 1, Issue 1

 The Edge, Great lakes Self-Defense Association – Volume 1, Issue 2

The Edge, Great lakes Self-Defense Association – Volume 1, Issue 3

Combat Handguns, June 2005, page 98 – Ed Lovette

Combat Handguns, February, 2006, page 90 – Ralph Mroz

The Edge, Great lakes Self-Defense Association – Volume 1, Issue 4

Police and Security News, September/October 2006 – Volume 22 Issue 5

AUTHOR OF “TRAINING for SUCCESS”

“Training for Success” is a study of issues relevant to today’s use of firearms in the high stress environment of close-quarters combat.