There are numerous answers to this and they're all very personal.
"Why do I train?" is the only one I can answer reliably...
And there are a vast many who will call my answer far-fetched and at least one of my closer acquaintances have called it "totally impossible here."
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Let's visualize this for a minute...
It's a nice, calm day of whatever flavor of weather you prefer... For me that's around 75-80 degrees with a decent breeze and not a cloud in the sky but your mileage on weather may vary... Either way, it's a normal day. We're going on about our daily business and we go to a local cafe that is quite popular... Two gunmen burst in and spray the place with automatic weapons fire.
That's one example of why I train the way I do, why our courses are as physically intense as they are (hey, I can't shoot live rounds at you so I have to get that body alarm response somehow!), and why we don't care about scoring... We want multiple (i.e. MANY... i.e. more than two or three) rounds heart-into-spine, into the major organs (heart and lungs), throat-into-spine, or into the ocular cavity and we want them there quickly. Someone somewhere is gonna see this and say "The 9mm guy has to shoot them a lot... That's why I carry a .775 Super Magnum..." Awesome... Does it look like I give a damn? I bet it'll kill them quicker if you put 5 or 6 of them bullets into the felon instead of just one or two as well, won't it?
How about another one?
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Another beautiful day and we walk outside... We go to a popular restaurant at a 5-star hotel for some fine dining... A half dozen bombs go off in the hotel... One in the lobby, two in the elevators, three in the restaurant... and one more at another hotel close by. Men storm in with rifles and attempt to take hostages.
How about yet another one?
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I'm not an overly religious man, but let's say we go to a religious center for an event... Two armed gunmen burst in, take hostages, and at one point execute a woman, 6 months pregnant, and her husband who is the center's religious leader.
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Now... Let's say, not only did these events happen... Say they happened over the course of the same day... In the same city... With at least two more VBIED attacks along the way.
Pretty heavy on the local resources isn't it?
Now... I know what someone's thinking... "That can't happen... You're just another shoot-em-up instructor trying to scare people into buying your services..."
Guess what dipshit?
Not only can it happen... It has.
Let's rewind time a bit...
Mumbai, India. 26-27 Nov 2008.
Leopold Cafe is attacked as the first restaurant scenario.
Taj Mahal Hotel and Oberoi Trident... Hotel scenario.
Nariman House, the Religious Center.
Also attacked in this instance was a railway terminal... I didn't go into that one because I don't have much rail transportation in my AO so that one is unlikely for me. Time delay bombs were placed in taxicabs and thus the cabs were used as VBIED's as well.
Folks... Terror is alive and well, as Boston and the recent events in the UK have proven.
I understand the likelihood of NEEDING the training we, and many others, offer is pretty slim. I understand that, and to be brutally honest with you I sincerely hop that you NEVER need to use it... But in the event that terror rears it's ugly head in your AO... Be ready for it.
"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." -Isaiah 6:8 KJV
What will you say if you need to attack a true believer hell bent on killing the infidel?
Will you advance on their position and put the threat down with extreme prejudice like the murderer they are?
Or will you cower, afraid to take action?
Or will you revert to training that isn't built around fighting, rather around a game or sport of some form and hope it works out?
Train for the fight...
Be ready for the fight...
And always Stay Frosty.
Watch Your Six.
V/R
-Kenny Smith
Chief Master Instructor and President
Total Force Training Group