Shoot on thru

By Ralph Lenehan & Rick MiIIer Combat Handgun 09/1997

SCENARIO You are a police officer responding to a reported bank robbery. As you exit your patrol car two armed men run from the front door of the ban k. When you challenge them they point their weapons at you. As you engage the first gunman the second jumps back behind the wooden door frame of the bank. PROCEDURE At signal engage exposed target, then jump behind cover and engage second target through his cover/concealment. After the action is over, you may at your option advance to the low wall to observe the concealed gunman or stay behind your original cover. Time will stop with last shot fired, regardless of where you finish. PALADIN SCORE Five second penalty for each hostile target not neutralizedand for not attempting to use cover properly. NOTES Stress that in the real world you are only justified in shooting through cover/concealment when you know your adversary s armed and actively resisting. As a training exercise you might omit the time and just let the shooter tell you when he is finished. After all have shot, debate the issue of staying behind tree trunk or moving to low wall. Use ammo that you normally carry on the street. How did it stack up against the wall?

SCORING Each target must have at least one center hit OR any combination of hits to total seven points. Any number of shots may be fired, at the discretion of the shooter. When satisfied that ail targets are neutralized, the clock may be stopped by hitting the stop plate. Any target that does not have at least one center hit or a combination of hits totaling seven points will add a five-second penalty to the shooters total time. Each hit on a bystander or hostage target will also count for a five-second penalty. TIME ONLY W1LL COUNT TO DETERM1NE WINNER ALTERNATE SCORING if any target does not have the required point total, the shooter will be declared DEAD at that spot.

One problem that we have set up from time to time in our Paladin Program requires the individual to shoot through thick or thin brush. In many cases you may see the target clearly, and not very far away at maybe twelve or fifteen yards, but screened by same sparse brush. At this range, its an easy marksmanship problem. As you watch the shooters run through this exercise, you may be amazed at the erratic and varied results. You will learn that a twig no larger in diameter than a common lead pencil will sometimes deflect a 9mm or .45 bullet so that it will completely miss or marginally hit a target placed four or five feet behind it. If you never try it, you will never find this out. Another frustrating set-up involves the use of an eight- or ten-inch diameter steel plate set two or three feet

behind a log or low mound of dirt, with about two thirds visible to the shooter. Typically, well ask the shooter to jump behind cover (here the term means not penetrable by gunfire) and engage the steel plate (which represents the head of a concealed foe) at a range of ten, fifteen and sometimes twenty yards. lt is amazing to see how many bullets will go into the dirt or log. The shooter must make a conscious effort to aim a little higher than normal to hit the plate. Why? I think, in the stress of quickly solving the problem, the shooters subconscious mind automatically puts the sights where the center of the plate should be. This does happen in many cases, as experience has shown. In the past we have run a scenario that incorporates these problems into one exercise that also relates to the urban environment. A simulated wall is set up complete with 2x4 studs. A stan dard size 18x30-inch silhouette is set up about three feet behind it so that just a bit of the head and one shoulder is visible from where the shooter stands. Its very interesting to see what happens next. Even though the shooter can see just enough of the targets head and shoulder to give him its location, the hits often wont be there. Sometimes, in the minds eye it is difficult to locate the center of mass an the target. The hits may be there, but will be high, low or off to one side. If a bullet hits one of the studs, it generally will be deflected, and may miss the target altogether! This happens even though the target is only three feet behind the wall. Occasionally, if the stud is struck squarely, the bullet will be stopped altogether. In this exercise, the justification for shooting through the wall to hit an opponent s that you know he is armed and has already tried to kill you. Since he s still actively engaged in that effort, stopping him is of paramount importance in order to protect yourself and innocent bystanders who may also be in danger. Just stress to the shooters before the exercise starts that on the street and in the real world, they must clearly identify the target as being hostile, and that they or others about them are in danger before shooting is justified. Same shooters may choose to stay behind their original cover for safety after shooting, as the most realistic tactic. Others chose to move to the second point of cover provided, so they could have a clear shot at the target to finish the exercise. It is the shooters option just as it would be in real life. Why dont you set up a similar exercise on your range, for training or as part of a match. Im sure that all of your shooters will fin it to be an interesting experience.