Basic Carbine Training Course

Recently, I took Alpha Dog Tactical’s basic carbine course. Watching stuff like The Nutnfancy Project and Top Shot always makes me want to take courses with experienced instructors to up my skills but a lot of anxiety and intimidation have always prevented me from enrolling. Luckily, enrollment in the course was a gift (and a big push). My initial expectation was that the course would be filled with law enforcement officers and maybe ex-military and that my skills and knowledge would be far less than that of other participants. However, some internet research and thinking-it-over led me to expect more varied skill levels putting me at ease.

Leading up to the course, I had to get all the required gear/supplies. Having minimal real life experience with the AR-15, there was a lot of guess work. (What kind of vest/chest rig fits most comfortably? Where do I want my magazines to be positioned? How essential would knee pads be?)

The day of the course, I felt prepared and made my long drive to the course location. When I arrived, most participants were already gearing up and I rushed to get ready. The participants were about as diverse as one would find at most Northern CA shooting ranges. As the day showed, our skill levels were extremely varied as was our experience with our weapons. I have to give the instructor, Jeff, and his co-instructors, Jimmy and Chuck, a lot of props for handling the varied skill levels so well.

I won’t recount the course entirely. You can find the course list HERE and read it yourself. Jeff, Jimmy, and Chuck all had great demeanors for instructing. They kept the pressure on but were not the type of militaristic asshole rangemasters or gunshop owners we all encounter too unnecessarily often.

Most important are my take-aways from the course. While the instructor’s pressure/stress was minimal, it gave me the greatly desired opportunity to perform and learn while not in a comfortable environment. The drills also showed me what I need to work on and how to do that. Jeff continuously told us how shooting is “the thinking man’s game” and it definitely took me some stretching to try and think outside of my daily office job sheep role. It became painfully obvious to everyone there that the bullshit CA “bullet button” is not meant to be on the weapon and caused problems in learning, adapting, and even weapon malfunctions. Similarly, we all felt the pain of using 10 round CA legal mags. I did find myself in the bottom quarter of skill levels. At least it felt like it. I also made some glaring mistakes. However, I have to keep it in perspective of my goal: Get better. I like the TNP motto of “suck less” and I know I learned a great deal and I suck less than I did before the course.

Most all of my gun enthusiast peers have no military experience nor do we encounter many people who do. Enrolling in civilian training courses is crucial. I would recommend this for pistols and not just rifles. We ran drills transitioning from rifle to pistol and without strong pistol fundamentals, I felt at a disadvantage. It wouldn’t hurt to watch a lot of internet videos about tactical AR-15 usage either. Watching and re-watching TNP and Magpul videos helped me with terminology and ideas on how to run my system. Working on some forearm strength before the course will help avoid some sore muscles/tendons. If intimidation is keeping you from enrolling in a course, get a friend to take it with you. This course had solo and group participants. There isn’t much time for chatting but going with friends might help put you at ease.

Big thanks go out to the Alpha Dog Tactical team for teaching us all some great skills. I am extremely appreciative of the gift enrolling me in the course.