Multiple Target Engagement

Here's another important video from the personal defense network. Next, we're going to talk about multiple target engagement. We're going to talk about a drill that we can run, that's going to realistically reflect what we're probably going to have to deal with, if we ever were attacked by multiple threats and had to respond with a defensive firearm or some other type of defensive action. The fact is, we're very unlikely to recognize and focus on two threats at once. Now, when we're out here on a square range, most square ranges aren't going to allow us to set up targets in different directions, where we can have a target off to our left and a target in front of us, and another target off to the right, where we could safely replicate a more realistic situation.

So our targets are going to be much like the targets we have down here, where they're right next to each other, and they're very easy to see both at once, very easy to see that they're both there and to recognize two targets at once. Well, that's not a realistic situation. We know that the way the body reacts and the way the mind reacts, to a threat, is to orient towards it. And that's not just a physical orientation, it's also a mental orientation and a focus. We know that we have a gain in visual acuity in the center of our field of vision during dynamic critical incident stress.

That focus that we have on that threat helps us. It helps us learn about the threat, it helps us deal with the threat. It helps us to shoot more efficiently and more intuitively ,if we need to shoot, in order to stop that person from trying to hurt us. And of course, that's the kind of thing that we're visualizing when we're out here shooting. We're preparing for defensive use of a firearm.

when we're doing our skill development drills, we need to be visualizing that threat. We're not just putting holes in paper. We're preparing to defend ourselves or those that we care about in an environment that's very threatening, very chaotic, surprising, dynamic and all those other things. While we're here, we're going to do multiple target recognition, we need to make sure that we are recognizing multiple targets. And not simply just shooting one target and then shooting another.

That works in a game, that works in competition shooting, It works in a scenario that's been choreographed to tell you, Hey by the way, as you go around this corner, there's going to be two or three targets. Here's their order. Here's their position. It's very easy to plan that out. In the real world, in an unpredictable dynamic, critical incident we're going to need to recognize and address multiple threats, separately.

So in this drill, what my shooters my training partners are going to do is shoot either the left target or the right target, first, depending on my command. My command will be right or left. After they engage that first threat, and deal with it, and they feel that they have significantly affected its ability to hurt them or others, and they do not need to deal with it any longer, just like in the real world, they're going to come back into the ready position and assess the environment to see if anybody else may pose a threat to them. If someone else is posing a threat, of course, they're going to recognize that fact, and then address that threat, appropriately, with good efficient defensive firearm skills. So what you're going to see here is my first command will initiate a lateral movement and a presentation from the holster and engagement of that threat.

And then the shooter is going to come back and suspend for a moment the fact that they know there's another target there and they're going to go through the process of visualizing an environmental assessment to see if anyone else is trying to hurt them. And if someone is they're going to address that threat. And of course that'll be the second target, whichever one they didn't shoot first, come back in, ready position, assess one more time, re holster, and of course at that point, in the real world, they would be checking to make sure that they're okay, making sure that everybody else in the environment was okay, their family, other bystanders, making that phone call to nine one, one, letting people know what happened. And then of course, standing by to be prepared to defend themselves if necessary . Multiple target engagements it's important that we're visualizing recognition.

That's what we're doing here. We're going through the motions of visualizing multiple target recognition, and of course getting all that good efficient shooting practice in while we're doing It. You ready guys? Yes, sir. Excellent.

Thank you. Face down, range, standby for your commands to fire. Right! Now, you can see in this situation, with multiple shooters, if we had two, three, four, five guys out here, as they're doing their lateral movement, it's certainly possible that they might bump into one another. Well, on a range, we need to make sure that we're, keeping safety, First and foremost, in our mind, the guns are oriented downrange, our finger is not on the trigger unless we're ready to shoot, and of course, we're going to remember the big picture rule.

Just because we bumped into someone doesn't mean that it changes the dynamic of those first two safety rules. So we're going to be safe, we're going to be coordinated, but if we happen to bump into one another, no big deal, stay in control, just like in the real world, and the range When you bump into someone, you're not going to let it distract you from what it is you need to be doing down range, or of course from good basic firearm safety skills. Same thing here on the training range, same thing in the real world, it's a crowded place, dynamic situation, You've got to be able to control your firearm. Left! Left!

Good shooting guys. That's how we train multiple target engagements in preparation for defensive use of fire- Check out more videos, just like this one, at the personal defense network.