Russian Training Drill **DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! OR ANYWHERE!**

jks9199

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CAVEAT: I DO NOT ENDORSE, SUGGEST, OR EVEN HINT THAT ANY OF THE DRILLS SHOWN IN THE FOLLOWING VIDEO ARE SOUND.

[video=youtube_share;rI01qKAqYts]http://youtu.be/rI01qKAqYts[/video]

OK, I get that this is from Russia, and that it is a HIGHLY advanced exercise. But NONE of the exercises shown, as shown, pass a basic "let's train with reasonable regard to safety" review.

The first -- let's deliberately shoot each other. Then, after that, let's shoot just past the guy's ear. Sure hope that it wasn't an off day on the vest sewing shop. And that the folks quality control checks on the Kevlar (or whatever fibers ) didn't miss one...

For the last two... just way too much to go wrong. According to some comments, the shots into the ground are deliberate, not sympathetic reflex. Don't know. Don't like the idea of deliberately shooting the ground, because that round may hit a rock or metal manhole cover...

I'm not saying there's no place for live fire drills... but let's not be stupid about 'em, either. Do the drill with some form of marking cartridge.

Thoughts or opinions?
 
CAVEAT: I DO NOT ENDORSE, SUGGEST, OR EVEN HINT THAT ANY OF THE DRILLS SHOWN IN THE FOLLOWING VIDEO ARE SOUND.

[video=youtube_share;rI01qKAqYts]http://youtu.be/rI01qKAqYts[/video]

OK, I get that this is from Russia, and that it is a HIGHLY advanced exercise. But NONE of the exercises shown, as shown, pass a basic "let's train with reasonable regard to safety" review.

The first -- let's deliberately shoot each other. Then, after that, let's shoot just past the guy's ear. Sure hope that it wasn't an off day on the vest sewing shop. And that the folks quality control checks on the Kevlar (or whatever fibers ) didn't miss one...

For the last two... just way too much to go wrong. According to some comments, the shots into the ground are deliberate, not sympathetic reflex. Don't know. Don't like the idea of deliberately shooting the ground, because that round may hit a rock or metal manhole cover...

I'm not saying there's no place for live fire drills... but let's not be stupid about 'em, either. Do the drill with some form of marking cartridge.

Thoughts or opinions?

Sure, I will offer my take on this.

For starters, lets take away the obvious safety issues and get down to the basics.

One: what exactly is the first test "simulating"? I don't see ANY training value to standing there while someone shoots you in the chest with live ammunition... I suppose in a rudimentary way you could say that it teaches an operator to trust in his vest, which is great, but it doesn't even claim to to be for that purpose.

The second drill? Alright, great. Like you said, live fire training is great and necessary. The stuff they are doing? Again... What??? I mean, to each their own but where is the training value in any of that? I dont see the technical benefit of much of what they are doing there.

Oh lets push the guy with the gun around a bit, shoot close enough to his head to trim hair, shout at him, and put our hand in his face while he is shooting at cardboard targets with people standing reasonably close together in his sector of fire.

Is accurate shot placement important? Absolutely it is. Is it best honed in that drill? Not in my opinion.

You know, as a kind of light-hearted and humorous comment, I have to say - is it just me or does it seem that Russians go a bit over the top most of the time? I mean, its like they put together these outlandish stunts for interviews like this one, and try to call it everyday training. My gut is telling me its a bluff - they just want people to think they are this crazy.


____________________________

"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens."
 
Now, this next example is from a movie, but I always wondered if it actually happened in training...

In the movie "The Final Option" about the British S.A.S. they show an exercise where the troopers enter a room and hit targets...sitting in the middle of the room is an instructor who then proceeds to critique their entry technique...

I always wondered if they actually did that...
 
This goes against every fundamental gun safety rule i hav ever learnt, both in competition and during my military service. And I've been part of some pretty advanced live fire drills. This is just plain stupid. There are other ways to do pressure drills.
 
Ehhh..that's classic Russian macho "tough guy PR" stuff. Like the Spetnaz backflipping axe throwing crap.

$Spetsnaz.jpg

I don't put much stock in any of that stuff as legitimate "training" as much as it's "show the West they shouldn't **** with us" propaganda.
 
Now, this next example is from a movie, but I always wondered if it actually happened in training...

In the movie "The Final Option" about the British S.A.S. they show an exercise where the troopers enter a room and hit targets...sitting in the middle of the room is an instructor who then proceeds to critique their entry technique...

I always wondered if they actually did that...

I've seen similar scenes in The Unit and several other similarly themed shows or movies. I've trained in a shoot house. I've done marking cartridge drills with safety officers, trainers, and evaluators in the room, trying not to be in the way. I can see doing a live drill with clear sectors and the instructor in the right place that they should never be fired at -- with VERY advanced trainees. I still don't think I would call it a good idea!
 
Here is the clip from the 1980s movie...the entry technique...well...I would say "hollywood" but it was a film made in Britain...

 
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[video=youtube_share;rI01qKAqYts]http://youtu.be/rI01qKAqYts[/video]

At 3:48 he accidentally shoots the gun while it's pointed down. That could very easily have hit his foot. I guess they don't teach finger placement when not actively firing? Haha, that seems almost like an amateur move to me.
 
At 3:48 he accidentally shoots the gun while it's pointed down. That could very easily have hit his foot. I guess they don't teach finger placement when not actively firing? Haha, that seems almost like an amateur move to me.

Various accounts suggest that the several shots into the ground weren't ADs but deliberate shots. One version says that it was practicing the actual shot. Another, that I'd buy more, is that it's a deliberate action to kick up dirt without shooting the crowd and back them off. Still not keen on it... Maybe they don't have steel or cast iron manholes in Russia. Murphy's Law tells me that if I try that -- it'll be into that manhole cover and bounce right back into my leg.
 
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