Shooting on the Move

8/6/2019 Shooting on the Move

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Three separate styles of shooting on the move at the Casa

Grande, Arizona PD Range. From left to right: Jerod Johnson,

HK rep for these parts, is low, hunched over the gun, and

moving with short steps. He is absolutely deadly. Scott Loomis

(aka Armored Car) moves more erect and with longer steps,

but is uncannily accurate. Steve Fishera large humanhas the

grace of a wounded hippopotamus, but shoots faster and with

greater accuracy than 99% of the people the author has ever

met. The technique has to fit the user.

Shooting

On The MoveEffective DynamicEngagement

BY PATRICK A. ROGERS


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54 S.W.A.T.JULY 2008 SWATMAG.COM

ring an anemic round against a well-

entrenched opponent would somehow

shit the balance.

While Marching Fire gave way to re

and movement at the end o the Great

War, it was resurrected during World

War II against the same enemy, though

possibly with similar results. Note thatAssault Fire, where the unit moves into

the nal assault, is a dierent technique

where the assaulters advance the last

ew meters while rapidly ring onto the

objective to suppress re when they are

most vulnerable. To paraphrase Stalin,

the quantity o re has a quality all its

own.

All o the above involves dierent

Tactics, Techniques & Procedures (TTPs)

rom Close Quarter Battle (CQB)which

is the crux o this article.

CLOSE QUARTER BATTLE ON

THE MOVE: WHY?

CQB by denition requires surgical/

discriminatory shooting. The rounds

red must be directed directly into a

threat. Anything else may wind up in a

hostage, unknown or other team mem-

ber.

Thereore some questions that should

be asked are: Can you be as accurate

while shooting on the move? Whywould you shoot on the move in the rst

place?

To answer the last question rst, the

reasons are multiple and diverse. They

can range rom an Inantry Company in

the nal assault on an enemy position, to

CQB with terrorists. As or accuracy, you

will probably not have the same degree

o accuracy when shooting on the move

as when standing on your own two hind

legs. However, how much degradation

o that skill set can you aord to livewithliterally?

The techniques or shooting on the

move can vary as well, rom the gross

deviation or the Grunt to the smooth

fow o a police tactical team.

HOW?

Heres an example I use at class to jus-

tiy shooting on the move. You have to

move down a long hallway (hallways

being a unnel o death).

I you are moving down that hallwayand an opponent leans out around the

L shape and brings a gun up, you have

options.

Option one is to stand still and die

like a man. While an option, it is not op-timal.

Another is to stand still and return

re. As you are behind the power curve,

it is better than Option One, but still not

optimal.

Executing the Nike Deense (turning

around and running away) is likewise

an option, but like Option One it is not

optimal, as you are giving the smelly

bearded man an unopposed shot.

The nal option is to continue to move

aggressively down the hallway andclose on the mutt while engaging him

with rapid, accurate shots. Your training

may be the decisive issue here.

Not the best o things, but then again,

this is either the vocation you chose or,

as a private citizen, you have been orced

into action. Like the Coast Guard says,

you dont have to come back.

For one conducting CQBgenerally

inside a structure, and on a more or less

level surace, here is one way that may

work or you. Beore you start reading,though, remember this. As one SOTG

Instructor emphasized, Shooting on the

move requires two things: shooting and

moving. Keep these pearls o wisdom

in mind as we stroll down this particularpath.

Taking the shot while moving pres-

ents some unique issues. One is that

accuracy will be degraded. The other

is that the degree o degradation will

be the direct result o multiple inputs.

We have all heard that consistency is

the mother o accuracy, and that is true

here as well. I we can keep a smooth

and steady gait, our hit potential goes

up. But the environment and the tacti-

cal situation may preclude this. Clearlyan interior hallway will make moving

easier. However, i an explosive device

has been unctioned, debris, ragments,

bodies, and sprinkler system activation

may combine to make movement more

dicult. Exterior movement will always

present some degree o diculty, as mi-

cro terrain, rocks, and such will make

hits more dicult.

Orient your body more or less with

hips and shoulders square to the direc-

tion o travel. Keeping a collapsible stockat the closed/one click open position

Making life easier. Hips and shoulders square to the target, toes pointed in the direction of the

target, and short, smooth steps, coupled with a good sight picture and proper trigger control,

make for good hits downrange.

SHOOTING ON THE MOVE


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Clint Lynch (foreground) steps off the line

and brings his SCAR-L up to the target at

a recent EAG Carbine class. Clint is bent

forward at the waist, while Stephan Hilliard

(in MultiCam) is more erect. Different body

styles require different techniques.

will help with this. Lower your center o

gravity by squatting slightlythink the

beginning o a squat thrust exercise and

youll be on track.

Keep your shins vertical, and your

weight over your eet. Bend your knees

so that the legs are not locked and rigid.

Understand that every shock that is trans-

mitted rom the ground goes up your leg

and into the carbine. And, because there

are our points o contact with the gunyour shoulder, strong hand, weak hand

and cheek weldkeeping the gun even

reasonably steady can be a chore.

Keep your eet pointed at the target. I

you are walking at a normal gait, many

people will have the support side oot

oriented toward the direction o travel

and the strong side oot pointed out-

board. This is ne or strolling along

River Walk, but i you are intending to

ght it out at close range with one or

more people who hate you, it may notbe sucient.

We are all physically dierent, and

body type, conguration, past injuries,

present injuries and the time o day may

all actor in to how we move. Some peo-

ple will never have the grace to move

eortlessly downrange, but may or may

not be able to deliver the rounds into the

intended meat balloon at the other end

o the hallway. Some may move with the

style o a ballroom dancer and not hit

anything. You are the one pressing thetrigger, and you are the one responsible

or launching those rounds.

Speed o movement will be dictated

by two things: the speed at which you

can accurately shoot, and the surace

you will be traveling over. Clearly you

will be able to shoot more accurately by

moving slower, but that lack o down-

range speed may negate your moving in

the rst place.

WHEN?A big issue is this: when do you shoot?

While this seems to be a simple question,

some answers border on over-thinking

to the tenth power. For example, when

I asked Marines (in several classes) this

question a ew short years ago, I was

toldemphaticallyWhen both eet

are on the ground.

Very cool. Except when are both eet

on the ground? Now? Now? Now?When you are moving, both eet will

likely never be on the ground at exactly

the same time. But even i they were, is

that when you need to take the shot?

How about i you need to take the shot

when only one oot is on the deck?

And how about this: I you are so

wound up trying to gure out when both

o your eet are on the ground, what are

you not paying attention to?

Yes, sports ans, you are not paying

attention to that smelly bearded guy atthe end o the hallway who was the rea-

son you are doing this shooting/moving

thing in the rst place.

Thereore the short answer is, shoot

when you have the shot. See him. Shoot

him. Quit over-thinking it.

COMMON MISTAKES

It is oten statedcorrectly stated

that many train or the fat range

and not the ght. To that end, many

will start o shooting on the movecorrectly, but as they prepare to take a

shot, they will do one o the ollowing:

Stop: They stop completely to take the

shot.

Niagara Falls: They go into the slowly

I turn routine perormed by Abbott and

Costello (ask your Mother). They move

in super slow motion as they take the

shot, then regain speed ater they nish

shooting, rushing to keep up with therest o the line. Cute.

Stutter Step: Their legs will not pass

when moving, taking a long step with

one leg and then bringing the second

leg up to the rstthey look like The

Mummy as they bring their eet together.

This is ne or moving within a conned

space, but not so good or covering a

longer distance.

Vapor Lock: This usually occurs when

aced with a malunction. They orget

all about their Immediate Action Drillsand halt in place. They gaze wondrously

at their malunctioned weapon, while

apparently wishing/hoping that this

would all go away so they dont look

like a clowns derriere.

The Capt. Diaper Walk: Some have a

distinct lack o grace in their movement

and walk sti-legged and upright, eet

splayed and wallowing rom side to

side. Their movement makes me think

o a child or the psycho Navy Astronaut

who wanted to make her boyriendsgirlriend disappear.



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TRAINING ISSUES

We have been walking since we were

wee lads, and have been more or less

successul at it. Shooting on the move

should not be that dicult, but it seems

like many make it that way. We walk ev-

ery day. And we can shoot rom a sta-

tionary position airly well. So why cantsome shoot on the move?

The answer is airly simple: We over-

load ourselves with nonsense.

Shooting on the move is nothing more

than shooting, albeit while moving. That

means those pesky little things like sight

picture and trigger control are still nec-

essary.

Iron sights are tough, but by no means

impossible to useunless you are one

o those who insist on using the smaller

aperture on the sight. Using the largeraperture will increase the certainty o a

hit, and there are those who teach/use

looking over the top o the sights and do

it quite well.

I run an XS Sight Systems Big Dot on

my AK, and it is extremely viable (or

me, anyway).

I you are running a red dot sight

(RDS), Ill tell you what I tell people who

are trying to shoot standing still. Accept

your wobble area. Dont try to make

the dot stop movingit wont happen.

Dont chase the dot, shoot through the

dot.

In the end you will have to accept the

Zen o this. Be the bullet. Trust your shot,and i your training is good, and you run

this oten, it will probably be there.

One very good way to train is this.

Next time you go into Petsmart or a

similar store, look or something called

a Cat Toy. It is a small visible laser that

you can use to drive your dogs and cats

crazy (i you dont have CTC grips on

your Rings Gun). Remove the bolt rom

your carbine and Rigger tape or zip tie

the laser onto your orend.

Place an eight-inch paper plate on awallthe longer the distance you have,

the easier this will be. Look through the

sight at the laser as it strikes the plate

while you are moving. It may well be

erratic. Vary your body position, stride,

length o step and so orth, and see i it

will reduce that pattern on the plate to

something manageable.

You are looking or something that

may approach a lazy gure 8 or some

(but not others). The big issue here is to

keep the beam within the circle no mat-

ter the distance. You may not be able to

do this in one or three o ve sessions.

You may do it once, but not immediately

again.Dont give up. It will happen, and the

light will eventually shine over your

head. Make shooting on the move part

o your dry practice and live re train-

ing, to the extent possible.

Shooting on the move is a TTP. It may

or may not be something that you would

use, but when used eectively, it is one

more thing that can keep you alive and

ensure that the guy at the end o your

muzzle will be the one hearing the Hal-

lelujah chorus in hell.

[Pat Rogers is a retired Chie Warrant

Ofcer o Marines and a retired NYPD

Sergeant. Pat is the owner o E.A.G. Inc.,

which provides services to various govern-

mental organizations. He can be reached at

[email protected]]

http://www.atncorp.com/

Documents

Shooting on the Move