So…do any training lately? Was it individual training or maybe some small team kinda’ thing where you got together and worked on tasks? How is your first aid and casualty field care? Have you done any water procurement and treatment or field hygiene training lately? Maybe lots of unmeasured / unassessed pistol shooting at your indoor range, those dry fire sessions are really paying off. Ok, maybe not.

Let’s hit some training management this morning through our lens (the preparedness community). Training is one of my favorite subjects (and is the heaviest part of my professional background); a subject that is often overlooked and misunderstood in the Pro Citizen realm. Some may think they are doing great training - when in reality it may be irrelevant to the skills they really need, is ineffective, or is just some hopped up form of range entertainment they paid for because of the socials and the celebrity status of the guy teaching it.

There was a quote / mantra that used to circulate among the command teams and staffs of combat arms organizations: “Train to fight and fight to train”. The idea was leaders had to put forth an effort greater than just scheduling and initial planning to make their unit’s training happen. We can’t wish away planning or approach defensive training without focus. And then there are always elements working to desynchronize even the best laid training schedules. Resources are always limited, even in Army high operational tempo units there was no way to do it all. Competition for resources would ebb and flow, sometimes ammo and fuel were easy to get, sometimes it was a knife fight to get what we needed. The two continuous friction points were always training land/ranges and time. Even those well-resourced taxpayer funded organizations have training challenges (conventional high performing units anyway). This little bit of background helps understand our problem as private Citizens as well; how do we as a self-resourced and part time trainers fight to train? It seems like an impossible task when we look at the pile of things we need to be good at (tasks and proficiency). It surely is insurmountable if we view our training through the same lens as a rifle company, A team, or combined arms battalion does - it is a false comparison. The greatest challenges we face as a self-supported Citizen are training time, the self-directed determination of what to train ourselves on, and measuring our success (proficiency).

The other caution is we must also ward off the constant dose of internet fueled nonsense declaring that some dude’s class (or technique) was the absolute best ever because of who he is, not based on the merit his class or techniques. The good news is you can screen out the irrelevant training nonsense by having a firm idea of what you really need to accomplish - train what makes sense for the real world; your conditions. Go back and read the intro chapter of the CM-1 Individual Skills Manual, it will help you frame the problem and keep things in perspective.

It is easy to get overwhelmed when you consider the seemingly unlimited tasks that an armed prepared Citizen should be able to perform. Roll through the list of things you must be good at in order to effectively to shoot, move, communicate, survive, and lead. Take a few mental moments and envision what you need to train on, I will go grab myself another coffee and wait on ya before we proceed….

Ok that was one heck of a mental list you just came up with. Probably generated a little anxiety along with it as you thought “am I really ready?” I’ll answer that - no you are not. Neither am I. Never will be. This is the uncomfortable truth; there are so many aspects and “what if’s” it is impossible to be ready for every event or proficient on every task - especially if you have a day job to satisfy an income requirement and a family to enjoy thorough this earthly journey. We as normal folk need to figure out what skills and abilities you need, not what some tactical pundit says you need. If you are absolute clown shoes with a pistol it is intellectually dishonest to distract yourself by taking yet another carbine class. If you are physically able but cannot complete a 12 mile ruck it is prepper fantasy to buy a set of dual tube NVGs so you can patrol the neighborhood perimeter when SHTF. Training management for a Pro Citizen is all about training “first things first” and understanding what those tasks are.

Once your tasks are determined we can prioritize these training subjects and events to achieve proficiency. Start with your endstate or goals of what you want to achieve, lofty big picture kind of things. I’ll hit on this later in the training series, about how to visualize and even write down these endstate goals. For now the 5 columns are a good place to start.

It is a challenge to develop best practices for training in the Citizen readiness community. We will eventually publish a comprehensive guide for training, but for now let’s stick with some foundational ideas that may help you out this year:

Write down your mission essential tasks (METs). Ok we are already getting funky monkey with traditional training doctrine, a mission essential task list (METL) is a complex, headquarter developed list of unit warfighting tasks supported by underlying collective mission essential tasks (MET). These are the core tasks that a unit must be able to perform effectively and are expressed as collective tasks that require the coordination of multiple personnel and resources. But this morning, we are talking about individual tasks (we will discuss small unit training management later this year). So don’t get wrapped around the doctrinal axle reading this. Hey we develop and write our own doctrine anyway in The Project so as long as it passes the common sense test it is a valid approach.

Backing up one more step, how do you even know what your mission essential tasks are? What does that look like for you as a regular Dad or Mom, college student, teenage son, or grandparent? Start with your estimate of the situation (see the CM series manuals). You may want to develop two or three simplified operational environment (OE) assessments as you see it (see the CM-7 for explanation). One scenario / set of conditions that fits your daily life, one that accounts for a probable mid-level natural disaster or weather crisis that disrupts your normalcy, and a third that accounts for the very low percentage chance of a high threat armed incursion as described in the CM-7 base scenario. Your tasks grow in number and complexity in proportion to the severity of these levels of “events”; you might organize yourself by having the shoot, move, communicate, survive, and lead categories in each scenario. But that is up to you.

Focus on the tasks in the first “day to day” scenario for now, we can get into the weeds later this year as you learn how to break a task apart to train it in detail. For example, for your daily scenario based on your area assessment you may write down carry a concealed handgun as one of your mission essential tasks. This is fine for now, and it may not be the actual task, but we have to start somewhere that is recognizable. Yeah, you could put it in unrelatable terms like “conduct movement to contact” to describe your CCW armed commute to work - but let’s keep it real. We aren’t those doomprepper apocalypse porn types, this is squarely focused on getting better at tasks as they apply to real life.

The sub tasks and standards that support or nest under these larger multi-facet tasks are detailed and will inform your training plan, but for now do whatever works for you to get it on paper or in electrons (a rudimentary example is below). And one more doctrinal departure note, don’t worry about figuring out if they are individual, leader, or collective tasks for now. Just write it down so you can wrap your mind around it and start deliberately managing your training plans for the year.

A simplified example:

A few of the Tasks associated with your Daily Scenario (normal life)

Task - Carry Concealed
Associated sub tasks (this is not a comprehensive list and some of these examples hint at conditions and standards along with the task in the list; these do not include detailed standards and don’t get wrapped around the axle about that right now):

Load, clear, and perform functions check on individual handgun
Engage individual target out to __ yards (day)
Zero a handgun with a red dot sight
Clear malfunctions on a striker fired pistol
Reload a pistol (emergency or slide lock reload)
Engage multiple targets (number) within _ seconds from concealment
Engage targets in low or no light conditions using handheld flashlight within _ seconds from concealment
Engage targets in low or no light conditions using weapon mounted light within _ seconds from concealment
Disassemble and reassemble and perform function check on CCW pistol
Maintain individual CCW handgun
Understand and apply local and state handgun laws
Combine holster, belt, and clothing to effectively conceal a handgun in public

Task - Evaluate and Treat a Casualty (then you would list associated sub tasks you see yourself needing just like the CCW example)

Task -Navigate from one point to another (mounted) (list associated sub tasks just like the CCW example)

Task -Navigate from one point to another (dismounted) (list associated sub tasks just like the CCW example)

…and the task list goes on for your daily / normal state operational environment

Tasks associated with a Disruptive Environmental Event or Disaster

This may be your next level up scenario. Please keep in mind you will have to be proficient on all the tasks from your “daily” scenario task list as well. These are the tasks that will be in addition to your first list (whatever it may be). This list is where you have to start looking at team and family members as well, you can’t do everything always. Just because you know how doesn’t cut it, your teen son needs to know how to start and maintain the generator for example. Some examples might be:

Task -Maintain and operate a generator
Calculate electrical loads
Safely start, stop, and maintain a gas generator
Calculate fuel consumption
Know how to develop a power plan

Task -Maintain communications without cell or internet service
>Operate handheld GMRS or ham radio
Load and use frequency plan
Develop and maintain power plan
Communicate using a handheld radio (brevity codes, radio procedures, phonetic alphabet)
Construct field expedient antennas
>Operate an HF radio
Understand and use band plans
Develop and maintain power plan
Communicate using an HF radio (brevity codes, radio procedures, phonetic alphabet)
Construct field expedient antennas
Use digital HF radio modes

Task -Conduct multiple vehicle movement over extended distances (the sub task list would be extensive, but you see how this starts to build out / nest and make sense).

High threat environment (long term service and society disruptions, hostile groups, foreign infiltrators etc)

Same deal here, we are just leveling up. Here is where you probably start encountering things like maneuvering tactically as a small team or unit, camouflage, OPs, etc. However, like the disaster scenario all the tasks from the daily and environmental disaster carry forward so no need to relist them. These are squarely in the collective task arena.

Task-Secure a fixed site
>Establish local security plan
Maintain QRF (Quick Reaction Force)
Brief and rotate guard shifts
etc etc
>Maintain sanitation and hygiene

Task-Conduct area reconnaissance
>Conduct troop leading procedures (TLPs)
Issue orders
Build a collection plan (R&S plan)
Conduct rehearsals
> Move tactically as part of unit
Maintain noise and light discipline
Maintain position in dismounted formations
Maintain local security
etc etc

Again, this was a rudimentary example and parses our tasks in a manageable way by severity of your probable crisis scenarios (which is non doctrinal…sorta’). I cherry picked some surface level tasks as examples; these were not comprehensive or complete. I want you to zero in on the CCW component in the daily scenario, that is always good common ground to start with. This mental drill will help you build simple training plans and identify your blind spots. Deliberate focus will prevent wasting time on things you don’t need. That “high speed operator” pistol class you want to take this summer may or may not help you achieve your standards for the CCW tasks you identified. Will the chosen trainer and class help you achieve the tasks you identified for yourself…or is it just for the “yeah man, I took his class” social validation, to listen to irrelevant war stories, and turn ammo into noise for 600 bucks? I have attended both types; either I achieve buyer’s remorse halfway through the first training day or I come away with “damn that was really uncomfortable, I learned a lot”. Make your training dollars work for your requirements. Don’t just train right, you have to fight to train the right things.

We need to briefly talk about assessment, at surface level anyway. As you lay your tasks out with standards and conditions (more on this another time) give yourself a rating. “A” way to do it is assign a “T” or trained rating to anything you can do on demand and to standard consistently. Not perfect every time, but consistently achieve the standard (that you determine). Assign a “P” for needs practice or needs improvement. Assign a “U” or untrained for anything you have not trained or are terrible at. You can also use red, amber, and green for T/P/U as well. It is up to you. What this will give you is a big ole’ snapshot report card that shows where you need to focus; again, I recommend starting with the CCW task and sub tasks you determine for yourself. I’ll add a section of recommended ones and an assessment matrix in the upcoming FR-10 CCW Handbook for you to use, but for now start with developing your own. Keep in mind many of these skills atrophy with time, shooting and physical fitness being two that decline rapidly. You must review these and train/practice them to maintain proficiency lest your 1 second draw time turns into 3 seconds…followed by 4 out of 6 A zone misses at 7 yards on a Bill Drill.

Now that you have that list of things that are essential (mission essential tasks) and your assessment of each you can allocate resources to improving. I guarantee the vast majority of us will have reds / “U”s on things that we really aren’t that interested in training on. Learning to service your vehicle’s brakes or taking a CPR class is waaayyyyy less sexy than shooting steel at 500 yards with an LPVO carbine. But hey, here is the great thing about adulthood - you can choose to ignore your own data. If you want to be a supergreen T assessment on hitting a B8 10/10 with 10x at 25 yards every range session while your draw from concealment is slower than the Epstein file release - that is up to you. Carry on. Just understand that approach probably won’t get you to the training endstate you desire. There are nuances that come with having a group or team, you may not be the HF radio guy and that is good to go as long as the task is covered with a primary and a backup. Some things can legitimately become a unit or collective task and not an individual task for you. One man wolfpack is a different story.

Take an appetite suppressant, you cannot do all things well so don’t try to. This is where the prioritization comes in. Once you see all your essential tasks written down you may determine that not all of them are essential after all. You may want to overemphasize or de-emphasize a particular task - my only advice is do so in a deliberate, mindful way. Don’t overcomplicate this, just because I listed out a few examples across scenarios doesn’t mean you should jump on those. Keep first things first and make it simple; your normal life activities scenario that includes physical training (PT), situational awareness (SA), and CCW associated shooting skills should be trained first and foremost. Throw in some of the “the power is out for a week due to ice storm” tasks for good measure. Training to a standard and building a foundation takes time; just those first three PT, SA, and CCW tasks can take a year or more - especially when distractions of life are present.

We will hit on the training subject a good bit this year, this was just a taste or an intro to the idea. Like the commercials say…

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