If at first you don't succeed ...
FAS-4 Class Reviews
By Kathy Jackson
There are two FAS-4 class reviews written below. The first was written
in November, 2002. Despite my optimism at the end of that
first review, it took me two more trips through the class before I finally
nailed the Handgun Master test.
The second review was written in March, 2003, and I finally
passed that darn test in the summer of 2005. Looking back, I know I could
have done it earlier if I hadn't gotten so emotionally embroiled in "passing
the test." It was a hard lesson for me, and one that I hope I have
learned.
Much of the course material at FAS has been updated and expanded, including
the FAS-4 course which, properly speaking, no longer even exists. I have
decided to leave this review in place for many reasons. First, although
the specific curricula has changed in spots, Marty and Gila Hayes' commitment
to excellence in firearms education and training remains the same, and
I believe you can get a good glimpse of that in the words below. Second,
I believe the article gives a pretty good picture of the evolution of
a shooter. Learning to shoot is sometimes hard work, and frustrating.
But the results of diligent practice are well worth it. And finally, I
have deliberately chosen to leave this review in place as a bit of self-indulgent
nostalgia. I never want to forget where I've been, or the people who've
helped me along the way.
As I said, the class identified as FAS-4 in this review doesn't, technically,
exist anymore. If the description below interests you, and you want to
learn the physical skill set originally taught in that class, you might
wish to attend the Advanced Defensive Handgun class instead. Or if you
already have the skills and simply want to pass that darn test, you might
attend the Special Interest Seminar titled, "Handgun Master's Test." I
think this particular curriculum adjustment is great for those
students who, like me, might become obsessed with the idea of passing
the test too soon, instead of properly pouring their energy into learning
the skills needed to do so.
The website for the Firearms Academy of Seattle is at
www.firearmsacademy.com
This weekend I spent two days taking FAS-4 from the
Firearms Academy of Seattle. The class was very challenging for
me and moved quickly through the material at hand. There was almost no
classroom time and little discussion of tactical considerations in this
shooting course, so every possible moment was spent on the range improving
our shooting skills. We burned through some 700 rounds of ammunition in
two days, and all of it profitably.
Marty Hayes was the instructor for the class, and there were six students.
Marty reports that FAS-4 usually runs 6 to 12 students; if there are 8
or more students, the class usually breaks up into relays for much of
the day so that each student can receive maximum time on the trigger.
Saturday morning, I met my classmates outside the main classroom where
we were quickly directed to the shooting bay where we would be spending
the bulk of our time. Classwork began first with a quick check of our
basic skill levels. Marty explained that a big part of his goals for this
course is to get plenty of one-on-one instruction for each of the students,
fine tuning their skills.
The skills primarily emphasized in class were marksmanship, draw and fire
speed, multiple targets, speed reloads, low light draw and fire, low light
multiple targets, and one handed shooting and speed reloads with either
hand. In addition, we spent part of Saturday morning working on accuracy
out to 100 yards (try that with a baby Glock for an exercise in frustration!).
A lot of valuable little minutes and milestones stick out in my mind as
I think over the weekend. Memorable moments:
Watching the videotapes of our draw strokes was very useful; a good draw
stroke is composed of a lot of little details. It's hard to get a handle
on all those details, but a picture of what you are doing now, compared
to what you could or should be doing, is pretty darn valuable. I learned
not to 'swoop' up to my target, but to laser my arms straight out. That
swoop looked pretty silly on TV!
Class drills which involved some team competitions. For example, we did
one drill which involved speed reloads. Every student was set up with
an empty gun on lockback. On 'go,' the first student was to strip the
mag, reload, and fire one shot into the A zone. The next student could
not begin reloading or shooting until the first student had achieved an
A zone hit, so if the first missed, the second student would call out,
"Reload!" and the first student had to reload and fire a second
shot. First team done down the line was the winner. The pressure not to
let your teammates down was surprisingly intense.
Learning how to clear malfunctions safely with only one hand. The process
is fairly straightforward, but must be taught. The real learning point
for me was the discovery that I simply cannot strip the mag on my cute
little baby Glock one-handed when there is a double feed clogging the
works. I'll need to do some rethinking of my basic equipment, or just
decide to give up and die if I'm partially disabled and get a jam (not
a viable option, really).
The incredible satisfaction of watching my shooting as it measurably improved
over the course of the weekend, with better hits in less time than I ever
thought was possible.
One moment in particular really sticks out in my mind. I've always had
a personal bugaboo with speed draws. I just can't do it! Prior to this
weekend, I'd have said that 2.5 seconds and C zone hits at 7 yards were
the best I could do. (Yes, I am aware that's pretty darn lousy, thanks.
I could get the hits if I took the time, or get the time if my shots didn't
hit. Couldn't do both.) We worked, and worked, and worked at speed draws
... and so help me, my shooting was getting worse every time we ran through
it again. I mashed the trigger. Flinched. Fumbled. Bumbled. Slow out of
the holster. Shots all over the paper (but not, thank the Deity, off the
paper... that would have been even more humiliating). Out of the whole
pantheon of bad mistakes to make when trying to draw and fire, I probably
performed every one at least once, and most of them over and over again.
Coaching me wasn't helping. Encouragement wasn't helping. Stress wasn't
helping. Chiding me wasn't helping. Nothing, I mean nothing, was helping.
Everyone else had pretty well met the standard of A zone hits under 2.0
at 7 yards at least 6 times in a row. And I just flat out couldn't do
it, except occasionally by accident. I'd finally decided that the major
difficulty was really with my carry method: the cute little baby Glock
just doesn't give me much of a handle to grab it by coming out of the
holster, and the holster is set pretty low, so it's no wonder I fumble
so much. Just an equipment difficulty. It wasn't me. Couldn't be.
Then down to the low-light range we went, all six students and our instructor.
Time for a little low-light work. Marty explained the basics of low-light
shooting again. Set us up to do the pre-test on low-light draw and fire.
One shot, repeated six times, from the holster, A zone hits, at 5 yards,
in low-light conditions. No flashlights or lasers need apply... How fast
could we do it?
Marty was standing behind me with the timer. Buzzzzzzz... BANG! Buzzzzzz...
BANG! Buzzzzzz.... BANG! Buzzzzzzzz.... BANG! Buzzzzzz... BANG Buzzzzzz...
BANG!
All A zones.
Every single shot was under 1.5 and some of them were as fast as 1.2 seconds.
What happened?
Marty glared at me. "All right, Kathy. No more excuses. If you can
do it with your eyes shut, you can do it with 'em open." Flicked
on the lights and marched me down to the other end of the range with a
fresh target. Seven yards, draw and fire. Gotta get 6 in a row under 2.0,
at least 5 in the A zone.
I passed, too. It was easy.
Sometimes, I think, I think too much. I kept trying to figure out how
to beat the clock and pass the standard. But a physical skill doesn't
need to be figured out after a certain point. It just has to be done.
I'd seen other people do it, but didn't think I'd ever be able to. Just
as soon as I knew I could do it, I did it.
This time around, I barely passed expert level on the end test. Doesn't
matter much, because now I have the tools to tackle this thing properly.
Now I know I can do it.
Next time around, I'll pass the Master level.
The review which follows was written four months after the one above.
Its original opening lines have been deleted, because they repeated much
of the material in the first review.
FAS-4
The Second Time Around
So how'd I do?
It's a case of "one step forward, two steps back." I actually
shot the qual worse than the last time I took the class, and am very discouraged
about it.
There were several reasons it happened that way, and a few excuses that
I'd be happy to report given half a chance.
The class itself was great. Tom Haeflinger was the instructor, and was
very reassuring and encouraging. He pushed when pushing was necessary,
and reassured when reassurance was called for. He and his assistant, Greg,
were both very professional and right on top of everything.
They couldn't do much about the weather, though. We had rain coming down
in torrents for most of the weekend, alternating with horrific gusts of
icy wind, sleet, and hail. There were a few bursts of sunshine, usually
just enough to get us to shrug out of our jackets in time for the next
drenching downpour. Just a typical weekend in Washington.
At one point, Tom went out to pick up a single target stand that had blown
over in the wind. As he turned around after replacing the stand, every
other target on the line went down.
The windy, rainy, icy weather created excuse #1 for me: all my draws were
done from concealment, all weekend. When I say concealment, I mean deep
concealment -- three or more layers of not-warm-enough clothes to be swept
aside before I could draw. This, of course, is the way I carry so I'm
durned if I'll practice any other way.
I have this vision of some thug standing over my dead body saying, "Aw
gee, if I'd known the lady had that tough a draw, I'd've given her more
time." So I practice the way I carry and to heck with the paperwork.
(Brave words. I want that piece of paper!)
There were 10 people in the class -- 8 regular students, and 2 FAS instructors
who were taking the class as a tune-up at the beginning of the season.
One student was trying to qual with a revolver, and passed all but one
drill. Poor guy.
When it came time to take the qual on Sunday, I flubbed the whole thing
first time through, and didn't pass a single stage. The second time through,
I passed a few stages but there was no way to make up my lost time or
get back my focus.
Did my shooting improve over the weekend? Yes, it did -- despite how I
did on the qual. So why didn't I do better at the end?
Partly was nerves -- that mental thing of seizing up while on the timer
doing it "for keeps." Last time I didn't seize up so badly,
because I didn't want it so badly.
Partly was multiple distractions -- a wasted Saturday afternoon, with
a more-than-minor asthma attack and resultant jitters from albuterol that
took the starch right out of me for the rest of that day and most of Sunday.
And a broken take down spring on my Glock, which sent the slide flying
forward into the mud and muck when I pulled the trigger while dry firing.
We fixed it, but it happened right before the qual and really discombobulated
me.
But mostly (*sigh*) it was just a reflection of the fact that I'm not
there yet. I didn't get in as much practice as I should have this winter,
and it showed.
I'll keep working on it.
Note: I finally passed that darn test in the summer of 2005.