CQB Training Takeaways – Quick Thoughts and Lessons Learned

As I sit here sipping some good ole Jim Beam on the rocks, I am reflecting on the past two days of CQB training with American Partisan’s own NC Scout. I want to get my thoughts on paper before the hustle and bustle of the week throw them out of my head.

The class was held in New Jersey and had a total of 9 students attending. Luckily no live weapons were needed, so I did not have to worry about being “doubleplusungood” when I crossed the border. The progression of the class, which was two days long, was very methodical. It started with some basic discussions of situational awareness when operating in non-permissive environments (being New Jersey, this was particularly relevant to those students who were residents). It quickly progressed into Get Home/bug Out Bags – and by that, I mean that we talked about it in a real world context and not the 70lb “gonna ruck this like a champ” bags that internet commandos discuss. After all of this, we moved to the CQB portion. We discussed different types of rooms and how to enter them.  We practiced these entries in teams of 2,3,4, or more. We went from basic rooms to more complex layouts. We discussed tourniquet usage. We discussed passive and active alert systems. We then discussed defending the space and how best to orient ourselves in a situation both in a standard home defense scenario and a “security team inbound” context. Finally, we moved to Force on Force engagements using Airsoft. After each scenario, we discussed what we did well and where we failed, with our failures being the most important piece of the discussion because that is how we learned.

There are several key takeaways from the class that I want to highlight.

  1. CQB absolutely sucks, particularly if you are the Number One man. If it is at all possible, avoid CQB altogether. Ignore what Hollywood shows you – being a door kicker is exceptionally dangerous. Remember that in this context, we are talking about potential grid-down scenarios where higher levels of medical care may be difficult to come by as a guerilla or partisan fighter, let alone a quick CASEVAC method.
  2. It is not a matter of IF you will take casualties, but rather WHEN you will take casualties. You need to balance that against whatever – or whoever – is in the building. It better be worth it.
  3. If you are planning on a CQB operation, then you must PLAN. Planning does not just mean who is in what order, what door will be hit, etc. It also means having a recovery team in place for extract. If you do not have a recovery team, then scratch any prepper fantasy you have of kicking down doors after the SHTF. If you have very few trigger pullers, then you should not ever be thinking of going down this path unless it is vital to survival.
  4. Once you are executing a CQB operation, KEEP MOVING. Hesitation – particularly in a fatal funnel – will get you and your team killed. However, “keep moving” does NOT mean “sprint through the house”. Move slow and methodical and never clear a room alone. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. If you are rushing, you will either get yourself killed by missing an enemy combatant or hurt the operation but injuring or killing a civilian/NPC. This does not bode well for a guerilla force that depends on the support of a local population.
  5. When you are moving, move aggressively and with attitude. The violence of action will catch your opponent off guard and will give you the advantage.
  6. Avoid splitting the team and moving into a house or structure from two different sides. Unlike in movies, bullets go through things and if you breach from opposite sides you have as much of a chance of Blue on Blue fire as you do eliminating the enemy. We made this mistake once and, while great in theory, it was painfully obvious once we breached that it was a horrible idea.
  7. Communication is key. Calling out doors, alleyways, windows, etc make your team aware of threats where enemies could be looking. This seems straightforward and obvious, but you would be surprised at how communication sometimes goes out the window when executing a CQB operation.
  8. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to people assaulting a location. When we got into groups larger than 5, it became a jumbled mess of who goes through the door, hesitation happened, etc. In one scenario, we broke into teams of three and two, and while the three man team assaulted the two man team watched the exterior for Squirters or Runners. This operation went far better than the previous one, where in the same scenario we assault with 5 and got most of the team killed because there was confusion.
  9. It helps to train with individuals who both want to be there and also set all egos aside and are willing to be taught. My classmates were excellent and, by the end of the class, we could mix and match both the personnel involved and the number assault and be able to pull off the operation. This was remarkable and a testament to NC Scout’s ability to teach.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend filled with great fun and a lot of learning. Despite a high of maybe 44 degrees, the class never complained and we all become more lethal as a result. I want to end with this rhetorical question. As the year comes to a close, what have you spent more money on this year?

  1. Guns?
  2. Eating Out?
  3. Vacations?
  4. Clothing?
  5. Training?

Something to think about. I encourage my fellow classmates to add their thoughts in the comments on what I left out and what your takeaways were.

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23 Comments

  1. h0neyc0mb November 11, 2019 at 07:11

    Nice AAR Patriotman.

    This was the first year in the last 10 (ish) that I didn’t train or do a FoF drill. I had good plans but other family things just kept popping up.

    It always amazed me the “why” of not training when I’d ask folks why they didn’t train. And now I “are one”.

    Anyway my green gas equipment needs op-checked real soon.

    To those thinking about FoF drills with airsoft .. It’s the best training I’ve done .. remember .. only failure teaches .. take your lumps and learn from’em.

    • Patriotman November 11, 2019 at 08:06

      That is a shame you didn’t get to train FoF, but dry training is a pretty good substitute you could do as Matt mentioned (giving your training history, I assume that you are already on top of this :) ). This was first time doing something like this so I was definitely out of my comfort zone.

      And I second the failure piece. Better to learn with 6mm pellets than 5.56mm rounds.

  2. Matt in Oklahoma November 11, 2019 at 07:35

    Went to a non permissive environment where you couldn’t have weapons to train on how to?

    FoF is the best ego buster there is. Even dry training in my house showed our new guy real quick that it had better be real important to take that risk as those into preparedness SHTF vs tac team on a mission with full support.

    I hate schools and hospitals and others with all those cross room doors and long hallways.

    Sounds like great stuff, other than location, and great takeaways.

    • Patriotman November 11, 2019 at 08:10

      FoF is definitely an ego buster and an eye opener. I highly recommend everyone take a course with it. But to your point, a dry fire drill is also a great method for realizing the perils of CQB clearing.

      Whatever is in that building you are clearing reallyyyyyyy needs to be worth that risk.

  3. Steve Shapiro November 11, 2019 at 10:11

    Any suggestions on how to find a group that teaches this material?

    • Patriotman November 11, 2019 at 10:56

      Good question, and perhaps others can chime in. This past class was the first time NC Scout ran the class for a civilian audience and I know he plans to do so again. I am fairly new in attending training courses myself so I don’t know offhand.

      To the AP Readership: any suggestions for Steve on CQB training locations?

  4. brunop November 11, 2019 at 11:27

    @Steve Shapiro – can’t tell if serious. In the unlikely event that you are…

    NC Scout is the pen name of a contributor here who just did the very class that was being reviewed. Look up his stuff. Find his link to his site. Read the class descriptions and find the “Training Calendar”. Sign up and pay your money. Go do the work the best you can. Rinse and repeat.

  5. Harmon Wolf November 11, 2019 at 14:42

    This is one I hope NC Scout will do this again. I wanted to get out to NJ last weekend but couldn’t. Definitely will be keeping my eyes open for another chance.

    • NC Scout November 12, 2019 at 05:31

      I *will* do this one again- the only question is where. The place we did it in NJ is perfect for teaching with a large village of shoothouses. It might be sold and if so, the current owner is looking at a place in PA. In addition, next year I’m planning on adding at least two structures to the training area for the Scout course to do this training in NC.

  6. […] my equipment from last weekend’s Urban Combat Course in NJ, I’m reflecting on a few conversations I had with the students. One of the unexpectedly best […]

  7. Bret November 11, 2019 at 16:33

    A very good article. The after action reports from the battles in Fallujah gave some startling results. Modern swat type entries did not work on hardened prepared jihads with rat holes cut out of wall to escape. the U s military had to completely re-write the book on tactical entry. Dick Marcinko wrote decades ago for seal team six that if you do not have invisible deployment in the first place you are screwed. it is still good to practice these skills to stay sharp but in our coming kinetic event, one should avoid clearing buildings if at all possible.

    • Patriotman November 11, 2019 at 19:59

      Fallujah was certainly an eye opener from everything I have read. I like the invisible deployment piece. If you can sneak up and use the violence of action and momentum to surprise them on initial entry, many will probably freeze up and give you valuable seconds.

  8. Bryce Sharper November 11, 2019 at 23:08

    I played airsoft a couple of times and thought, “No way am I ever doing this live.”

  9. Bryce Sharper November 11, 2019 at 23:24

    Are any of H. John Poole’s suggestions about CQB used in modern CQB? He recommends feints to through one door while bringing a main force through the backdoor and from the higher floors using a ladder or from under the sub floor. He talked a lot about the Japanese Embassy hostage crisis in Lima in the 90s as a model for good CQB and employment of surprise in “Guardian Joe” (I think).

    I suppose it would be a huge PITA to carry a ladder on patrol and some of his other suggestions require more guys.

    • NC Scout November 12, 2019 at 04:45

      Feints on opposite sides of a target building is a great way to have a blue on blue (friendly fire casualties).

      Buildings are drawn out as white side (front, facing you), red side (right), green (left) and black (rear). We clear buildings towards the black side after placing security on either the red or green side.

      Breacher ladders are all mission-specific. All depends on the environment.

  10. Gray Man November 12, 2019 at 04:57

    Going to be contacting NCS soon about training opportunities. Time to get going.

  11. Gray Man November 12, 2019 at 05:03

    @Bryce, I was an avid Airsofter when I was in highschool, went to a few really large scale, Mil-Sim, regional multiday events. Even then, as a young dummy, I remember thinking to myself how difficult it was when we entered buildings, because no matter what we did, it was just way too easy for those on the inside to score hits. No way would I ever want to enter hostile buildings with live ammo (again) if it wasn’t vital to life.

  12. […] attending NC Scouts Urban CQB  class in New Jersey several weeks ago a discussion about fictional and nonfictional books came up […]

  13. Saratoga December 3, 2019 at 12:23

    If you’re in the west, near Arizona, here is one training option. Marauders Urban Assault Course (1 hour west of Phoenix).
    Marauders promotional video: https://youtu.be/oZpNJap3H3k

  14. Sally michaelson January 20, 2020 at 21:45

    If you are le, or military, good article on cqb. But in todays environment, where civilian good guys don’t start gunfights, but defend against bad guys executing cqb against you, the focus is backwards. It should be on how do good guys defend against bad guys making entry on you!

    • Patriotman January 21, 2020 at 06:15

      That was also covered. And yes, CQB should be avoided at all cost by the average civilian.

      This is also looking at a WROL environment where that action may warrant that course of action.

    • NC Scout January 21, 2020 at 13:04

      We did that in class.

  15. […] enjoy it as well. I originally watched this video just after I took NC Scout’s CQB Course (an After Action Report can be found here) and I realized that many of the same techniques I learned in that class were on show here. The […]

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