Customer Reviews

Force-on-force Gunfight Training: The Interactive, Reality-Based Solution

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Force-on-Force Gunfight Training: The Interactive, Reality Based Solution by Gabe Suarez falls drastically short for a book on force-on-force training. This book fails in the details of instituting a force-on-force training program which is a very involved and detailed process that, if done incorrectly, can lead to serious student injury and even death.

If you are looking for a book that will lead you through the necessary steps to implement a force-on-force training program then this is definitely not the book for you. The saying, "reality based training" has become the catch phrase in training but it is a very complicated endeavor to undertake as part of a training regiment. This book delves into the "why" of force-on-force training but severely lacks in the "how" department which is really necessary in order to understand and implement force-on-force training.

This book does cover some good concepts that students must understand if they are to expect to prevail in a lethal force encounter. Examples from the book include:

1. The fight will be close range
2. There will often be two adversaries, sometimes more
3. Low light confrontations are very likely
4. There is a good chance you will be totally unprepared - that is, not expecting a fight

This book would be more aptly titled: An Introduction to Force on Force Training. In its current form this book is essentially a primer stressing why force on force training is needed along with some supportive main points. Topics covered include: the role of the bad guy and good guy, marking or non-marking cartridges, gear and very basic concepts of drills. After reading this book do not expect that you will have the skill set to set up training scenarios...you will NOT.

If you are looking for the definitive book on force-on-force training then I highly recommend: Training at the Speed of Life, Vol. 1: The Definitive Textbook for Police and Military Reality Based Training.

The vast majority of the text is a promotion for the force-on-force training course. I'm sure the course would be worthwhile, but the book is not worth the money.

The group of guys who teach these courses know their stuff. This book is written by the leader. I've taken two courses now and read 4 of the books and I've learned a ton.
I highly recommend them all. A bit pricey, but definitely worth it overall...

In this book the author compares dry practice to shadow boxing, live shooting to the heavy bag and force-on-force to sparring. I think that is a perfect analogy. All are equally important and a skilled boxer will use them all. As a shooter/trainer whose primary experience is in organized competition I recognize the need for training on a target that reacts and shoots back. Suarez's approach is a good way to get started.

Range training with a thorough grounding in fundamentals will always be key. Too many "high speed" types fail to do so and try to justify range performance failures instead of acknowledging and amending a lack of measurable shooting skill. The ignorant bleating of "games'll getcha killed" to justify low scores is a typical cover excuse.

On the other hand, no matter how skillful at range exercises one becomes, there is a need to go hands on. This book defines five levels of simulation, with each level have a series of drills. I think most shooters will find the first level, Line Drills, to be most educational. Ten Line Drills are described, each one based on typical range exercises, but the guns are replaced with Airsoft/Simunitions and targets with live role players. The live fire (heavy bag) training is critical but the dynamic changes when the "targets" can now move and react. Suarez emphasizes the importance of avoiding childish "bang bang, you're dead" games and suggests controls to prevent that, especially as the later simulation levels build the complexity.

There are other methods of conducting force-on-force training but Suarez's methods are sound and this book is a good, inexpensive primer on the topic.

This is like a compendium of his blog posts with a few thoughts thrown in. FoF training works and is great (and affordable now that we have airsoft versus the much more expensive--and a bit more painful--simunition (not that pain doesn't help teach!)). In the end, I wouldn't buy anything from this egomaniac. Buy the "training at the speed of life" or look into something by Kelly McCann (aka Jim Grover).

(ETA: the glock 18 mags went up in price to $50 at Gabe Suarez's online store the day after they were used in the AZ shooting--his store says, "buy them now before politicians ban them!"...anyone who uses tragedy to profit is a lowlife with no class). Anyone who disagrees with his Christian-soldier-Taliban-like fundamentalism is banned from his forums (myself included) without explanation--down the memory hole just like in 1984. Like Big Brother, he runs a tight ship for image control so that the clowns don't get a clue. I almost signed up for a class but wanted to know if he was as bad as people say; since wasn't man enough to debate me on his forum (which is his right), I'll find someone tougher.

This book is the perfect supplement to your Force on Force training. Keep in mind this is a supplement and should not be a substitute for actual live training. Any idiot that relies on a book for firearms training is just that...an idiot.