The Scout Course originally came out of a discussion with a few good friends, all retired senior NCOs (two retired from SF, one Marine Scout Sniper) surrounding the legendary H. John Poole and how such a course of instruction could be replicated for the average civilian. It was and is a massive undertaking. Military doctrine leaves much to be desired for the average civilian and in addition, much of it assumes the weight of follow on forces or a competent supply structure. Neither of which is the reflection of any reality, historically, of civilians taking up arms for a cause. Teaching small unit tactics to civilians is a daunting task for a number of reasons, some known and some learned along the way. But the reality is that while there’s a limitation on what can be realistically taught in a brief window in time, much can also be learned. We do not have weeks, for most of us, even setting aside three days is nearly a bridge too far. Every course has been reflective of this reality, thankfully, and the courses have grown from a small handful back in the early days to the platoon sized student bodies of the past few years.

Originally my training objectives were to combine a replicatable marksmanship program designed to get students competent and confident with their weapons platforms to 400m in a day with a small unit tactics program built around training civilians the basics in fire and maneuver. We achieved that goal in every class save for one – the Florida course – due to the lack of a suitable range in the training area. One was under construction at the time, but things happen and adjust fire we must. Semper gumby. But in time, as course attendance grew, despite the fact that getting students on target in a day is certainly achievable, there’s only one of me and on average 25-30 of you.

The Florida course was a teaching moment to me as well – we spent more time on the nuts and bolts of small team movements and I was much more impressed with the results in the individual squad tactics (STX) lanes. Despite the inadvertent adversity and the need to adjust nearly on the fly, the results showed a better path forward to accommodate the increase in class size.

Going forward the Scout and Recce courses will contain no live fire. We will solely be running blanks which I supply (as long as you’re running a 5.56 with an A2 flash hider). This will allow us to focus on more training objectives which originally did not get as much attention – the first night of the course will be dedicated to night vision training and an additional thermal lane at night which will combine the two. Its a different animal in some ways from daytime considerations. As we’ve done with the RTO and SIGINT courses, a three day model allows from a greater level of immersion and experience.

In 2025 there will be a separate course addressing the need for a marksmanship program built around the reality that the AR15 in 5.56 is the most common weapon in use today and confidence in wringing every bit of capability out of it owes to our community. Well regulated means well trained and I am here to serve.