Beyond Expert: Tripling Military Shooting Skills

By John M. Buol Jr.

From the Author Much confusion resides in the small arms community regarding effective marksmanship, especially in military circles. What constitutes "good" shooting and how can we aspire to be, and train others to become, a "good shot"? Affiliations with a certain units, passing "high speed" military courses and overseas or combat experience is often believed to be the mark of superior shooting skills. Rarely is this the case. The only thing that indicates real small arms proficiency is a superior measured result on an objective skills test. Previous experience, no matter how extensive, is only useful if the lessons learned there yield a training process that can produce a measurable increase in skill. How do we measure if shooting is "good"? How do we improve it? That's what this book is about. There are a host of critical skills that are important to military personnel, many of them having nothing to do with weapons and shooting or even with fighting at all. Obviously, I will not address those here. Tactics, or "combat choreography" as I like to call it, is likely more important than raw shooting skill in winning fights but I'm not discussing that either. Even within the realm of small arms training I will not attempt to address every possibly useful skill. This "oversight" is deliberate as my purpose is more specific. Knowledgeable coaches in the gym have noted that most trainees would realize better gains if they stuck with a simpler training plan. Focus on core fundamentals only by combing a solid, basic program and objective goals with the means to measure improvement and stick with it until gains are made. That is the point of Beyond Expert: Tripling Military Shooting Skills. We've gotten away from simple, but useful, shooting programs. Units are training for complex military operations while their soldiers continue to struggle with basic qualification tasks. Official qualification courses are far from perfect but they stand as the yardstick used to measure the soldier's shooting skill. This book will lay a foundation with a simple approach you can use to take yourself and everyone in your unit far beyond even "Expert" standards. From the Inside Flap John Buol served as my course writer and machine gun subject matter expert while I was the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of the US Army Reserve Small Arms Instructor Academy (SARG). When he wasn't teaching or writing, John was competing in and winning Army matches in both combat and precision-style competition. Rifle or pistol didn't matter to John; he shot both well enough to win. Probably more important than competing, John has put his vast marksmanship knowledge to good use during America's Wars by training literally thousands of mobilized Army Reservists to use their weapons with deadly effect. His qualifications as a US Army Distinguished shooter with both rifle and pistol, coupled with his active military experience, make him uniquely qualified in an area where Soldiers desperately need instruction in shooting and killing quickly. He epitomizes what an Army force multiplier is: one Soldier, equipped with superb marksmanship skills, daily imparting his knowledge to other Soldiers, giving them an edge in survival where a second chance can't be counted on. There are a number of facts in this book that some will disagree with or find uncomfortable. That doesn't make them less relevant or true. Read and digest them with an open mind. What's in here works; if you study and practice them you will drive your weapon with far greater skill. These are the basic concepts that worked for me and other Soldiers fighting in an unforgiving environment against a skilled and cunning enemy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CYJG3Z6M
• ISBN13: 9798320042329
• Release Date: January 2013
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 154 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"