Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And ‘tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we’ll hear his tales no longer,
For ol’ Joe has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won’t be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won’t note his passing,
‘Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician’s stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his likes again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honour
While he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
“Our Country IS Mourning,
A Soldier Died Today.”

 What we have done is broken our Close Encounters course down into 2 separate courses. Part I is intended for those of all skill levels that will include basic Hand to Hand skills and Basic Concealed Carry skills.  Part II is intended for those with intermediate skill to advanced skill levels and will include live fire exercises along with more technical and challenging force on force drills.. Due to the high price of fuel, hotel rooms, ammunition etc this was our alternative solution so that you may save a little money but still get the training you have wanted.

When: Saturday April 28^th

Time: 8am

Length : 8-10 hrs

Where: Volusia County Gun and Hunt Club

Cost: $125.00

Sign up: https://www.terryhallenterprises.com/Close_Encounters_I.php

Crime stats tell us that the majority of lethal force assaults occur at a distance of less than 10 feet, with most occurring at less than 5 feet.  This course will address defending yourself while keeping your firearm safe during a physical assault, through transitioning to the use of justified deadly force.  You will develop the necessary skills that are critically important to your protection and survival while armed.

Course Material

• unarmed combative’s
• self defense while armed
• concealed carry and drawing
• practical shooting drills (using Airsoft pistols)
• man-on-man combat drills

The course will culminate in dynamic Force-on-Force interactive scenarios utilizing armed and unarmed force responses.

8am-12pm: Armed and Unarmed Combative’s, Concealed Carry and Drawing
Are you prepared to protect yourself and your weapon during a physical assault? This part of the program is geared for those times you may find it necessary to physically defend yourself against a close encounter physical assault while in possession of a firearm – also applicable for those times that you are not armed. Self Defense training for you MUST take into account that you not only need to protect yourself, but that you need to keep your weapon safe while doing so.

12-pm-5pm: Practical Shooting Drills, Force-On-Force Training and Scenarios
This part of the program develops close encounter practical firearm skills and real-time deadly force decision making.  You will then combine these skills and those learned during the first session doing scenario based exercises, using Airsoft Weapons ….

The “Force-on-Force” training includes the following:
Gives the participant the opportunity to test & evaluate principles/tactics, equipment, physical skills and mental conditioning. Reactions are tested, stress is produced; specifically stress induced by either pain or the fear of pain. Constant activation of the “Sympathetic Nervous System” through pain or the fear of pain is the key to developing the orientation or “inoculation” to overreaction and improper decision making from a similar type of stimulus.

Our training gives the participants the opportunity to take initiative and the responsibility for their actions and what occurs, allows for the analyzing, and questioning of the experience. We’ll use two distinct force-on-force training concepts: Drilling, and Scenarios. Our Drills are designed to replicate or specifically target a smaller portion of the overall scenario focusing on repetition of moves within the full scenarios. Our Scenarios then replicate actual situations you may face on a much larger scale.

Topics Covered:
Mental Preparation & Awareness, The Selection of Carry Gear, Methods of Carry, Security & Concealment, Personal Self Defense That Protects You and Your Weapon, Transitioning to Deadly Force, Drawing and Shooting from a Concealed Carry Position, Target Focus Shooting, Shooting While Moving, Utilization of Cover, Decision Making and more!

Equipment Needed: 

• Airsoft pistol, holster and BB’s, preferably a replica of your Carry Weapon
• Heavy long sleeve shirt and pair of gloves
• Shooting glasses
• Dress in comfortable street clothes and shoes for each of the classes. Please dress in the type of attire that you would normally wear while carrying your weapon.
• If desired, you may bring a drink and light snack.  We will not be stopping (other than short breaks) or leaving the location for the duration of the class.

Why Force on Force

Effective training can help you increase performance even under heavy stress.  Special Operations personnel get huge amounts of stress in selection and follow up training for this very purpose.  These Instructors are determining if they have the makeup to “fight through” the trauma to the brain and body, as well as the desire to build muscle memory through repetition. As we experience a traumatic event or stress, heart rate increases and our performance decreases.  Large muscle groups get vital blood supplies and adrenaline is rushed to the larger muscle groups in order to facilitate fight or flight responses to fear or danger.

Our skill will rapidly decline based on our conditioning, training and experience from the cognitive brain functions of thinking rationally down through the emotional and then to the survival part of our brains.  This means that where we were once able to think and function at the highest level without any fog we now must depend on the lower brain functions that drive the larger muscle groups and perform mainly on muscle memory.  When this happens fine motor skills like the fingers do not work as well and visual and audible acuity is reduced or completely absent.  If you have ever experienced a moment where you didn’t see or hear things happening around you during a stressful situation this is what we are talking about.  Classic stress drives the brain functions to the lowest levels.  With proper training and experience the opposite may even happen.  Perhaps you have heard veterans or personally experienced how acute hearing and other senses become prior to a fight, that is an indication of experience or effective training.  The brain is sensing danger and kicks into high gear all the survival functions mingled with high level thinking, and with this enhanced awareness you will for the most part not only survive the fight, but dominate it.  It is the rookie or the new guy in the fight that is a grave risk because he has no frame of reference in his brain, no similar experience to what is currently happening.  He can only rely on others (veterans) or his training if it was effective to index a related memory and apply the lessons learned.  If he has not had effective training and he survives his first contact or fight, he will now have a permanent memory on file that will enable him to use that experience in the future.

The classic response to fear or danger is experienced by everyone, but can be reduced or managed by stress induced training and slow repetitive muscle memory drills.  This is why in our classes on tactics and force on force we practice all of our movements with slow controlled movements until we know them well. We then add some stress by a partner or Instructor increasing his speed on the assault or the distractions of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell.  This type of training will increase memory retention and shorten training time.

It is possible with sufficient training and experience in conflict to manage stress responses more effectively and thereby forcing a higher level of brain function to continue.  This is evident in combat veterans that have had sustained exposure to stressful environments. These veterans become calmer than newly exposed personnel and are generally more effective in a fight because they are accustomed to the immediate adjustments they must make in the brain and body to be successful. In my opinion ALL combative training should focus primarily on gross motor movements that are resilient to decreased brain functions, and include a stress component of one or more of the five senses.

I want all of you who think your little target shooting hour at the range once a month or the draw stroke practice you did in front of your mirror is actually going to slay that elephant when he shows up in the room..

Another thing you might want to consider, think of all the other CCW holders who have no training, who are walking the Mall, grocery store and Wally World parking lots just like you. I know there are well over 1 million license holders in Florida alone..What happens when the untrained CCW holder pulls his gun in a confrontation and starts his spraying and praying fear response because he/she never trained? What happens when a bullet strikes your 9yr old granddaughter or your wife or your child walking by 2 rows over and because some guy feared for his life and was only trying to protect himself your someone becomes collateral damage. You think he/she might have had this false sense of security and confidence because they had a firearm on their hip?

In reality they couldn’t hit what they were looking at for lack of training. What if it was you who was the shooter?…What then?….You would think that as much as we espouse the 2nd Amendment and gun rights we would treat the right to carry with a little more responsibility and as adults at least learn to use proficiently that weapon of death you so proudly carry on your hip.. If you don’t, YOU might be the collateral damage.

This is NOT a hobby folks nor is it a game..Its is a lifestyle change and a very serious business..It can mean life or death, choice is yours..