Todd's Review of Frontsight - Door Clearance, Shoothouse
Clearing a Doorway
The lunchtime lecture on the third day of my four day Defensive Handgun class at Frontsight was on clearing a doorway and clearing a room. This, taught professionally, was completely new to me. We've all seen too much 'Hollywood' on this topic, and the instruction here was refreshingly basic, common sense stuff that mostly put the lie to that which we see on film. Some of the bullet points I recall:
- At a corner, keeping your back to the wall, weapon up, is totally Hollywood. Staying is far back from the corner as possible, weapon at the ready is how it's actually done.
- Hugging cover can be a bad thing. Skimming incoming rounds tend to ricochet at shallow angles.
- As you round corners, be concious of all of your limbs (including pigeon-toed feet). Your opponent will be looking for the first sign of you to open fire. Keep your weapon ready and 'even with' your most visible body part (don't stick the weapon out in front).
- 'Slice the pie'. For each little step you take rounding a corner, look high, look low (for a toe, for instance). Use your other senses; hearing, smell
- Don't be in a hurry to get killed. Take your time.
- There are probably tactical layouts in your house (e.g. "T-shaped" intersections) that are less than ideal. You need to work through the logical choices and "pick one" for how you move. This may be motivated by what you're trying to accomplish (e.g. moving towards a child's room in order to gather all your loved ones). There was a lot of stress here on:
- "Face it, you're screwed." What are you going to do, move to a different house? There just really is no one right answer.
- Complex tactical engagements are really the province of SWAT teams and small unit tactics. There was a little allusion here to SWAT exercises being finely choreographed movements that are exhilirating to participate in.
- Unless you have other members of the household to gather up / defend, you're probably better off staying put, well armed, and calling 911. Or escape out the back and call 911.
On Doorways -
- If it's your house, you presumably know exactly how all your doors open, swing, etc.
- If it's an unknown door, take a moment to examine the door closely as you approach -
- Are there visible hinges? This will tell you if the door swings in or out.
- Is there a deadbolt or locking device?
- Is there any 'door closer' hardware visible? This might be as subtle as screw heads or nuts up high on the door near the hinge line
- Is there light visible around the edges of the door? The floor?
- If you're going to open a closed door, it's advantageous to do it from the same side as the door knob
- Keep your center of mass out of the door frame area
- If you have to reach across the door to open it, keep your weapon and center of mass back from the frame (harder to do with a long gun); be careful not to point your weapon at the hand / arm opening the door.
- As you open the door, push it open as rapidly as you can without making undue noise. Immediately take two steps back, weapon ready, off to one side of the door (about 20 degrees away from the wall) and guard the doorway.
- Examine carefully what you see. Look through the hinge to what is behind the door (assuming you start your search from the knob side). Look for shadows. Listen, smell.
- 'Slice the pie'. Start working your arc around the open doorway, looking high and low, making sure your weapon is 'even with' your most visible point, not leading you around.
- Once you have completly cleared the arc of the doorway, it's time to enter the room.
Entering the doorway once you've 'cleared' it -
- Do *not* ever stand in the 'deadly funnel' - your opponent is ready for you to appear through the doorway. Don't just stand there and get shot.
- Starting from the point where you finished your 'clearing arc' around the doorway -
- Pull your weapon in to a 'close ready'; if it's a handgun, a two-handed ready grip close to your chest, pointed straight ahead
- Make three-four large quick comfortable strides through the doorway on the diagonal - quick check over your shoulder to the blind side as you clear the door. Extend your weapon to the ready and prepare to rapidly engage any targets you see
- Assess the room you're in, and what your next move will be (leave, press on to other rooms revealed).
From these basic instructions, we went on to:
Monsters Inc.
Monsters Inc. is the delightful nick-name of Frontsight's range devoted to Door Clearance drills. It's about 25 doors / doorframes set up 'five by five' on a desert range, and it really does look like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. They mass most of the instructors / staff there for that day at this one location for an hour or two and move all the students through it. Interestingly, it gives you a shot at interacting with another staff member.
The exercise is done with a 'red gun', a solid plastic non-functional replica of a handgun (a Colt 1911, if memory serves). In the exercise, the student goes through all the steps I outline above under 'Clearing a Doorway'. Each instructor has a slightly different twist, and the students take turns being the 'unknown' guy behind the door, and then being the guy who comes through the door.
This exercise could probably be practiced for days to wring out all the nuances of it, but 'once' gives everyone a little taste. It probably serves best to reinforce the notion that if at all possible, it's usually smartest to barricade while armed and call 911 if at all possible.
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