• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

Night Vision TNVC Armed Professional, 23-25 Oct 2020, Alliance, OH AAR

TNVC_Training

Private
Minuteman
Aug 26, 2020
8
11
TNVC recently completed its Armed Professional class in Alliance, Ohio, October 23-25. The class had 15 students in it, including 6 from this year’s Nightfighter 101.

10-1658156.jpg


The weather challenging at times. We started off nice and warm Friday night—a good thunderstorm came through and temperatures dropped quickly. This made for some difficult environmental conditions for night 1. Fogging of glasses and optics, inversion layers, thick humidity all affected the distance at which image intensification worked. At times you could not see the targets, and then 5 minutes later they were visible again. A great way to truly understand both capabilities and limitations of the devices. The rest of the class had pretty good weather and made it a little more enjoyable.

2-1658147.jpg


1-1658146.jpg


Regarding devices, the class was nearly split between dual tubes and monoculars. Yet there were no major issues reported by students on ability to complete the drills or work through the scenarios. Most of the gear was student-owned, with little rental gear provided.

The class does live fire on night one, and then transitions to UTM for the remainder of the training. The live fire includes flat range work, and then a lot of dynamic shooting and moving. Ending with a quick qualification familiarization shoot. Accuracy on night 1 exceeded our expectations, and we were pleased with the shooting—the large number of recent Nightfighter 101 graduates allowed them to continue their progression in nightfighting techniques.

On night 2, we saw a slight decrease in shooting accuracy. Since it was at closer ranges (inside structures), we ruled out any UTM-related concerns. It was a combination of offset issues, integration of tactics, and a common trend of reverse cycle tiredness. We were able to power through the night, and ended the evening on a high note and ready for night 3.
We were certainly pleased with the students’ ability to identify shoot and no shoot targets. While scanning for a flat target, that is supposed to be a human is certainly challenging and unrealistic, they did a pretty good job solving the problems in the house.

5-1658150.jpg


Finding the targets seemed to be a challenge—one that we did not expect or anticipate. Several times on nights 2 and 3, students moved past targets even after looking at them. Room clearing is always a “if/then” proposition, and under NVGs can be even more difficult. See what you are looking at—slowing scans and such definitely helped them start identifying targets in the rooms.

Night 3 is always a blast--we go off campus and hit real houses in real neighborhoods. It is a unique training opportunity and we try to make the most of it. It is fun to take about a mile walk through town all kitted up and then going to the houses.

A-1658163.jpg


E-1658165.jpg


All in all, this was a super class. The students were switched on and ready to learn. 3 nights of training on a reverse schedule are hard, and they remained motivated and excited to discover both the capabilities and limitations of the equipment. It was a lot of fun for us to be there and we certainly appreciate their hard work and efforts in the class.

We also had several industry folks stop by to showcase their wares and participate in the training. Rafe from Ops-Core brought their entire product line for students to look at, and presented a great brief on helmet-related solutions.

Sam, from Black Cloud Ops, brought some new flashbangs for students to use on nights 2 and 3. Which made the training a little more fun and realistic. We fully intend to incorporate these devices in future Armed Professional classes.

9-1658155.jpg


This was our last class of the year. The 2021 schedule went live last week—with impressive results. Several classes and locations are already sold out. The dates and for both classes is here. For those interested in taking a TNVC class, but don't have night vision, we do offer rental gear to get you started. Information is available on the website.

We always thank Joe Weyer and the Alliance Police Department for their generous support for training. If you are looking for a great place to train, on almost any firearms discipline, check them out--they are sure to offer a class that you would be interested in.

Additionally, several companies stepped up to offer students swag and such for their attendance. We really appreciate their generosity and are proud to have them associated with our classes.

Rite in the Rain
Ops-Core
Unity Tactical
Thyrm
Geissele Automatics
Blue Force Gear
ALG