Training Standards

I know many of you are on organized teams, so I'd like to pick your collective brains:

I'm trying to get my group advanced beyond the novice "backyard" stage of disorganization and free-lance operations. I'm drawing up tactical firing drills such as "snap shooting", tactical reloads, movement under fire, etc. I'd like opinions from the group as to personal marksmanship standards for airsofters. Specifically I'd like to know stuff like "be able to hit X sized target at Y feet in Z seconds". Also looking for standards for different positions: rifleman, DM, scout etc.

The weapons we have to work with are Echo 1 SOCOM 16, TM AK47, TM Thompson SMG, Tactical 9 Sniper Rifle and more dept store springers and crosmans than I care to admit (hoping to change that though). We play woodland scenarios, no CQB at this point.

'Training' is not necessary. Airsoft is a hobby and doesnt need military-style organization...unless you feel it necessary. Many teams, including 'hardcore' mil-sim ones, participate in scrimmages to hone skills rather than organized PT / 'Training'. On the same note, you should encourage that personal fitness is the responsibility of the individual member and if they do not maintain physical health, they may be endangering themselves. Airsoft can be an extremely physically demanding and possibly dangerous hobby. Maintaining a 'field-fit' team requires alot of work.

Our team is at about the same stage out here. The best you can really ask for is a few dedicated individuals who will show up on time, fight hard, be professional, and call their hits. If you can convince your friends to do drills, more power to you, but private skirmishes seem to be the mode of training for many airsoft teams.

The standards people need to be held to are for safety and professionalism. Only after that should you worry about improving individuals' specific skills.

Heres a DM excercise i run.

There is a 300 ft. trail throught the woods and along the trail at varying distances are 12 targets. These 12 targets are hidden in different places some in plain site others in spots where you can see them from only one spot.

The Rules
You can not leave the path
You have one magazine half filled
All targets hit are worth 10 points

Run this a few times then increase ammount if targets and length of trail

And a Gunner excercise i also run.

You are protecting an unarmed VIP you need to safely get him down a trail through the woods to his vehicle. There is an enemy sniper out in the woods the sniper can not be killed once he is hit he must retreat how every many feet you feel is right.

The Rules
The trail is as long as you want to make it
If the VIP is hit anywhere even by a richochet he is dead
If the guardian is hit he cannot fire for 5 seconds which he counts out loud
You cannot stray from the path

Run this a few times then add more combatants into the woods longer path more VIPs even
And so you know the point of this is to get you gunner to work on supressing units rather than trying to score kills if your gunner throws so much fire out that the sniper can't pop his head up. That and it helps with tracking targets.

Theres also base runs bas pushups and base situps

All of these work in the same way

Base Run
You set a distance and all members run it record each players time.
Continue running the base runs until the scores improve to your liking

Base Situps and Push ups

Give an alotted time and let each player do how many PU or SU they can do in that time.
Continue this until it improves to your liking

And a tip to get them to do these excercises do them with them.

I agree with both, I'm not trying to turn our group into some type of militia or anything like that. Just looking for standards to pull the team together. Our last skirmishes have been extremely disorganized with people going every direction and screwing up fields of fire for other players. This ended up with frustration and sore feelings toward other players including one who drove off angry.

Everyone who cares about seriously playing in our group agrees that the best skirmishes we've had came about when personal marksmanship and fieldcraft came into play making it a more balanced fight. Without some training to bind us as a team, our skirmishes continue to degenerate into hyped up zombie fights and speed ball.

As far as devotion to safety is concerned, I am extremely rigid. I am a medic by profession and have seen what happens when people lose their situational awareness or do not follow safety rules at work or at play. We had one guy we caught playing a skirmish without eye protection. Everyone else pulled together on that one, and he will never again try to play without protection, not
with us at least. This was the same guy that tried firing at us from a designated safe area.

We haven't had any issues with calling shots that I know of.

We're a pretty tight group, and we all live in the same area. We're even working together to improve our property (8 acres total of woodland) for airsoft play. We've started removing low hanging limbs and thorn bushes to improve safety, and we just started construction on a series of "huts" to make a simulated village for more realistic skirmishes.

I've ran some shooting drills with my son, and both of our shooting skills have improved as has our game playing. He is more fired up about airsoft than ever before since he knows there can more to it than running around the woods with a replica gun. He has also learned that he can stay in the game longer if he follows good fieldcraft and tactics.

Again, I don't plan on having folks try to run in formation chanting cadences or have DI's screaming at Pvt Pyle or anything like that. I'm just trying to anticipate stagnation in play and keep the team's interest in the game.

Thanks for the information and drills Satan. That's the kind of specific drills I'm looking for. I really like the scoring aspect, may introduce a little friendly competitive spirit.

Spl. Durkee wrote:

'Training' is not necessary. Airsoft is a hobby and doesnt need military-style organization...unless you feel it necessary. Many teams, including 'hardcore' mil-sim ones, participate in scrimmages to hone skills rather than organized PT / 'Training'. On the same note, you should encourage that personal fitness is the responsibility of the individual member and if they do not maintain physical health, they may be endangering themselves. Airsoft can be an extremely physically demanding and possibly dangerous hobby. Maintaining a 'field-fit' team requires alot of work.

+ 1 I just play with mil-sim teams on a regular basis to hone my shooting skills. Yes we will go practice certain mil-sim scenarios whether it be hostage, defense, blitz...etc Usually whatever scenarios exist at a up and coming event.

I don't really go to the events though. I mainly just do free lance when it comes to mil-sim. However I am working with a group that wants to become a mil-sim team and it has been very promising since we are all in contact pretty much every other day outside of school and work. And the fact I am in bad need of proper gear (the second I get $ for airsoft, I usually buy a gun or parts...no gear)

When i was playing missionary for close by teams i got to pracitce a little with them, on thing the did was take all snipers (there were 3 others then me) and gave them ghillie (grade A military stuff) then they set the snipers free snipers vs infantry, the infantry only had spring pistols with 5 rounds each the infantry had to make it to a base get there wepons then go execute the snipers while snipers had 3 mags filled and could shoot at any given moment, it makes the team think as one

Missionary is a religious counselor. Mercenary / free lancer is the word you are looking for. Sorry but I keep getting confused when you start saying that.

^oh ok sorry about that yeah mercinary

And here I thought he was spreading the gospel of airsoft to the native peoples of the land

Really in order to 'train' your team you have to show them how to be able to fight as a Single Fighting Unit. basicly, you have to teach them how to keep their figure low, be able to bring on surpressing fire quickly, and to be able to shoot accurately with the weapon at hand from 'x' ammount of yards. After those things have been accomplished then you can teach them how to work togeather. Make some senarios where they will run into each other, or be forced to work togeather in order to spare the mission and teach them to be aware of their surroundings and be able to fight as a single fighting unit, only then will your squad be an effective part of an Airsoft battle, although some training will only work in some senarios. If you were to play CQB then you'd pretty much have to re-train your men to keep them from the frustraition that your experiencing now. Teach them how to be able to storm buildings effectively, and how to move through urben streets without running in the open. Basicly, if you teach them how to fight on their own and as one group then they can be very versitial and able to work togeather and apart to acheive their goal.

Well another idea to think about a very simple thing to do make pairs. 2 v 2 and run that all day
http://www.cqbtacticalairsoft.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=50303358
http://www.cqbtacticalairsoft.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=50303363

Two great groups those guys work great with the other and together with our 3 groups we function as a tight team.

After doing more research on this topic, I came across the following site:

http://www.renegaderecon.com/

I read over their Rifleman Training Lessons under the Beginner's Boot Camp tab, and it is close to what I'm envisioning. I also read a similar thread about tactics and standard training on another forum I found, and the results were similar...train all you want in airsoft, but when the pellets start flying most airsofters just aren't professional enough to follow tactics. Thus, all training goes out the window and you usually end up getting freelancing. (Not trying to be negative or offensive, just drawing a conclusion based on information presented.)

I'll try to run some drills, if it works great. If not, oh well. I'll still be committed to improving my personal skills through drilling.

Thanks to all for the input and suggestions. At least now I know what an airsoft "missionary" is!

okay this is what you do, go to an army navy store, and ask them for training manules, most likley they will be old copies from nam or korea, if you lucky desert storm, then they have all the moderen day things like close quarters fighting medical survival all that you know try it out they run from 5 to 8 dollars a peice but its about 250 pages filled

I've been looking at those manuals online, that's kind of where I got the idea for individual training. I see if I can find the link again.

I love reading the Special Forces medical manuals. They do things just a little different than we do in the civilian world. Thanks for the suggestion, I could download a couple and get everyone a CD or thumbdrive or something.

Here's the link to the manual page if anyone is interested:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/index.html

Specifically, I read over "combat skills of the soldier".

This is a training drill for paintball, but I'm sure it will work for airsoft.

Get a target that can stand on it's own in the middle of a lawn(trashcan, recycle bin etc.)
Have one member of the team postion tha target somewhere in the field while the "shooter" has his back turned. Once it is in postion and the postitioner is out of the way, some one yells "Go" and the shooter quickly turns around and has to aim and fire on the target in a matter of seconds.

It is a good drill for "snap shooting" and improves accurac overall.

Utz

nice utz, i like that idea, satan we should try some of this stuff.

But would it really Improve your accuracy? I think it would mainly improve your reflexes and target acquisition.

Painkiller wrote:

After doing more research on this topic, I came across the following site:

http://www.renegaderecon.com/

I read over their Rifleman Training Lessons under the Beginner's Boot Camp tab, and it is close to what I'm envisioning. I also read a similar thread about tactics and standard training on another forum I found, and the results were similar...train all you want in airsoft, but when the pellets start flying most airsofters just aren't professional enough to follow tactics. Thus, all training goes out the window and you usually end up getting freelancing. (Not trying to be negative or offensive, just drawing a conclusion based on information presented.)

I'll try to run some drills, if it works great. If not, oh well. I'll still be committed to improving my personal skills through drilling.

Thanks to all for the input and suggestions. At least now I know what an airsoft "missionary" is!

Very cool find! Thats such an amazing site. Just joined.

Insane merc, sometimes target acquisition is more important than accuracy

Ok.....I didnt say accuracy wasn't important. I just said that snap shooting wont necessaryly Improve your accuracy. And when is accuracy ever less important than target acqusition.

aveenvp wrote:

Insane merc, sometimes target acquisition is more important than accuracy

I agree. If you are facing an ambush situation or unanticipated meeting engagement, target acquistion will allow suppressing fire on target while others flank or regroup. All you really need is a volume of fire to keep the shooter's head down. Also in airsoft an body shot is just as much of a kill as a head shot. If you can hit a trash can with a snap shot, you can hit an OPFOR player so precision accuracy isn't as important.

That drill is similar to what we were running. I set up paper targets on two different trash cans. We took turns snapping up and shooting on command, only we didn't know if the other would call out right or left can. I like the concept of moving the can around better though. I've got some 5ft tall plastic skeletons left over from Halloween, maybe I can put some old BDUs on them and use them in place of the cans. Heck, they could even be placed along a trail like Satan described.

suppressive fire is effective but it wont do nuttin if your nowhere near the enemy even i you know where they are at or where theyre going. Accuracy is ALWAYS important. Not precision accuracy but enough to hit a man sized target at 200ft thats what im sayin.

yes, but a support gunner doesn't need to be able to get a one shot kill, and so on. If you are a DMR, then yes, its extremely important. Target acquisition refers to how quickly you can get your sights on target, so it does imply some accuracy