Training With A Purpose

Don't just go "do stuff"...

You see this pop up every now and then about training. You see guys comment on posts that they would love to get out and do some “training” but then find out it is just a group of dudes, kitted up, shooting into a garbage pile, with no other plans besides getting drunk. I’m sorry, but that ain’t training and it is a big reason that guys quit showing up to so called training events. As Randall from Grunt Proof points out in the above post, “There must be some planning with a purpose”.

I have a little bit of a background in planning training events for being in the outdoors. Some key points are that it has to be engaging, be informative, be hands on, provide value, and be fun. But in order for it to be all of those things it all has to be planned ahead of time.

My philosophy on this is to make a list of things you (and/or your group) want to accomplish and work towards that. I’ll use an upcoming Winter FTX coming up that I am hosting as an example of this. Most people don’t do a lot of training in the cold weather so it is a perfect opportunity to work on operating outside in such conditions. So we created a weekend course based on a hypothetical mission that allows us to work on basic fieldcraft skills for patrolling such as tracking, camo, navigation, OP site selection and construction, SLLS, LDA crossings, Comms work including SALUTE and Status reports, working at night, and more. Time is set aside for each skill introduction to educate and guide each other through the process and then to actually do it all in the confines of a mock mission.

Time is set aside for down time, campfire discussions on equipment choices, gear maintenance and care, and such to allow for a better understanding of the how and why things work.

Here is an outline for such a weekend course:

Operation Night Stalker

Goal for the weekend is to help fellow Minutemen with getting comfortable working in Adverse Conditions and Environments while maintaining the ability to perform basic patrolling tasks within a mission type setting. All in an easy going, yet serious manner with a healthy dose of camaraderie and fellowship with like minded men!

Friday afternoon/evening:

• Arrival

• Camp Setup

• Dinner

• Safety Brief, personal expectations, and camp rules (Housekeeping items)

• Campfire time for chatting, discussions, and just getting to know one another

• Night Hike

Saturday:

• Breakfast

• Go over the days activities

  *in this case the days activities revolve around performing an area reconnaissance via a foot patrol*

  ~Skills to work on include:

  -Navigation

  -Camo

  -Tracking

  -Communication

  -LDA Crossings

  -OP Site Selection

  -SLLS

• Break to load up kit and perform PCC/PCI’s (Pre-Combat Check/Pre-Combat Inspection)

• Leave camp and insert into the AO (Area of Operation)

• Break for Patrol/Trail Lunch along with some review on how the day is going

• Continue Area Recon and work on selecting/setting up an OP (Observation Post) site for the night time activity

• Head back to camp after OP completion

• Dinner and down time

• Get ready for Night Time OP occupation

• Insert back into the AO under darkness to man OP working on observation, light and noise discipline, communication, and more.

Sunday:

• Breakfast

• Recap the weekend

• Break camp and head home

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Training events I conducted or participated in during 2024

I’ve been lucky to have hosted a few of these training weekends and to have been invited on some others, and I have found that the trainings that have a purpose and are clearly organized tend to be the ones that you get the most out of and will seek out again.

Grunt Proof is on the right track with his post and he has a serious list of training opportunities that he has put together for guys to take advantage of. Check them out here.

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