I've taken a grab bag of Tac classes and pretty much all of them were primarily about putting holes in bad guys, so I got to thinking diversifying a little bit with a medic class would be a good idea. No one really likes to think about themselves or their buddies getting seriously injured, but when the time comes, wishing it away is not going to do a lot of good. Thus getting a least some sort of basic medical education can go a long way which will be helpful outside of tactical situations as well. Having first met up with Lone Star Medics at Shotshow, I jumped at the offer to check out one of their classes this summer. Although I'm decent with a gun, my medical skill didn't go too far past Band-Aids and fortunately the 2 day Medicine-X class fits that skill level quite well.

Recently I had the chance of a lifetime to attend a 7 day basic SWAT class thanks to the good word from a tactical buddy of the DC area. Of course he had to toss a good Blue Falcon my way and his only prep for me was "There are going to be times where it's physically challenging." Coming from what I expect from most training, that merely meant OMG we might actually have to run around with guns a little. I had an idea something might be up since it was the first time I saw PT specifically on the course outline, however as with all the others who attended, we found out this was a class we had to earn and not just show up. Starting the fun in Fredericksburg, VA we met up at the Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy. Things began easy with a class overview, instructor introductions, and even a quick SWAT history movie to get in the spirit. With a little under 30 students we broke up into 3 teams with a good mix of agencies such as NCIS, local SWAT, and Marine SRT. I was happy to end up in Charlie team which was mostly comprised of the Marines as I knew they wouldn't be messing around, yet had concern at the same time of making sure I wouldn't stick out as a big weak link.

Finally had a chance to process all the friggn media. As always Vegas does not disapoint. Having to run around to get videos setup can be a bit of a drain, but seeing all the cool people and gear is always a blast. I always wish there were more days so I can see more stuff! It certainly rained a lot for being a desert. Apparently is abnormal as our glamourous Imperial Palace Hotel parking lot was flooded the majority of the time. Nothing says class like walking into a Chinese theme'd hotel casino with Kung Fu Fighting playing. I'd post a big string of youtube embeds, but that may slow some computers down so just drop on by my channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/milspecmonkey

Tear and I had a chance to double fist photo duty to give a good assortment your way:

http://milspecmonkey.com/gallery/shotshow2010/

And as a special treat we stayed an extra day with our new buddies and hooked up with www.bentwoodgunsmithing.com and www.deserthillsshootingclub.com to get a sweet grab bag of weapons familiarization on. If you end up in the area, don't be shy as the general public can arrange to have the same treatment!

http://milspecmonkey.com/gallery/lasvegastan/