Tactical Anatomy

In recent years, tactical anatomy has had a renaissance. Some instructors are again emphasizing it while integrating it into their coursework. Others (like this author) make it a primary focus. What we have lacked is someone with the authoritative background—medical, tactical, and instructional—to teach it. This is where Dr. Andy Anderson succeeds, and this is why I took his class “Tactical Anatomy and Officer Survival for Law Enforcement Officers.”

The Instructor

Dr. Anderson has been in the medical field for over thirty years.  Unlike many physicians, Anderson started his career as a field paramedic, doing nine years in the Jackson, MS area – with all the violence and trauma one could hope for.  After medical school, Anderson spent 21 years working in the emergency department of Mississipi’s only Level 1 trauma center.  He’s a Professor of Emergency Medicine.

When he wasn’t interfering with natural selection, Andy deepened his knowledge of firearms and instructional skills by attending several courses. For over ten years, he volunteered as a medic with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s SWAT teams.

Classroom Material

This background has allowed Anderson to develop an amazingly concise program, teaching officers the tenets of tactical anatomy in just four hours. Stopping a threat quickly is an obvious officer survival advantage. Efficiently stopping a threat means fewer bullets are fired. Potentially, there is less media attention, which increases the likelihood of getting through the aftermath.

Dr. Anderson starts in the classroom using every instructional method imaginable. He spends time reviewing medical imagery, showing students where the important “stuff” is located. Andy uses multiple real-world videos to reinforce the value of this material. He also shows why most conventional training targets create training that negatively impacts and is harmful to solving real-world problems by creating training scars.

Live Fire Learning

After the classroom, the remainder of the instruction happens on the range.  Using the crawl-walk-run process, students are taught and then tested on proper shot placement using targets with anatomy that was visible at close distances.  These targets immediately allowed the students to see if their rounds hit the vital structures discussed earlier.

The class then shifted to targets that lacked any visible designated hit zones. The same course of fire was shot on targets with score rings only on the back. The quality of hits on this target was typically worse than when the students shot on a well-marked target.

This reinforced the idea that conventional targets resulted in training scars.

The next step involved transitioning to several three-dimensional targets Anderson created.  Using a curved plastic shell and a cardboard face, Anderson created a series of unique shooting problems just by changing the shooter’s orientation of the target.  Students were presented with threats that had to be properly engaged from the front, side, and back.  Each student worked their way down the target array so that everyone in the class got to solve each problem – with anatomically appropriate hits.

After each engagement, Anderson and his staff examined the location of the hits and their relationship to the anatomical structures. Once they understood the correct shooting solution, the target was “repaired” for the next shooter.

3-D Targets

While it took some time to work all twelve students through the three-dimensional targets, this was the most valuable part of the class. By seeing and shooting the problem, followed by immediate feedback, the students quickly learned how to apply the concepts. This is experiential learning—one of the best ways for adults to learn.
The final shooting exercise was a man-on-man competition so students could demonstrate their understanding of the material under duress. Each shooter faced a clothed, reactive target that required a fight-stopping hit. On a go signal, students raced to deliver that hit before the others did. This drill emphasized that delivering a higher-quality hit sooner than others missed was the best solution to end the fight quickly.

Anderson provided several blocks of ballistic gelatin.  Attendees were invited to fire their duty rounds into both bare gelatin and gelatin covered in four layers of denim to see how the various loads performed.  Anderson noted that it does little good to place rounds precisely if your bullets don’t perform well.  A consistent theme was that most defensive rounds perform well in bare gel; however, they struggle to perform well when fired through an intermediate barrier (clothing) that is present in most real-world events.

The course finished in the classroom, where we reviewed the day’s material, had the opportunity to ask questions, and received our certificates.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, the class was an excellent use of four hours of training time.  Anderson is a gifted teacher who clearly understands the adult learning model.  His instructional materials were professional. The information and range exercises he selected consistently covered the most important and relevant learning points.

Anderson possesses a deep understanding of the material. Yet, he relates it in plain English, allowing the student to gain immediate benefits.

While the next offering of this class has not been scheduled yet, training with Dr. Anderson at Boondocks should not be missed by any LEO who wishes to enhance their odds of survival or wants to learn relevant information that should be part of any firearms training program.

CLASS ENROLLMENT  INFORMATION:

Boondocks Firearms Training Academy