I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the Orion Group begin to shoot, move, and communicate. They had been working on small unit tactics for a while and it showed. Dennis, a former Italian Marine, had been mentoring them while Matteo, an expert marksman, had sharpened their weapons handling. These guys were legit, and without having to worry that they knew the basics, I moved them on to some fairly advanced maneuver drills which included live fire. Although the tactics I was teaching were new to them, they grasped the concept immediately.
At the end of the first day, Dennis asked me what I wanted to do now since I was the guest instructor and I should have some fun too. Well, I had noticed that the guns and gear had already gotten a lot cooler since I left the Army six years ago. I wanted to shoot Dennis’ Glock 17 which sported a holographic reflex site. After shooting steel targets for a bit, we moved on to shooting three cardboard e-type targets. The drill was to place one bullet in each target, then do the same heading back to the first target you engaged for a total of six rounds. I started off with the “trusty” Beretta M9 that I so despised in the Army.
My time was pretty dismal, around nine seconds. I can’t entirely blame the pistol though as I don’t get much range time these days. That is was one of the things I truly miss out on because I live in New York City. Then I shot with Dennis’ pistol and immediately cut my time in half. The math doesn’t lie. I had heard that JSOC operators had been using reflex sights on their pistols for years and now I can see why.
We finished the day by trying to shoot our pistols long range. All of us managed to hit the 100m target, a few hit the 200m target, but only Dennis nailed the 300m target and did it on his first attempt! He told me afterwards that he aimed about five feet above the actual steel target.
Now it was time to eat and the guys (much like my buddies in Switzerland) do not mess around with food. They cooked pork ribs, eggplant, sausage, and also had tuna in mayonnaise sauce. Afterwards, I was so tired and full that I passed out almost immediately.
The following morning we woke up and I continued to take the guys through their paces on the range, teaching them how to maneuver in a live fire environment in which they had to negotiate terrain. As security contractors, it is important for them to learn specific drills for their job but also to have a strong understanding of basic drills. From there, they can grow and adapt as individuals, changing the tactics to fit whichever specific situation they find themselves in.
By afternoon, we walked down to the empty villa and began doing (dry fire) room clearing. Suffice to say that the villa was way too big to effectively clear with a 8-man element in a real world setting, but the building was full of great training opportunities with winding staircases, large corridors, multiple connecting rooms, attics, and a massive open dining room. To switch things up, we then moved into the groundskeeper’s house to get the guys clearing rooms that they had not seen before.
Finally, we went back to the range and Dennis set up the final exam that he puts his guys through before sending them on maritime contracts. While taking place on a flat range, Dennis made the drill fairly dynamic and realistic by using the assets that he had available. Various types of cover were put out on the flat range that the shooters had to bound between and engage steel targets at 100-300 meter ranges. The targets were numbered and Dennis would call them out on the radio. What I liked about this drill was that you were behind cover, there was foreground (steel beams that hold up the overhead cover), and then targets and multiple ranges spread out laterally across the range. This forces the shooter to think about every shot and move his body position around to engage targets at different locations.
The next element Dennis worked in was having one shooter run up to the second floor of one of the factories and shoot the targets from an open window. This was to simulate a maritime contractor crawling up into the superstructure of a ship to get a better vantage point against incoming pirates. Finally, the last element added was having two guys go inside another building and engage targets from open doors and windows, another realistic setting. In the end, the entire team was firing at the targets from the ground, from indoors, and from an elevated position. It was a hell of a good time!
After two days in the boy’s secret tree fort at Castel del Rio, I was sorry to have to go. The Orion Group guys were wired tight and I think they will continue to make great strides, especially with such an outstanding training facility, one that I’m sure Dennis and Matteo will only improve over the coming months and years.
Until next time guys!
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