High Risk Environment Course Part II: Legal, OC, & Firearms
My friend Dr. T.C. Fuller recently wrote up my portion of the High Risk Environment Course. This will cover the rest of the course, as well as my own general impressions of the whole thing. Since I was an instructor and have a personal interest in the course, I can't call this an review, but I will do my best to give you my honest opinions of the course. This will let both students and potential instructors know what to expect from future HREC classes.
High Risk Environment Course
The High Risk Environment Course (HREC) was dreamed up by my good friends Rich Brown and Mike Seeklander of the American Warrior Society. As T.C. mentioned, the idea for this course was a bit novel. Rather than a single instructor, HREC draws from five very seasoned instructors, all with very diverse backgrounds. It puts them together in one place for five days.
The course content included one day of my own UNconventional Lock Opening Techniques, a half-day of Tactical Medicine, a half-day of OC spray training, a half-day of law of self defense training, and two days of defensive handgun training.
Students enjoying a catered meal at the “barracks” on Day 1.
HREC was held in East Tennessee from November 17 to 21. The campus provided a classroom and onsite lodging for students, just a five-minute walk from each other. According to several students this was a really cool situation; bunking together gave students the opportunity to get to know each other outside the classroom. It also facilitated rapid turnarounds during lunch, or on breaks when students needed to run get a piece of equipment. Lunches were provided, as were some breakfast basics, and a final meal at Rich's house...but we'll get there.
Seeklander gives the “Welcome Aboard” brief.
Let's get into the run of show. I won't bore you with a recap of Training Days 1 and the first half of Day 2 since you can read about it HERE.
HREC Training Day 2.5
The second half of Day Two was Mike's Defensive Tactics portion. This focused primarily on weapon retention, with the idea being, "if you're going to carry a gun, you need to be able to hang onto it." Immediately prior to this portion was a careful pat-down to ensure no functioning weapons (firearms, knives, pepper spray, etc.) made it into the training area.
Mike demonstrated and explained the techniques in his inimitable style with demo assistance from Rich. Then students got ample opportunity to practice them. Careful supervision was provided by all the cadre, with plenty of feedback being given. The afternoon concluded with a discussion from Rich and T.C. about dressing around the gun.
Personal note: I was afraid I was going to have to leave this afternoon. I had to be in court the next day. I sat through the whole day, waiting for word. Rich told me, "come on back to the house and eat, then if you still don't have an answer you can leave." So that's what I did. Literally at the last minute I got a text - no need to be in court, so I could enjoy the rest of my week off!
HREC Training Day 3
The third day began with a discussion of Vehicle CQB tactics with Rich and T.C. Fuller. Next up, Will Parker taught a Sabre OC spray certification class. This class included a kit with a can of live pepper spray and three training units filled with water. Students had ample opportunity to "spray" attacking role players with water, and a can of pepper spray to put in their pocket immediately after. Note: no one was sprayed with live spray.
Unfortunately my books didn’t arrive in time to be on this table.
After lunch we dove into a legal class. Modeled on Andrew Branca's Law of Self Defense, with some MAG-40 sprinkled in, this class covered what you need to know to keep from going to prison after a defensive gun use. This was a long afternoon of lecture, but Will did an excellent job of making it entertaining, and this was probably one of the most important blocks of the entire course.
HREC Training Day 4
Days four and five were spent on the range doing Mike Seeklander's Defensive Handgun program. The range was large enough to easily accommodate the entire class in two relays.
Day Four began with an extremely in-depth safety brief. One of my yardsticks by which I judge an instructor is by their safety brief and Seeklander's was outstanding. It wasn't long before students were on the firing line.
Two days is hardly enough time to go into detail about the defensive use of a handgun, but Seeklander did an admirable job. And all of this despite nearly constant, and sometimes torrential rain. We rolled with the punches, put up tents (thanks, Roger!), and covered the targets with clear trash bags. Students powered through with nary a complaint (at least that I heard).
Day four ended with a low-light shoot. This is an underserved training gap; rarely do students got to shoot in hours of darkness. As expected the training was top-notch and safety procedures were impeccable. After the night-shoot concluded we packed up and headed to Rich's house, which I will address separately.
HREC Training Day 5
T-day five began with a safety brief and refresher of what students had learned the day prior. Unfortunately I had to cut out early this day, but the class continued to completion under Mike's instruction. Before I left, however, we ran a medical scenario.
The students did not know it was coming, and it focused on a common range injury. It was very gratifying to see the students spring into action. The injured student was treated, the safety vehicle was brought up, the designated 9-1-1 caller gave a call to another instructor. I think this should be commonplace at firearms courses - not a total anomaly.
HREC Awards Dinner
One of the coolest parts of the High Risk Environment Course was the awards dinner at Rich's house. Honestly this was probably just an excuse to host a big get-together, share some laughs about the previous week, and have a drink or two. Rich and his lovely bride, Miss Lisa hosted the dinner in their home. Students were welcomed in. A very welcome dinner was waiting for us after a long day in the chilly rain.
After dinner, each instructor was given an opportunity to reflect on the week. Student certificates were passed out, along with a special coin for attending the course. A couple awards were given to certain students; if you were there you know. If not...you'll have to wait 'til next year, pal. Dinner wrapped up fairly quickly and everyone got back to their lodging safely.
Since I mentioned Lisa, I would like to take a moment to thank her specifically. She did a tremendous amount of heavy lifting to make this thing happen. Lisa coordinated all the catered lunches, including running them out to the training sites, setting up, and tearing down. She put up with at least half a dozen foul-mouthed, dirty, tired students and instructors at her dinner table every night. And she did it all with a smile on her face and not a single complaint. From all of us - instructors and students alike - thank you, Lisa!
Instructor Life at HREC
Being an instructor at this class was amazing! Rich took damn good care of all of us. I mention this because, if you are an instructor invited to teach at a future HREC, don't turn it down! It's an all-inclusive experience, with meals and lodging provided.
The cottage, which also housed Will Parker and Rich’s son.
We all arrived at Rich's place by Sunday night at the latest. Between Rich's spare rooms and his son's cottage on the property (where I stayed), all the instructors were able to bunk down at Rich's place.
One of my favorite things about being an HREC instructor: the after-dinner banter. Me, [redacted], Will Parker, Mike Seeklander, and Roger, Rich’s cousin and a student.
Dinner was provided. Rich cooked breakfasts for us each morning before we carpooled to the classroom. Dinners were provided each night. On Wednesday night Rich's son-in-law made his amazing enchiladas, and on Thursday night food was catered for the all-hands dinner and award ceremony. You certainly won't go hungry here.
A beautiful, crisp, east TN morning at chez Brown.
It was truly humbling to be among such a crowd of experienced instructors. The amount of information I was able to learn by osmosis, simply by being around them for five days was incredible, and I appreciated every moment of it.
Closing Thoughts
The High Risk Environment Course was a huge success. Students walked away with a wealth of knowledge that they didn't have when they arrived. This knowledge covered a huge array of disciplines from the fun and probably not super useful like lockpicking, to the deadly serious, like self defense law.
Taylor from the Defenders & Disciples YouTube channel. I can’t wait for his video review to go live!
As an instructor, I consider myself privileged to be included. I learned a lot from the other instructors, on both their material and their instructional styles. I can't overstate what a good time I had.
If Mike and Rich decide to run another HREC course or something like it) I can't recommend it highly enough. Keep in mind, I am biased, so take that for what it's worth. I still think it would be well worth your time and money, though.