"I’m alive today due to TDI Ohio. Never in my life did I I think it would happen to me. I remember thinking “I failed the test with Forrest “, but I’ll never need it anyway. I’m old, no one will rape me and I have such a quiet life, no one will disturb me.

March 17,2020 I woke up to 3 masked gunmen in my apartment, wanting to know where the money was and where the dope was. I was stunned. The TDI training kicked in - I failed in Forrest’s counter attack, but then “mindset” kicked in.

The 3 guys had ski masks and all had guns in their hands. They did not anticipate that I would fight them. I fought like hell and after a severe beating, that I took, they left. I’m alive today because of TDI-You saved my life. I’m forever grateful."

~Renata Beckner

"Many novices assume they will have plenty of time and forewarning. They assume they will be able to draw their weapon, flee, or have time to call the police. The reality is .....you won’t even know you are in a fight until you are knocked to the ground and stabbed." - Greg Ellifritz

If you do not already subscribe to Greg Ellifritz's many resources through his Active Response Training website, do it now! I cannot even begin to explain all the information, knowledge and expertise Greg shares with us. You just have to check it out. His "Tactical Training Scenario" articles are a must read. 

Check out this article Greg posted March 21, 2022. 

Your Tactical Training Scenario... Position of Disadvantage.

In the testimonial from Ms. Beckner, above, she talks about mindset. It's about winning the fight. She took our Close Quarters Personal Control (CQPC) Levels 1-4, which helped develop her fierce deterimination to win. Your choices when surprised or outnumbered are run, hide or fight. Woken suddenly from sleep with 3 masked gunmen in her apartment, her only option was to fight. Her training helped her determine when the best opportunity was to turn the tables on her opponents. 

Mindset, tactics and shooting are the foundation of our training courses at TDI.

We go deep into mindset, tactics and shooting in our Response to Active Killer/Shooter course.  This class focuses on those that are armed and responsible for protecting others. Students may be law enforcement, security personnel or perhaps attend because they are that person who will stand and protect others. Are your family, church or other people in your environment depending on you?

In this course you will gain knowledge and awareness. You will get extensive training in stopping the threat and providing life-saving medical care, and then put that training to the test in our various scenarios using air soft pistols. The experience is something that will stick with you for years to come.

So, what would you do in a tactical disadvantage? Our lead instructor, Forrest Sonewald, put into writing the discussions our instructors have had about active killing events, specifically in this case, the Las Vegas shooting.

The October 17th, 2017 Las Vegas shooting was the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. In ten minutes, the shooter fired over a thousand rounds at nearby concert goers killing 60, wounding 411, and causing injuries to 456. Shortly after this tragedy, there was the usual speculation from politicians and the media about what could have been done to prevent or counter this from happening. Contained below is the boiled down essence of discussions amongst TDI instructors about the incident and what options someone may have.

     Number one is could this have been avoided? The answer is no. There is a lot of talk about the use of metal detectors and stricter gun laws. The bad guys will always find a way. The November, 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, France with 130 killed (89 at the Bataclan concert hall during a concert) and more than 400 injured showed that strict gun laws did nothing to keep weapons out of the hands of terrorists, who used automatic weapons and explosives to kill unarmed civilians.

     The next question is how do you counter a shooter with a rifle, thirty-two stories up, who is rapid firing with multiple weapon systems from three, four, or five hundred yards away? This one is tough to answer. If one of the TDI instructors were there or nearby, I would like to think that they would be armed in some capacity. Could they make an effective shot from that distance with a handgun? Could they use cadence fire to keep his head down until Las Vegas PD arrived at the hotel? What would the terminal ballistics be on the hotel window glass? Chances of injuring non-combatants? Would it be better to take cover or help evacuate the wounded? When seeking cover, everyone has the immediate reaction to run away from the shooter. With the elevation difference it may be advantageous to close the distance to get inside the shooters arc of fire where the angle is too steep for him to make a shot.

From what I've seen, the concert was a "gun free zone" (target!). Some of the media and political commentary/speculation was focused on the usual "What if some of the concert goers were armed?". Many have given the knee-jerk response that it wouldn't have made any difference. If one percent of the 22,000 attending were armed that would be 220 people. Of those, some may already be wounded, trying to get a loved one to safety, or just trying to get the hell out of there themselves. Let's say that of the 220 people there are twenty-five percent that are prepared to stand and fight. That gives us 55 people engaging the shooter at distance. If we assume some sort of training, and that the average citizen is still better trained than the average law enforcement officer we have a reasonable chance of them hitting the building at that distance.

     We can break this group down further by info gathered from police officers who attend training at the TDI. “What percentage of officers on your department can make the shot?" The standard answer is 5 percent. In our case, 5 percent of 55 is 3 people who have a chance of hitting near the window the suspect shot from.

     This then segues into a conversation one our instructors had with a coworker. The coworker asked what he would do if someone started shooting from a window a hundred to two hundred yards away. The instructor’s response was that he would align sights and press the trigger with a very good chance of putting it through the window or on the suspect. The coworker’s response was "Do handgun rounds go that far?" The point here is would anybody think to shoot a handgun from that distance.

     Ideally, we would want a rifle for this type of work. Concealment is not an option unless it’s under your trench coat, broken down, or one of the shorties that fits in a backpack. In a gun free zone, good luck getting it past security. If a rifle is present, it’s going to be secured in a vehicle. Getting to it takes time and potentially leaving cover. If you can obtain it, what is your skill level. Not a single officer who deployed with a rifle fired a shot.

     The one thing that they can’t take from you in a “Gun Free Zone” is knowledge and awareness. While at such a tactical disadvantage, medical trauma training is an obvious advantage (and carrying med gear on you via options like ankle med kit rigs) along with the ability to quickly identify cover as second nature. Numerous people with gunshot wounds had tourniquets applied. When standard tourniquets ran out (between EMS crews and officers there were initially just over forty available) improvised tourniquets were used. Of the initial deaths, all were due to gunshots to the head or upper torso, none from extremity (limb) bleeds due to tourniquet use.

Click the photos below to register for our Response to Active Killer/Shooter course now!

LADIES! Check out our Integrating Control Devices Customized Workshop and Shooting and Moving Workshop. These courses are presented by LouKa Tactical Training, and will be held at TDI in August 2022. Space is limited to 16 participants. Sign up now at https://loukatactical.com/ and come train with one of the best female instructors, Lou Ann Hamblin!