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The White Report
STREET FIGHTER - PART EIGHT
In Street Fighter Part Eight we will discuss various tactical concepts that are a way to accomplish the task, NOT the only way. You will have to determine what works best for you and your agency.
The Sig Academy teaches a concealed carry option that works well for the undercover Street Fighter, the inside the waistband appendix carry. For the left hand shooter your holster sits opposite your appendix at eleven o'clock off your centerline. You must then remember to position your belt buckle, not at centerline but at one o'clock. This creates less bulk. The right hand shooter's holster sits at one o'clock, belt buckle at 11 o'clock.
Appendix carry is highly concealable since you don't have a bulky carry rig printing on your hip. Appendix carry is easily accessible from a standing position with an added benefit; your draw stroke will not alert a predator. If the threat is to your rear, your body will mask the movement of your arm.
Appendix carry also works well while seated in a vehicle as you react to a blitz attack. You want your holster positioned a little bit high so you can establish a firm grip without first having to pull the pistol up.
To get the pistol quickly out of the holster, reach down across your body with your support hand, grasp the bottom of your shirt and lift straight up. Reach straight down with your gun hand and pull your pistol straight up. If you are limited to your gun hand only, lift your shirt, stabilize the shirt with your wrist and continue your draw stroke. The technique for drawing your pistol while seated in a restaurant or your vehicle is the same as standing. The mechanics for one handed or two handed also remain the same.
There are a few things to consider to safely re-holster. After shooting, bring your pistol back to a high ready position, pause briefly to check that your finger is off the trigger. On a single action pistol make sure your safety is engaged and put your thumb on the hammer. Lift your cover garment up, lean back a little, rotate your hips forward, look your pistol into the holster making sure your cover garment is not in the way. As soon as your muzzle clears the mouth of your holster, tilt the muzzle out a little away from your body and complete re-holstering.
When presenting a weapon strong side from concealment, strong hand only from a closed front garment, some shooters do a lazy flip of the garment trying to get a grip on their pistol as they snatch it from the holster. This usually results in snagging some of their clothing with their grip hand.
The shooter who uses this technique is hoping that as he goes to full extension the garment will magically jerk free of his grip. As an alternative, some shooters will push the cover garment behind the pistol. The problem with this technique is that it bunches the garment, thus botching the draw.
The key is to come back with your hand, then grab the garment behind the pistol and guide the garment over the top of the pistol. The mass of the shirt is now in front of the slide and the holster is not hindering your draw stroke.
In order to conceal a handgun, undercover Street Fighters must consider the handgun height, the measurement from the bottom of the magazine up to the top of the slide. Handgun selection is a series of compromises, of tradeoffs.
As to handgun height, we balance the ability to conceal with a shorter grip to the advantage offered by the longer grip: recoil control and ammunition capacity. A greater ammunition capacity will vastly increase the survival rate of the undercover Street Fighter.
We all know that most shots fired in a gun battle will miss. Hit ratio for trained police officers at 0 to 6 feet is seventy percent while hit ratio from 6 to 21 feet is fifty percent. If your pistol holds ten rounds, only two of those rounds will hit your attacker. If on the other hand your pistol holds seventeen rounds you will hit your attacker four times. Then again, what if two predators attack you, which can happen in a Rip Off?
Another consideration is recoil control. How fast are you able to realign your sights after each shot fired? The more traction you have, skin to gun contact, the more control you will have over your pistol's recoil. The shorter the grip, the more skin you have protruding below the back strap.
Your compromise is that the longer grip gives the undercover Street Fighter more ammunition capacity, increased rapid fire and accuracy. The trade - off is that it is more difficult to conceal. It's your decision.
Whenever you are out and about shopping for clothes always bring your pistol and holster along to see what works and what doesn't. Black is one of the better solid colors. Try to stay away from moisture wicking garments because the fabric will cling to your pistol. If you choose a lighter color fabric make sure it has a pattern. Patterns are great with just about any color because they help break up the outline of your pistol.
It is always best to look into a mirror to see how much your pistol prints. Make sure your pistol won't be exposed when you bend over, reach up, twist or turn. The length of your shirt is important. Too short and it won't adequately cover your pistol. Shirts with snaps in lieu of buttons allow a faster more reliable draw stroke.
In a Startle Attack you do not know the attack is about to occur. You are caught unawares. Street Fighters realize in that moment they must do something and they must have the capability to immediately put in place the correct response. Street Fighters working undercover must always keep in mind that a killer with the manners of a rabbit is the most dangerous. In a Chaotic Attack you do not know what will occur next. During firearms training at our home range all our movements are choreographed. Instructors tell us how many shots to fire, what distance, how much time and then give us the command to fire.
The blitz attack is an overwhelming moment of complete chaos that we as Street Fighters must build into our training module. You will not receive a warning order as to your appropriate response. You must ascertain what your level of training is to the appropriate response. Are you ready to apply the correct response in a surprising chaotic threatening moment or are you only ready in a choreographed environment? Remember, you cannot prevent evil from attacking you. If you are training for a blitz attack, you must be able to make a decision at the same time you execute a complex motor skill.
Undercover Street Fighters must take into account that during negotiations the drug peddler may be verbally testing you by asking questions. First off he is assessing his probability of ripping you off. Whether or not you will fight and whether or not he will get hurt.
Be aware of his movement pattern as he attempts to isolate you in order to reduce your fight or flight options. He will be trying to screen his attack from the public as he continues to gauge your possible responses. The violent attack he intends to unleash upon you is intended to hurt you so severely that he can take from you what he wants without any chance of your resistance. To prevent this blitz attack, the undercover Street Fighter must properly time his counter attack to the predator's movements.
During your decision making process, the Street Fighter must perceive when the fight has begun so as to start his draw stroke. You must ask yourself if you can get your pistol out fast enough so that he doesn't botch your draw or worse yet take your pistol. Can you draw and effectively shoot after you have taken a couple of roundhouse punches to your face?
You must not expect that your attacker will possess the same level of mercy and morality as you. Violent predators have already made the choice to hurt you and will slaughter anyone who may stand in their way. In a blitz attack you must stop the lethal intentions before they start. In other words once the predator moves you move.
The eyes might be the windows to the soul, but the hands are the windows to the predator's intent. Always focus on what the predator is doing with his hands. The predator could be hiding his hands so that you can't see what is in them or he could be using his hands to conceal the weapon.
If a predator is standing at the rolled down driver's window and attempts to rip off the undercover Street Fighter who is seated in the driver's seat by aiming a pistol at his head, the Street Fighter must be concerned with two principle focuses of attention.
You must change the pistol's direction while simultaneously altering your own body position. The Street Fighter's left hand will be closest to the predator's gun. Do not attempt to grab the pistol because if he moves the pistol, in all likelihood you will be shot. Instead grab the side of his forearm, forcing his forearm up, using leverage and upper body power to ferociously slam his face into the roof corner or door edges of your car. Draw your pistol and shoot him.
If you are seated in your car, seat belt fastened and are fighting off an assault from the front passenger, smack your hand onto your chest, twisting your hand under the upper angled portion of your seat belt then slip the belt off your shoulder. Granted you are still trapped at the waist, but your upper body is free to generate power. As the fight continues you may be able to unbuckle your seat belt.
As you exit your car, if you are caught in a rip off, you have to concern yourself with two angles of attack. One angle is more to your rear, while the second angle comes straight at you. First, the predator comes from the rear of your door and puts a gun against your head. Launch yourself right at him, getting your left arm over the top of his gun arm, pulling your left hand tight into your body. Draw your pistol and finish the fight. Second, the predator comes straight at you with the pistol to your face. Acquire the attacker's weapon arm at the wrist with both your hands and pull him into the car across your body. Finish the fight.
Street Fighters know that it is the element of surprise that can catch us off guard while working undercover. It is the unpredictable element of surprise that we pay scant attention to when we are not on duty. What if you are at the mall with your family and you have a chance meeting with dope dealers who have been negotiating with you? Or what if dealers you have arrested are out awaiting trial pull up alongside you and then decide to extract vengeance? The attack can come out of nowhere and your situation will be made worse if you panic.
It is not the fancy Hollywood whiz-bang stuff that works. It is simple stuff you need to be able to do fast and accurately. A bunch of tattoos and a scary beard are not going to save your life when bullets are hissing past your face. The best thing that will keep you and your family alive is to train yourself to be alert even when you are relaxed so that you can engage your attacker faster and more accurately than the threat can engage you. The sooner you are alerted to possible danger, the more time you have to make a decision. Attacks often come out of nowhere and the situation is made worse by the fact that most officers panic. It is our goal to identify threats quickly and then use that information to make a correct tactical decision as to the best course of action to take.
In a late 1920 interview with the Saturday Evening Post Wyatt Earp spoke of the relationship of speed to accuracy. According to Earp, "the winner of gunplay was the man who went into action with the greatest of speed of which a man's muscles are capable, but mentally unflustered by an urge to hurry or the need for complicated nervous and muscular actions; mentally deliberate, accurate, not rushing, not being spastic, not being driven by panic."
Tactics is the art of predominating. It is impossible to cover every imaginable occurrence you might face as a Street Fighter, but there are basic principles that will permit you to predominate.
If you are penned in or your vehicle is disabled and you are faced with an adversary attacking from your twelve o'clock, shooting through your windshield might be your only option. Lots of folks think you must get out of your car before you engage. You can still safely draw your pistol and not flag yourself, clear your steering wheel and put rounds through your windshield while using your car as cover. The Street Fighter can maximize cover by lowering his body position. If you spotted the attack early enough, push the lever lowering the back of your seat, scoot your butt forward putting the dash and engine between you and your attacker. With the driver's door open, you can utilize the A pillar and door hinge by staying low in your seat and return fire.
Consider you are on surveillance providing over watch on an undercover. You hear on your radio the dreaded words "Rip Off" and you have to immediately engage the predators. You will be excited and things could go from bad to worse for you if you don't think. Your right hand should start to clear your cover garment as your left hand opens the driver's door. As you throw open the door to step out of the car the door is liable to bounce back smashing into your leg. To prevent this from happening, as you make your move put your left foot against the door. Your pistol is still holstered. While looking at the threat draw your pistol as your left foot hits the ground and your hips clear the car. Don't stay in the "V" of the door because it restricts your movement and also masks your muzzle.
If you are on the passenger side, reach across and use your left hand to open the door as your right hand goes to gun. Use your right foot to hold the door open. Drop your right foot onto the ground; draw your pistol as your body clears the car.
Now let's consider if you are caught in an immobile vehicle during a blitz attack and have to bail out. If you are the driver and rounds are impacting against your driver's side, you must exit on the passenger side. If your buddy is seated in the passenger seat he holds your life in his hands. The quicker he gets out the better your chances of living.
The passenger should fall to the ground, follow the flow of the door and crawl to the rear tire, draw his pistol, muzzle to danger. If he hesitates and tries to move to the engine he will block the door keeping the driver wedged in the kill zone. As the driver crawls across the seat to exit passenger side he wants to drop below the line of sight. If the driver is alone, select the better cover, the engine. If you are with a partner, he goes to the rear tire you go to the engine block. Remember, if your pistol malfunctions or you need to reload, get back behind cover.
If a predator tries to trap your vehicle by stopping broadside to your front you want to use your vehicle to escape from the imminent threat. You must use the front corners (headlights) to line up with the centerline of an axel (front or rear) of the predator's vehicle. Stay on the gas and push through, don't panic.
If the predator is mobile and rolls up in front of you, you want to strike his trailing end. In case you don't knock it out of the way on your first hit, put you vehicle in reverse, back up and slam into him again. Keep doing this until you break out of the trap. It helps if you put your transmission into its lowest gear.
If the predator traps you by stopping to your rear, look over your right shoulder, identify the threat and put your vehicle in reverse. You need to brace yourself so jam your foot hard onto the floorboard, grab the wheel and turn it into the direction you want to go. With your right arm hold onto the back of your seat and rotate your hips. Do not slam on the gas pedal. With a rear wheel drive car most of the weight wants to move forward. Your tires will then spin and you will not generate much energy. You want to squeeze down onto the gas pedal.
On the open road, if predators try to block you with stationary vehicles parked engine to engine, you can breach their roadblock by using your vehicle as a battering ram. Aim your vehicle's headlights at the center of the axels to your front. In order to break through you must be going at least thirty miles per hour. Your mind will be telling you to break on impact, don't. You need all the momentum you can generate to force your way through. The blocking vehicles will be dragged temporarily alongside you. Keep going. If you engine starts to sputter and crap out, stay in the vehicle until the engine dies then get out and run.
Make sure with any of these movements your head is back in the event your air bags deploy so that they won't smash into your face. When they come out, they will hit your face at 200 mph. Keep your thumbs away from the inside of your steering wheel so you don't break them. Position your hands at ten and two or at nine and three. If your hands are in any other position and the airbags deploy your fingers will be broken.
Fighting with your attacker in extreme close quarters pressing the muzzle of your pistol into his body might be your only option. As you lean into him there is a good probability your pistol will go out of battery, meaning the slide gets slightly pushed back and your pistol will not fire. To counter this you can execute a slide override technique. Bring your non-firing hand over the top of the rear slide serrations. If you have a striker fired pistol put your thumb on the slide cover plate, if you have an exposed hammer leave your thumb on the serrations. Pushing down and forward on the slide you will be able to fire a chambered round. However, the slide of your pistol will be unable to reciprocate. You will have induced a malfunction since the spent casing will not eject.
To be able to fire the pistol again, you must tap the base of the magazine and cycle the slide. If you are controlling the attacker with your non-shooting hand you can tap the magazine on your knee and cycle the slide on your belt. Be aware if your attacker has his hands on your pistol as you are desperately fighting him off. In all likelihood it will malfunction. You must immediately tap/rack and get your pistol back into the fight. Pistols that are usually reliable may malfunction when fired from one hand retention when not stabilized in a thumb-pectoral index shooting position.
Your training should alert you as to how to handle your pistol with a less than perfect grip. You must determine if your pistol characteristics lend themselves to any potential flaws and then you must make adjustments to minimize potential malfunctions.
In the final minutes of the movie Saving Private Ryan, Ranger Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) tells a young paratrooper, Private Ryan, "Earn This."
The camera cuts to an elderly Ryan standing in front of Captain Miller's grave at the cemetery in Normandy, France. Tearfully Ryan speaks to Captain Miller saying, "Every day I think about what you said to me on the bridge; I've tried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that at least in your eyes, I earned what you have done for me." Enjoy the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HUf68gFGEE
Street Fighters forever maintain an attitude of gratitude toward old campaigners who both encouraged and challenged them. Street Fighters have the capability to anticipate future triumphs, but at the same time look backward toward all those whose fortitude and bravery kept them alive through countless battles.
No Street Fighter stands alone for we were allowed our tomorrow because we were privileged to stand in the company of heroes protected by the shields of these dauntless and gallant warriors.
Semper fi
Frank White
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