TIER 4 - COMBATIVE HANDGUN

THE DSI (TIER 4) COMBATIVE HANDGUN PROGRAM is designed for serious gun owners, new or veteran, who want to quickly gain the attitude, confidence, skills, and abilities needed to dominate a lethal force encounter.

The Tier 4 Combative Handgun Program builds a solid base of combative handgun skills. You will learn to operate safely and effectively in a 360-degree environment under various lighting conditions; to move off the line of attack, to cover, and use your cover to benefit you most. You will gain a real understanding of what it takes to win a fight for life, and learn techniques that you can use to seize the initiative and shape your situation to suit your needs. You will also learn how to apply immediate lifesaving first aid to the injured before EMTs arrive and are allowed on scene.

If you are a new gun owner, confidence in your new-found skills will serve you well your entire life, paying you back with huge dividends in your ability to protect yourself, your loved ones, and  (when properly organized and networked) your business, church, school, or community.

If you are a veteran gun owner, you will appreciate the opportunity to refresh skills that may have gotten rusty, learn some new skills and techniques for familiar problems, shoot under low/no light conditions, and move freely on the range (forward, laterally, diagonally, and to the rear), maximizing the use of cover and distance to gain a tactical advantage over your adversary. DSI has paths forward for veteran gun owners who already have solid skills, and do not need introductory or remedial training in basic skills. If you're a veteran shooter, we'll work with you to customize a training plan based on your abilities and interests.

Whether you're a veteran shooter OR a new gun owner, DSI's post-course program for dry fire and live fire practice will enable you to sustain and enhance your skills amongst a growing community of serious and responsible gun owners like yourself.

WHAT you will learn: You will learn to deploy and operate your EDC handgun under realistic conditions (from your concealed holster, exercising target discrimination and use-of-force decision making, in low/no light conditions, under time pressure, at close range). You will learn to maneuver (move intelligently with a purpose), shoot effectively (getting fast, first-round hits on single and multiple targets, with follow-up as necessary), and use cover appropriately to dominate a lethal force confrontation.

You will learn how to use safe dry-fire practice to sharpen and sustain your skills while you are between courses, off the range, at home, and at your leisure, according to your own schedule.

You will learn to appreciate not only the legal ramifications but the physiological and psychological effects that you will experience in a fight for life. You will learn what these mean for you, not just in the legal system but throughout your entire life, if they are not managed correctly. You will learn what resources and tools are available to you locally, to manage and mitigate these stressors and limit your exposure.

HOW you will train: Our Combative Handgun Program goes well beyond typical, administrative state licensing courses and basic NRA-type training. DSI's training methodology is delivered in three phases: 1) pre-course information and guidance, 2) intensive on-range gun-handling skills and drills, and 3) a post-course support system designed to keep you sharp with minimal effort and maximum enjoyment. All three phases are guided by a DSA (Distributed Security Advisor), an experienced instructor who works personally and directly with every student.

1. Pre-course information and materials, including curricula, equipment lists, instructional drills and videos, manuals, photos, and fully customizable Individual Training Plans (speak directly with your DSA to get your copy). All these materials are provided prior to your on-range training through our online training portal (the DSI Defense Academy). You will receive the DSI Training Notebook to help you organize, support, and track your own self-paced training. Our self-paced pre-course study material introduces you to key concepts and techniques - and you can get both guidance and answers to your questions directly from your DSA during his Weekly Live Pre-Course Q&A Briefs.  Miss your DSA's brief? No worries, we've got you covered with supplementary briefs conducted weekly by DSI HQ, doubling your opportunities to get your questions answered.

2. Range Training is fast-paced, dynamic, hands-on, and intensive. You will learn practical gun-handling skills, fundamental tactics, and life-saving tactical medicine, practicing techniques repeatedly under the watchful eye of DSAs until they become habits of action that leave your conscious mind free for situational awareness and vital decision making in a fight. Because any needed "book learning" was done prior to your range session in the online Defense Academy (DA), all 16 hours of range training are devoted to the hands-on performance of vital skills and techniques. There is no classroom time filled with lectures and PowerPoint presentations during your range training. 

3. Post-course (and between range sessions during your course), your DSA hosts 20-minute Online Dry Practice Sessions where you can pose questions directly and get personalized critiques and corrections on technique. Through continued enrollment in the DA, you will have access to current training materials, including curricula, equipment lists, instructional drills and videos, and both online and analog (printed) manuals with photos and detailed descriptions. You can network with fellow students and shooters through a Private Training Group. You will receive ongoing and challenging training opportunities and discounts.  

DSI knows what it takes to win a fight for life, and what it takes to stay proficient and confident in your skills. We don’t believe in, nor do we offer “one and you're done” type training that trains you to a peak of performance that then steadily degrades with the passage of time. Instead, our DSAs will ensure you have multiple training opportunities (both dry and live fire) available on an ongoing basis, and they will always be there to answer your questions to ensure you are achieving your training goals and sustaining your skills.

PROGRAM PRESENTATION

The Combative Handgun Program's live-fire coursework is organized in four modules -- briefly described below -- which offer great flexibility in scheduling. There are a total of 16-hours of on-range training; depending on the schedule agreed upon by students and their DSA, the training can be completed in two consecutive, 8-hour days; or four, 4-hour sessions over a period of one or more months; or eight 2-hour sessions, or sixteen 1-hour sessions. We recommend the shorter sessions that allow you to rest and assimilate skills via private, at-home dry practice sessions between the live-fire range sessions, and to take a more measured pace through the online pre-course work compared to digesting all that material upfront. 

Module-1 - Handgun BASICS includes the correct wearing of your equipment for EDC (Every Day Carry), begins ingraining safety habits,  and teaches you how to quickly establish a stable firing platform and achieve proper grip on your handgun, allowing you to draw confidently, control your handgun's recoil and deliver shots quickly and accurately. You will learn to achieve practical combat accuracy (rapid, first-round hits) using intuitive fire at close range (zero to seven yards). You will learn how to perform the most common reload required in a gunfight, and how to prevent and clear the most common type of malfunction. You will learn how to quickly and safely maneuver to cover and use your cover correctly. 

 Module-2 - Handgun SKILL BUILDER begins by testing the combative skills learned in Module-1. You then learn to transition from intuitive unsighted fire into combative sighted fire to deal with problems requiring greater precision, well beyond seven yards. You will be given more reload options you can use prior to running your gun dry in the middle of a fight. You will learn how to safely and quickly present your handgun from concealment while you maneuver off the line of attack and to cover during a fight. You will learn how to quickly fix a less common malfunction that will tie up most untrained shooters. You will start shooting in low-light conditions. You will learn how to apply tourniquets, pack wounds, and apply pressure dressings to control life-threatening bleeding that kills many injured people before first responders can arrive to ply their skills. You will begin to learn basic tactical principles (the "why" in addition to the "how") vital to your safety, security, and success in common settings where lethal force confrontations occur. 

Module-3 - Handgun SKILL MASTERY tests all combative skills from the previous two modules. Then you'll move on to more reloading options, how to deal with multiple adversaries, how to ID and address targets in no-light conditions with a tactical light, and how to deal with open chest wounds and manage airways to save lives before EMS arrives. You will develop smooth speed and practical accuracy under all conditions. You will add more tactics to your tool kit, including how to respond to and then interrupt your adversary's decision making process (Boyd's OODA Loop). At the end of this module, you will have learned most of the basic gun-handling techniques needed to protect yourself in a lethal force environment and save innocent lives in the aftermath. 

Module-4 - Handgun COMBATIVES: The course starts with testing of the combative skills learned through modules 1-3, and introduces engagement of close-contact targets, improvised shooting positions with and without barricades and cover, and shooting under time and performance pressure, integrating all combative skills at all ranges from contact to 10 yards or more. This final module will put a sharp edge on your ability to shoot quickly and accurately, providing you the ultimate confidence in your ability to effectively employ your handgun in a lethal force encounter.

Completing all four Modules of the Tier 4 Combative Handgun Program (or demonstrating to your DSA an equivalent level of proficiency gained from prior training and experience) allows you to take the DSI Tier 4 Handgun Skills Test. Students who pass this test with 80% or better will earn a Certificate of Completion.  Using the Certificate of Completion in conjunction with the Certificate of Completion from the Tier 4 online curricula earns a DSI Graduate Certificate from the Tier 4 Combative Handgun Program.

 Course Information 

• COST: $800.00
• DATES: See Schedule
• TIME: 1, 2, 4, or 8-hour blocks (total of 16-hours)
• LOCATION: Various
• REGISTRATION FORM: Please download, fill out, scan, and email to your DSA.

HOW TO REGISTER: Click the course schedule link to find the date at least three weeks in advance that you would like to attend. Then contact your DSA via email. You will need to download and then fill out the one-page registration form and email it to your DSA. Once your registration/application is accepted then your DSA will send confirmation and payment instructions.