Combat Shooting Tactics & Prep

I hope you will never be in a fire fight or armed combat situation. It looks exciting and well choreographed on TV but when it comes down to it, the physical and emotional toll of having to defend your life and/or take a life isn't something the average person wants to deal with for the rest of their life. That said, being able to defend your life may happen at some point, and like a seat belt, you don't know that you need these skills until YOU NEED THEM, so here's how to get the combat/tactical skills you need:

• Have a nice selection of firearms. A handgun, rifle, and shotgun are the basics. Mid-range firearms are a good bet--you don't want a cheap, crappy weapon that you can't rely on, but on the other hand, you don't want to go into perma-debt in order to buy top of the line weapons (overkill, so to speak).
• PRACTICE every week with all of your firearms. Whenever I hear people say they have a pistol for protection but when asked how often they practice, they say it's been quite a while, I cringe. There's a muscle memory thing and an automatic reaction thing that only comes about with continued practice and these things come in quite handy during an unexpected firefight. So practice as often as possible but no less than once a week.
• Practice is all sorts of conditions: bright sun, low light, dusk, night, in the hot sun, in the rain, in the snow...
• Practice from various positions: standing, seated, prone, weak-hand, strong-hand, both hands...
• Practice speed loading.
• Know the ballistics of various types of ammunition. How far does it go and how fast? How does your various ammo react to the wind?
• On a side note, I would suggest learning how to reload your own ammo. Not only will you learn various aspects of making custom ammo but it will save you lots of money if you are going to do a lot of practicing.
• Learn the difference between cover and concealment and use both to your advantage.
• Keep your "wings" tucked in. Elbows, arms, knees, feet.
• Practice drawing quickly and efficiently.
• Practice with sights and scopes and without.
• Play paintball. It is nowhere near the experience of actual combat but it's as close to simulated battle as most civilians will get.
• Practice shooting a variety of targets at a variety of distances, including static and moving targets.
• Try competitive shooting, such as IPSC or other combat-style practices/competitions.
• Practice spotting targets and non-targets. I particularly like the pop-up type targets which have both shoot and no-shoot targets.
• Practice moving silently and stalking. Part of being able to effectively engage your target is the element of surprise. There's no surprise if you sound like a heard of elephants coming. Move quietly.
• Once you have the basics down, consider the necessity of more advanced tactics and equipment: night vision scopes, laser sights, body armor, close quarter combat techniques, how to clear a room, squad/platoon tactics, simultaneous engagement, etc.
• Always use eye and ear protection while practicing. We want you to be able to hear into your old age...
• Get your training from the experts. It's fine to trade info and insight with others at the range or in competitions, but to become highly skilled in anything, it is invaluable to get your training from the experts.
• Consider that the old sayings have quite a bit of truth to them: "one shot, one kill", "double tap", "know thyself, know thy rifle", "this is the last shot for the rest of my life".

Anyway, that's the basics. For more information check out http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/23-10/