Rural Patrolling/Small Unit Tactics with Eric Pfleger

Earlier this summer I took a Rural Patrolling and Small Unit Tactics class with Eric Pfleger. Eric is a good friend and it’s been far too long since I trained with him, so I was really excited for the chance to get out in the field with him.

Gear

This was a non-shooting class, but since we’re simulating light infantry work, a rifle is still necessary. I ran the class carrying a 12.5” SBR and my usual Glock 19X.

I usually run a war belt to carry my mags and handgun, but since we would be carrying heavy packs I didn’t want anything on my waist to interfere with the backpack’s hip belt. Instead, I ran a Velocity Systems chest rig to carry my mags. My pistol was in a Safariland holster dropped and offset from a regular belt, leaving room for the pack’s belt.

All of my camping gear was in a Mystery Ranch Beartooth pack.

While I didn’t carry them around in class, Eric asked us to bring night vision/thermals/etc. to play around with. I brought my GPNVGs and a couple of clip-on night vision optics.

Before the Class

This course is the middle of a pretty epic road trip for me. So far, it included a visit to Yellowstone and three classes with Chris Costa at Defender Ranch in Idaho (Carbine 1, Long Range Semi-Auto, and Vehicle). After the last course, I spent a few days driving from Idaho to Montana.

The night before the class, Eric, Colonel Plink, and I spent some time hanging out. We were up late enjoying some libations and watching The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

Day 1

Given how late we were up the night before, it was nice that we weren’t getting too early of a start. We started with some introductions. About half the class were folks I’d trained with before, but there were several new faces as well. Eric gave the safety brief. While he covered the four rules of gun safety, since this was a non-shooting class, most of the emphasis was on environmental hazards like wildlife and dehydration.

While we were talking the night before, Eric had said he was going to keep the gear lecture short since many of the students had trained with him before. However, it was as epic as usual, with lots of fine tips on what to carry, what not to carry, and how to pack it. He covered the various tiers of tactical gear: Tier 1, on your person; Tier 2, on your chest rig, armor, or battle belt; Tier 3, in your ruck; and Tier 4, cached or in a vehicle.

After the gear lecture, Eric gave everyone the opportunity to repack their kit before we headed out. For this class, we had access to several hundred acres of private land, all of it uphill from our starting point. Rather than walk, we loaded up on a couple of side-by-sides and a jeep and drove out to our first training area: a gravel pit carved out of the side of a mountain.

Eric started with some muzzle aversion drills, ingraining snapping the gun up or down when someone moves in front of you. We started working on moving in formation using a file (a line with each person behind the other). This led to some peel drills, where one person would engage before bailing out and running to the end of the line, keeping up a constant barrage of fire while we withdrew.

Next up were some bounding drills, where one element provides cover fire while the other moves. We started with two single-man elements, then graduated to pairs of two-man elements, and finally four-man elements (basically a squad comprised of two fireteams).

We rounded out this first block of training with some other formations, including line abreast, diamond, wedge, and echelons right and left (basically a wedge with more people on one side than the other).

Knowing Eric, I figured we wouldn’t get out of walking up the hill forever. We drove back to our base of operations (where the vehicles were parked), slung on our packs, and headed up on foot. After getting almost up to the elevation we’d been working at before we set up camp and had dinner. Rather than setting up a tarp or bivy, I just cowboy camped out under the stars. Once it started getting dark (which happens pretty late in Montana in early July), we walked back down (sans packs).

Back at the vehicles, Eric had us pull out our night vision gear for everyone to demo. I set up the spotting scope, strapped the clip-on to my rifle, and kitted up with the GPNVGs. The panos were a hit with those who tried them. We also had lots of other NVGs, including some PVS-14s, thermals, and dedicated night vision rifle scopes.

After we were done fiddling with NVGs, we headed back up the hill for a night of well-deserved rest.

Day 2

After breakfast, we broke camp and headed back down to the vehicles. Eric gave a lecture about sectors of fire in various formations as well as near and far ambushes. He demoed how to search a downed body, being careful for live grenades and the like.

We drove back up the hill to the gravel pit and briefed a “raid” on a site a few hundred yards away. Colonel Plink brought out his drone and provided a bit of aerial recon, showing a semi-trailer, several vehicles, and some tarp-covered piles at the site. We divided into an overwatch team set up as snipers, a fire support element, and an assault team (I was part of the latter). The sniper team crept up to a spot with a good view, and the fire support team moved up to cover our approach. We moved in, cleared the site, then withdrew.

After debriefing the raid, we drove into an area where the ground was flatter. Eric did a lecture on hand signals. We also had a demo of Colonel Plink’s drone dropping little chalk bombs, introducing what’s becoming an increasing part of the modern battlefield.

After our introduction to aerial bombardment, we spent some time working on moving in various formations. Our last subject for the day was crossing linear danger areas (things like roads). Eric explained some techniques for covering both directions and getting everyone across.

We drove up to a mountaintop to a site called the Alamo. It’s some low walls that are the base of a never-completed cabin. A short hike up to the rocky knob that forms the very top provided some fantastic views up and down the valley.

After setting up camp (once again out under the stars) and cooking dinner, we broke out some beer, liquor, and cigars and stayed up late talking. Erick and I spent some time reminiscing about the old SI days. There was talk about gear and guns (I think Eric talked me into buying the new S&W 5.7 pistol). This kind of fellowship is one of my favorite parts of these classes.

Day 3

We headed down the mountain and back to the same are where we’d been training the previous afternoon. There was some more practice moving in formation, working both as one large group and splitting into four-man teams. Eric talked a bit about ambushes, and we set up an L-shaped ambush and practiced springing it on Eric and Colonel Plink. We finished this bit by splitting into four-man teams, with one team practicing a hasty ambush and the other running a counter-ambush response.

Our last exercise was to reconnoiter a cabin on the property. A pair of two-man teams maneuvered around each side to get a look at all sides of the building while a support element provided cover.

We drove down the hill to our base of operations. There, we debriefed the class, and Eric handed out certificates.

About half the class had to head out immediately, but some of us, with a bit of time to spare, drove up the hill again to a shooting position with a 12” gong set out at 800 yards. I knew from the Long Range Semi-Auto class that with the ammo I was shooting, my SBR maxed out at about 600 yards, so I didn’t bother to bring it up. However, Colonel Plink let me shoot his 6.5 Creedmoor Sig CROSS rifle. After one round to get a sense of the wind, I drilled the gong with the second shot. Compared to my Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, the CROSS is quite light and handy. I may need one of these.

With that, we headed down the hill for the last time, and everyone headed out. I enjoyed a nice night at a hotel in Missoula (including a welcome soak in a hot tub). After that, I headed to Grand Teton National Park, followed by a shoothouse class with Greenline Tactical in Colorado.

Conclusion

As usual for Eric, this was a great class. He packed an incredible amount of knowledge into three days without it ever seeming overstuffed. From practical tips on gear to light infantry techniques this class was filled with great info.

We also had a great group of students who contributed their knowledge and experience. This class was a great opportunity for fellowship among like-minded folks, and I enjoyed hanging out with every one of them.

I’d highly recommend any class that Eric teaches. No newline at end of file