This past weekend (8-10 SEP 23), TNVC Training completed another iteration of Nightfighter 201 in Great Falls, Montana. Busy week for the team this week as we executed a concurrent Nightfighter 101 from 9-10 SEP 23.
Great Falls continues to be a superb host and training location for the conduct of our training. The Great Falls PD and Cascade County Sheriff's Department go out of their way to facilitate a dynamite training environment. Special thanks go out to Heritage Baptist Church for allowing us to use their buildings for internal work and classroom set up.
This class was smaller than normal, which was a great boon for students’ ability to execute way more runs than a full class. The student break down was split right down the middle between law enforcement and civilian students. It’s great to see graduates of Nightfighter 101 come back to Nightfighter 201 and it is particularly gratifying to see switched on average earth people out here exercising their rights, investing their time and energy in expanding their knowledge.
The weather gods blessed us with minimal rain (during classroom portion) with highs in the mid-70s and lows in the mid-50s. Solid illumination at about 35% that allowed goggles to work well, but not overly bright.
Equipment across the class was a broad spectrum of binocular (articulating and fixed bridge) and monocular goggles, lasers and lights. We did not experience any gear related failures, however, this course drives home the point of single spectrum/constant on/high candela lights. Additionally, captured buffer or piston recoil systems are not UTM friendly. They may be great with live ammo, but do not perform with low power UTM recoil.
This course builds on previous instruction (either ours or courses like it, lots of great instructors out there), and uses a facilitation model vice a “do this, shoot this in this way” model. Students are expected to be advanced shooters, the gas pedal is all the way down for this three-day package, from live fire to UTM on target. We use a “layer cake” of teaching points to avoid the fire hose of information, but it is a lot in a compressed timeline. Come ready to rock…students are encouraged to explore possibilities and solve problems as they see fit.
Great Falls remains a staple venue for us, and we will be back there again in the Fall of 2024. Our 2024 schedule will go live next month, and we are excited about what we will offer and how many classes we have on the schedule.
Additionally, several companies stepped up to offer students swag and such for their attendance. We really appreciate their generosity and are proud to have them associated with our classes.
Ops-Core
Unity Tactical
Defense Mechanisms
Thyrm
Otte Gear
Phokus Research Group
Blue Force Gear
Cloud Defensive
Nods-Pods
Act in Black