Henk Iverson, Strike Tactical Solutions in Northern Indiana

[Tinman]

Carbine 1

Strike Tactical Solutions

Henk Iverson

Nappanee IN. July 26th and 27th

This past weekend, we hosted Henk Iverson for a carbine 1 class. For those who are not familiar with Henk and his background, he immigrated from South Africa several years back and began teaching his trade. Because he has a different background and came from a different training and operational pedigree, obviously some of his tactics, techniques and principles are a little different from the mainstream US based training market. I have long theorized that the reason so many instructors are teaching “the same stuff” is because they come from one of two major camps, US defense department, or US law enforcement. When one unit / department sees another being successful, it’s natural to emulate their training methods and operational procedures. This tends to lead to a commonality of sorts among trainers with US based pedigree.

We were very fortunate that the weather turned out beautifully for us. We had seven participants making for some very personal guidance and direction. The participants ranged from engineers to machinists, to a stay at home dad, a medical equipment sales rep, and everything in between. Due to Henk’s prerequisite requirements, there were no “new” shooters, just some with a little shorter training resume. This was proven once we hit the range, everyone was up and running, quite literally, very quickly. Henk opened the course bright and early Saturday morning with a lecture on the effects of a violent confrontation and the attendant adrenaline dump on the body. He also covered how we would work to combat these effects. He then briefly described the OODA loop and how it applied to the violent confrontation, and closed with his own methods for responding to the violent confrontation. There were a lot of similarities, to other courses I’ve attended, but I have to say that it ended with similar at best. Henk’s varied and different background showed up right from the start.

Once we had the formalities of lecture out of the way, we geared up and Henk performed a quick kit inspection. I felt the comments he made to each man were invaluable in helping to refine the kit each person ran. I really don’t like to discuss gear in an AAR, but because it was so varied and there were some issues, I will put in a few thoughts here. We ran the gambit of gear, I ran a full CIRAS rig and load belt. There were several other chest rig runners a couple thigh mounted load carriage, and some ran in full concealment gear with just a few spare carbine mags on belt pouches or stuffed in pockets. The moral of the story is run like you think you’ll fight. Due to my current assignment and future training plans, I felt I needed the flight time on the full load out so that’s what I ran. We had four guys running AR’s of some variation, one running a Sig 556 on day one and Henk’s M4 on day two, the Sig proved just too much to lug around all day. The Sig ran well, and appears to be a fine rifle, but I feel the weight will continue to hamper it. We also had one Robinson Arms SCR and one AK74. The big issue of the weekend was mags. The only malfunctions seemed to be centered around worn out, or poorly made aluminum AR mags. Conversely, the new Pmags ran with utterly boring reliability. I guess we could call that a clue. My colt M4 proved to have a few issues, I guess one too many rounds on her. From the first real firing string, I began to get keyholing from tumbling rounds. After the course, there is a new barrel in the near future to repair the issue. It just proves, even quality equipment wears out, don’t become attached to a particular tool, and be prepared to perform maintenance if you’re going to run it hard. Incidentally, we also had one S&W M&P pistol that did not function. It had a recent trigger job done and had few rounds since the work. When the shooter drew the weapon and pulled the trigger nothing happened, after a tap rack, the same results happened again. The most frightening part, this weapon had been carried for at least a week in this state as a defensive tool. Once again, even quality equipment can fail, have a backup, and have a backup plan. Point well taken by the entire class.

After zeroing, we started with some basic drills to get used to Henk’s flat stock method and presentation, as well as his speed and accuracy requirements, which are stringent. Once Henk was confident we had a grasp on these concepts, we added different shooting positions, standing, kneeling, and prone in various combinations in one string. We then added Henk’s special variation on tactical movement. From this point forward, we did almost every drill incorporating movement, as well as various shooting position. We then went on to run several iterations of malfunction clearance. We closed out the day with engaging from various orientations, and incorporating tactical movement with pivots and turns.

Day two started much like day one with some nice and light warm up drills, but that ended quickly. Once we were warmed up, we started right back in with the movement and changing shooting positions. Once we were good and hot, Henk covered the speed reload. From that point forward we were only allowed to load 10 rounds per magazine which meant you got a whole lot of reload practice in. Next up we covered transitions. Again, there are only so many ways to skin a cat here, so the procedures looked very similar to what you would normally see with a few little nuances. From there we were right back into running and gunning.

As a side note, about mid day on day one Henk deemed we had earned the right to walk around hot, so we no longer had to down load to leave the line. I am a big fan of the hot range concept, and it was an interesting take on it to earn the right. At the lunch break for day two, we were instructed to stay hot over lunch. This made for an interesting lunch as people tried to figure out how to live with a hot weapon rather than just stand on the line and shoot it.

We closed out with Henk’s qualifier, and to say the least it was difficult. I understand from speaking with Caren, only a VERY small percentage actually pass. Our class was no exception. Without going into detail, Henk did give me permission to run the qualifier at a later date and provide him the names of those who made the grade. I will be taking advantage of that offer in October when I return.

All in all, an excellent class, well worth the price of admission. I took away a new found love for rapid tactical movement, the flat stock method, and rapid assumption of various shooting position. I will be making an effort to have Henk back next year. Possibly for pistol next time.

There it is, let me know if you have any questions. I didn't really detail the drills, if you want to know minute by minute what we did, you should have been there

Later,
Tinman....

[Glock21]

A brief look at the Iverson mindset from a recent a vehicle defense course:

Student: Henk, what should I do when vehicle A does "x"?

Henk: Hit it with an RPG.


Welcome to Henk's world.

[W9ZEB]

Tinman thanks for the fantastic AAR!!! Even I took a few things away from the class you attended because of it I'm looking forward to spending some time on the range with you in the future.

[Coach]

Super class report Tinman. Henk does a great job.

[obijohn]

ah, sounds like henk hasn't changed any. did you notice that caren is actually scarier than henk?

your comments on the ready position is spot on. if you haven't tried it, you should. we'll be covering it in our courses. for me, it makes the one style, many guns easier. in addition, you stop on bone as opposed to stopping with muscle.

we'll be seeing henk the first of november, where i hope to finish the quals. i think i could have done it if he and caren hadn't run this old man into the ground. hehe.

did your ar run ok other than the keyholing? my race ar did that and it turned out that the seal rings were stuck together. new rings, no keyhole. just a thought.

thanks for a great aar. from experience with strike tactical, i'd say it was quite accurate.

[rhino]

Originally Posted by Tinman

We closed out with Henk’s qualifier, and to say the least it was difficult. I understand from speaking with Caren, only a VERY small percentage actually pass. Our class was no exception. Without going into detail, Henk did give me permission to run the qualifier at a later date and provide him the names of those who made the grade. I will be taking advantage of that offer in October when I return.

Thanks for the excellent report.

If my request for some of us to come to your class to do the qualification seemed odd when I made it, I think you probably understand better now. In our group of nine, three passed the pistol and two passed the rifle (only one guy passed both). In our case, we were just too freakin' tired to maintain the marksmanship through the whole drill. Almost every one of us who did not pass the rifle has just one shot barely off of the index card during one of the three attempts. My one bad shot was touching the edge, but it wasn't on the card, so it was a miss.

I tried it again in the spring without any practice and did it "perfectly" on the first try. The difference was that I wasn't tired. And of course it doesn't count because Henk wasn't there to witness it!

Now none of us can remember the details of the course of fire. I think we're old.

[Tinman]

Rhino,
Sent a PM, let me know if you have anymore questions.

Obi,
AR ran fine, just keyholed like a pig. It ran well with the 62 and 75 grain stuff I ran, but I had 55 for the class so I just pushed through. It has so many rounds on it, I think I've just reached beyond the expected lifespan of one barrel. I will be taking care of the issue soon enough.

Thanks for all the great comments folks, glad you enjoyed the AAR. Now next time come out and play with us

Tinman....

[Scheliel]

Ok - NONE of you may know me... I operate "below the radar" these days, but I can assure you that I have had the absolute pleasure of knowing and "closely working with" Henk on a number of occasions.

He is the man...

Henk - please do try to get in touch with me...

Stan.

[Steve MI]

We have been teaching a flat stock approach for little over a 2 years now, if its the same method im unsure as i havent had the chance to train with Henk yet, It is a very fast and efficent way to run a carbine, from that postion.

Having talked to henk at the last indy show im sure ill be there soon....

[rhino]

I can see the merits of both the "flat stock" (as Henk teaches) and the more traditional "low ready," but I like the fact that the flat stock ready (or whatever you call it) will also serve as an indoor ready position. It's also how almost everyone instinctively carries their rifle when they are running, which you can see in photos and film footage from our current deployments in SW Asia.

I've mostly used the more traditional ready positions when teaching people so far, but now that our group is solidifying a curriculum, I intend to also show the high stock/flat stock ready as the option I prefer and advocate (and why).

I'll admit I wasn't sold on it immediately when I was in a seminar with Henk in Memphis a couple of years ago. It looked interesting, but I was skeptical. I spent a few minutes trying it a few dozen times with Henk's blue gun AR between sessions (while he was watching me) and I started to see how it could work really well for me. I don't usually jump on bandwagons with the "new" stuff, but I like this particular idea.