P1 First Person: My time at Viking Tactics Carbine 1.5

By Andrew L. Butts
Supervisory Border Patrol Agent
U.S. Border Patrol Academy
Firearms Training Division

Kyle E. Lamb should need no introduction to anyone interested in cutting-edge firearms training. Lamb is a retired US Army Sergeant Major and combat veteran who spent much of his career in special operations units. As with others such as Larry Vickers, Paul Howe, and Pat McNamara, Mr. Lamb is using his substantial real world experience to train military, civilian and law enforcement shooters around the country. He is offering instruction on a variety of subjects and selling top notch tactical gear under the business name of Viking Tactics (a.k.a. V-TAC). More info on Kyle and his various classes can be found here.

I’ve owned Kyle’s book Green Eyes and Black Rifles since it first became available, and have found it to be pretty much the owner’s manual for the AR-type carbine. The book leaves few stones unturned and covers everything from weapons selection, sights and optics, basic weapons handling, malfunction clearance, shooting on the move and weapons maintenance. The following paragraph is taken from the Viking Tactics website:

“Drawing on combat experience from Mogadishu, Somalia to Mosul, Iraq, Retired SGM Kyle E. Lamb passes on lessons learned to fellow Warriors. Green Eyes and Black Rifles: the Warrior’s Guide to the Combat Carbine is intended to enhance your shooting skills, and refine the tactical employment of your combat carbine. New shooter and veteran alike will find a wealth of information, and numerous tools for their tactical toolbox. You will also see references to combat mindset, and its value in training and actual encounters. So learn, enjoy, and most of all... stay in the fight!”

The book backs up the text with many excellent photographs and is 219 pages in length. It can be had for about $35 and is worth every penny.

I’ve had previous training on the M16 and M4 through the US Army and my law enforcement agency and have been shooting the AR-type carbine since I was a young man. I’ve carried the M4 on duty for over a dozen years and have used it for everything from plinking to self defense training to competitive marksmanship. I am not trying to bill myself as an expert by any means but I do know which end of the thing the pointy little bullets come out of. Even so, when I heard Kyle Lamb would be running his Carbine 1.5 Class in Arizona, I had to attend.

Carbine 1.5 is billed as a “basic” carbine class but goes beyond an introduction so some previous formal training on the carbine is a necessity. Carbine 1.5 was three days in length and there’s very little down time during the three days. We took a few breaks to drink water, load mags and oil the guns but that was about it. If you don’t want to burn some ammo—and learn a thing or two along the way—Carbine 1.5 isn’t for you!

Day One started with a review of the basics. We began by checking and adjusting our zeros at 25, 50 and 100 yards. Kyle Lamb is a proponent of the 50/200 yard zero and most of us adjusted our zeros accordingly. Once the weapons were zeroed, we started with various shooting drills. Mr. Lamb is a strong believer on using drills to create “muscle memory” and much of Carbine 1.5 was spent shooting drills in order to build and hone weapons handling and proficiency. Drills are pretty much a basis for any thorough firearms program and Carbine 1.5 was no different. Our first drill was a basic accuracy drill and we shot from the 100 yard line.

Each shooter was given one minute to fire ten rounds from the prone. We then moved to seventy-five yards and had one minute to fire ten rounds sitting. We then fired ten rounds in a minute in the kneeling position at fifty and finished things off with ten rounds standing at the 25yd line. Did I mention that Kyle keeps score? If you think nobody’s going to check your target and note your performance, you’re in for a rude awakening. Everything that’s shot is recorded in a little notepad and an awards ceremony is held at the end of the class. But I’m getting ahead of myself...

After the bull’s-eye shooting drills, we performed a similar drill from the fifty yard line. We were given one minute total to fire ten rounds kneeling, ten rounds sitting and ten rounds prone. Again, all drills were scored for accuracy. After lunch we focused primarily on speed drills and multiple target drills at close range. My personal favorite was what Mr. Lamb called the “half and half drill.” This drill started at twenty yards and the shooter was given a par time of ten seconds to fire ten rounds. Part Two was shot at ten yards and the par time was cut from ten down to five seconds. We finished this drill at five yards with a par time of only 2.5 seconds.

Day Two started with pistol work. We started by warming up with slow accurate fire and then moved on to failure drills and head shots. After warming up, we worked on transitions from rifle to pistol and worked on turns and pivots. Next up was AR malfunction causes and clearances. Kyle Lamb went over the basic cycle of function and operation of the AR-type carbine and discussed the most likely cause of any particular malfunction that might occur during a particular cycle of operation. This portion of the class, in my mind, was certainly one of the most beneficial. Each potential malfunction was covered in great detail, as was the best course of action to remedy that particular malfunction. We talked about everything from shooter induced problems like failure to drop the bolt properly during a load and prep to failing to fully seat a magazine in the gun. We also talked about weapon malfunctions such as a failure to eject. Included in this discussion were the complex and often confusing malfunctions like charging handle impingements and bolt overrides. We finished the remainder of the second day with shooting on the move and shooting multiple targets while moving.

Day Three focused on shooting from unconventional positions like urban prone, rollover prone and the use of the VTAC barricades. We started to incorporate the skills sharpened in earlier drills into the barricade drills. Much of the third day was spent shooting while moving to cover and switching from shooting off the right and left shoulders from behind the VTAC barricades. I mentioned that Kyle kept notes and we had a brief awards ceremony after the range was picked up and our certificates were handed out. Our top shooter received a certificate for a Smith and Wesson M&P pistol for this achievement. Many attendees received coupons and certificates for 5.11 tactical gear and clothing. A very nice touch to an excellent course!

All told, we fired more than 1,500 rounds through our carbines. We were all hot, dirty and sweaty after three days in the Arizona desert but looking around at my classmates revealed nothing but smiles, eager faces and praise from our experiences. Kyle Lamb is a mellifluent instructor and an impressive shooter in his own right. He was always willing and able to step in at any given time and show us how it’s done. In many cases, he outperformed the best of us in both speed and accuracy.

Anyone looking to take shooting and weapons handling skills to the next level should seriously consider taking Carbine 1.5. But remember, it’s no beginner’s course. Be ready to hit the ground running!