Active Shooter training taught me about myself

Last year after the church shooting down in Texas, our church decided it would be a good idea to have a plan in the event of a similar event. We contacted our local sheriff and he graciously agreed to hold a training session with anyone from the congregation that was interested. We ended up having a really good turnout.We started the day with a PowerPoint full of statistics and discussion - followed by strategy for moving people who were injured and basic first aid. We spent some time talking about barricades vs running vs hiding, and general question and answer. Over half of the folks present had a concealed carry license and so we've had some training, but not specific to this type of scenario.Next, we worked with blue guns (pistols and long guns) on some basic strikes and disarms. Nothing fancy, just some really common sense stuff. Grabbing the slide of the pistol and such. We took turns beating up on the poor deputies. It was fun, and of course some people are more comfortable getting aggressive than others.Finally we all sat down at some tables for a snack and some more discussion. We had been asked to disarm earlier in the day, and warned that there would be some more realistic scenarios coming, involving firing blanks and listening to the sound of gunshots through the building. Nothing could have prepared me for when all of a sudden shots rang out in the hallway and shouts could be heard headed our way. A deputy ran in carrying an AR (blue gun of course) and several things happened. People jumped up, spilled coffee and ran for the door. Several people just froze. Before I realized what was happening I found myself running down a parallel hallway, headed deeper into the building. My wife who was with me had run that way also and best I can reason out - I just wanted to keep her safe. She was running toward the nursery where our kids would normally be.We ran a few more drills and we were a little better prepared. One of the last times I pulled out my "finger gun" on the shooter - but by then we were getting used to the process. That first one was an eye opener. Train though I might at a range, and thinking through what I would do countless times were totally nullified in a moment of adrenaline.After it was over the deputy asked how many shots were fired and I had only heard the first 2 out of 4. He apparently also was screaming at the pastor calling him an SOB (which no one remembered).Takeaways - No matter how much you run through something in your mind, you don't know how you will react until you have trained in stress like that. Subsequent drills we were able to take down the shooter, but that first one - no one was prepared fully.Secondary takeaway - my wife is now a believer in on-body carry. She would never give up purse carry no matter how much I cajoled and made her watch YouTube videos. Today, in a moment of panic she ran off and left her purse on the ground.If at all reasonable possible for you, I can't recommend high stress practice like this highly enough. You can't watch enough YouTube videos or think through enough scenarios in your mind to know what you'll actually do when the stress hits. I got the chance to really introspect today, and get used to (in some small way) reacting under more pressure. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2tZThhQ