"Mastering Vehicle Tactics: The Art of Pistol Shooting and Movement Around a Vehicle"

We have seen the world become more violent, with mobs swarming vehicles, increased carjacking, and ambushes on our law enforcement officers. With the increase in violence and the amount of time we spend in and around our vehicles, we need to make sure we have the skills to defend ourselves and our families.

At War HOGG Tactical, we use our real-world experience combined with a building-block methodology of instruction. Remember, you always want to get to your feet as quickly as possible when the situation allows. Standing gives you mobility options, and you are not stuck in one place trying to engage a threat. Try to always treat the flat range like the real world when you train.

Fighting from a vehicle, movement around a vehicle, vehicle counter ambush, vehicle close quarters battle, VCQB, bailing from a vehicle, vehicle tactics or vehicle close quarters combat are all terms used when talking about defending yourself or your family in a deadly force encounter in and around a vehicle. These vehicle tactics can be used if you are a law enforcement officer, military or a law abiding citizen.

It is important to understand the only reason you are exiting the vehicle is the vehicle's engine is disable and no longer runs. There are some very poor vehicle tactic techniques out there and make sure you are validating these techniques both in force on force training and in your live fire law enforcement firearms training programs.

Watch the video for a more in-depth explanation on exiting a vehicle, movement around a vehicle and pistol shooting around a vehicle. Add this firearms knowledge to both your dry fire and live fire vehicle tactics regiment.

Exiting A Vehicle

Exiting the vehicle is the last option, in my opinion, because the vehicle’s mobility gives you options and increases survivability. The direction you take will depend on the factors and situations, so rehearse as many “what if” scenarios as possible.

When it’s time to exit the vehicle, there is a methodical way to work the process. With your left hand, reach under the crossbody seatbelt strap and release it, sweeping the belt out of the way with your left arm. At the same time, begin moving your firing hand toward your pistol. This is why I like the strong side carry in a vehicle. The support hand can either open the door or move to the pistol.

When opening the door, use your left foot to hold it so it won’t swing back and strike your shin. Bring your pistol to a ready position or to a low ready or sul position.

Some instructors teach bringing the pistol to their head near their temple. I can not support this technique for a couple of reasons. First, if anyone were to wrap you up, there is nothing you can do with your pistol, and it makes it super easy for them to take the pistol.

Second, the idea of pointing a gun at your head does not sit well with me. What happens if you trip, fall, or bump into something? Your finger goes on the trigger, and the muzzle is pointing at your head. I have yet to hear a convincing reason to use the temple position.

Movement Around A Vehicle

When moving around a vehicle, prioritize positions that preserve your mobility while using the vehicle for cover. Your intent should be to find a path out of the danger area and return to safety.

Using The Vehicle For Cover

Some parts of your vehicle will provide better cover than others. There are no absolutes with vehicles because each one is different.

For example, we were doing some vehicle ballistic testing on a vehicle and shooting from one side to the other, through the trunk. I was for sure that both pistol and rifle rounds would go through both sides due to the trunk’s thin metal, but to our surprise, they did not. When we opened the trunk, it was packed with junk, which stopped the bullets from penetrating through the other side.

Good vehicle cover points to consider:

Engine: Open your hood and take a look to see how much area it covers and if there is any dead space.

Full length of the vehicle: Remember bullets will go through glass so be aware of your body position.

Axles and rims: These have a lot of metal around them and offer another area for cover.

I personally don’t try to purposely use the pillars or try to stack them because to the left or right is air or glass.

Vehicle Armor

Deciding to armor your vehicle is a personal choice based on perceived threat level and if that is something you can even afford. For law enforcement, I recommend armoring at least the windshield and the driver’s door and window.

Unfortunately, with all the “defund the police” statements, armoring police vehicles probably is not feasible for most agencies. If you are a leader in law enforcement, ask yourself, what is the price of a human life, and what grants for vehicle armor are available?

I have seen some agencies use old body armor to make improvised armor, at least for the driver’s side door. Depending on your agency’s fleet’s makes and models, this may or may not be possible with the amount of space in the door. At least give it a try and see if you can add to your survivability if you are in an ambush situation.

One administrative note: If you armor your door, make sure the garage knows so if you get a new vehicle, they can pull that armor panel out and hopefully use it in another patrol vehicle.

Companies like TruArmor offer the ability to customize armor for your vehicle. If the funds are there, at a minimum, prioritize the windshield and driver’s side door and window.

TruArmor offers ballistic door panels and side windows that are fully functional to raise or lower. For a law enforcement agency with the same fleet of vehicles, this makes it super easy to swap out armor if needed.

Build a Vehicle Tactics training plan

With the information in these two articles, you now have a starting point to build your vehicle tactics program.

This isn’t the end-all, be-all on vehicle tactics; we just hit the wave tops to get you started in developing your skills.

For my law enforcement officers, consider how nighttime vehicle stops and affect your ability to engage a threat. Seek out additional training and and always demand the “why” behind techniques — many tactics circulating on social media are just for entertainment.

If your agency or unit is looking for training, reach out to us at warhogg.com

Don't forget to check out our other blogs on vehicle tactics

https://www.warhogg.com/post/shooting-from-inside-a-vehicle-a-vehicle-counter-ambush-technique

https://www.warhogg.com/post/exiting-a-vehicle-solo

https://www.warhogg.com/post/holster-placement-inside-a-vehicle

Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more training videos at https://www.youtube.com/c/WarHOGGTacticalInc

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Rick Hogg is the owner of War HOGG Tactical, Inc. and is a 29 year US Army Special Operation Combat Veteran and SOF K9 handler that has taken his 13 combat deployment, both Iraq and Afghanistan, and teaching experience as a Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat (SFAUC) instructor and harnessed them into a proven training methodology service company, War HOGG Tactical, Inc.

North Carolina based War HOGG Tactical, offers professional comprehensive mobile firearms training, tactical training and K9 training to civilians, military and law enforcement agencies through combat proven techniques and experience to improve students skill ability.

War HOGG Tactical conducts firearms training and tactical training in states like North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Tennessee and more.

War HOGG also conducts product development and product field testing along with a variety of consulting services in the defense and firearms industry.

War HOGG Tactical also offers free law enforcement firearms training via Project Officer Survival with our industry partners support. If you are interested in hosting a free law enforcement training course send us an email for more info.

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