War HOGG Vehicle Tactics Part I: Your Vehicle Is Mobility, Cover, and a Plan - Not a Coffin

Rick Hogg
10 hours ago
7 min read

Vehicle tactics start with a plan and disciplined fundamentals—seated marksmanship, barricade work, safe holster placement, and vehicle-based carbine considerations—so you can break contact, create distance, and survive an ambush. — A War HOGG Tactical training session on tactical vehicle-based defensive maneuvers and situational marksmanship, emphasizing distance creation and survival in ambush scenarios.

The World Got Wilder—Your Vehicle Plan Can’t Be “Hope”

We’ve all watched the trendline: more violence in public spaces, more carjackings, mobs swarming vehicles, and ambushes targeting law enforcement officers. The vehicle isn’t just transportation anymore, it’s often the place where the problem starts.

Here’s what I know from decades of real-world experience: survivability goes up when you have a plan and you’ve trained that plan. You don’t want to “figure it out” in the moment the glass breaks or rounds start cracking.

At War HOGG Tactical, we keep the terminology simple. Call it vehicle tactics. Call it vehicle counter ambush. The label matters less than the reality: you need a repeatable response that fits your mission, law-abiding citizen, military, or law enforcement, built through a building-block training methodology.

And let me say the line that makes people uncomfortable because it kills their “cool guy” fantasy:

Don’t bail out of the vehicle unless it’s disabled. Your vehicle’s maneuverability equals survivability. If the vehicle is still mobile and you abandon it, you just traded options for exposure.

Priority One: Marksmanship and Gun Handling in and Around the Vehicle

Vehicle tactics is not a magic trick. It’s fundamentals, under awkward angles, tight spaces, and stress.

That’s why the first training priority is proficiency in marksmanship and safe gun handling in and around a vehicle. For me, that starts with the ability to shoot from a seated position.

This is one reason I like a folding chair at home: it lets you build the mechanics in dry fire before you ever add live rounds. The chair gives you “vehicle-like” constraints, hip angle, limited movement, shooting from a seated position, and a different draw path than standing.

Dry fire first. Slow enough to be safe. Clean enough to be repeatable. Then, once your mechanics are solid, you take it to the range for live fire.

Seated Pistol Work: Fix the Biggest Problem First (Flagging Your Own Leg)

If you’re going to draw while seated, you must prove you can do it without sweeping your leg. That’s not optional. I start with the pistol on my strong side and build the draw carefully so I’m not flagging myself.

Once you can address a threat directly in front of you, you don’t stop there. Real life doesn’t line up perfectly with your hood ornament.

Angle your “seat” to 45 degrees, then 90 degrees, and repeat the same dry-fire reps until the movement path is consistent. Then validate it with live fire.

One reminder that needs to be tattooed on the forehead of every shooter: if you can get to your feet safely, do it. Mobility is life. Seated shooting is a skill you may need, not a posture you should choose when you have better options.

Barricade Work: Build Cover Skills Before You “Need” the Vehicle

The next step in the building-block progression is shooting from a barricade training.

If you have access to a V-TAC barricade, great. If you don’t, use a pickle barrel. If you don’t have that, your folding chair can still serve as a training aid. The point is learning how to work angles and manage exposure, because those same skills translate to using cover around your vehicle.

Vehicles create awkward cover problems: partial visibility, odd heights, and limited angles that force you to think. Barricade reps teach your brain how to solve those problems without freezing.

Holster Placement in the Vehicle: The “Convenient” Choices Will Fail You

Efficiently and safely securing your firearm while you’re in a vehicle is a critical skill—one you should practice instead of assuming.

Here’s my stance: your pistol belongs in a holster while you’re in a vehicle.

People love to stash guns in compartments. That increases access time. Others wedge the pistol between the seat or under the leg because it “feels faster.” The problem is what happens when you need evasive driving: that loose gun can get dislodged and end up on the floorboard right when you need it most.

Now let’s talk about the appendix vs. strong-side debate in the vehicle.

Inside the vehicle, there’s no reason to play concealment games. Expose the pistol for access. I prefer strong side. One of my issues with appendix in the vehicle is simple: the pistol grip can get behind the seatbelt. And if the seatbelt locks up during hard movement, it can pin the pistol under the belt.

This is why we train in context. Your “best carry position” standing in the mirror might not be your best carry position seated, belted, and trying to move.

Carbine in the Vehicle: Decide Now, Not Later

If you plan to carry a carbine in your vehicle, you need answers to two questions right now:

Where is it stowed? And how do you employ it quickly?

For many law enforcement officers, the carbine lives in the trunk. My issue with that setup is simple: what happens if the trunk is damaged and won’t open? If possible, I recommend some type of rack system in the front compartment for faster, more reliable access.

For civilians, the principle is the same: secure the carbine in the best place for access and safety, but don’t leave it visible where someone can spot it and decide your vehicle is now an easy theft target.

And here’s another hard truth: stowing it is only half the battle. The other half is being able to get it out and run it under stress.

“Cruiser Ready” Is Common - And It Still Requires Practice

A lot of patrol carbines are staged “cruiser ready,” meaning the magazine is inserted but there’s no round chambered. Officers need to practice charging the carbine and engaging a target because what “sounds simple” can fall apart fast when stress spikes, especially if you’ve never trained it.

That’s not a shot at anyone. That’s reality. Under pressure, you’ll default to what you’ve rehearsed.

Sling and Stock Management: Little Problems Become Big Problems

Vehicle deployment adds friction points you don’t always see on the square range. One of the biggest is the sling.

How you stow the sling matters. A badly stowed sling can hang up the gun and delay employment. I recommend the stock be fully collapsed for stowage, and you should practice unstowing the sling, getting it around your neck, and extending the stock to the proper length of pull.

Barrel length also matters. Depending on your vehicle and the gun’s length, certain setups are easier, or harder, to employ. The solution is not arguing online. The solution is getting reps with your actual vehicle and your actual equipment.

Vehicle Counter Ambush: Your Objective Is Distance and Escape

You can’t predict every scenario, carjacking, blocked-in parking lot, firearms-initiated ambush on an officer, but having a plan helps you perform when adrenaline is trying to steal your IQ.

Now, I’m going to say this clearly: vehicle tactics are about breaking contact and surviving. If you can drive away, drive away. If you can create space, create space. The vehicle’s primary advantage is mobility.

The article outlines several vehicle-centered response concepts, and the common thread is escaping the danger area using the vehicle’s mass and movement.

Drive Forward

This concept is exactly what it sounds like: when the threat is in front and deadly force is warranted, the goal is to use the vehicle to move forward and get out of the danger area.

Vehicle Rub

This is a vehicle-based escape concept that uses a solid object (another vehicle, wall, etc.) in conjunction with your vehicle to shield you and disrupt the threat long enough to drive away. It’s an extreme measure, and like any extreme measure it demands lawful justification and serious training—because you’re responsible for every outcome you create.

Back Out

If you have space, reverse out of the problem. Options can include creating distance, turning the vehicle around, and leaving. If you’re taking effective fire, the priority is getting low, using available visibility tools like the backup camera, and creating distance—again reinforcing the point: mobility equals survivability.

One more operational reality: if the vehicle takes damage, you might lose access to things stored in certain areas. That’s one of the reasons I don’t love the “everything in the trunk” approach.

And if you do create distance and reach a safer position, then—depending on the situation—bringing your long gun into play becomes a more realistic option.

The Real Threat: Bad Information and “Internet Tactics”

There’s a lot of vehicle tactics content floating around right now, and shooters need to be careful.

If someone can’t explain the “why,” or the technique doesn’t pass the common-sense test, don’t adopt it just because it looks cool on social media. Bad tactics can get you killed.

War HOGG training is built on real-world experience and a building-block methodology because that’s how you create performance you can trust and we will always give you the why we do any technique.

How to Train This Without Getting Stupid

Vehicle tactics is high consequence. So train it like an adult.

Start dry: seated draw mechanics, muzzle discipline, and safe angles.

Then live: slow reps, controlled environment, and coaching when possible.

Then pressure: timer, decision-making, and structured scenarios—only after fundamentals are sound.

And track your reps. If you don’t measure what you’re doing, you’ll repeat the same mistakes and call it “training.”

Vehicle Tactics Bottom Line

Your vehicle can be a mobility advantage, or it can be the place you get stuck with no plan.

Vehicle tactics starts with marksmanship from a seated position, then barricade fundamentals, then realistic decisions about holster placement, carbine staging, and how you’ll actually respond under stress.

Build it the right way. Rehearse it until it’s real. And don’t let social media teach you lessons you should have learned on the range.

Train Hard, Stay Safe, and I’ll see you “On The Range” - Rick

Join our On The Range Podcast Patreon "CREW" for exclusive access, more tactical insights, reviews, and resources to help you be 1% better every day. Stay tuned for future live recordings.