Shooting a Krebs Speed-load AK in a Mako Defense Combloc Carbine Course.

Go to the AK-47 or tactical rifle section of any gun forum and you will find endless discussions and heated arguments. How much should you spend for an AKM pattern rifle? Is X brand worth the extra money? After all, we all know that a cheap beat up dirty AK found in any fly-infested corner of the third world will run flawlessly no mater how cheap, rough, or rusty, right?

Not so much. AK rifles, like any other mechanical device . . .

Click on The High-End AK Rifle – Modern and Effective to read about our recent experiences with Krebs Custom AK rifles.

Krebs Speed-load AK rifle set up to my preference with IDF-Issue GLR-16CP stock on a recoil-compensating tube, AG-47S IDF Grip, VFR-AK rail system, and TFS side-folding grip to clear magazines during mag changes. The magazines that are carried in the weapon are coupled and taped for a fast initial magazine change.

Go to www.themakogroup.com to download a copy. Check out all the new products!

Through Monday, November 28, Mako is promoting Meprolight combat optics and night sights, aluminum rail systems, and T-POD foregrip bipods, plus two more promotions to be announced Sunday and Monday.

Purchase any Meprolight optic and receive a set of polymer daggers at no extra cost. Purchase any aluminum VFR or NFR rail system for AR-15, or any aluminum rail system for AK, vz.58, Galil, G3/HK91, M240/FN MAG, or Uzi and get a free set of ladder rail covers. Purchase a T-POD and get a fee tub of cleaning/lubricating wipes. All of this is on top of the 30% discount!

Order from www.themakogroup.com

We have decided to offer a free class to law enforcement officers in Alaska:
The Lone Officer and the Active Shooter.

This course is free of charge for all law enforcement personnel, and is restricted to law enforcement personnel only, due to the nature of the information that will be given.

Photo taken by Vergard M. Aas, a Norwegian reporter, on the Island of Utoya. I was struck by the similarity of the terrain to Alaskan islands and beaches, where I spent my time as a child. I hope we never see a scene like this in Alaska.

The course will be instructed by a member and instructor of the elite Israeli Yamam counter-terror and hostage rescue unit. This is the unit that won the last Urban Shield counter-terror competition in San Francisco, setting records for the highest score ever achieved. You may view a biography here:
http://makodefense.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/team-member-highlight-garret/
A more detailed biography is available by request to LE agencies only.

Several law enforcement agencies are already taking advantage of this opportunity. While we hope that the skills taught in this course will never be needed in Alaskan communities, we wish to do our part to help our law enforcement officers have the best possible training for the possibility.

The Lone Officer and the Active Shooter Class will take place on 04 August in the Wasilla area and will be followed by a free 90 minute IDF handcuffing seminar, covering both steel and flex cuffs.

Information about Mako Defense and our other courses may be found on our website at www.makodefense.com.
Please help us spread the word about this unique opportunity for law enforcement personnel.

Law enforcement personnel in Alaska will receive Alaska Police Standards Council training credit for Mako Defense classes.

Mako Defense is the training division of The Mako Group, a registered contractor to the Department of Defense.

Many hikers were amused. Others were amazed. But many of the most exotically dressed hikers were furious. How dare these small children pass them with such ease?! They were conditioned athletes! After all, they had only the best gear! To add insult to injury, the boys were followed by their father and grandfather in common jeans and boots who also passed them and disappeared up the mountain.

When we reached the top, the boys sat on the ground and drank juice and ate cookies. While we sat there, people struggled over the crest of the ridge, panting and sweating. Their first view of the hard-won mountain top was of two tiny children calmly eating animal cookies. I watched their experesions change from the anticipated triumph to astonishment, then disappointment, and finally fury. They felt something had been stolen from them – if a four-year-old boy could accomplish what they thought was so great a challenge, then what did they have left to brag about?

What I noticed on that walk was that the most expensively outfitted hikers we passed also tended to be the least fit. I bet they spent many hours on the internet looking at all the options in hiking gear, carefully comparing advantages and disadvantages, asking questions on hiking forums, and hanging out at REI. No doubt, they had the best gear they could afford, and replaced it every time something just a little better came out. When they stepped off the pavement and into the wilderness, they could have been stepping off the cover of a trekking magazine. They fell for the great American lie – If I look like it, I am it. If I watch the movie, I am the hero, the equipment makes the man.

In the end though, if all that time and money could have been spent training, skiing and hiking, those people may have been a little more fit, a little better at actually hiking, a little less likely to be passed by a couple children on the way up a mountain. Maybe jeans and a t-shirt would have been fine attire if they had what they needed inside.

What does this have to do with firearms and self-defense training? Plenty. So many shooters spend their time and money researching and buying the latest fad, the newest product, the cool-aid flavor of the month. Endless hours are spent on forums and internet research to find that one piece of equipment that will offer that minute advantage that might save the shooters life one day. Only one problem. Equipment will never replace skill. Use what is simple, proven, and reliable, and invest in the best training available. That cool piece of tactical equipment won’t do you a bit of good without the training to use it.

A common response to a recommendation that a shooter should enroll in a training course is, “Well, I could get another gun for the price of a couple courses!” My response is, “Why not learn to use the one you have?” When the time comes that you need to use it, the number of other firearms you have will not be important to you. How well trained you are will be.

Garret was born in Miami, Florida, to American-born parents. Garret grew up in North Miami Beach Florida until he went to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne Pennsylvania. He graduated from Valley Forge in 1998 and then went to a university in Florida. After graduation in 2002 he went to Israel to join the ranks of the Israeli Defense Force.
Garret served as a soldier in the Israeli Defense Force in an undercover unit for several years. Garret was a soldier, medic (Israeli Special Operations soldiers are all also trained as combat medics) and firearms tactics instructor for his army unit. This unit of the IDF specialized in undercover work, urban warfare, targeted assassinations and kidnapping of wanted militants throughout the west bank and Gaza strip. After participating in close to 100 missions with his unit he decided to take an opportunity to go to school on the army’s education program. Garret graduated with a Masters degree in homeland security and counter-terrorism from the Interdisciplinary Center in Hertzlia Israel.

Following his military service he worked as a field bodyguard for the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Unlike traditional bodyguard or executive protection details, Garret was part of a unit that worked exclusively in the West Bank in high risk areas. A typical detail was in small teams using off-road trucks, M4 rifles, pistols and 7.62 armored vests. Recently completing his service to Israel, Garret moved to the United States where he now provides law enforcement and security consultation.