TDI in Ohio

[LordTio3]

Hey ladies and men, I've been away for a while but am returning with a vengeance. I have made the decision to pursue a career in law enforcement with the Indianapolis Metro Police Department. I discussed this at length with my wife and family and have their full support. From some of them, I've received an overwhelming amount of support, which brings me here.

I have an Uncle who is by far the coolest man I know. He carries an xD40 every day as an armed citizen, and has had the opportunity to get a significant amount of professional training; which he highly advocates. So much so, that when he first heard about my decision, he told me that his gift to me this year would be to treat me to a 3-day training weekend at the Tactical Defense Institute in Ohio, in order to give me a leg up on the other guys (good and bad). Seminars, force on force, kill houses, defense scenarios, and a TON of shooting. Apparently we're going to work from the holster, like, a LOT; and our training group is advised to bring 1800 rounds of ammunition for 3 days. What a gift, right?

My question is, does anyone have any experienc with TDI, the CEO John Benner, or have any information, multi-day training tid bits, or law enforcement career pursuit advice? This is pretty general and any general advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

~LT

 

[David Rose]

TDI Ohio is an excellent school. Based on my experience there I’ll give you my opinion of how to get the most out of the experience.

Start handling your gun a lot before you go. I’m not suggesting you practice what you think they will teach. I’m suggesting you acclimate your hands to the wear and tear they will receive. Get a high grip on the gun and hold it for long periods of time. Press the mag release repeatedly until you can’t anymore, let your hand recover and do it again. Bring gloves for the malfunction clearance section. You don’t want damage to your hands to hold you back.

Bring a voice recorder and record the entire class (a rubber band is a great way to carry a recorder attached to you hearing protection). This doesn’t take the place of taking notes. It is a way of returning to your training whenever you want. They will give you way too much information to catch the first time through.

They will let you shoot more or less if you want. Shoot more. I could never understand the people who preferred to shoot the minimum and then go sit down in the shade. Get as many quality repetitions as you can under professional supervision.

Practice the skills you learn after the class. Dry fire is your friend. You will not own these skills until you have put in thousands of quality repetitions. Even then they will need regular maintenance.

Good Luck

 

[sloughfoot]

Great advice from David Rose. I have nothing to add. Wow.

 

[Jackson]

I have trained at TDI and I would definitely recommend them. I have not taken their 3 day pistol (I am assuming you mean the Level I-III courses in the 3 day format). The course I took was Partner Tactics. I was able to satisfy the prerequesites based on prior training.

My experience was very positive. The instructors are enthusiastic, easy to work with, open minded, and get along well with the students. You will get plenty of individual attention when necessary, which I think is a good thing. The facility is large and has about everything you could want in a range/teaching facility. Because I did not go through their earlier pistol courses, I cannot speak to every method and technique they teach in the pistol course. I did notice that they seem to teach a thought-out and cohesive set of skills and methods. They explain their reasoning for each, and are open to students utilizing techiques that work for them. (Note: It's best to use everything an instructor teaches you through the duration of a course. Give it a fair shake. That's what you're paying for.) Some techniques and teaching methods are unique to them. You may also find some criticism here and there about some of their methods. I did not find anything to be unsafe or any techniques to be impractical or not in-line with my prior training experience.

When I attended, there were several students there who train frequently with TDI and had taken several classes. Some of them had trained exclusively with TDI. They were all proficient, safe, and knowledgable. I believe this is a strong indicator of skill in the instructors.

In addition to the above notes on the instruction, the course content also seems very comprehensive and somewhat unique. There are very few other places where you can go for a 3 day pistol course that will include live fire shoot houses, an intro to room clearing, and possibly some force on force scenario based training that caps off the room clearing skills. They provide an interesting mix of skills in their courses. Most of the instructors come from a SWAT background and have a high degree of competency in these areas. It's a great place to go if these are among your areas of interest.

Hope this helps.

 

[NIFT]

I hosted TDI's Extreme Close Quarters (ECQ) course in Fort Wayne this spring, and it was truly excellent. Had dinners and breakfasts with John Benner and can't say enough good about him (perhaps, that was influenced by the TDI "tacti-cool" vest he gave me.)

There were 22 paid students, which is a full class, and four TDI instructors, including John Benner. We didn't shoot as much ammunition as other TDI classes require because we did a lot of work on empty hand and edged weapons.

To the above posts I would add: take at least one additional "spare" gun as insurance against unexpected failures. TDI does have guns students can use at no charge, but I suggest taking your own.

Great training, great group of folks, not too far away, and relatively inexpensive compared to other such operations (Gunsite, Thunder Ranch, etc.)

 

[TheDude]

Do they offer long gun classes and has anyone taken one of these? Id like to look into one of these as well as a pistol course.

 

[NIFT]

Do they offer long gun classes and has anyone taken one of these? Id like to look into one of these as well as a pistol course.

Here:
Course Descriptions -- Tactical Defense Institute