I was a founding member of my agency’s SWAT team in the fall of 1980. The concept of Special Weapons and Tactics was in its infancy, so everything was new and exciting. Much of the information we used to formulate our doctrine of tactics and techniques came from military manuals and the personal military experience of the deputies who made the team. We were quite fortunate to have a Vietnam-era Green Beret as an advisor (he was an investigator for the County Prosecutor’s office), and he single-handedly lead us through the formative period.

Shooting while moving toward your adversary only makes you a bigger target. This technique may be best left for entry teams who are trying to achieve a particular objective.

Our first uniforms were one- piece jump suits and baseball caps, while our armament consisted of .38 Special revolvers, Remington 870 shotguns and Ruger Mini-14 .223 carbines. Initial training consisted mostly of shooting and physical fitness, while tactics followed as time went by. Our first shooting house was a door frame with 12 feet of plywood wall on each side built into the corner of an earthen berm. We trained for a year before the team was activated in 1981.

It did not take very long before we realized that our internal knowledge was limited and we needed outside help. The regional FBI SWAT team was a huge resource, as was Bill Groce, the lead firearms and tactics instructor at the fledgling Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy.

As best as I can remember, it was during the mid- to late 1980s when I was first introduced to shooting on the move by John Shaw of the Mid-South Institute of Self-Defense Shooting (MISS) (www.weaponstraining.com). As most everyone reading this knows, John Shaw is one of the finest three-gun shooters in the history of competitive shooting. Being self-taught in the art of weaponcraft, John opened his school on an acre of ground in the early ’80s, training all comers. Today MISS is open only to military and law enforcement units, as all of the available training time is occupied by these teams due to world events.

I can remember watching John shoot demonstrations and wondering how any man gets as good with a firearm as he was at the time. Today I realize that it takes a lot of time and millions of rounds of ammunition. There is no other way to do it, even with natural ability. Much of what is currently taught in the realm of tactical firearms can be directly tied to John and his staff at Mid-South.

My first lesson in shooting while moving was walking toward a single target while triggering shots from my handgun. I was taught to point my toes outward in what was called a “Groucho walk” (reminiscent of comedian Groucho Marx), as this would flex my knees and hips, creating a shock-absorber-like effect to stabilize the firearm. The reason for this technique was obvious: It allowed the SWAT officers to shoot while they were running their route during an entry. Since entry and room-clearing techniques involve aggressive forward movement, the need for stability when shooting while advancing on your opponent was a no-brainer.

I also remember realizing that performing the drill accurately was easier said than done. One FBI instructor told me, “Forget trying to shoot tight groups while shooting on the move. Accuracy while doing this is any hit on the torso, especially when they are shooting back at you.” As I practiced this drill over time, I began to realize that it was a drill for a specific type of law enforcement and military operation, as doing this keeps you on the same eye/target line as your opponent while making your opponent’s target (you) larger. Speed, surprise, aggression and total commitment to the task at hand would be what would keep you from getting shot when working in the tubular/linear environment that is shooting on the move.