Paintall CQB Tactics, Part 7 - CQB Week

In Part 6 of this Paintball CQB Tactics series, I explained the considerations and tactics involved in a Dynamic Entry ("Room-Clearing") operation. Now in this final installment, I'm going to showcase some video clips of real-life fighting forces training for Dynamic Entry. (If you haven't had a chance to read the theory portion yet, please take the time to read Part 6 so that you have a better understanding of what you're watching).

(If you have trouble viewing the videos in the proper aspect ratio due to Blogger's formatting, simply double-click a video to watch it in an independent YouTube window)

For starters, here's an old video clip from the documentary program FRONTLINE about US Navy SEALs training for CQB. (Note the SEAL lazing/muzzling his teammate's head with a loaded MP5 at 3:00 during a Dynamic Entry exercise, and the crap he takes from his instructor after. It just goes to show that even elite soldiers sometimes make this mistake).



Next, watch some Iraq-bound US Army reservists training for Dynamic Entry at OPSGEAR's Urban Warfare Center. Note with a 5-man team, the #5 man can turn around and cover the door to protect the assault team's rear flank. There's a lot of great tips in these videos. (Notice the instructor advising the female soldier to hold her weapon up at 1:59).





And finally, watch infantry from our very own Canadian Forces conduct Dynamic Entry training using 2-man and 4-man breaching teams. They demonstrate how to deal with barricades in a room, and you'll also see an example of Popping (described in Part 5) at 4:20.



There's plenty of great information in these videos and in this series on how to conduct CQB operations and Dynamic Entry. Even then, none of it is any good unless you get out there and PRACTICE it. Take a few afternoons with your team and hit the village section of your local field, deliberately applying the principles of paintball CQB tactics until you've mastered what you've learned.

And speaking of mastery, keep in mind that I've just laid out the BASICS of CQB, and it still took a full 8 articles to cover! Close-quarters tactics are such a fine art that even professional soldiers and police with years of experience still learn new things all the time. No matter your experience level, CQB is ALWAYS complicated and dangerous...but you can make it LESS complicated and LESS dangerous by knowing what you're doing.

In future articles on Grey Ops, I'll go further into team CQB tactics and formations, and more advanced tactics.

I hope you enjoyed this series, and the Grey Ops May Theme Month in general. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future themes, take a minute and drop Connor a line!