The Combat Triad

It was the early 1980’s. In the law enforcement world, the revolver was king, speed loaders were becoming the new normal and bowling pin shooting was considered innovative training. My first qualification was done with a Smith & Wesson Model 65.

.
Many, many moons have passed since those days and combat shooting has come a long way. One thing that hasn’t changed is that almost everything in the field is continually evolving. But one thing that hasn’t changed is something I learned way back then. It was called the Combat Triad. Other principals have adopted that name, but let’s talk about the one I learned: Accuracy, Power and Speed. All 3 are equally important and all 3 must be present.

.
Accuracy: It doesn’t matter if we have a customized Kimber 1911 and a magazine full of exploding zombie killing rounds if we don’t hit the target. It doesn’t matter how fast we can draw and empty the magazine if we don’t hit the target. A hit from a .22 is better than a miss from a .45. We can’t miss fast enough or with a powerful enough gun to make up for it. Nothing beats trigger time, including the laser that may fail (or you forget to activate under stress), in developing this side of the Combat Triad.

.
Power: While a hit from a .22 is preferable to a miss from a .45, a hit from a substantial caliber is even better. I’m not going to get into a ballistics debate. As a general rule, I look at the .38 special and .380 as the floor, but a lot of people I know won’t go that low. Personally, I’m comfortable with that, but you may not be. Make your own choices, but keep in mind that if we aren’t hitting the target with enough power, our triad may fall apart.

.
Speed: Once again, the most powerful gun and tack-driving accuracy can’t take care of the problem if the gunfight is over before we even have the gun out. I’m not talking about a lot of “quick draw” exercises. That’s nonsense. If you want to be fast, you have to be smooth. If we just try to rush it, it’ll be jerky and we’ll probably slow down because we’re thinking “I’ve gotta be fast”. If our draw motion is well practiced, it will become smooth and automatic. This is the one area we can “cheat” a little bit. Good situational awareness and a fast OODA Loop can give us an advantage in this area. Good tactics and the use of cover and concealment can also help us slow down the opponents loop and give us an advantage.

.
Corollary to Speed: I add this because of our purposes here. A corollary to speed is the ability to stay in the fight with reloading. If I am just out and about, responsible mainly for just myself, I may carry fewer rounds or even a revolver on occasion, but if I’m responsible for others, I tend to carry more. When it’s just me, my main goal will probably be to protect myself and be able to disengage. When I’m responsible for others, my opportunity to disengage may become non-existent. My ability to quickly reload and stay in the fight is more of a factor and something I’d suggest you consider as well.

.
Is this all inclusive? Of course not. There are many other things that can factor in and we can debate them until the end of time. (I know someone wants to tell me that superior shot placement will make up for power) My intention here isn’t to address every possible angle, but to stimulate some thought and try to remind everyone of the importance of Big Three: Accuracy, Power and Speed.

.

(And yes, this can apply to unarmed defense as well)
There’s a comment section below if you have more to add or disagree with me.