Rogers
Shooting School
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June 2002
That is the slogan of Rogers Shooting School, considered by many to be the pinnacle of high speed pistol training. Testament to this is the fact that Rogers does not advertise the way most shooting schools do; there are no billboards or street signs indicating its location in beautiful rural Ellijay, Georgia. If you didn’t know where it was, you would never find it (or notice it from the road as you drove by). Rogers draws most of its students from the military and law enforcement. Some of the most elite units in the world consider an education from Rogers as a necessary qualification for their instructors and/or operators. Although the demand from law enforcement and military customers is more than enough to keep the staff at Rogers busy year round, they do offer a few classes each year open to private citizens. The class I attended was organized by SFC Dave Harrington (also a member of the Beretta Pistol Team) for a special operations instructor cadre. Nine members of that cadre and I were joined by a Canadian law enforcement SWAT operator for a week of what Rogers calls their “Intermediate and Advanced School.” |
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| The..Staff | Rogers Shooting School is under the direction of Bill
Rogers, former FBI Special Agent and world-renowned competition shooter. Bill now
splits his time between designing innovative, patented tactical/duty holster systems for
Safariland and running his school with its innovative, patented reactive target system. Bill gave the initial classroom orientation and taught
the first day of the five-day class. The head instructor for the remainder of the class was Mr. Andy Langley. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Langley was also the second American ever to become a member of the Rhodesian SAS. In addition to his work with Rogers, he also runs an international executive protection training academy based in South America. The third member of the Rogers staff is Rosie Rosel. A retired Navy Chief Gunner's Mate, Rosie currently serves as a deputy with the Gilmer County (Georgia) Sheriff's Department. |
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| The..System | The Rogers Shooting School system is based on human
reaction time. Estimated as 0.25 seconds, every action is broken down into a number
of "reaction times." Shooting a target from an extended ready position
would take two reaction times: one for your mind to react to the threat or go-signal, and
a second to break the shot. A failure drill (two shots to the torso followed by one
to the head) from a retention position would take five reaction times, or 1.25 seconds:
one to react, one to extend out to a shooting position, one to fire the first body shot,
one to fire the second body shot, and one to fire at the head. Another key to the Rogers system is that all times are totally independent of the shooting conditions. In other words, you get the same 1.25 seconds whether you are shooting a target at 5 yards or 20 yards ... and whether you are shooting two handed, strong hand only, or weak hand only. Unlike most schools, Rogers does not start slow and build speed during the course of the week. You start the very first drill at full speed. Either you get your hits in the required time, or you don't. At Rogers, students are taught to use a very aggressive "combat isosceles" stance, arms locked out straight, and a very tight crush grip (what they call a "stabilized frictional wrap-around grip") on the pistol. The ability to shoot with both eyes open is considered a basic fundamental of the system, as well. |
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| The Targets |  At the core of the
Rogers Shooting School is the innovative reactive target system designed by Bill Rogers
two decades ago. Each shooter operates on a lane with seven pneumatic computer
controlled pop-up 8" targets. (see image, right)Target #1 is at approximately 6m distance and rises from behind a large body plate. Target #2 is about 7m away and rises over the shoulder of a "hostage" target. Targets #3 through #5 come out from hidden positions behind a steel barricade wall at 10m. Target #6 rises from behind a short wall at a range of 12m. Target #7 pops up from another body plate at 18m. The computer system determines which targets appear, and how long they are exposed. So for a simple drill (draw and hit two head shots in 2 seconds), the plates would come up as your start signal and you would have two seconds to hit them before they dropped out of view again. When a plate is hit, it falls over so there is never a question as to whether you hit the target or it disappeared back behind cover on its own. Click here to see a video of the target system in action. (approx. four minutes to download at 56k) |
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