If you want an argument, then tell everyone you want to talk about CQB tactics. Years ago, one of my Marine Corps instructors told me tactics are like assholes, everyone likes theirs, but they still stink. While this is true, there have definitely been some consistent trends in close quarters battle (CQB) tactics that have developed over the course of the last two decades of war. This article is going to provide some great videos, and other resources, to demonstrate some best practices for learning CQB tactics. Keep reading for more.
Before I get angry emails, I want to cover a few key points first. I’m not a tactical guru. I’m a weird dude on the internet. My goal for this article is to consolidate a lot of good tactical advice, to facilitate learning CQB tactics. I’m going to present some solid video’s from folks that have much more experience than I do.
These video’s are going to come from several well known instructors. They are special forces guys, as well as Tier 1 Special Mission Unit members. I’ve included videos from guys with Delta Force/ CAG backgrounds, as well as videos from SEAL Team 6, properly known as Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU). You should email them if you’re unhappy with the info!
The Principles of CQB
For years everyone was taught that speed, surprise, and violence of action were all you needed to be successful when conducting close quarters battle. This isn’t correct, or at least it’s insufficient to give us any help when trying to learn CQB tactics.
If you talk to anyone who’s spent a lot of time down range they’ll tell you that most CQB, sometimes called close quarters combat (CQC), is done at a deliberate pace. There are only a few very particular cases where you might go crashing through a structure as fast as you can. They are most often related to hostage rescue. Take a gander at this video from X-Ray Alpha LLC.
I want to emphasize that this is the most dangerous method to clear a house. I also want to emphasize that you really shouldn’t even be using these techniques by yourself. These tactics are designed to work in groups, and in pairs, not alone. A little further down we’ll discuss one man CQB and a few methods you can use, but trust me this is a team sport.
Fundamentals Of CQB
If speed, surprise, and violence of action, aren’t enough, what do we need to keep in mind? The best way to think about learning CQB tactics is to think of it in terms of its fundamental principles, as they relate to your goals. If you’re conducting a hostage rescue, the hostage’s life has priority over yours, and so you will do dangerous things, that would be inappropriate in other contexts.
In general, CQB tactics are a collection of individual skills, applied in a team context, that allow you to move around and through structures safely. Learning CQB is much like learning a language. There are rules, and there are also times when the rules are disregarded. There are also times when tactics can look almost exactly the same, and yet be used for completely different reasons. Let’s go over the basics.
Individual Skills Needed for Learning CQB Tactics
The basic building blocks of CQB are individual skills. These skills must be mastered before you can be trusted to use weapons in close proximity to other people. Here is a list of individual skills for learning CQB.
Individual CQB Skills
- Safe Weapons Handling (NO FLAGGING EVER!)
- Basic Weapons Proficiency (pistol/rifle)
- Threat Determination (shoot/ no shoot)
- Instinctive Malfunction Clearance (pistol/rifle)
- Shooting and Moving (pistol/rifle)
This list could go on and on. These are the basics that everyone should have mastered before learning CQB tactics. If you find that you’re interested in taking a class on this topic, make sure that you can at least qualify with this pistol standard. If you aren’t close to passing the minimum requirements, then save your money, and take a shooting class first.
You’ll be better off, and you won’t waste your money on something you aren’t ready for. Next, we’ll talk about external movement techniques, after all, you can’t clear a building if you got shot outside of it!
External Movement and CQB
I have two good video’s for external movement. As I stated earlier, most of these tactics are team based, but the first one from Jason Falla, (former Australian SAS), and owner of Redback One training company is a good example of individual movement techniques. Take a look.
I want to draw your attention to a few things that Jason demonstrated well. First, he showed us that moving in urban environments requires smart use of cover. He isn’t too close, nor is he too far away from cover. He places himself appropriately to minimize exposure to where his known threats are.
He also shows the importance of being able to shoot bilaterally. He is a competent shooter off of both shoulders This can be a real benefit. I’ve heard very high level guys say that they almost never switch hands, and I’ve heard others say they switch constantly. Personally, I think you need off hand skills, as you can be stuck in dangerous positions without them.
Lastly, Jason minimizes his time in open areas. He doesn’t bother trying to slowly walk with his muzzle up. He covers the distance, and then gets ready to shoot. Sure, there are times when you need to keep your gun up, but the priority is clearing the danger area. Now let’s see how this looks when a team moves in an urban environment.
This video shows some excellent exterior team based movement. You’ll notice that the team prioritizes areas where people are likely to hide. Moreover they are almost always pointing more than one gun at those threat areas. You can also see that while they don’t maintain a huge formation, there is a decent amount of dispersion in the unit. In a military context, this is done to mitigate the danger of grenades. We’ve covered exterior movement, now let’s get into room entries.
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Room Entry Methods
The first rule of safe and effective room entry, is don’t enter the room, especially if they have guns! Joking aside, if you can take care of a problem outside of a room, which gives you more time and space to make a decision, why wouldn’t you?
For most self defense folks, or someone who picks up a gun, because they think an intruder is in their home, moving outside of a room and external clearance is much better suited for their goals. This a good video that demonstrates a few of these door clearance techniques.
Eventually you will have to make entry into the room. You can’t just stay where you are your whole life. Stop yelling at me mom! This begs the question. How should you actually maneuver your firearm when moving in and out of rooms?
After all you can’t just leave it shouldered, or fully presented. It telegraphs your entry, and is hard to move around, in the case of a rifle. If you want to read some interesting research, highlighting experiments on different types of room entries, then check out this article. Here’s a video for some useful techniques.
I’ll say that these techniques require a decent amount of dry fire practice before you can use them correctly. If you recall the Capability Video above, none of those Delta guys moved their rifles this way. This is because they had a larger structure, with bigger doors. However, they still didn’t break their rifles down when they could have. It’s probably useful to know these methods. Realize you don’t have to do them all the time.
Single Man CQB Tactics
I’m not going to go super in depth about this topic. As I stated earlier, this is a tactic of last resort, on something like an active shooter, or any event where someone is being hurt right now. If you want to read some research on single man cqb tactics, then you can read about the topic here.
Two Man CQB Tactics
This is a video from some GBRS group guys. They are former DEVGRU Navy SEALs with many years of experience. This video should be viewed as a two man element moving through uncleared structures. There are several techniques that they use that wouldn’t be done with a larger element. This is a great video for learning cqb tactics.
Often times you can see the rear guy turning to watch their 6 o’clock position. This highlights that you need to pay attention to rear security. We can also see just how challenging it is to watch your point man and your rear.
Before you ask, he’s squeezing his hamstring to let the point man know he’s ready to go into the next room. To be honest, I don’t know why these dudes aren’t doing a shoulder squeeze, and I haven’t seen anything where they explain this tactic. Now let’s continue learning cqb tactics.
Team CQB Tactics
This is the real meat and potatoes of CQB. It’s also the hardest part to master with a group. The best video to see this is the “Capability” video, in the exterior movement section. There are no single man room entries, and most often there are three man entries, with the rear person covering the primary entry team.
While this video is highly scripted and rehearsed, it does show you some very good team CQB, with highly proficient former Delta Operators. It’s also interesting to note that they often breach doors themselves, and are conducting dynamic room clearing.
We aren’t given the scenario for this situation, so it’s hard to say if this speed is appropriate or not. Remember that dynamic clearance is the most dangerous form of clearance. Sure, it can work while you still have the element of suprise, but eventually the bad guys know you’re there, and they will start shooting back! Now, let’s cover a little bit of CQB under night vision.
CQB With Night Vision Devices
This section is more about learning some interesting techniques. I don’t expect that most of you will ever do this. If you’ve ever worn night vision devices, they are not as cool as you might think. It requires a lot of practice to become comfortable with them, and you really only have a 40 degree field of view, unless you’re wearing quads which cost $40k!
I think the important point of this video is that you need to pick weapons techniques that are broadly applicable to all conditions. You can’t have a way of shooting that won’t work at night. You can’t have movement techniques that won’t work under NVDs. Here is another video where a two man element is clearing a house under partial darkness with NVDs.
This video is highly stylized, but it does show some interesting techniques. I can tell you that clearing a structure this size, with only two people, is very dangerous. You can’t cover all the dangerous areas with only two guys, even if those guys have rockin’ beards, and sick tats.
When you see those guys moving their barrels in circles they are using their infra red lasers to get the attention of the other operator. This can communicate that you want him to cover a certain direction, or that you are ready to keep moving. Those kinds of night vision cqb tactics are going to be team specific, not universal.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article helped you learn some CQB tactics. All of these companies and instructors have a long history of teaching and using cqb tactics. Just because you watched some videos doesn’t mean you should go clearing your house if you hear someone break in. Call the police and protect your family, don’t pretend to be a Delta Guy in your underwear. If you have any questions or comments put them in the comments section below. Now get out there and get training!
