Conducting a Match Debrief / AAR

After a competitive match we will conduct an after action review (AAR) to debrief each other and collect our observations in two major categories of performance: (1) what went well (2) what are the areas of improvement. This discussion helps to refine our focus for how we plan and conduct our regular practice and training as precision marksmen.

Our practice drills and training regimen continues to evolve from year to year, but the overall planning of training drills is guided by what types of stages we typically encounter (or expect to encounter) in matches as well as specific focus areas we know we need to improve on.

Statistical analysis is a valuable tool when assessing our performance in a match. After matches, Steve will ‘crunch the numbers’ to develop an analysis of our individual performance by stage versus the field of competitors. This ‘stacked’ or percentile ranking by stage helps to identify areas of opportunity to improve our match game. When we see a significant disparity between our performance and that of our competitors we start to dig a little deeper employing the “5 Whys” technique to uncover and identify root causes that are impeding better performance.  The root cause of the performance gap may come from a variety of sources. For instance there may be an opportunity for more practice which will helps us to refine our individual and team training plan. In other cases we see an opportunity to be more strategic in the way we approach and develop a tactical game plan for how to engage a particular stage of a match. Additionally, the analysis helps us to validate that the rifle drills we practice are reflected in gradual improvements in our match results.

You can see the use of this technique in our debrief of the 2014 Oregon Tactical Rifle Championship and the NW Precision Steel Series Challenge when we go through an after action review (AAR) or debrief of the match and our results. We’d be happy to share the source materials that we use in our analyses – just give us a shout at guys@65guys.com.