After a conversation with a retired LEO turned firearm instructor a couple of months ago (you can see the thread on standards in the training forum for more on that), I decided to turn back the clock a little bit and read some of the writings of the older shooters who were also writers and thinkers.

I started with the stuff from Fairbairn and Applegate. I read "A Rifleman went to War" by McBride. Then moved to Bill Jordan, Elmer Keith and Col. Cooper's stuff. "Unrepentant Sinner" by Col. Askins was... disturbing in some ways. Jim Cirillo's books were interesting. Particularly the things he put emphasis on when selecting men for the stake out unit.

It's particularly interesting to me to look at the evolution of emphasis from the things men like Applegate focused on as important to the things people like Paul Howe or Pat McNamara. Some things have changed a good deal (like the use of sighted fire), some haven't.

If you geek out on training methodologies and gunfighting philosophy, I think knowing where things came from is important. Particularly when at a time when some things are presented as gospel by folks who've never actually walked the walk.