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Jeff Johnsgaard

@jeff_johnsgaard

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Det/Sgt (Ret.), Consultant & Trainer for Agencies, Companies & Private Citizens; Presenter & Lecturer; Expert Witness, Liability & Risk Assessments

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Comment “Link” for a Free article on Game Intelligence & Speed of Assault

Given the ‘Speed of Assault’ or, how fast a person can produce a firearm for example if their hand is already on it and fire with unfortunately good accuracy at close distances - do you really want the person to take their hands out of their pockets?

Especially when they are looking right at you and you are in close proximity.

Perhaps having them “Stop” & “Turn Around”, before asking them to take their hands out?
Or
Closing immediately if you are close to get a hand in them to use touch reaction time (faster than vision and auditory) to your advantage.

I urge you to use the wealth of information on Human Factors to inform your training design and skills.

#policetraining #firearmstraining #swat #lawenforcement taken in Winter Springs, Florida by @jeff_johnsgaard

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6 months ago

Biggest Training Scar - Fail to do proper post-engagement / gunfight behavior, especially under conditions of novelty or pressure.

I teach post-gunfight as a concept with the principles of Cover-Controlled Breathing-Communication-Condition (the “4 Cs Checklist”).

Why is it so badly done in real life?

Because it was not performed under conditions of context. It was simply ‘repeated’, ROTE mechanical repetitions.

This is a “well intentioned bad idea” for training people to perform well in the real world.

Context of the real world is not for “after they learn the basics” it IS the basics and MUST be introduced during skill learning.

For those that care the research is called the “Law of Specificity” or “Representative Design”.

Large amount of research on this in self defense, firearms and many other disciplines.

I am happy to talk about how to do this in firearms, driving, defensive tactics, decision-making, etc.

Thank you to Team One Network for the footage and for the opportunity to present at their annual Instructor Conference. taken in Fredericksburg, Virginia by @jeff_johnsgaard

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a year ago

Learning is often treated like an event, but it is in fact a Process.

This means it occurs over time and is constantly changed and altered, hopefully updated but sometimes it is for the ‘not as optimal’.

80% of learning occurs in the aftermath, during the debrief, whether it is a formal or informal debrief.

When you search for the learnings in an event, you may interpret as a failure. Hopefully you are framing them in a ‘feed forward’ manner.

Threat vs Challenge mindset is established in the research and your heart and attentional systems are more efficient when you view situations of importance as challenges not threats. This is a skill in itself and must be practiced.

Imagery & Mental Rehearsal are key skills to be using deliberately. Top performers are.

Thank you to Team One Network for having me in to speak to their instructors for their annual conference about these and many other important points. taken in Fredericksburg, Virginia by @jeff_johnsgaard

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a year ago

Are you just running reps, or are you actually designing better decision-makers?

A few weeks ago, I spent some time at the Loudoun County Sheriff’s training center attending Jeff Johnsgaard’s “Professional Problem Creator” instructor development course. As an instructor who lives in the Force Science and human performance space, this curriculum perfectly validated and expanded on what we do at Stronghold Dynamic.

The core takeaway? Effective instruction isn’t about just demonstrating physical skills or managing a firing line. It’s about engineering deliberate, evidence-based challenges, incorporating desirable difficulties and effortful retrieval, so students genuinely retain their skills and transfer them to the street.

We aren’t just teaching mechanics; we are building the human capacity to perform under life-threatening stress. Being a “Professional Problem Creator” means purposefully designing training that forces the brain to recognize, adapt, and solve complex problems in real-time.

I’m already integrating these “On Purpose, By Design” frameworks into our upcoming Think Fast. Fight Faster. cohorts to ensure we are pushing our students to their optimal challenge points.

Instructors and serious defenders: How are you building deliberate pressure and problem-solving into your current training blocks? Let me know in the comments. 👇

#StrongholdDynamic #ForceScience #ProfessionalProblemCreator #DefensiveTraining #InstructorDevelopment taken in San Diego, California by @jeff_johnsgaard

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3 months ago

In a use-of-force encounter, the outcome is often decided in seconds. So why do we still train officers as if they have time to think it through?

In this issue of the ILEETA Journal, Det/Sgt Jeff Johnsgaard (Ret.) and founder of Training On Purpose, By Design, introduces the Learning Loop — a practical framework for coaching the perception, sense-making, and decision-making that happens faster than conscious thought. If you want your training to actually transfer to the street, this is the shift you’ve been looking for.

Read the full article in the ILEETA Journal.
🔗 www.ileeta.org/journal/

#ILEETAJournal #TribeOfTrainers #InspireExcellence by @jeff_johnsgaard

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3 months ago

Comment “Link” for Free webinar.

Using the Force Science ‘Traffic Stop Study’ to inform us, we saw 90 out of 93 officers do a very not optimal reaction when presented at real life speed with a threat while at a B-pillar.

Key point - they did not ‘Decide Wrong’.
They enacted the response that traditional police training wired into them. This is the direct fault and result of the training design.

Check out free webinar number 5 of 9 in our series titled, “Wired to Act: Designing Split-Second Officer Responses”.

That webinar describes how to train programmed responses not primal reactions. Also, how traditional law enforcement training such as the “hood drill“ can be done optimally or, in my experience, very not optimally.

#firearmstraining #policetraining #lawenforcement #policetraining # taken in Winter Springs, Florida by @jeff_johnsgaard

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4 months ago

Comment ‘Link’ for Free Webinar
on “Designing Split-Second Officer Responses”

Using the Force Science ‘Traffic Stop Study’, to inform us, we saw 90 out of 93 officers do a very, not optimal response when presented at real life speed with a threat while at a B pillar.

Key point - they did not ‘Decide Wrong’, they enacted the response, traditional police training wired into them. That is the direct fault and result of the training design.

Check out the free webinar (5 of 9 in the series).

Training attentional ‘re-focus’ in the context of a traffic stop. How to ‘wire in’ optimal responses when the speed of assault means no time for OODA Loop and weighing options.
#firearmstraining #policetraining #swat #lawenforcement taken in USA by @jeff_johnsgaard

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4 months ago

Part 2 of 2 is out - Comment “Link” to get access.

Part 2 of 2: Building Decision-Makers, Not Just Shooters

The real win in tactical training isn’t more rounds downrange or faster reloads on a flat range.

It’s Game IQ — the ability to spot critical cues, anticipate how threats evolve, make fast decisions, and act effectively in chaos.

Most training falls short because we condition officers to respond to artificial cues (numbered targets, instructor commands, sterile drills) that don’t exist on the street. We get good at our game… but not the real one.

Representative Design fixes that.
Train the exact cues, contexts, and decisions officers will actually face — evolving threats, pre-assault indicators, when to shoot, when to hold, and how to manage attention under pressure.

Elite performers don’t move faster. They move sooner — because they’ve built a rich mental library of real patterns.

If you train tactical teams or officers, this is the shift that matters.

What training habit have you seen that feels more like a game than real-world prep?

Comment below 👇

#LawEnforcement #OfficerSafety #DecisionMaking #GameIQ #NTOA taken in Florida, USA by @jeff_johnsgaard

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4 months ago

Comment “Link” to view. Free webinar series 4 of 9 is out.

What is ROTE practice?
Is it bad for performance?
How can we get more from out training sessions?

#bettertraining #policetraining #betterlearning #swat #firearmstraining taken in Orlando, Florida - Usa by @jeff_johnsgaard

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5 months ago

Comment ‘Link’ for article & webinar.

Key Question = “What is present in your training environment that is not present on the street? And what is present on the street that is not present in your training environment?”

The sound of a beep as the stimulus to shoot instead of information and a decision that firing your weapon at that moment, at that specific part of a target, is legally, morally, ethically justified. (Not to mention how many rounds to fire or when to stop shooting!)

Or pretending that a blue barrel or a thin piece of plywood with various holes cut in it is “cover”, but it’s not.

Having our learners, especially new learners, “pretend” that a door is not a door, or a person on the inside of a room is actually not there when they are, or one of a dozen other commonly seen things in training that lead to negative transfer of the skills to the street.

A roll of wrapping or shelving paper that is red brick is only six dollars online and can be put on top of some cheap corrugated plastic. That can then cover the door in your shoot house, or your piece of cover on the range. Just as one example to fix this.

#firearmstraining #policetraining #swat #betterlearning #onpurposetraining taken in Orlando, Florida - Usa by @jeff_johnsgaard

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6 months ago

Comment “link“ for a free article written for ILEETA on “Skills & Decision-Making”.

in order to get great skills, emerging on the street we need to ensure that the skill itself is linked to the perceptions and decision-making not just doing the skill.

I like to think of it as a student must, “Know where the skill lives in the real world“, and when they do, that skill can be trained in isolation and sharpened.

Given those small amount of training time, most officers are given, I urge you to consider training skills and decision-making the entire time. Further, we need to add a high amount of variability to ensure our people know how to pivot, adapt, and adjust.

I personally believe experts don’t just know how to do skills well but they know how to adjust an adapt when things are not exactly like they were in training or other situations.

This is something that needs to be trained and is not just the hopeful aftermath of “more reps”.

I have multiple lesson plans that academies, agencies, and SWAT teams don’t even have to to train adaptable, resilient, dexterous problem, solver, who are high-performance at the skill - On Purpose, By Design.

#firearmstraining #policetraining #swat #trainingonpurposebydesign #adaptability taken in Winter Springs, Florida by @jeff_johnsgaard

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6 months ago

Thank you to @florida.swat for allowing me in on their Basic SWAT course at Camp Blanding, FL.

Being around the dedicated and talented FSA instructors from multiple departments helped me continue to show the hands-on application of the research. Constantly improving our students through the sharpening of our instructional design and coaching.

More training time is not the only way to improve our students abilities.

#swat #policetraining #firearmstraining #trainingonpurposebydesign taken in Camp Blanding Joint Training Center by @jeff_johnsgaard

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6 months ago