pmcimagazine.com
4
TRAINING:
PROJECT GECKO CQB LEVEL ONE
Recently PMCI had the opportunity to attend a CQB Level 1 Course run by Project GECKO to find out
what tools we can all add to our “tactical toolbox” to help in a “close up and personal” encounter.
R
ecently PMCI had the opportunity to attend
a CQB Level 1 Course run by Project GECKO
to find out what tools we can all add to our
“tactical toolbox” to help in a “close up and
personal” encounter.
I truly believe that you’ll have had to be
living in a closed, dark room not to have seen the
impact that’s been made over the past couple of
years by the Project GECKO team, and especially
their “main man” Eli; this is a guy that has “been
there and done that” for real, and the videos available online
show him plying his impressive skills across Europe with both
professional and civilian groups.
Using both live fire and airsoft as a training tool Eli has made
it his mission to, amongst other things, instruct us in the dark
and arcane arts of Close Quarter Battle. He and I have worked
together on other articles, but until recently I hadn’t had the
opportunity to witness him in action first hand, so when he told
me he was coming to the UK to deliver his first course here, I
knew I had to be there.
CQB is one of the most dangerous and rapidly changing
environments. Common CQB environments are problematic and
complicated; there are no fixed solutions or procedures and too
many problems. It is short range (under 10m), violent and has
immediate effects which promote or hinder the individual from
being proactive. As a rule CQB is all about finding an immediate
solution to an immediate problem. The Project GECKO system
is based on the Israeli counterinsurgency or COIN doctrine and
Elis’ military experience in the IDF in one of their specialised
units. The focus of the system is to deal and solve a room from
a tactical point of advantage.
Eli does not believe in just running into rooms, or working
in a dogmatic pattern. He believes in the idea that once on
the door you can work more safely and more accurately from
the frame while “solving” the room. This is done with careful
manipulations of angles and a healthy risk assessment “muscle”
that he develops with his students. All in all his system is true
to reality and he will ensure that you will learn more than just
‘’running’’ into rooms looking for your corner.
In his system he focuses on engaging the threat from
an advantage perspective; he wants us to work as safely as
possible while maintaining efficiency. Eli believes in the idea
that most of the problems in the room can be examined and
fixed, if necessary, from the outside of the room or with a
deliberate manipulation of “angles” while sticking to basic
principles. These principles will allow the individual to work
and deal with threats with less risk.
The Project GECKO system fits in principle to most scenarios
or applications of actions (such as stealth, scan, swarm,
dynamic or deliberate clearings) and ensures the individual
has confidence in compliant tactics, which will not hinder the
individual or put him at unnecessary risk. There is one thing
that is critical though, even more than gear and tactics, and
that is the human behind it all. Human behaviour and physics
are what will eventually dictate your decision and your
opponents’ reaction. Human behaviour plays a major role in
individual ability to react, according to previous information or
experience. Some call it fear, Eli calls it default.