By Tommy Hansen, Member until 2021
In 2015 I went through and passed the POMW course I-III, and as a result of POMW being offered again in 2019, I, as a former POMW participant, was invited to participate in POMW II-III (which was also to function as an OBC and maintenance of my skills as a marksman).
POMW was to take place in September/October, and before then in June/August, shootings were arranged for both instructors and OBC shooters, to refresh our skills.
It also meant that dry training had to be done with an air-gun (training of the shooting process without shots). In the dry training, everything from the safety procedures, breathing, hand grip on the gun, movement and moving the gun from starting position to "alignment" of aiming devices, trigger, rear sight and lowering the gun back to the starting position again - POMW shooting technique.
This training is important to program the body for the routine of shooting. What you don't learn in the dry training is to work with recoil and the blast from the gun. You only learn that by shooting with sharp.
POMW is based on the fact that it is the person behind the weapon (and not the weapon itself) that is the decisive factor. Shooting is arranged so that anyone and everyone can learn to shoot. The important thing is to be present in the moment, trust yourself and continuously follow the process and POMW shooting technique.
POMW II and III each consist of 2 full days (8:00 AM – 6:00 PM) at the shooting range, with POMW II being a familiarization with the pistols (whether it's a .22 caliber or a 9mm pistol ), including the recoil of the pistols and the bang (which is however limited by double ear protection). The difference in shooting .22 and 9mm caliber is huge. Caliber .22 has almost no recoil and only a very limited bang, where the 9mm recoil and bang are very strong in comparison. This is where you learn about recoil control and dealing with your fear of the blast.
POMW III is the practical applied shooting with transition shooting with shooting at multiple targets and different distances. As a former POMW participant and shooter in SDKSkyt, it was a really good experience to be on the shooting range with new shooters as well as former POMW shooters (OBC) as well as the very experienced shooters.
Regarding until 2015, when I myself was a new POMW shooter, I could clearly feel that I had more experience. But in spite of this (and as an OBC participant), I actually discovered that there were details of my shooting process that I hadn't quite had control of until now when I was shooting sharp (but which I had control of during dry training), which I now got adjusted. It was, among other things, firing several shots in a row with trigger control (reset). So even if you have been on POMW (or any other course), you must always be prepared that you can always learn something new during the OBC course and refine your technique.
All in all, it was a great experience to be at POMW OBC, and not least to see the new shooters develop during the course. Furthermore, it was great to be aware that you can always learn more, and to be open to it, even though I have now been to the shooting range many times.
I would also like to thank the instructor team for their tireless efforts to organize and complete the POMW course, to the delight of the participants.
