Posted on 05/10/2018 7:55:53 AM PDT by w1n1
I have never met Jeff Cooper. I have never taken a class at the Gunsite Academy and I dont claim to know much about the man. I do know that he saved my life, and if you carry a gun for a living, at some point he is going to save yours too.
Jeff Cooper taught us how to think. I spent eight years in Afghanistan, all of it outside the wire embedded in various Afghan communities. During that time I was given the opportunity to design reconstruction projects in the contested provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar, Nimroz and the Hellmand.
We did not take the normal approach used by traditional security contractors. We did not have armored SUVs or heavily reinforced compounds. We moved in local vehicles, wearing local clothes and were responsible for our own security, a position advocated by Cooper repeatedly in his insightful lessons.
Look at photos of Marines or soldiers fighting in Vietnam and compare them with photographs from Afghanistan or Iraq today and you can see for yourself that the way grunts used to handle their weapons is completely different from how they handle them now.
Jeff Cooper single handedly did that, and without fanfare or self promotion. Read the rest of the Jeff Cooper story here.
Great article, thanks for posting.
The top enlisted man in Beirut was in charge of the Marine Detachment on the USS JFK when I was on it before he deployed to Beirut.
He was killed in the bombing. RIP.
I know Cooper was a big advocate of the “scout” rifle. A light, 16” bolt action rifle chambered in 308. It is often touted as the perfect survival rifle. I’ve been looking at them but don’t have any experience with one. Anyone have one and what do you think about it?
“I have never met Jeff Cooper.”
Missed yr. chance. Colonel C has travelled on.
I enjoyed mine, before the boating accident. Light and agile. I liked being able to adjust the length of pull. I did not care for the two power scope. I put a trijicon 3X9 on it.
Heck of a muzzle blast for those standing next to you.
-- Col. Jeff Cooper (1920-2006) |
Used to read his columns religiously when he wrote for Guns and Ammo.
Big proponent of the .45ACP .
Had a drill called El Presidente
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2017/3/24/skills-check-el-presidente-drill/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.