WHAT IS THE AUFIRE SYSTEM?
The Accuracy Under Fire (AUFIRE) system was developed by Tim Pearce, a 17-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, in order to provide a uniquely intense and realistic gunfight training tool designed to improve one’s return-fire accuracy after being hit by gunfire in dynamic force-on-force scenarios.
The idea for AUFIRE was initially conceived in 2006, when Tim's wife, Kristina Ripatti, also an LAPD officer working the gang unit in South Los Angeles, was shot and paralyzed from the breast line down while in a fight with an armed robbery suspect. During Kristina’s recovery, Tim used an Electrical Muscle Stimulation (TENS/EMS) unit on Kristina's legs for physical therapy, which helped create strong involuntary muscular contractions used to fight off muscle atrophy.
While using the EMS unit to help Kristina, Tim realized that targeted, intense involuntary muscle contractions could have an effect similar to being shot. The sensation is immediate, completely immobilizing, and extremely distracting. This realization led to Tim’s idea for creating a shooting simulator by modifying the TENS/EMS units and making them remote-controlled, thus turning them into gunshot wound (GSW) simulators for police and military training.
AUFIRE now works in conjunction with a remote control unit, which is held and operated by a trainer. The system has the capability to target and completely incapacitate or lock down specific parts of a trainee’s body, such as an inner or outer forearm, a bicep, the abdominals, or the upper or lower leg muscles. The instructor can target just one muscle or any combination of the muscle groups at the same time.
The AUFIRE system forces trainees to adapt and take action in order to overcome the intense discomfort, distraction, and limb immobilization of a simulated gunshot wound. Trainees are compelled to make difficult decisions in their scenarios, learning to prioritize and focus on their gun sights as they engage and attempt to neutralize the threats while under the extreme duress of the simulated gunshot wound to their bodies. After the threat is down, trainees can practice self-care by applying tourniquets under duress, while simultaneously keeping their heads on a swivel and ready for potential new threats.
As long as the instructor depresses the corresponding remote control button, the trainee’s limb will continue to be incapacitated. As soon as the instructor releases the button, the trainee will regain full control and normal function of his limbs.
ADAPT or DIE: Accuracy is always crucial in a gunfight, but it is at least twice as important after you’ve been hit. Successfully training with AUFIRE will help eliminate the question mark in a person's mind about how they will react when they have been hit by gunfire. It will provide confidence in both performance and return fire accuracy in the worst case scenarios.
KNOW vs. HOPE: Current gunfight simulation training requires participants to react the way they believe (hope) they will behave when hit with gunfire. Unfortunately, this training method is inconsistent, unrealistic, and potentially dangerous. If participants are unable to train in a manner reflective of real world scenarios, they run the risk of being caught off-guard and unprepared in a worst-case scenario. AUFIRE takes away the guesswork and uncovers real participant reactions to having one or more of their body parts incapacitated as the result of being hit by simulated gunfire. It gives trainees a critical missing piece of mental training under extreme duress.
Challenges: Premier police and military segments such as SWAT and the Navy SEALS currently utilize archaic gunfight simulation training that is unrealistic in that trainees do not experience the discomfort, distraction, and complete, random, instantaneous immobilization of a part or parts of the body during a gunfight.
Current less-effective training techniques:
While the above are currently the best training options on the market, none of these options gives trainees the instant and random immobilization of a body part associated with the gunfire, nor do they prepare trainees for the mental challenges associated with engaging in a gunfight while wounded, forcing them to adapt, problem-solve, overcome, and focus to effectively neutralize the threat. Accordingly, trainees may enter real-world scenarios ill-prepared for the realities of engaging in a gunfight with actual gunshot wounds or other injuries.
Solution: AUFIRE completely controls the body part or parts, giving trainees no choice in the way their bodies behave, and forcing them to think quickly while under duress in order to adapt and overcome. Repeated users of AUFIRE have reported that they are better prepared to physically overcome an injury, mentally fight through it, and focus and hit their target. AUFIRE’s positive feedback loop translates to a fast learning curve and increased muscle memory, which gives trainees valuable and unparalleled confidence. They know that they can persevere in real-life scenarios despite physical obstacles because they have already endured extreme and similar situations with AUFIRE during training and successfully eliminated the threat.
Currently, the AUFIRE system consists of the following five primary components, but it can be modified and expanded to accommodate multiple persons. One remote can control 9 receivers, so an instructor can choose to “shoot” one of 9 persons, such as one member of an entry team in search warrant training.
1. The transmitter (a handheld remote-control unit)
2. The receiver (integrated within the EMS units)
3. The sleeves (with EMS fabric contact pads)
4. The cables (run from the receiver to the sleeves)
5. The harness (like a backpack, it holds the receiver unit on the trainee)
Usage Scenario Examples:
The possible combat training scenarios for AUFIRE are endless, and AUFIRE can be used anywhere, either indoors or outdoors. The signals can reach as far as line of sight. One usage example would be a building search for an armed suspect. As the trainee makes entry into the building, the suspect approaches and engages the trainee in simulated gunfire, at which point, the instructor remotely triggers the AUFIRE, which initiates a strong muscle contraction on the forearm of the trainee’s gun hand. This action causes the trainee to involuntarily open his hand and drop his weapon. The trainee’s forearm muscles will remain tightly contracted and immobilized until the instructor releases the button. As the suspect advances and continues to fire, the trainee is forced to quickly utilize the opposite, weaker hand, to either recover the weapon or transition to his backup weapon and accurately return fire in order to neutralize the suspect’s attack and save his own life.
The Accuracy Under Fire (AUFIRE) system was developed by Tim Pearce, a 17-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, in order to provide a uniquely intense and realistic gunfight training tool designed to improve one’s return-fire accuracy after being hit by gunfire in dynamic force-on-force scenarios.
The idea for AUFIRE was initially conceived in 2006, when Tim's wife, Kristina Ripatti, also an LAPD officer working the gang unit in South Los Angeles, was shot and paralyzed from the breast line down while in a fight with an armed robbery suspect. During Kristina’s recovery, Tim used an Electrical Muscle Stimulation (TENS/EMS) unit on Kristina's legs for physical therapy, which helped create strong involuntary muscular contractions used to fight off muscle atrophy.
While using the EMS unit to help Kristina, Tim realized that targeted, intense involuntary muscle contractions could have an effect similar to being shot. The sensation is immediate, completely immobilizing, and extremely distracting. This realization led to Tim’s idea for creating a shooting simulator by modifying the TENS/EMS units and making them remote-controlled, thus turning them into gunshot wound (GSW) simulators for police and military training.
AUFIRE now works in conjunction with a remote control unit, which is held and operated by a trainer. The system has the capability to target and completely incapacitate or lock down specific parts of a trainee’s body, such as an inner or outer forearm, a bicep, the abdominals, or the upper or lower leg muscles. The instructor can target just one muscle or any combination of the muscle groups at the same time.
The AUFIRE system forces trainees to adapt and take action in order to overcome the intense discomfort, distraction, and limb immobilization of a simulated gunshot wound. Trainees are compelled to make difficult decisions in their scenarios, learning to prioritize and focus on their gun sights as they engage and attempt to neutralize the threats while under the extreme duress of the simulated gunshot wound to their bodies. After the threat is down, trainees can practice self-care by applying tourniquets under duress, while simultaneously keeping their heads on a swivel and ready for potential new threats.
As long as the instructor depresses the corresponding remote control button, the trainee’s limb will continue to be incapacitated. As soon as the instructor releases the button, the trainee will regain full control and normal function of his limbs.
ADAPT or DIE: Accuracy is always crucial in a gunfight, but it is at least twice as important after you’ve been hit. Successfully training with AUFIRE will help eliminate the question mark in a person's mind about how they will react when they have been hit by gunfire. It will provide confidence in both performance and return fire accuracy in the worst case scenarios.
KNOW vs. HOPE: Current gunfight simulation training requires participants to react the way they believe (hope) they will behave when hit with gunfire. Unfortunately, this training method is inconsistent, unrealistic, and potentially dangerous. If participants are unable to train in a manner reflective of real world scenarios, they run the risk of being caught off-guard and unprepared in a worst-case scenario. AUFIRE takes away the guesswork and uncovers real participant reactions to having one or more of their body parts incapacitated as the result of being hit by simulated gunfire. It gives trainees a critical missing piece of mental training under extreme duress.
Challenges: Premier police and military segments such as SWAT and the Navy SEALS currently utilize archaic gunfight simulation training that is unrealistic in that trainees do not experience the discomfort, distraction, and complete, random, instantaneous immobilization of a part or parts of the body during a gunfight.
Current less-effective training techniques:
- Tying a trainee’s hand behind his back or taping a gloved fist together to simulate incapacitating a limb and forcing the trainee to adapt to the limitation.
- Using a static shock vest, which applies a localized static shock to a small section of the torso, providing discomfort but failing to immobilize or partially disable the user.
- Utilizing a video simulator, which shoots ping pong balls at trainees to simulate gunfire, teaching users to seek cover but delivering no painful consequences should they get hit.
- Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) gear, which uses lasers and a light beacon to visually simulate being hit by gunfire.
- Simunition (non-lethal training ammunition) and paintballs, both of which give visual cues as to shooting simulations, but little else.
While the above are currently the best training options on the market, none of these options gives trainees the instant and random immobilization of a body part associated with the gunfire, nor do they prepare trainees for the mental challenges associated with engaging in a gunfight while wounded, forcing them to adapt, problem-solve, overcome, and focus to effectively neutralize the threat. Accordingly, trainees may enter real-world scenarios ill-prepared for the realities of engaging in a gunfight with actual gunshot wounds or other injuries.
Solution: AUFIRE completely controls the body part or parts, giving trainees no choice in the way their bodies behave, and forcing them to think quickly while under duress in order to adapt and overcome. Repeated users of AUFIRE have reported that they are better prepared to physically overcome an injury, mentally fight through it, and focus and hit their target. AUFIRE’s positive feedback loop translates to a fast learning curve and increased muscle memory, which gives trainees valuable and unparalleled confidence. They know that they can persevere in real-life scenarios despite physical obstacles because they have already endured extreme and similar situations with AUFIRE during training and successfully eliminated the threat.
Currently, the AUFIRE system consists of the following five primary components, but it can be modified and expanded to accommodate multiple persons. One remote can control 9 receivers, so an instructor can choose to “shoot” one of 9 persons, such as one member of an entry team in search warrant training.
1. The transmitter (a handheld remote-control unit)
2. The receiver (integrated within the EMS units)
3. The sleeves (with EMS fabric contact pads)
4. The cables (run from the receiver to the sleeves)
5. The harness (like a backpack, it holds the receiver unit on the trainee)
Usage Scenario Examples:
The possible combat training scenarios for AUFIRE are endless, and AUFIRE can be used anywhere, either indoors or outdoors. The signals can reach as far as line of sight. One usage example would be a building search for an armed suspect. As the trainee makes entry into the building, the suspect approaches and engages the trainee in simulated gunfire, at which point, the instructor remotely triggers the AUFIRE, which initiates a strong muscle contraction on the forearm of the trainee’s gun hand. This action causes the trainee to involuntarily open his hand and drop his weapon. The trainee’s forearm muscles will remain tightly contracted and immobilized until the instructor releases the button. As the suspect advances and continues to fire, the trainee is forced to quickly utilize the opposite, weaker hand, to either recover the weapon or transition to his backup weapon and accurately return fire in order to neutralize the suspect’s attack and save his own life.