Recently I was sitting down with a friend over some coffee, we were feverishly discussing the upcoming MDPL season. When the topic of multiple threat targets and the use of Tactical Sequence vs. Tack Priority cam up. My friend went on to explain his theories and put forth the classic Mozambique style of target engagement. This from what I understand is engaging each threat target with two quick torso hits and a final head shot.

He explained his point as “what if” your adversary is sporting soft body armor, and that each threat target must be engaged in such a style to ensure they are neutralized. Now the Mozambique method is sound when your involved in a single “failure to stop” scenario, but to engage multiple threat targets in that manner may not be practical.

First of all, we need to define exactly what the term multiple targets means. Most will respond by saying, “Oh, sure. That’s when I have a number of armed adversaries out there confronting me….” But there’s more to it than that. Yes, of course, there are a number of targets involved; but the true definition of multiple target situations must also include”…and all of them can engage me simultaneously’

Just having more than one adversary doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in a multiple target situation. If they’re in a linear array: that is, strung out longitudinally from close in to farther away, only rarely is that actually a multiple target scenario. Why? Because with a step or two left or right, you can nearly always confuse their line of fire, thus preventing them from engaging you simultaneously. That makes it a series of single target confrontations, thus the use of “Tactical Priority” engaging near to far with two shots or using the Mozambique method is via able.

However, if they’re in some form of lateral array, they can indeed all get a clear shot at you at the same time. This, in actual fact, is the classic multiple target situations we all dread, but unfortunately, it occurs relatively often these days. When it does, time becomes ultra-critical, since all of our adversaries can take action against us at the same time, we can only respond to them one-at-a-time. Thus, the traditional competitive idea of always firing two or three shots at each target becomes invalid. Simple logic shows that even the fastest, most accurate shooter cannot place two hits on each of a series of targets as quickly as he can place one. So we engage all targets with one round each, before engaging again, hence “Tactical Sequence “ It’s best to get a solid hit on everybody; then see what happens next!

Jamie