Pistol Training, Hogan's Alley and Target Identification

Do you remember Hogan's Alley?

You dropped in your quarter, and used a light gun shaped like a Colt Python or Diamondback to "Shoot" at bad guys while NOT shooting the goodguys or civilians.

One of the badguys is on the left, and that timer up top is how many seconds you had to determine which is your target and to shoot it before the turned and you lost that "Round"

Some of the "Rounds" were street scenes, where you had to identify your target and get your shot off before you ran out of time.

Your time varied as you got further along.  You might have 5 seconds, you might have as little as 1.0 seconds.

If you shot the wrong target or you missed, Game Over.



Believe it or not, many police and security officers were REQUIRED to play Hogan's Alley.

The break room at the Housing Authority I used to work for actually had a Hogan's Alley Arcade cabinet game that we could play for free during our breaks or lunch.

And believe it or not, if your initials were in the top 10 on the game, you got a bonus in your paycheck.

Well, I got that bonus almost EVERY Payday.

We had several police officers from the St. Ann Missouri Police Department who worked secondary at the Housing Authority, and they usually had most of the top spots.  I usually placed as high as Number 6 or 7.  I got to the number 2 spot once.

The high scores were Reset every Thursday night at 4:59 pm.  Thursday was the end of our pay period, so if your initials were in the Top 10, you got a bonus in your check next Friday.  An extra $25.00 a week back then was a tank of gas or dinner at Denny's with your girlfriend/spouse/significant other.

Some people may say that it was stupid, but we NEVER had an innocent get shot by anyone who worked that complex.

What is the point, you may be asking.

Simple, and it's something many "Tactical" instructors are NOT usually teaching.

"Target Identification"

Hogan's Alley taught us how to identify a valid target quickly and under some stress of the timer.  When you have 1 second to identify your target, aim and shoot at your target before it turns, and sometimes the game would roll out 2 Valid targets with one non-valid target, sometimes it would roll out 3 non-valid targets, and there were some times when all 3 of your targets were valid.  And you had to hit them ALL.  1.0 seconds to hit 3 badguys.  Or you would have 1.0 seconds to NOT hit any goodguys.

I cannot tell you how many times guys would get 3 goodguys and shoot one.  The stress from the timer really gets you going.  But the training benefit of it, made for some VERY discerning officers.

And NO shot civilians.

I've seen 3-gun matches where they did have some no-shoot targets.  But I have seen many "Runs" posted to YouTube where ALL the targets were bad guys.

How often in real life does that actually happen?

What kind of training are those people getting?

How to kick in a door and kill EVERYONE?

What if there is a hostage?

Ohhh, that training costs MORE!!!

Right...

Maybe, some of these trainers need to get a Hogan's Alley game and to play for awhile.