As you start to open the door, pull your weapon back toward your chest in either a close-contact position (if using a pistol) or an underarm assault position (if using a long gun). This will do two very important things: it will prevent you from covering your support hand as you operate the doorknob, and it will allow you to shoot any aggressor who decides to burst through the door as you open it, without allowing him access to your weapon.
As the door begins to open, take a step back away from it to provide better visibility, prevent weapon retention problems, and give you room to fight. This simple step saved me a particularly nasty time one night with an overfed pit bull that was doing guard duty for a drug dealer. Toss the door open as far as it will go without necessarily slamming it. If the door opens outward, you will be able to control it and move it farther as you begin your angular search. If it opens inward, and it did not move as far as you wanted it to, you must use the door crack to gain further visibility. As you reach the other side, you may use the support hand to open the door further before committing yourself to entering.
Conduct an angular search of the room within. Remember, try to see as much as possible from the outside, before being committed to entering.
The actual entry is identical in concept to that for the T-intersection. As you commit yourself, check your six o'clock with a quick glance.
If you do not see a threat, continue in and dominate the room.
If the architectural layout prevents you from standing next to the doorknob, you must compromise and deal with the door from the other side. Such situations may occur when doors are placed into a corner or at the end of a long hallway. If the door is spring hinged, you must manage it as best you can without sacrificing your shooting position. The best way to do this is to open the door in the usual manner, and then use your shoulders, hips, or feet to hold it in position while you move.
Before entering, try to obtain as much visual intelligence about the room as you can through an angular search. The angular search (sometimes referred to as "slicing the pie") involves moving incrementally in a half-circle, clearing the room a sliver at a time and a step at a time from the outside. Use the nearer door post as a pivot point from which to conduct the search. Don't forget to scan along a vertical axis, not a horizontal axis. As you look into the room, move your visual field forward and back, altering the axis slightly each time until you are satisfied with what you've seen.
The instant of entry viewed from within. The actual check to the rear takes only a tenth of a second, and you are…
… instantly back to the original direction.
Be careful not to linger in the midpoint of the opening of the door. This is the proverbial fatal funnel, especially if the room is dark and you are in a lighted hallway. There is no arguing that you must cross this area to complete your search, but do it quickly.
In the end, the entire room may have been cleared except for the extreme angles on either side of the door. In experiments that I've conducted, I noted that an operator can see for about seven feet into this extreme angle from outside the room. Eventually the angle becomes great enough that an adversary may be able to go unseen until after entry is made.
As you quickly enter through the doorway, check these extreme angles first. Remember, you can't look in two directions at once (nobody said it was easy!). If you have a partner with you, you cut your risk in half, but that is for another chapter.
The main problem is that you simply do not know which side the adversary is hiding behind, to the right or left. This being the case, you must conduct a tactical coin toss. This is handled in the same manner as the hallway intersection. Remember that you are the one initiating the action. Someone hiding behind the wall in the extreme angle will be forced to react to you, thus he will be behind the reaction curve already.
There are really only three possibilities to this scenario: there is an adversary to the right angle, there is an adversary to the left angle, or there are two adversaries on opposite angles.
If there is a hostile to the left angle, you will see him as you glance to the left. Still within the adversary's reaction time envelope, you step forward with your strong-side foot and pass through the doorway, escaping the area your adversary is most likely to shoot at (the fatal funnel). Now, drop down into a kneeling position as you pivot toward the threat. This will move you out of his line of fire (in hopes of causing him to miss) and allow you to shoot upward into him.
If there is a hostile to the right, you can engage him as you clear the doorway threshold. The glance takes less than one tenth of a second. This is well within his reaction time envelope, even if he's ready for you. He who moves first wins.
If you encounter a threat, front sight-press! Repeat as necessary and on the move.
If you encounter a threat to the rear during your quick glance, pivot and drop. Again, front sight-press!
If there arc two hostiles on opposite sides, there is no arguing that the odds are against you. You can still make it. Mobility and decisiveness are your assets. As you complete the glance (hostile left), continue your diagonal rush to the right. You will see the hostile on the right and engage him immediately. Continuing your "conditioned reaction," you pivot toward your support side and drop into an unsupported kneeling position. Shoot the hostile on the left. Tight spot? Damn right it is!
After you've moved through the doorway, you must slow down. Sweep the room again to be sure you didn't miss anything. You may not have been able to visually clear the entire room. There may be pieces of furniture or other things that you could not see around and which may conceal a hostile. You must physically clear them before leaving the room. Do not dismiss the room as "clear" until you've seen all four walls as well as the ceiling and floor and are certain no one is hiding there.
When you go through a door be aware of the danger areas and the extreme angles where you cannot see without committing yourself. When it comes time to enter, do so quickly and without hesitation. These tactics will help manage the danger and, with luck, they'll open many doors for you.
Once inside (if you have not made contact with any threats), turn immediately to the direction opposite your direction of entry and sweep the room for any other potential threats.
Tactics students maneuver through training obstacles with the help of instructors.
The following diagrams illustrate the proper way to search doors.
After opening the doorway, conduct an angular search of the room from outside.
Deal with the doorway as if it were a narrowT-intersection.
FIVE
BUILDING SEARCHES:
STAIRS
I intend togo in harm's way.