NVG CQB with Jon Dufresne, Take Two
- Jon Dufresne
- Dec 19, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 5
I just finished Jon Dufresne’s NVG CQB class in Boulder City, Nevada. This is the second time in two months I’ve done this class. Let me explain. I had planned a big trip to Dilley, Texas, in November 2024 to take Jon’s NVG CQB class, followed by the 2024 Night Operations Summit. I registered and made travel reservations when the Boulder City NVG CQB class popped up. It was too close to home to pass up. I didn’t want to give up my epic trip. Based on my past training with Duffy, I knew he would deliver. CQB rewards repeated examination and lots of reps. So, I decided to attend both NVG CQB classes (this wouldn’t be my first time repeating one of Duffy’s classes).
Gear
This course doesn’t involve live fire. I ran my 16” AR with a UTM bolt that fires non-lethal training rounds. It’s kitted out like my fighting SBR, with a CompM5, an offset RMR, a MAWL IR laser/illuminator, and a Modlite weapon-mounted light.
I brought my GPNVGs, mounted on an OpsCore bump helmet with ear pro and a helmet light. As a backup, I brought my PVS-31As and another helmet set up for them.
This class had the highest concentration of panos I’ve seen. Two other students ran quads. Everyone else used duals. Most students had MAWLs, with a few using other lasers like the DBAL and the NGAL.
Friday
The class was held at an old warehouse-style building at Pro Gun Vegas. I’ve trained here several times: a couple of TNVC classes and a Greenline Tactical NVG Shoothouse course. We met in a classroom on the second floor.
Jon started with introductions. The assistant instructor, Pat, was a police officer and SWAT team member from Florida. Many familiar faces were in the course. In addition to students I’d trained with before, Greenline instructors Don Edwards, Sam Houston, and Jon Jeu were all present.
After safety and medical briefs, Jon discussed the non-lethal UTM rounds we’d use. He covered minimal gear needed for the class and general CQB setups for real-world scenarios.
Jon reviewed CQB principles. He explained the difference between a dynamic approach (like hostage rescue) and the deliberate style we’d emphasize. He also discussed verbal and nonverbal communication.
Next, Jon covered roles in the stack and how to enter a door and clear a room. Video from previous classes provided real-world examples. After discussing “door stuff” and “room stuff,” he went through common situations and techniques for dealing with hallways, L-shaped, T-shaped, and four-way problems.
The warehouse had a medium-sized shoot house inside. We headed over for Jon and Pat to demo the door and room techniques. Splitting into pairs, we practiced. Then, we moved to another part of the warehouse with offices. We practiced handling hallways, L-shaped, T-shaped, and four-way problems in four-man teams.
We went live (with non-lethal UTM rounds) and started running through the shoot house in our four-man teams. Initially, Jon and Pat split the house in half, running one team through their half before swapping. Jon favors longer runs. After initial exercises, Pat took the entire house while Jon set up longer runs in the office area. After getting some longer runs in, we broke for the day.
Saturday
We started with a cold run in the shoot house. Duffy believes performance without warmup shows true skill. We were definitely a bit rusty.
After cold runs, Duffy introduced calls for specific situations in the shoot house. A “plug” call instructs someone to stand in a door or hallway, protecting those behind from a threat. These areas are called “fatal funnels.” This is best done briefly, but sometimes it’s necessary. A “dump” call instructs the team to take a room dynamically rather than deliberately. This can be dangerous, but sometimes it’s the best choice. Finally, a “shot” call is used when you must shoot past a teammate who might move into the line of fire.
We had done enough runs to see most tricks the shoot house had to offer. Pat moved to the second story above the office area to set up for a run while Duffy continued in the office complex. These were our longest and most involved runs yet. The upstairs area has large spaces, while downstairs, Duffy used more offices.
After a couple of runs, we broke out the helmets and NVGs. Duffy discussed helmet setup and focusing NVGs. He talked about “splitting the tube.” This means making better use of your limited field of view by putting the primary focus towards one side of the tube. Instead of staring at the doorframe when preparing to breach, keep it at the edge of your field of view. This allows you to see your teammate opening the door on the other side.
Duffy took us on a short walkabout through the shoot house to get a feel for moving with NVGs. Then, we assaulted the shoot house (which posed new problems in the dark) and the office area for our first runs under NODs. After observing us, Duffy provided feedback on dealing with backlighting when a teammate uses white light and on not retracting behind cover after shooting. Pat discussed deconfliction procedures to help two team elements link up without pointing guns at each other.
Duffy broke up one team, adding members to the other three teams. Then he and Pat set up for our last run of the day, the longest of the class. This run involved more rooms and complex problems, putting our deconfliction skills to use. I was glad to be in the coordinator role, moving between elements to ensure a smooth linkup. I redeemed myself after messing up in a similar position during the last drill of the NVG CQB class in Dilley last year. After the big run, we debriefed and headed out. Many of us drove to a local restaurant for pizza, wings, and great conversation.
Sunday
We were back at it with another cold run, this time in the office area. Today’s cold runs seemed smoother than yesterday’s.
After a couple more runs in the office area, Jon instructed us on handling stairs. This included navigating stairs under NODs and handling threats while ascending and descending.
The building had two sets of stairs: one easy and one hard. Outside the offices in a large warehouse bay, one set was exposed, making it easy to cover threats. The other set was inside the offices, requiring 360° coverage as you popped up.
We practiced dry runs on both sets of stairs before doing runs. With stairs in play, these included both levels in a single run. During one run, a team confronted a target directly above them on the interior staircase. Despite the awkward positioning, they managed to get their hits.
Soon after, Jon reorganized us into two eight-man teams. Either Jon or Pat joined us on each run, giving us nine shooters to tackle problems. Rather than Jon and Duffy setting up runs, the team not hitting the house helped set targets and followed along behind. This minimized downtime and kept the tempo up.
Having that many guys changed the game. With more bodies to tackle complex problems, some things became easier. You could still get stretched thin, but that was rare.
However, too many people could become a problem. Hallways clogged, and too many people in large spaces got in each other’s way. Duffy had to remind us to stay alert and not put more people into the mix than necessary. We didn’t always succeed, but we improved as the runs went on.
As teams gained experience in doing and setting up runs, we incorporated harder problems. On one run, my team set up, and the other team entered through an exterior door into a large open space with many open doors. This proved challenging.
Since we set up for each other, they had a chance to get back at us. Obstacles included furniture blocking doors, requiring initial guys to climb over to enter. Some targets weren’t visible until we passed them, and targets with flashlights created visibility issues. Not all problems were tricky, though. One target in a visible spot nearly went unnoticed by three guys.
As we worked through these runs, I faced issues with my GPNVGs: bright flashes, dimming, etc. In the past, these signs indicated a low battery. I tried new batteries and swapped battery packs, but the issue persisted. Eventually, I switched to my PVS-31As. Going from quads to duals was an adjustment, but it let me “see how the other half lives.” I bumped into a few more things and took longer to process, but it worked.
We alternated teams until almost 7 PM, getting in many runs. After a debrief, we cleaned up, packed our gear, and headed out.
Conclusions
In my write-up of the NVG CQB class back in November, I said it exceeded my high expectations. It was just as good the second time.
However, it wasn’t the same class. Duffy constantly evolves his curriculum, adapting it to the venue and students. Compared to the shoot house in Dilley, this was less sterile, especially in the office areas. There was furniture and junk to navigate, unlike mostly empty rooms. Conversely, the Dilley shoot house was more topologically complex, offering more choices and opportunities for deconfliction. It also had a catwalk, making it easier to observe another team.
The Greenline instructors brought a high level of experience. Very few students were true novices. This allowed Jon and Pat to push things further and faster.
It’s not just the class that’s different. I’m different. I’m getting better at recognizing situations in the shoot house and reacting. I no longer have to think through Duffy’s instructions. It’s more about pattern recognition. For instance, during one run, I saw a teammate disappearing into a room alone. Instead of thinking, “We shouldn’t let anyone go in alone,” I instinctively bolted in after him. Similarly, when the #1 man missed a target, I yelled “shot” as I moved up next to him and fired.
These instincts developed thanks to Duffy’s curriculum design and teaching style. The growth in my skills and everyone’s performance over three days is exceptional.
I also have to give props to Pat for his efforts. He was a great source of knowledge and coaching during runs and set an excellent example as a teammate on day 3.
NVG CQB is a fantastic class. Even if you have no intention of doing CQB with a team, it will give you a level of comfort fighting inside a building that’s second to none. I’d highly recommend it (and anything else Duffy teaches).
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