Ep. 193 - Cognitive Conclave 2026 with John Hearne, Lee Weems & Erick Gelhaus

**This episode we talk about the up coming Cognitive Conclave 2026 with John Hearne, Lee Weems & Erick Gelhaus** **Get Registered: https://twopillarstraining.com/conclave/** Eric sits down with the Rangemaster “Chess Club”—**John Hearne** (Two Pillars Training), **Lee Weems** (First Person Safety), and **Erick Gelhaus** (Cougar Mountain Solutions)—to talk about the missing piece in most firearms training: **thinking with a gun in your hand, which is the focus of the Cognitive Conclave course.** They remember **John Holschen**, then get into why typical range work often looks more like “firing squad training” than real problem-solving. Decisions get stripped out of the drill. Then people are shocked when those skills don’t transfer. **Main points from the conversation:** - John’s “doorbell assignment” analogy — most training tells you exactly what to shoot, when, and how many times - Lee on Claude Werner’s line that a lot of instruction is just firing-squad work, and why the four safety rules have to live *inside* the course of fire - Erick on Scotty Reitz’s “blue tape / judgmental prez” drill, visual processing vs. audio cues, Neuros, and Mirage targets - Force-on-force is still the gold standard for complex decisions, but logistics limit reps. Cognitive-load live fire gives far more decision cycles in a day - Technical skill still matters. Multiple sources (including Adam Biggs’ research, plus high-level shooters like Frank Proctor and Matt Little) point to about **USPSA B-class** as the point of diminishing returns — after that, thinking and tactics matter more than chasing the next classification - This work is a **supplement** to force-on-force, not a replacement **Cognitive Conclave 2026:** October 24–25 **Coming up from the guests:** - Lee – Rangemaster reunion in December, TACCON presentation work, Enhanced Coaching Skills - Erick – Low-light pistol (Meridian, ID), shotgun (Piru, CA), Problem Solving Pistol at Mead Hall (OK), Red Dot Instructor (New Orleans area) - John – Who Wins / Who Loses lecture with Karl Rehn, Northwest Law Conference (Seattle), class with Chuck Pressburg at Mead Hall **Links** - John Hearne – Two Pillars Training: https://twopillarstraining.com/ - Lee Weems – First Person Safety: https://firstpersonsafety.com/ - Erick Gelhaus – Cougar Mountain Solutions: https://www.cougarmountainsolutions.com/ - Erick also writes at AmericanCop.com