This paper will build on previous research designed to investigate the effects that pistol training, in a no-recoil synthetic environment, has on skill acquisition, the transferability of this skill in situ (Krätzig, Parker & Hyde, 2011), and the long term implications on skill retention. Krätzig et al (2011) found that live-fire training was not necessary for pistol skills acquisition nor was it needed when testing occurred in a live-fire setting. However, two areas of investigation was missing. The first was to measure performance after introducing live-fire before each Benchmark test. The second was to investigate the long term effects that this type of training has on pistol shooting skill retention (e.g., annual firearms recertification). This paper will present three follow-up lines of research. Twohundred and fifty-six Cadets [i.e., 128 Cadets (control group) vs. 128 Cadets (experimental group)] were used for this study, with ninety-six Cadets being trained in the synthetic environment. The three lines of research are: 1) The effects of this training on skill retention in the field for three consecutive years. 2) Will adding live-fire training before each test improve performance and what effect does this have on skill retention in the field? 3) Results of a replication study. Although evidence was found that skills transfer from a synthetic training environment to a live-fire setting (Krätzig, et al., 2011), unknown were the long term effects on skill retention, and as such results of a 3-year longitudinal study will be reported. Additionally a potential confound was identified following the Final Benchmark Test from the Krätzig et al (2011) study. Krätzig argued that because the first time these Cadets fired a live-fire weapon was during their Benchmark tests, that the unfamiliarity of the recoil, concussive blast, noise, etc resulted in lower scores and an increase in the failure rate during the Benchmark tests. In an effort to determine if overall performance could be improved, it was decided that live-fire training would occur preceding each Benchmark test. These results will be discussed in full. There is increasing evidence that supports integrating technology into the basic 24-week training program; however, it was important to replicate the Krätzig et al., (2011) study. The third area of discussion will present the results of the replication study.