Last week’s SWAT training started with the Commander busting
my chops. When I saw him he had this
shit eating grin on his face. I asked
him what was up. He replied, “oh nothing
much just trying not to get too big or run too slow”
He was of course referring to information on the new class I
sent to the team:
[Many Officers lift
weights and run. That is fantastic. However, those training methods may actually
work against an Officer in a violent use of force confrontation.
Training to move heavy
weights slowly and to run at a moderate pace for miles does not improve the
attributes required to control a violent aggressive criminal.
Combat conditioning
focuses on enhancing strength and endurance training by adding explosiveness]
That’s fine, I bust chops so I expect to have my chops
busted in return on occasion.
However, I think my point was proven with the training we
conducted that night.
After weapons qualifications we moved to a “undisclosed
location”. The actual location isn't a
secret but part of the training was making sure no one ever knew you were
there. That and phrases like “undisclosed
location” add to my international man of mystery cred.
The skill we were training was low light / no light maneuvers
The training we conducted was similar to the show “The Great
Escape”
We were broken into 8 men units. We had to get all 8 guys undetected through
an urban environment to a check point several blocks away. Pick up an item, carry that to another check point several blocks away. Put the two items together and return to the starting point undetected.
There were 2 “guards” in marked squad cars on patrol in
these urban areas. If the guards shined
their head lights or spot lights on you and your team had to start over again.
Local police knew we were there and what we were doing. Part of the training, as I mentioned before
was to make sure that no one else knew we were ever there. Implied was that if the local PD received
complaints of teams of large men in camouflage and tactical armor roaming the
city with automatic weapons - you, and your team had to start over again.
So although the guards only had 2 cars, they had a relatively
small area to patrol by vehicle and were supported by every other car on the
street. We had to assume all headlights
would get us sent back.
Even though we were wearing all our gear and carrying our
equipment we were not allowed to “neutralize” the guards.
So we had to achieve our goals using only
- Stealth
- Communications
- Team Work
- Effort
You get sent back, what is the big deal? That last one effort is the big
deal. As fun as this sounds it is a lot
of hard physical effort. It’s
challenging because you have to quickly cover large open space. There is limited cover, street lights, pedestrians,
and vehicles everywhere.
Sprinting, jumping diving, carrying a 4 man ram, carrying an
injured officer on a stretcher. It is
all ball busting hard work. The type of work
you don’t want to do twice if you don’t have to.
Remember the SWAT Commander busting my chops about:
[Many Officers lift
weights and run. That is fantastic. However, those training methods may actually
work against an Officer in a violent use of force confrontation.
Training to move heavy
weights slowly and to run at a moderate pace for miles does not improve the
attributes required to control a violent aggressive criminal.
Combat conditioning
focuses on enhancing strength and endurance training by adding explosiveness]
This is exactly what I was talking about.
Secondary training effects:
- Operant conditioning
- Getting caught is punished – Stealth is rewarded
- Fear of having to do it over helps simulate “combat stress”
Which leads me to:
Self Actualization - Imagination - Inoculation
Nice alliteration J
What do I mean by this?
I am a self actualized nerd.
I own it and I am proud of it. As
such I have a good imagination. So I
wasn’t just leading a SWAT team on a training mission we were the Devil’s
Brigade, we were Kasey’s Commandos behind enemy lines. The fate of the free world depended on the
success of our mission. If a light was
shinned on us we were dead and so was freedom, justice, and the American way.
In retrospect a grown ass man playing G.I.Joe may seem
pretty lame, but it made things more “real” for me. Because it was more real for me it better
simulated combat stress. I’ve mentioned
many times before you can’t accurately reproduce combat stress with out putting
the trainee’s life at risk. But you can
combine; competitions, risks – rewards and punishments, and physical stress to approximate
it. Because the combat stress was
simulated, I received inoculation to combat stress. The been there done that part of my brain has
something it can refer to when I am sneaking to an actual position
This was fun, we saved the word, but it kicked my ass.
Doctor Keckeisen self prescribed a couple of ibuprofen and a couple more Miller 64's to be able to function the next day.
Booo Fucking Hoooo. Suck it up Sally
Shugyo is a Japanese term. I don’t really know an
English term that encompasses this idea. Shugyo can mean ‘sweat and
motion,’ it can be described as ‘pushing your limits,’ but the ideal that it
expresses best is: “Embrace the suck.”
It takes a lot of hard work on a regular basis to develop
and maintain all the skills and attributes necessary to be a successful
Operator.
Don’t shy from it, don’t cry about it, revel in it.
There is a price to be paid to be able to do things that few
others can. Enjoy paying the price required to do these things.
Be the 1st to show and the last to go, and put a smile on
your face. The best Operators I’ve had the pleasure to work with embrace
the price that must be paid. Whether it is in pouring rain, blistering
sun or knee deep snow they push hard until the job is done. They make
comments like, “Can you believe we are getting paid to do this?”
When the weapons are cleaned and the gear stowed away they
tend to share each other’s company (and maybe a cocktail or two) and talk about
how even though that sucked it was fun (and maybe brag a little bit about how
bad ass they are for having gone through it).
The only way to earn the skills necessary to be an Operator,
the only way to earn a seat at that table is through blood and sweat.
Know that ahead of time, embrace it while you are going through it, and enjoy
the rewards as they come.
So along those lines I need to spend as much or more time
sprinting as I do writing about the need for Officers to sprint.
And with that I will leave you with one of my favorite comic
book quotes
“The key isn't winning -- or losing, it's making the
attempt. I may never be what I ought to be, want to be -- but how will I know
unless I try?
Sure, it's scary, but what's the alternative? Stagnation - A safer, more terrible form of death. Not of the body, but of the spirit.
An animal knows what it is, and accepts it. A man may know what he is -- but he questions. He dreams. He strives. Changes. Grows.”
― Wolverine
Chris Clarmont and Frank Miller's "Wolverine"
Sure, it's scary, but what's the alternative? Stagnation - A safer, more terrible form of death. Not of the body, but of the spirit.
An animal knows what it is, and accepts it. A man may know what he is -- but he questions. He dreams. He strives. Changes. Grows.”
― Wolverine
Chris Clarmont and Frank Miller's "Wolverine"
Train hard (embrace the suck), Train smart, Be safe
