(Part two of a multi-part report on redefining law enforcement tactical training)

"What is a good police officer or SWAT operator and how do you develop one?" "What is a good tactical team and how are they organized or developed?"

These are two questions I have asked for nearly two decades. As simple as these questions seem, they are actually incredibly difficult to answer. Ask 100 different officers and you will receive at least as many different responses. Even more intriguing to me than the varying answers provided is the obviously strenuous thought process that these officers and supervisors engage in attempting to answer these questions. The majority of officers I have presented the questions to have a decade or more on the job and thousands of hours of training in their respective fields. How is it that so many individuals serving in their profession cannot answer seemingly routine questions about their career fields? The problem with the questions as worded, of course, is that they are subjective. What constitutes a "good" operator for one person does not match the definition of another.

Therein lies an inherent difficulty, very few individuals or agencies have spent the time to carry out a task analysis and fewer still are performing capabilities based assessments (CBA), so we are left without core competencies, mission essential task, and quality definitions for job functions. We cannot manage what we cannot measure and we cannot measure what we can't define. Our industry spends a tremendous amount of time, energy and financing on managing tactical teams and law enforcement agencies but we have spent very few resources on defining or measuring them. We have put the proverbial cart before the horse as a whole and training is one of the more visible aspects of this flaw.

  Read the complete story on our website.

Chadd Harbaugh
President
Government Training Institute

By GTI Senior Instructor Doyle Burdette

If you're gonna be a bear, be a Grizzly!" That was one of my Dad's favorite quotes, and I heard it often as I was growing up. I later learned it is a quote from Mahatma Ghandi. My dad would say this anytime I was involved with any endeavor which required my total commitment and my best and most valiant effort. This saying would come to mind many times in my military and my law enforcement career.

I have used this quote many times in classes I have taught to try to drive home a point. It is all about mindset. As a tactical team member you have to be able to flip that switch at a moment's notice and be a Grizzly. You have to be able to put behind you the mantle of the sheepdog protecting the sheep and assume the vicious single minded purpose of the wolf killer.

We need to have this mindset when dealing with those who threaten the law and order that we represent. We must steel our mind to the fact there are those who want to hurt us. There are those who hate and despise our culture, our values and our beliefs. There are those who sincerely believe that it is their duty to kill us and our children. There have been volumes written and many classes are taught on tactical mindset. That is because it is vital to the tactical team member and anyone who wants to tip the scales of a life or death encounter in their favor. It is as important as our physical fitness, our marksmanship and our tactics. Without that Grizzly mindset we are just another officer with a gun and training. The Grizzly mindset separates us from the regular officer. It is also what gives us the ability to bring ourselves and others home alive.

I have seen this in real life and I have seen it in training. Officers can be trained and know the tactics to use. They can shoot better than anyone else on the team and quote the policy manual verbatim. But the Grizzly mindset brings everything together. That mindset is what brings their knowledge, training and experience together in a lethal and life-saving package. Our training must coincide with this fact. Our training must provoke the Grizzly mindset.

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This is an intensive 5 day course covering fundamental rifle marksmanship, sniper weapon systems, sniper log books, optics, environmental factors, range determination methods, spotter duties and responsibilities, sniping in an urban environment, observation and reporting methods, camouflage & concealment, sniper team movement techniques, sniper weapon system maintenance. The first two days are devoted to classroom work that provides an in depth view of sniper operations, tools of the trade and tactic and techniques. Days three and four are trigger time intensive range days that will bring the sniper to a high level of confidence in his weapon system and his personal capabilities, culminating in an extensive qualification exam. During the range days the sniper will be exposed to various targets at known (100 - 300 yards) and unknown ranges. The sniper will also be required to engage targets with time limited exposures and movers.

• Sniper weapon
• 400 rounds of ammunition
• Hat
• BDU's
• Hydration system
• Sun glasses
• Spotting Scope / or Binoculars
• Weapon cleaning kit
• Sniper Data Book (Optional)
• Wind Meter (Optional)
• Shooting Mat (Optional)

To Register Contact Alec Sarrazolla
Training Coordinator, Government Training Institute
803-259-1935, Email: info@gtitraining.org

July 17, 2012 National Journal

A former high-ranking Syrian diplomat said he strongly believes the Assad regime would use chemical weapons to stave off defeat by opposition forces, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

Nawaf Fares, who resigned last week from his position as Syrian ambassador to Iraq, told the BBC that if the Assad regime feels it has few other options it "will not hesitate to use chemical weapons."

Fares said he based his belief on "my knowledge of the regime's mentality and the government's mentality."

When asked if he had any proof of a regime intent to mount chemical attacks, he said "if they decide to use chemical weapons they will not discuss it".

  Read the complete story on our website.

The Joint Operations Center (JOC) offers the most Real
World Training Facilities to mimic small or large scale
CBRN, CBRNE, NBC and WMD production operations.

• Chemical agent production or incident
• Biological agent production or incident
• Radiological agent production or incident
• Nuclear agent production or incident
• Explosive production or incident
• IED rigged buildings and lanes
• Clandestine labs
• Confined space rescue/recovery
• Chemical and Biological WMD-Warfare
• Radiological WMD
• Industrial Agents WMD
• Asymmetrical Weapons
• Decontamination

At the JOC training site; agencies have the ability to run training scenarios to exploit various possible hazardous chemical, biological, radiological or explosive incidents for the purpose of being able to plan and execute a proper response.

For more information about the JOC CBRNE training capabilities contact GTI by calling: 803-259-1935, Email: info@gtitraining.org or visit our site JOC CBRNE.

Aug 1st - Aug 10th
Aug 9th - Aug 11th
Aug 13th - Aug 15th
Aug 13th - Aug 16th
Aug 27th - Aug 30th
Sep 17th - Sep 19th
Sep 20th - Sep 22nd
Oct 1st - Oct 26th
Oct 8th - Oct 12th
Oct 11th - Oct 13th
Oct 15th - Oct 17th
Oct 15th - Oct 21st
Oct 15th - Oct 21st

Custom Military CQB / Vehicle Assaults (Barnwell, SC)
Immediate Action Teams (IAT) Active Shooter (Santa Ana, CA)
Immediate Action Teams (IAT) Active Shooter (Santa Ana, CA)
Custom Law Enforcement IAT / IED Awareness (Washington County, OR)
Advanced Sniper (Exeter, PA)
Custom Rappel and Fast Rope (Buffalo, NY)
Custom Rappel and Fast Rope - Train the Trainer (Buffalo, NY)
Type III-II-I SWAT (Smyrna, DE)
Immediate Action Teams (IAT) Active Shooter (Lincoln County, KS)
Immediate Action Teams (IAT) Active Shooter (Santa Ana, CA)
Immediate Action Teams (IAT) Active Shooter (Santa Ana, CA)
Basic Swat (Barnwell, SC)
Custom Law Enforcement Advanced SWAT (Cumru, PA)

The Government Training Institute Inc. is proud to offer six courses which are eligible to utilize Department of Homeland Security funding to pay for tuition, travel, lodging and meals when attending training at our facility in South Carolina or when hosting a GTI Mobile Training Team (MTT).

The Government Training Institute's (Joint Operations Center) in South Carolina offers agencies and units a full training facility featuring mat rooms, ten thousand square feet of moveable walls for close quarters combat, a low light training area, fully equipped classrooms, an arsenal of training weapons, live fire facilities, secure weapon storage and several other features designed to meet the training needs of military and law enforcement personnel.

The Department of Homeland Security has approved the following curriculum:

• ID-001-RESP - Type III Advanced SWAT Operations for Terrorist Environments
• ID-002-RESP - Type II Advanced SWAT Operations for Terrorist Environments
• ID-003-RESP - Type I Advanced SWAT Operations for Terrorist Environments
• ID-004-RESP - Immediate Action Teams (IAT) Active Shooter
• ID-006-RESP - Basic SWAT Tactical Operations for Terrorism Response
• ID-008-RESP - Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) Awareness

For more information on our courses or our facility, please contact GTI:
Via Phone: 803-259-1935 or Email Us: info@gtitraining.org