Week 14, Day 5
Week 14….say it with me, WEEK 14!!! I can’t believe it. This training is flying and I feel like I don’t have time to catch up. I know I say this a lot, but it is so true. I just want to yell…SLOW DOWN!!! I can’t catch up with everything we are learning. Sometimes it feels like I am in slow motion and when the instructors speak…I hear “Blah,Blah,and Blah.” I will give you the recap of the week…so hang on!!!
We started our week with arrest control and building searches. I don’t think I have talked enough about arrest control in my past blogs, so I will give you a little insight. We have learned how to defend ourselves in a fist fight and we have learned handcuffing techniques. We have learned how to defend ourselves if a suspect gets us pinned to the ground…(Scary thought). But this week we learned how to defend a knife attack. Basically the common theme is…do the best you can…but you will get cut. I don’t know about any of you but, I don’t like the idea of being cut with a knife. We also covered what to do if someone is trying to choke us out. Again…I don’t know if I really like this idea either. Especially being a woman and thinking about someone coming up behind me and wrapping there hands around my neck. SCARY!!! I don’t think I will have any problems remembering these defense tactics.
So we also moved into building searches…which is really cool and very frustrating. Just when you think you have the movements down…something happens. So again…there’s not such thing as a routine call. Building searches can feel like a really intense game of hide and seek or for the new generation out there…a really intense game of “Solider of Fortune.” We enter a building with little or no lighting. We search every room (methodically), looking for someone who is just waiting for us to come around the corner. You should try this at home. Turn all the lights off in your house...have someone hide in a room (preferably someone you know) and then try to find them. I guarantee it will raise your heart rate.
So the rest of the week was centered on firearms. We had the written exam, which everyone passed. We then moved up to the range to cover the qualification course. I can say…the perfect score of 200 still eludes me. I scored a 195…not bad, but not what I was hoping for. In my firearms group, we had 8 perfect scores…congrads to the “A” Team. I will let my Blog partner talk about the “B” Team…I know they all passed…I am not sure how many perfect scores there were. The other portion of firearms training involved shotguns. I must say…I really like this weapon. I have shot a 12 gauge shotgun before and it is always an experience. If you have never done it, I highly recommend it (just please do it legally). We learned how to load the weapon, fire the weapon and how to shoot it in 3 positions. We start out at the standing, which is easy…then kneeling…even better because it’s a stable shooting platform. Then Deputy Johnson has us move to the prone shooting position. This position is basically for one reason…to feel the pain of your skin on your elbows being scraped off on the concrete. No…I am not kidding. I will prove to you in the attached pictures. We have to be able to continue shooting through any pain and I mean any pain. So this is a technique that is used to see how we will shoot and to keep our concentration as blood is running off our elbows. (Deputy Johnson loved this exercise a lot) But as we say in the Army, “It’s all good training, Sir.”
That is the weekly recap for…say it with me…WEEK 14!!! We are moving into week 15 with even more intense training. Now that firearms is done and over…arrest control will get more and more intense. We start moving into “Red Man drills.” I will talk about that more when we get to it. Oh and let’s not forget the big event we have to look forward to in week 15…OC spray in the face. I will say this again…I don’t know about you…but I don’t think I really like this concept. So until next time…be safe.
Week 14….say it with me, WEEK 14!!! I can’t believe it. This training is flying and I feel like I don’t have time to catch up. I know I say this a lot, but it is so true. I just want to yell…SLOW DOWN!!! I can’t catch up with everything we are learning. Sometimes it feels like I am in slow motion and when the instructors speak…I hear “Blah,Blah,and Blah.” I will give you the recap of the week…so hang on!!!
We started our week with arrest control and building searches. I don’t think I have talked enough about arrest control in my past blogs, so I will give you a little insight. We have learned how to defend ourselves in a fist fight and we have learned handcuffing techniques. We have learned how to defend ourselves if a suspect gets us pinned to the ground…(Scary thought). But this week we learned how to defend a knife attack. Basically the common theme is…do the best you can…but you will get cut. I don’t know about any of you but, I don’t like the idea of being cut with a knife. We also covered what to do if someone is trying to choke us out. Again…I don’t know if I really like this idea either. Especially being a woman and thinking about someone coming up behind me and wrapping there hands around my neck. SCARY!!! I don’t think I will have any problems remembering these defense tactics.
So we also moved into building searches…which is really cool and very frustrating. Just when you think you have the movements down…something happens. So again…there’s not such thing as a routine call. Building searches can feel like a really intense game of hide and seek or for the new generation out there…a really intense game of “Solider of Fortune.” We enter a building with little or no lighting. We search every room (methodically), looking for someone who is just waiting for us to come around the corner. You should try this at home. Turn all the lights off in your house...have someone hide in a room (preferably someone you know) and then try to find them. I guarantee it will raise your heart rate.
So the rest of the week was centered on firearms. We had the written exam, which everyone passed. We then moved up to the range to cover the qualification course. I can say…the perfect score of 200 still eludes me. I scored a 195…not bad, but not what I was hoping for. In my firearms group, we had 8 perfect scores…congrads to the “A” Team. I will let my Blog partner talk about the “B” Team…I know they all passed…I am not sure how many perfect scores there were. The other portion of firearms training involved shotguns. I must say…I really like this weapon. I have shot a 12 gauge shotgun before and it is always an experience. If you have never done it, I highly recommend it (just please do it legally). We learned how to load the weapon, fire the weapon and how to shoot it in 3 positions. We start out at the standing, which is easy…then kneeling…even better because it’s a stable shooting platform. Then Deputy Johnson has us move to the prone shooting position. This position is basically for one reason…to feel the pain of your skin on your elbows being scraped off on the concrete. No…I am not kidding. I will prove to you in the attached pictures. We have to be able to continue shooting through any pain and I mean any pain. So this is a technique that is used to see how we will shoot and to keep our concentration as blood is running off our elbows. (Deputy Johnson loved this exercise a lot) But as we say in the Army, “It’s all good training, Sir.”
That is the weekly recap for…say it with me…WEEK 14!!! We are moving into week 15 with even more intense training. Now that firearms is done and over…arrest control will get more and more intense. We start moving into “Red Man drills.” I will talk about that more when we get to it. Oh and let’s not forget the big event we have to look forward to in week 15…OC spray in the face. I will say this again…I don’t know about you…but I don’t think I really like this concept. So until next time…be safe.
Building Searches
Is this Recruit Harris or George Lopez?
How to get out of a choke hold
Learning how to shoot an automatic rifle
Shotgun training
Prone position
The aftermath of prone position
