The following is a write-up of the 5.11 Alliance Training Event, done by Tactical Waterborne Operations. The author, Gary Mah is a 17 year veteran of the Durham Police Department, Durham, N.C. Reserve Unit. He has held the rank of Captain and has been a Hostage Negotiator.
Riding the Special Action Vessel (SAV) with Chief Steven C. Bronson (US Navy Ret.) at the wheel, we made a bee line to the container vessel just leaving port. Throttles forward cutting across the mouth of The Chesapeake Bay, we closed the distance very quickly to our target vessel.
Chief Bronson explained the correct approach to the vessel, the dangers of the eight story high vessel’s wake and the places we did not want to position the SAV into which would have meant possible doom and immediate failure of this boarding operation.
As we maneuvered along the port side of the target vessel, we nervously glanced at each other, back up at the tall ship underway and made a quick pat of our flotation vests.
I began to wonder how a Lt. from Fairmount Heights, Md., a SWAT officer from Chesapeake ,Va. and a Hostage Negotiator from Durham, NC Police Departments get thrown together to take down this 450 ft. vessel underway, while it left port?
Thanks to 5.11 Tactical Series, Extreme Outfitters of Va. Beach, Va. and Tactical Waterborne Operation of Va. Beach, Va. this operation was possible and completed successfully. Best of all was it did not cost any of the officers or their departments a single dime.
5.11 Tactical recently formed the 5.11 Training Alliance by teaming up with three top law enforcement training companies and eight law enforcement product retailers to provide a unique and free training opportunity for police officers and law enforcement departments around the United States. Operational Skills Group, LLC, Trident Concepts, LLC, and Tactical Waterborne Operations will each provide a series of training courses covering such topics as security force training, combative pistol operations and tactical waterborne operations. Local retailers coordinate the selection of officers in their community to attend the training course provided by one of the training companies. The retailer will then host a luncheon for up to 50 local law enforcement representatives to meet with the trainers and attendees for an afternoon of discussion regarding the needs of law enforcement in these training/response areas.
This was the first of these courses taught by Tactical Waterborne Operations (T.W.O.), Va. Beach, Va. T.W.O. founded and operated by Chief Steven C. Bronson (Ret.) is dedicated to saving lives of both police officers and victims in a maritime environment. T.W.O. takes SWAT officers beyond land; On, In, Around and Under water to accomplish their assigned tasks/duty, in the maritime realm.
Traditional SWAT operations are land based and water is often viewed as a barrier complicating an operation. Step back in time to July 24, 1997 Dade Co. Florida. A SWAT operation was shown live on CNN for the take down of the suspected killer of fashion designer, Gianni Versace. The prime suspect, Andrew Cunanan, was on a moored houseboat in a busy marina. You may recall how the Officers in full tactical gear moved single file along the narrow pier alongside the thin skinned houseboat in daylight. What would have happened if one of the officers had fallen into the water? How many seconds does it take for a person to sink to the bottom with 54 lbs. of tactical equipment attached? Keep in mind that the average person uses only 18 lbs. of lead weight for SCUBA diving counter buoyancy. How many officers might it take to save a fallen Officer in the water? How bad would the operation be compromised with a suspected barricaded killer inside a houseboat, armed with a handgun, rifle or other firearm?
T.W.O. spends a day in the pool teaching officers water safety and survival. They learn how to ditch enough gear under water so they can surface with their weapon in a fighting position. Starting in the shallow end of the pool weighted down with 54 lbs. of lead and ending the day by jumping into the 16' deep end of the pool, officers learn how to survive a dunking and come up fighting.
This is another of the practical exercises a student experiences under the watchful eye of Chief Bronson. This course is taught in a professional manner with safety first from Chief Bronson’s years as a Naval Special Warfare Instructor. He is also a POST certified police officer himself and he wants officers to succeed in his class so that they will succeed in a maritime operation/environment as well.
If your agency is not located in a coastal region you can still be affected by a maritime operation. Look around and see if you have rivers, streams, ponds or man made structures such as pools or fountains in or near your jurisdiction. A typical T.W.O. course includes the following topics:
- Underway boarding
- Night observations
- Disabling a vessel
- Boarding a moored or nonmoving vessel
- Tactical wwimmer approaches/equipment needs/configurations
- Rescue fellow SWAT officers
- Surviving accidental submersion with tactical gear
These topics are followed by practical exercises to demonstrate and reinforce their application. T.W.O.'s curriculum can be tailored to the individual agency’s situation while some of the practical exercises all students experience include:
- Individual/team movement
- Vessel orientation
- Team boarding skills
- Vessel clearing skills
- Boat deployment
- Swimmer cast, water deployment
- Force on force
Using the maritime environment to the officer’s advantage can increase an operations chance of success. Instead of viewing water as an obstacle and forcing an operation to be solely land based and exposing the team to gun fire, water can be used as concealment as well as cover.
Special thanks go to 5.11 Training Alliance; 5.11 Tactical, T.W.O. and Extreme Outfitter’s for opening the dialog to discuss maritime operation training and equipment needs in the Hampton Roads/Tidewater area of Virginia. Our T.W.O. course was reviewed at a free luncheon hosted by Extreme Outfitters at Mahi Mah’s Restaurant in Va. Beach, Va.
Attending this luncheon were SWAT officers from Va. Beach, Norfolk, and Chesapeake Va. Police Departments. Members from Navy EOD, Recon Marine Instructors and Naval Special Warfare personnel based in Va. Beach, Va. Area.
A scenario we discussed was what resources would be needed if a cruise ship should be involved in a major incident in port or off the coast. An average cruise ship due to it’s size can be viewed as a skyscraper floating on its side filled with people. One very quickly realizes the complexity of an evolution of this sort, and different backgrounds of those that might be called upon to tackle it.
Other topics discussed were the need to get Command Staff personnel to agree to the need for this type of inter agency/military branch joint training as well as the need to secure funding for equipment and training possibly through grants that might be available, for maritime operations by law enforcement.
Discussion such as these hosted and sponsored by 5.11 Training Alliance makes them a strong partner in helping those who participate to become more proactive instead of reactive in this war against crime.
T.W.O.'s motto is “A Finely Honed Edge Cuts More Sharply & Deeply”. Regularly we fall back to our training to succeed in our mission so the harder we train the more likely we will succeed.
Contact list:
Tactical Waterborne Operations ( TWO )
Chief Steven C. Bronson
244 Mustang Trail Suite D
Virginia Beach, VA. 23452
(757) 965 - 3716
ChiefBronson@aol.com
5.11 INC
4300 SPYRES WAY
MODESTO, CA 95355
Phone: (209) 527-4511
Fax: (209) 527-1511
Toll Free: (866) 451-1726
https://store.511tactical.com/index.asp
Extreme Outfitters
Ray Parker
4807-A Shore Dr.
Virginia Beach, VA 23455
(757) 363-0909
http://www.tacticaledge.com
