I recently had the opportunity to do some excellent training with several airline pilots deputized to carry firearms in the cockpit of their aircraft. The officers (Federal Flight Deck Officers, or FFDOs), had sought additional training from NRA-LE Firearms Instructor — and Police1 contributor — Mike Wood.
How can airline pilot training translate to police work? Aside from the fact that we increasingly compare the interior of a squad car to a cockpit, cops are often attacked at very close quarters, in confined spaces, while seated — the same types of attacks for which Federal Flight Deck Officers train to respond.
There were probably ten excellent tactical tips gleaned from our work on that day, but one of the things I liked most about our work was the synthesis of DT and firearms training. This is something we’ve struggled with for a long time. There are obvious safety issues to overcome. And we overcame them quite well.
At the beginning of the day, Wood spoke about the scenario these officers are most likely to face — a terrorist attacker barging onto the flight deck.
“First and foremost, this is a fight. It may become a gunfight, but you have to accept the reality that your initial response will have to be with your hands, not your gun..”
We then proceeded to do some really interesting drills with our Blue Guns and cleared-and-checked duty guns. We did visualizations and some Kata — movements to simulate hand-to-hand combat — and incorporated some matroom stuff into our work. And, of course, we did some shooting.
Even though this is a secure, LEO-only tip, I don’t want to pass along any specific tactics used here because I have a healthy respect for the opposition’s potential ability to hack into this space. Nor will I post any images in this tip in which you can see the faces of my fellow classmates.
I will, however share some of the ways we brought the matoom out to the range, and how we made maximum use of our Blue Guns to safely incorporate that work into our trigger time for the day. All of this stuff is meant to get you thinking about how you can introduce more of the real world into your time on the range.
I want to emphasize that is training you’ll probably have to do outside of your in-service work. All the pilots present there were on their own time and their own dime, going beyond the training that is mandated and provided by their agency. The vast majority of police training I do is on my “time off” work, and the cops alongside are similarly there to do “extra work” with creative instructors who can do things they’re not likely to get from their PD.
Here, I’m seated in front of our cardboard cockpit simulator, and Woody plays the part of Haji, our attacker for the day. The matt is a simulation of the center console of an airliner, which has all kinds of uncomfortable portrusions like throttles and radio dials. Landing thusly on one would not be fun. This scene could easily be a table at a restaurant.
Here I’m working the Blue Gun phase of our exercise to shoot to your six o’clock when confined in a seated position. I can see having to quickly overcome this problem during an ambush on officers in their squad.
Final exam time: Below, you can barely see Haji #1 because I just popped the two balloons holding him up with two well-placed shots. Haji #2 is getting his now.
Stay safe out there my friends.
