2015 Course Calendar
Feb 2-3, Tactical Pistol, Kent WA
March 2-4, High Risk Warrant Service, Spokane County, WA
March 5-6, Ballistic Shield User, Spokane County, WA
April 13-15, Carbine/Submachine Gun User, Kent, WA
May 25-27, High Risk Warrant Service, Kent, WA
June 15-19, Pistol Instructor, Kent, WA
August 17-21, Basic SWAT School, Spokane County, WA
Sept 14-16, Tactical Pistol, Kent, WA
Oct. 19-21, Carbine/Submachine Gun User, Spokane County, WA
Oct 22-23, Tactical Pistol, Spokane County, WA
Nov 16-18, Hostage Rescue, Spokane County, WA
Dec 14-16, SWAT Team Leader, Spokane County, WA
Every SWAT cop has heard the phrase “Mission drives the gear”. I would bet $10 that every Basic SWAT course in America has that sentence in it’s manual, powerpoint or test as a true/false. But is it true?
The answer is Yes, it is true. But the “Mission” encompasses more than just what the task is. A better statement would be METT-TC drives the gear. METT-TC is a military acronym that has likely been adopted by Police SWAT teams, so it also needs a disclaimer that we have modified it for Civilian Police Officers!
METT-TC stands for Mission, Enemy, Terrain & Weather, Troops, Time available and Civilian considerations. Let’s break these bitches down.
Mission – SWAT has a variety of missions to perform, some teams may be tasked with more missions than others based on size, training time, location and so forth. For brevity we will talk about barricaded subject management and high risk warrant service. So the mission is: Serve a warrant at 123 Any Street, detain all occupants, make the location for detectives to search. Short & sweet, don’t get wrapped up in this part, that is basically the mission. What gear then? Well, it might depend on how that warrant will be served. If we are to hit it using dynamic tactics, that may affect what I wear and carry vs. S&C. So defining the manner in which it will be served starts the gear train down a particular set of tracks.
Enemy (Modified for Police; Suspects & Subjects) Suspects are people who we may have an arrest warrant for or PC to arrest. Subjects are everyone else inside. Both must be considered. I have served warrants to arrest Suspect A only to find out that SUBJECT A was worse than the guy we came for. I know, weird concept that crooks hang out together. What this means is that we have to prep for the actual dude, AND contingency plan for the unknown dude. I.E there is PC to arrest John Doe for Interstate Transportation of Fruit, no crim. history, 4’11″/100 pounds and he has a reputation for being softer than baby’s breath. My gear selection for that guy could be a Speedo and my two iron fists, it is likely the fists will not even get used. However, he has a friend living with him with tons of crim. history including chopping humans up with a toenail clipper, 7’11″/350 pounds of twisted steel and has a reputation for hitting MF’ers using the little fella mentioned above as the club. If Mongo cooperates, all is well with the Speedo/Fists. If he doesn’t, and thinks we are there for him for a crime we don’t even know about, but he thinks we do, I better have chosen the gear correctly. I am well aware that the little guy might have a belt fed and I should consider that as well. Hopefully you get the point.
Terrain & Weather. Our terrain is typically urban and it includes the actual structure. Big, multi-story structures may require a combination of tactics; dynamic for first floor/slow for the remaining. Terrain might be a bus, aircraft, boat or the obvious one, wooded terrain. All of these should be driving gear choices, in addition to the manner in which I will arrive there. If I have to hump over the Cascades to hit a house in Ellensburg, I will dress differently than if I can arrive there on the rails of the Bearcat. If I am arriving on the Bearcat, I can AND should, wear as much armor as possible while maintaining an appropriate level of mobility. (This where it gets sticky) Weather is obvious, dress for sustainment but this might also mean carrying stuff while you cross the Cascades so you can sustain on arrival.
Troops. Big structure = more men. Motel room = less men. (Lady cops please don’t email me with nasty messages, “Men” is general. Thank you) But I also have to consider the training of the troops, can they handle the Mission? A good team serving residential warrants would likely struggle with ships/aircraft/trains if they have never trained in those battle spaces. They might be willing and eager, but are they ready? Crossing the Cascades on foot will require a level of physical fitness, is the entire force at that level? Everyone can run a mile in 8 minutes, we’re good bro. Well now add in the sustainment gear in that environment, if it requires 50 pounds of additional weight can the force carry that over the mountains? It’s not just how many men, it’s also a consideration of their skills and abilities to include fitness levels.
Time available. Shorter planning cycles USUALLY mean higher risk. In the Cascade example, if I was given two weeks to prepare I could coordinate caches along the route, plan a route that would allow for logistic dumps close to roads and coordinate air support for medical and logpac. We could take more time to navigate the route which means a pace that should be manageable. If I’m given two hours and the element better be moving, I will be relying on hasty planing while we move toward the objective and established TTP’s. Those can carry me, but only if appropriate pre-training has taken place. And if we already possess the right gear. If we don’t, then we are going to have a rough go. Willing and eager, but I have to recognize that the attempt may be fool hardy.
Civilian Considerations. Gear? Maybe. When you consider that you have to plan for Chems on an S&C, that might mean you have to evacuate neighbors first. Gear might require a ballistic blanket so you can better protect citizens that are leaving the area. Gear might be your armored vehicle that will have to be used to transport civilians off the location safely, meaning you and the force will have to find natural cover while it’s gone. Remember Subjects? The dude in Apartment D that you are about to contact to be officer friendly to, may decide you are there for him, and he might not appreciate your efforts. In the military they call it non-permissive environments. In cop land we call that the Hood. Better be ready at every door.
The last thing that I want to hit is that a lot of combat veterans are joining the police force and are naturally gravitating toward SWAT. The gear assessment they used in the mountains of Afghanistan may not be appropriate for Police SWAT teams. I hear a lot of vets bitching about shoulder/bicep protection and groin flaps. “That shit binds me up dude, I need to be mobile!” You rode here on the rails of a Bearcat, you walked 30 whole yards to the breach point and you dynamically cleared a rambler. What portion of that mission would have been compromised by shoulder/groin protection? The answer is none. If you can’t do your job with “all that stuff”, it’s probably because you haven’t put the licks in to get comfortable wearing it. When you consider that at least half a dozen cops have been shot through the side on SWAT warrants, my “enemy” analysis should be driving me toward more gear to prevent that from happening. In addition, I owe it to my teammates to stay combat effective, so the addition of a groin flap might catch a bullet that would potentially hit a really bad place. (Not the wiener dumb asses, the femoral artery) If I am hit there, the team will have to take care of me really damn quick or I will likely die. So because you were too stupid/proud/tough to wear the damn groin flap, I now have to allocate resources to treat/carry you that could be used to fight. Thanks for being a shitty teammate, because you just fell into the same category as the out of shape d-bag that can’t cross the Cascades.
METT-TC drives the gear, not just the mission. As always, my apologies for typos.