Photo By Staff Sgt. Justin Smith | A Green Beret from 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) shows an example of ground...... read more read more
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U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado – Members of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) K-9 team hosted the Colorado Springs Police Department SWAT team at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Oct. 3, 2018 to train them on basic tracking techniques with working dogs.
These training events help the local SWAT team to more effectively use their department’s non-lethal K-9 assets to track and apprehend suspects in large areas, such as mountainous, non-urban terrain.
“I consider these guys a great resource,” said CSPD SWAT Sgt. Troy Bauer, speaking about the 10th Group K-9 handlers. “They can help us with the security element, visual tracking, and to get our guys to understand how they’re going to work with the dog.”
The training started with a familiarization of working with the dogs where a mock “suspect” hid in the area, making similar ground disturbances common to someone evading capture. A 10th Group soldier took a group of SWAT officers and demonstrate with a K-9 how they track until they caught the “suspect”.
The officers then took turns tracking both with, and without the dogs.
Afterwards was a classroom portion where a Group instructor showed the SWAT team members different types of footprints to look for in soft soil. Another class covered how best to utilize the dogs during tactical movements and other non-tracking situations.
Upon completion of the classes, the SWAT officers suited up in their tactical kits and grabbed their weapons for a full-dress rehearsal in tracking. A 10th Group soldier put on a “bite suit”, a standard training suit that working dogs can attack without harming the person wearing it, and fled the area to hide as a decoy for the dog to find.
The officers stepped off in a tactical formation, led by a K-9 team from CSPD, in search of their suspect by utilizing the training received earlier. Once they found the decoy, they released the dog to hold the suspect until he could be apprehended.
CSPD SWAT and 10th Group have a long history of training together.
10th Group’s kennel master said that the working relationship with the police department is mutually beneficial. CSPD provides much sought-after variety of urban training environments that are unavailable on Fort Carson.
Interagency training is a Presidential directive to enhance the effectiveness between different levels of government agencies. Group and SWAT both bring skills and assets to the table that the other may lack access to regularly, so these opportunities are a great way to hone their craft.
“They get some of the best training and they deploy all over the world,” said Bauer. “While training with them, I always learn something new.”
| Date Taken: | 10.03.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 10.10.2018 11:42 |
| Story ID: | 295922 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 150 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Interagency Training Brings Mutual Benefits to Colorado Springs, by SSG Justin Smith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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