Photo By Staff Sgt. Melissa Bright | Medics wash the OC out of Pfc. Justin Tyler's eyes carefully after he completes the OC...... read more read more
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Even before the sky had completed its transition from night to day, over 30 men and women with the 571st Military Police Company had filed into their headquarters orderly room on Camp Prosperity, Baghdad, to sit through the half-hour classroom portion of their OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) Spray certification class, May 5.
Approximately120 MPs on Camp Prosperity will take advantage of the opportunity to receive this certification before returning to the U.S.
Staff Sgt. Jonathan McDonald walked the students through a short presentation covering the full gamut of the 5-Ws; who, what, when, where and why.
All Soldiers are issued either an M-4 rifle or M-9 pistol while deployed. However, due to the nature of their particular mission, MPs are given additional equipment that enables them to use non-lethal force when subduing and pursuing combatants.
One piece of this equipment is a small canister of OC Spray. OC is an aerosol spray that consists of an active agent injected into a pressurized canister and dispersed, or sprayed, by aerosol.
The active agent, oleoresin capsicum, or OC, is a derivative of various hot pepper plants. It's the chemical that gives peppers their hot quality and, for this reason, it is also called pepper spray.
OC is an inflammatory that can cause swelling in the face, temporary blindness, running noses and shortness of breath. When used, it causes the person sprayed to involuntarily raise their hands to their eyes, further diminishing their ability to attack.
Fog vs. Spray
There are two types of OC Spray commonly employed by the military: fog and stream. For training's purposes, the MPs were only be tested with the stream canisters.
Fog sprays put out a super fine mist similar to fire extinguishers and are generally considered to be the most effective in terms of stopping power. An attacker caught in an OC fog is virtually helpless instantly.
Foggers are excellent for creating a barrier while escaping an attack because the fog tends to hang in the air. The mist goes directly to the sensitive lung tissue and makes all but life support breathing difficult. They are the most efficient spray type for multiple attackers.
A stream spray is more successful in covering distances without affecting a large area. A good stream shot directly in the face is likely to stop all but the most determined attackers.
Also, a stream is not as affected by wind as the fog spray. Even in a stiff breeze a good stream spray has good range and is unlikely to come back if shot into the wind.
The Training Purpose
There are many benefits to the training: "One, the carrier will gain a healthy respect for the pain it can cause and will be judicious in its use. Two, the carrier will have the foreknowledge that working through the pain is possible for both the assailant and defender. Three, familiarity with a weapon leads to more proficient usage," explained McDonald.
The Obstacle Course
After the classroom portion was complete, 1st Lt. Brittney Patton led the group outside for a brief walk through of the obstacle course they would be required to complete after receiving the spray.
They then moved over to the inert spray portion of the demonstration to allow the soldier to get used to the functionality of the spray can as well as prepare them for the involuntary flinching that naturally occurs when being sprayed in the face.
After receiving one more round of advice on how to work through the pain, everyone lined up behind Master Sgt. Michael Sweeney, the first OC victim.
The men and women of the 571st approached the task at hand courageously. The obstacle course tasks took relatively little time for the twenty-some-odd men and women to complete, depending on each individuals' tolerance for pain.
The course tasks included ordering an assailant to the ground and securing them with hand cuffs, correctly identifying the clothing worn by an assistant, from shoes to head-covering, and reciting six letters written on a white board correctly.
Sweeney got the attention of the crowd gathered to watch the second day of the event when, as he reached the white-board event, he grabbed up the prop and shook it screaming out "I hate OC Spray."
The soldier running that event, Sgt. Josh Stevens, just laughed and said, "Yeah, I think you got it."
After completing the course to the satisfaction of Staff Sgt. McDonald and 1st Lt. Patton, the Soldiers moved on to have their faces and eyes decontaminated and were allowed to rest for an hour.
After running three groups for three days, both instructors and newly certified MPs were all red-eyed and slightly worse for the wear, but also a little bit wiser to the power of the weapons placed in their hands.
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 05.13.2010 08:58 |
| Story ID: | 49582 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 504 |
| Downloads: | 342 |
This work, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger, by SSG Melissa Bright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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