Photo By John Crosby | Police officers of the Noblesville, Ind., Police Department's Emergency Response Unit...... read more read more
CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind. – Hands covered in black, Kevlar-knuckled gloves tap the armored shoulder of the man in front, passing the silent signal to the point man. The team of eight men dressed in their daily business attire of drab-green fatigues, black Kevlar helmet, protective eye-wear, radio, black body armor, M4 assault rifles and black boots gain momentum, pushing forward together in one fluid motion.
It's on.
They keep low profiles in a half-crouched position, combat boots moving at a deliberate pace, not quite a run; a controlled shuffle. Their eyes stay level, peering vigilantly through the sights of their weapons. They move as one autonomous unit. Each individual scans his own lane for threats. The squad maintains 360-degree security, keeping the business ends of their rifles oriented to immediately react to danger coming from any angle and direction.
They maneuver tactically through a maze of walls and come to a hallway, breaking into a three-way intersection. The team reacts instinctively. Two men hold security left, two right, two rear and two push forward to clear the room ahead of them.
"Police department! Police department!"
They breach the room. Gunshots ring out in controlled pairs and spent .556mm shells fall to the concrete floor.
"Room clear!"
Carbon-scented smoke wisps out into the hallway and the men exit the room, rifles again oriented to provide security in all directions. They move methodically from room to room, each man switching from a defensive to aggressive posture when needed to maintain security around them. They clear the entire complex, rolling through it as smoothly as the smoke from their barrels.
"All right let's restack and clear it from the other side now," said one of the men in black.
They regroup and repeat the scenario.
The 17 police officers of the Noblesville Police Department's Emergency Response Unit are keeping their tactical expertise and technique current and relevant through this state-of-the-art training offered at the Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center's Live Fire Shoot House on May 13.
The ERU is essentially a SWAT team, but with added responsibility.
The shoot house is a training facility that allows military and law enforcement agencies to practice urban operations and room-clearing techniques using live ammunition.
"It's not John Wayne, kick the door in and everyone runs in firing at once. That's not how we operate," said Staff Sgt. Michael Kelley, the Camp Atterbury Range Manager for Urban Operations. "You've gotta make sure it's a smooth transition; getting in that facility or in that room because your personnel's lives are on the line. You could very easily take one of your own guys out just like you could the enemy if you don't have adequate training in this kind of a situation."
The complex is completely enclosed in steel. The ceilings and walls of the building are covered in a form of rubber, set in place to absorb ricochets and eliminate injuries.
High-tech dummies wielding simulated weapons are spread out inside the shoot house. They're equipped with sensors that respond to pressure and make the dummies fall when they are shot, adding to the realism of the training scenario.
Maybe one of the most advanced aspects of the training venue is the entire facility is under video surveillance. This enables the trainers to review and critique the trainees by running back the video and breaking down the scenario on a play-by-play basis.
"In the Army 10 years ago, the average person would not have seen a live fire shoot house," said Kelley. "This was more for your special operations, rangers, infantry types. Iraq and Afghanistan has changed the face in the way we train. We're a lot more up close and personal with the enemy. We're trying to adapt to the battlefield. Part of the adaptation is coming into an environment like this and letting people get hands on training in a live fire shoot house scenario."
Since the Camp Atterbury shoot house opened last year, more than 4,000 military and law enforcement personnel have used the facilities, firing more than 38,000 rounds without a single injury. Weapons systems used in the facility range from 9mm pistols to assault rifles and shotguns.
The training scenario presents an array of situations that the Noblesville ERU officers may face on a day-to-day basis on duty.
"The techniques and the drills that were running here have real world, practical applications," said ERU Commander Lt. Jon Williams. "The live fire shoot house is so flexible. It's got so many different rooms and hallways that we can make the analogy to a house, a school, an apartment building or a hotel room."
Often, pre-determined scenarios will be laid out for the trainees to respond to inside the shoot house, based upon the unit's job or mission.
"Basically, when our team is running the live fire shoot house, it may be a hostage situation, maybe it's a barricaded suspect, or we may slow things down a bit and simply just work on room entries. Regardless of the type of operation we go on, there's going to be some type of an entry; two-man entries, four-man entries, clearing hallways and so on."
The live fire shoot house is the only one of its kind in the state of Indiana, making it a sought after venue for agencies across the region.
"This has been an arrangement that we've very happily been able to take advantage of to train at this facility," said Chief of Police Kevin Jowitt, Noblesville Police Department. "We don't have anything like this in the metro Indy area. The advantages of firing in a live fire shooting house are huge. It's really about the most realistic type of simulation training they can do, short being actually operational.
"I think the opportunity here is just phenomenal. This component training for our team happens twice a year. They do a lot of other training back in Noblesville and down in central Indiana but this is probably the most intense portion of their training. We really appreciate Camp Atterbury and the Army making this training available to us."
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2010 19:18 |
| Story ID: | 50080 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 345 |
| Downloads: | 219 |
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