I recently had the opportunity to dress in full riot gear and do a simulated building invasion. Above and beyond it being exceeding cool to be carrying an M15 and a Glock on my hip, the vest I was wearing had all the bells and whistles that would make any SWAT team member envious.
The first piece of equipment I had strapped onto me was a harness that included a belt with shoulder straps that positioned the Glock at hip level on my right side. Next was a black tactical vest with the ceramic plate to prevent any shotgun rounds from piercing the vest. The M15 was attached to a strap that was slung around my body and over my shoulder. Finally I was topped off with a SWAT helmet, which didn’t really fit and almost flew across the room while we were doing the building invasion.
The harness, which held the Glock, was uncomfortable. However, the convenience of having the gun in my hands with one flick of my thumb far outweighed any inconvenience that the harness presented. While standing around I repeatedly reached down, trying to get a feel for unharnessing that particular piece of weaponry. Within ten minutes I realized how easy it was to reach down, flip the safety on the harness and pull the handgun out, ready to fire on the enemy.
The M15 that hung around my neck was at times cumbersome. I did have the added advantage of wearing so much equipment on the vest that having an M15 draped down my body was easy to get use to and at no time did it ever bang against my legs or cause me to get tripped up. Carrying the rifle felt powerful, however, my hands were really too small to use the M15 effectively. I’m sure after repeated use I could get a handle on swinging the gun up from in front of my body and using it to force the bad guys to obey my commands. It would take me a while to get use to all of the equipment that I had strapped to my body, but not the Glock, I liked having the Glock and got use to that real quick.
Both guns had lights on the end of them, this feature made it easy to spotlight the room as we entered the building. I was on the team that veered right, securing a small space that held few obstacles. I moved into the box shaped room and positioned myself to the left of the door and held my position with my back to the wall. I used the flashlight on the end of the M15 to check for our suspect. My partner entered behind me, doing a full sweep of the interior of the room. We were clear. Our suspect was in another area of the building.
Of course this was a simulated exercise, in a real takedown I’m sure adrenalin would be pumping through my veins making my heart race through my chest. A few of the other women who participated in the exercise told me later that they were afraid when they entered the building. I stayed calm so I could remember every detail and share the experience.
The stories from the SWAT team were very interesting. A few of the guys talked about standing on top of Flashbangs as they went off, not even being effected by the flash of light and or the noisy explosion. They all said that adrenalin pumped through their veins before each takedown, keeping them on their toes as they moved into position. Smooth is fast, was one phrase they kept repeating over and over. SWAT teams are to move into an area smoothly, not rushing into a room, running over themselves and the suspects. They want to move smoothly over the area, checking every nook and cranny as they go. Tunnel vision was one phenomenon that they warned against. Moving too fast can create tunnel vision, keeping you from staying sharp as you invade a building.
I enjoyed getting dressed up with about forty pounds of equipment strapped to my body and moving through the paces of a building invasion, but I’m glad that I just write about police officers and not live it on a daily basis.
