FORT SILL, Okla. Sept. 3, 2015 -- Lt. Col. John Spivey, Fort Sill provost marshall, doesn't want the post's law enforcement to be qualified to use their weapon if a situation calls for it; he wants them to be experts.
Typically the officers take to the range twice a year to test their weapon skills. They created specific training and a new range under Spivey's direction for a "proficiency shoot" in a mission that was simply broken down as, "shoot until your fingers bleed."
Each of the 94 Soldiers and civilians trained according to their shift schedule. If they normally took to their squad car or office position at 2 a.m., then they would fire at 2 a.m.
Sgt. Roger McCardle, Directorate of Emergency Services (DES), said they received extensive support from Range Control, the 40th Military Police Division and the Engagement Skills Trainer staff so they could train from 2 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Altogether, 54,000 9-mm rounds and 3,000 12-gauge shells were shored up from other law enforcement agencies to put together this unprecedented training.
"We're at the end of the fiscal year so I just called around to which units hadn't utilized all their ammunitiion and weren't planning on using it before October 1," said Sgt. Christian Soldat, DES. Soldat was responsible for accumulating the ammunition and said with the help of McCardle and Lt. Scott Cox the training has been a success.
Soldat said this is far beyond the allotted ammunition a Soldier or civilian is supposed to get to qualify every six months. Generally the law enforcement officer will shoot 100 rounds: 50 for familiarization and 50 for qualification.
"We're leaps and bounds above the training trek for police officers," said Soldat.
Each officer receives three 8-hour days of training. First they get familiar with the weapons at the EST 2000, then they shoot at a qualification range before they take on the combat course, or "stress shoot."
Before picking up their weapon on their final course they have to do some type of physical exercise; whether it's dragging a dummy across the lanes, box jumps or push-ups. The goal is to simulate shooting with adrenaline.
"We don't try to give them a heart attack we just try to get their heart rate up because what we want them to do is breathe heavy," said McCardle.
Immediately after, they pick up a 9 mm pistol and fire at 50-meter metal targets that give pings as instant feedback. They move on to double-tapping the next round of targets before they pick up and load a shotgun with five shells.
They have to shoot and move at four targets before taking cover and concealment to reload for the next round of targets. The course is laid out so they have to take corners to simulate entering a room and searching for the subject.
At the end, each officer practiced quick draw techniques.
"They did a bang up job. The whole course, the setup you couldn't ask for better. It was out of the whole routine of training and shooting at a paper target," said Lt. David Rodriguez, DES.
McCardle said only Fort Sill's Special Reaction Team has received this type of training before and now the overall force on post is more prepared for emergency situations.
"The Department of Defense leads the way as far as training. So when people are thinking one shooter, we're thinking five shooters. That's how we're training now. We're training for multiple shooters in an active shooter scenario," said McCardle. "You have to have that confidence -- you know what to do and how to do it in real life. This was some of the best training they've ever had."
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