Joint Non-Lethal Training Builds Confidence Across the Installation

Joint Base Lewis-McChord – On 29 September 2021, a team from the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) attempted to answer the age old question, would you rather get tased or OC sprayed?

A group of over two dozen Soldiers at JBLM came together for a collaborative training experience. Military Police from the 504th Military Police Battalion and a team from 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) worked together to create a training experience that would be valuable for both sides.

For the Military Police, this was an opportunity to train on how to move through the non-lethal escalation of force on a non-complaint subject in a realistic training environment. For the 1SFG(A) team, this served as a way to gain exposure to two different forms of non-lethal weapons.

SSG Smith, an INWIC (Inter-service Non-lethal Individual Weapons Instructor Course) instructor from the 504th MP BN said, “Our Soldiers don’t employ non-lethal weapons in a realistic scenario often, so this was a great way to gain comfortability and confidence in their non-lethal capabilities.” SSG Smith continued, “You could tell that as the training progressed throughout the day, our MPs got a better understanding of the force continuum.”

For the trainees from 1SFG(A), most of them indicated that this was their first time encountering these experiences. One member of the 1SFG(A) laughed after he was able to recover from Neuromuscular

Incapacitation (NMI) and stated that he had no idea he was going to be engaged with any non-lethal weapons when he woke up in the morning. He still said that he was grateful for the opportunity to train in a real-life scenario, plus he enjoyed watching his teammates endure the same experience.

At the end of the day, there still was still no consensus as to whether being tased or OC sprayed was worse, but there was an agreement between all that this was valuable joint training and relationship building across post. Each section gained a better understanding of the other’s capabilities and showed respect for each other on their unique mission sets.