Thursday, September 2, 2010

I'm very sorry for that really goofy update from Monday :)

At that point I was about 10 minutes away from participating in an interactive "Shoot - Don't Shoot" exercise and I was in slight panic mode. I have to say that it was quite possibly the most amazing experience I've had since I've been an officer. It opened up an entire can of worms for me :), now I see the holes in my abilities and the lack of training I have, I've been fortunate to be able to ride and participate, but there is so much to be said for having the knowledge and the skills to be comfortable while I'm out on the streets.

It's a far cry from my padded dispatch chair, let me tell you. The system that we used was the MILO system, don't ask me to tell you what that stands for, but it is essentially one giant first person video game that has the ability to change depending on how you react, whether you give verbal commands or simply shoot. Some of the scenarios included traffic stops, home invasions, convenience store burglaries and active shooter calls, including an officer down scenario.

It was a huge eye-opener, because the moment I put my gun on everytime I ride these thoughts go through my head, what will I do if I have to use my weapon? What am I going to do if I have to restrain a suspect? I've been shown some stuff, but the amount of actual training I've had is very limited.

The readers who have spouses in LE, be grateful for the training they have, because it will save their lives if ever its necessary, the saying train like you work, definitely isn't something to take lightly. It's not something to take for granted, either. I'm anxiously awaiting the chance to get into academy, so that I have all the training to ensure that I come home every night.

Stay sage out there :)

3 comments:

  1. I was wondering if thats what you were doing...we have 2 things like that, one is call 'FATS' (firearm training simulation) and there's another one that actually fires little things back out at you...I've done the first one and it's intense. really intense. Glad you got to experience it!! :)

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  2. It was a lot of fun (if nerve wracking lol). All the guys were familiar with the FATS system and were pretty impressed with this system. I'm looking forward to trying it again for sure.

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