JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
On a breezy Thursday morning at the Medina Base Annex shooting range at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Security Forces Squadron Defenders and local law enforcement suited up in full Special Weapons and Tactics gear, then lined up in front of a row of targets with fingers hovering over the triggers of their pistols.
This exercise was part of a five-day, 60-hour basic SWAT certification course hosted by the 802nd Security Forces Squadron at JBSA May 1-5. During this exercise, all 15 participants were tasked with launching a single shot into their respective targets as fast as possible – but the game came with a catch.
Each new shooter had to wait until their teammate to their left had finished firing.
“Shots!” an instructor cried out as the bullets began to fly. The group made it down the line erratically – some trainees shooting fast while others shooting more methodically.
“That’s weak! We can’t be going that slow!” another instructor chided the group.
As the group groaned and reset its position, the strain of their task seemed to set in. Shoulders slumped from hours of grueling physical training. Sweat poured over eyes that had been open since the early morning hours. Tempers grated.
And there were still two more days to go.
The basic SWAT course included a heavy dose of PT, team building tasks and basic classroom history before it built up to marksmanship drills, tactical maneuvers and situational exercises.
And if these physical requirements weren’t taxing enough, the course came with just as many mental components, said Tech. Sgt. Brian Fowler, 802nd SFS emergency services team NCOIC. As the course leader, Fowler was tasked with melding together a training team with participants from the 802nd and 902nd SFS Defenders, and a civilian police officer from the city of Shavano Park in northwest San Antonio.
Besides corralling both military and civilian law enforcement, Fowler had an even more important task: getting both groups to realize SWAT training wasn’t a movie.
“Hollywood has spoiled these guys,” Fowler chuckled. “A lot of them came here thinking that SWAT operations are drawn-out action sequences.”
As the course demonstrated, the reality of SWAT operations is much grittier, more dangerous, and shorter than the iconic shootout scenes in blockbuster movies.
“Most of the operations we are training for take place in the dark, in close quarters, and with a crowd of people around you,” Fowler noted. “So in a basic SWAT course, we actually focus on little things like holding your firearm safely so you don’t shoot your teammates accidentally, and moving around in tactical gear.”
During the course, the team also received a refresher in medical theory and other often-overlooked bits of information.
“We’re teaching these trainees that they aren’t going to take down a bad guy with one shot, like you might see on TV,” Fowler said. “Even someone who’s shot in the heart multiple times might still have enough oxygenated blood to operate for another 15 seconds. They might not even know they’re dead, but they’ll have enough time to fire back at you.”
That attention to detail could mean the difference between life and death, said Officer Daniel Highland, a police officer from the San Antonio-area city of Shavano Park.
Highland, who is also a nurse, is a former Navy and Army special operations medic. As the more experienced members of the course, Highland made it a point to share his experience with the rest of the team.
“Each leader needs to be continually imparting knowledge on the younger generation,” Highland said. “That builds a really good bond. So if something was to happen on the base – or out in town – and we had to call upon each other, we would be able to work well together.”
Highland was glad to be training alongside different types of law enforcement. Coordinated, inter-agency operations are relatively common in South Texas, especially when it comes to efforts to thwart drug and human trafficking in the region, said Highland.
“This happens more often than you think,” Highland said. “In my town, we are surrounded by Bexar County. We’re surrounded by SAPD. We’re near (JBSA) but because of our similar SWAT training backgrounds, we will be able help each other if we need to.”
Fellow course participant Staff Sgt. Kathryn Patchoski, 802nd SFS military working dog handler, is hoping to use the course training to incorporate another type of ally into the fight.
“I want to be able to take my dog, Mika, and be able to integrate her in a (SWAT) operation like this,” Patchoski said. “It would be great if we could start clearing rooms with dogs like her. You can just release her towards a hostile (situation), and save a lot of people behind us.”
For Airman 1st Class Jordan Barber, 902nd SFS installation entry controller, the course has been tough, but worth the pain.
“This has been so much hard work, we haven’t had time for any attitudes around here,” Barber laughed. “We all thought we were going to start off doing all that SWAT stuff you see (in the movies) but no – we took a giant log on our shoulders and jogged to Burger King.”
While Barber sees a place for himself in law enforcement in the future, his SWAT certification might seem ironic given his other career passion.
“I’ve always wanted to become a chaplain,” Barber said. “But with SWAT, that’s another way to protect people and to take care of the bad guys.”
Staff Sgt. Richard Lotterer, 802nd SFS command support staff, is also keeping an open mind towards a future in law enforcement.
“I’m just keeping my doors open,” Lotterer said. “Civilian law enforcement has definitely piqued my interest after taking a course like this.”
“You can definitely tell these guys have a different level of professionalism, and a more experienced way of doing things” Lotterer said. “They’re more focused on a team of 15 than mass training for 300-400 people. So we’re improving on our communication, on our (cohesion), and in that regard, we’ve made a huge jump from day one of the course.”
And after several days of meshing together, Fowler already saw that cohesion taking hold of the group.
“After about day four, these guys are really getting it,” Fowler noted. “It’s been great to watch.”
As the group lined up to re-try the line-shooting exercise, there was a marked difference in their posture.
Their shoulders were squarer. Stances were firmer. The group radiated an aggressive confidence with some shouting out words of encouragement before they took their cue.
“Shots!” the instructor shouted.
This time, the shots rang out evenly, blistering down the line much faster.
“Now they’re working together,” Fowler smiled. “It’s about time.”