TARGET HARDENING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT • ACTIVE SHOOTER INCIDENT COMMAND •RECCE OPS •HEAD IN THE SAND
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VOLUME 9 • NUMBER 4
“SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL”
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Counter
The Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 VOLUME 9 • NUMBER 4
COVER STORY: 26
CONTENTS
26
8
50
56
“SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL”: MORAL INVERSION AND THE WAR ON LAW ENFORCEMENT by Sgt. Glenn Schenk
FEATURES: 08
9MM AR-15 by Editorial Staff
12
IS YOUR ACTIVE SHOOTER TRAINING READY FOR THE AFTERMATH? by Steve Hynes
44
HOW CAN LAW ENFORCEMENT HARDEN SCHOOLS AND OTHER SOFT TARGETS IN THEIR AOR PREPARING THE SCHOOL FACULTY FOR AN ACTIVE SHOOTER EVENT by Amery Bernhardt
50 56
HEAD IN THE SAND by Colonel Mike Cheston BUILDING A RANGE KIT. by Editorial Staff
60
RECONNAISSANCE OPERATIONS by Orlando Wilson
DEPARTMENTS: 06
From the Editor
40
Book Review
66
Innovative Products
70
Training Review
The Myth of the double tap Islamic Fascism by Abdel-Samad
Improvised Weapons, A Higher Standard in Education, Lenco, Patriot3 SWAT Certification Course
Cover Photo: Photo by: Nicholas Upton
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 5
Counter The
FROM THE EDITOR:
The Myth of the Double tap. by Garret Machine
H
ow many times do you shoot an adversary? Often in training scenarios the phrase “two to the body and one to the head” is used. But anyone that has been involved in military combat operations or even a law enforcement shootout will attest to the fact that 2+1 is insufficient and unrealistic. First, let’s look at it from a practical perspective: Can you hit a headshot on an animated adversary who is returning fire and closing distance in a crowded situation? Can you do it under extreme psychological and physical stress? Most importantly, can you afford to fail? The answer to all these questions should be no. Second, in a gunfight you cannot see the holes or hits on your adversary’s body. So unlike a two-dimensional paper target, where most shooters attempt to see the hits and correct, or shoot aim, shoot aim… you cannot see the holes or impact points. In real life that’s not practical, what you should be doing is aiming with your body and confirming with your eyes, you must have First Shot Placement Guarantee. Then if all else (grip, sights, trigger…) are in order your subsequent rounds will follow the first. Holding shot breaks between .20–.33sec you should be able to have 3–5 rounds on your enemy in about one second. By the time his brain registers he was shot once, he will be hit several more times in that moment in time and unable to immediately react. Once your adversary is de-animated and considerably more stable, you will then take the neutralization head shot. Most likely he will be on the ground by then, so your controlled head shot will have to wait about 2.0 seconds +/- after your last body shot. You will then get the permanent cessation of deadly behavior you desire. Q: How many times do you shoot an adversary? A: Until you get the desired result. Q: Where do you aim initially? A: Greatest mass area, contributing to a fast drop in blood pressure (65 systolic), which will lead to the inability to function. Q: When do you take the neutralization shot? A: Once all dominant threats are addressed with a 3–5 round rhythm set. Make your training more realistic by shooting three-dimensional targets with clothes on such as department store manikins. Attach them to the targeting system at an indoor range and have someone else run the cables to create animation. Place a separate small cardboard box on the ground and run the drill like it’s real life: 3-5 rounds into that moving target and then transition down to the small box (Think 6"X6"X6") and take your neutralization shot. If you suspect your adversary is armed with a bomb, neutralize from cover. To better grasp this concept one can refer to videos of the attack in the Istanbul airport in June to see the value of that neutralization head shot. Without it, the terrorist was able to detonate after being shot several times at close range to the body. Assume there is a dead man’s switch (or remote activation), in which case neutralization must be done from cover. Remember, where there is one, there are many.
Garret Machine Editor, The Counter Terrorist
Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals
VOLUME 9 • NUMBER 4
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 Editor Garret Machine Director of Operations Carmen Arnaes Director of Advertizing Sol Bradman Administrative Ashley Villegas Contributing Editors Sgt. Glenn Schenk Steve Hynes Amery Bernhardt Colonel Mike Cheston Orlando Wilson Graphic Design Morrison Creative Company Copy Editor Laura Town
Advertising Sales Sol Bradman bradman@homelandsecurityssi.com 305-302-2790 Publisher: Security Solutions International 13155 SW 134th St. • STE 103 Miami, Florida 33186
ISSN 1941-8639 The Counter Terrorist Magazine, Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals is published by Security Solutions International LLC, as a service to the nation’s First Responders and Homeland Security Professionals with the aim of deepening understanding of issues related to Terrorism. No part of the publication can be reproduced without permission from the publisher. The opinions expressed herein are the opinions of the authors represented and not necessarily the opinions of the publisher. Please direct all Editorial correspondence related to the magazine to: Security Solutions International SSI, 13155 SW 134th Street, Suite 103, Miami, Florida. 33186 or info@thecounterterroristmag.com The subscription price for 6 issues is $34.99 and the price of the magazine is $5.99. (1-866-573-3999) Fax: 1-786-573-2090. For article reprints, e-prints, posters and plaques please contact: Security Solutions International at villegas@homelandsecurityssi.com or call 786-573-3999 Please visit the magazine web site where you can also contact the editorial staff:
www.thecounterterrroristmag.com © 2016 Security Solutions International
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9MM AR-15 8 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
by Editorial Staff
When I first entered the IDF, the UZI was hardly used but for some specific applications in certain police, security, and CT units. I remember I received two days of initial training on the mini-UZI and UZI-Pro after all other weapons training was complete.
I
never used an UZI operationally and remember only a few missions where we got it dirty. What’s the benefit of this weapon system? It’s small and compact, so it can easily be hidden, has a high rate of fire, high capacity, and simple operation, and it also works well in close spaces.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak used the UZI on the first ever SOF takedown of a hijacked aircraft. The Sabena flight from Vienna to Israel in 1972 was taken back by force, and 2 of the hijackers were killed and the other 2 wounded within 120 seconds from the breach. Netanyahu and Barak set
a precedent for leadership and selfless service and went on to become great leaders of the nation. They would later go on to serve as prime minister and minister of defense, respectively, while I was a soldier. I looked up to these men and wished to emulate their contribution. Equally the UZI was combat proven
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 9
…there is one way to go for 90% of your operational use: a 14.5” or 11.5” AR15 platform chambered in 5.56 NATO and a highcapacity duty sidearm (we used a 19C/17C). once again, having a high cycle rate, high capacity, controllability, and reliability. All are redeeming qualities in battle. I remember it well; I hated the open-bolt system of the standard UZI. Unlike traditional training courses in firearms (most are familiar with), in the IDF everything is done physically in the field, not theoretically, not with PowerPoint. You are given a weapon with a barrel plug and so starts the dry practice until you collapse. Day one we didn’t even fire a shot, it was all manipulation, deployment, magazine changes, drawing from a hide, etc. Enter the SBR, only in North America do we so concern ourselves legally with collapsible stocks and barrel-length regulations. Overseas it’s called an M4 Flat top Commando, and there are few options for customization. At least that’s the name of the weapon I was issued. It had an 11.5" barrel, so it was smaller than the full-sized 20" weapon I had in basic training but bigger than the UZI; it was compact and had 5.56 ballistics, meaning it almost made the UZI obsolete. Some units were using Glock pistols with stocks installed or external housings like the FAB Defense KPOS and Command Arms RONI to give it the advantage the UZI had but to use Glocks they already owned and knew how to work. It was a bad idea. One great thing about the IDF is the willingness to try and test new weapons and methods. Like the Corner Shot, remember that? We had them in my unit for a while. The Tavor, about 50% of the IDF is now using them,
however, not the direct-action CT units (think Yamam, Yamas, Duvdevan), well at least not yet. Finally they came up with the idea of using 9mm AR-15 configured weapons. We had a few Colt 9mm ARs, so we didn’t have to be retrained like with the open-bolt UZIs. If you have a malfunction on an open-bolt UZI and don’t first pull back the charging handle, you could have the weapon go off without pulling the trigger just by stripping out the magazine. Don’t fix it if it’s not broken. Several units had specific applications for specific weapons, aircraft assault (although not common), bus assault (a much more common mission in the IDF), trains, vehicle tactics, security operations, and close-quarters combat. They all wanted a tight package that could be easily controlled and be reliable and versatile as well. After seeing these used in various units and applications, there is one way to go for 90% of your operational use: a 14.5" or 11.5" AR15 platform chambered in 5.56 NATO and a high-capacity duty sidearm (we used a 19C/17C). Those two weapons will solve most problems, and after all the experimentation I saw the units doing, they circled back to that. Of course I am not addressing sniper teams, silenced weapons, and other breaching tools with very narrow applications; I am talking about the assaulters’ weapons. The Tavor is another story and has its pros and cons versus the M4. I decided a few years back that I wanted to have something I call V-EDC:
10 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
Vehicle Every Day Carry, which is not what’s on my person but readily accessible anywhere I go, similar to our QRF (Quick Reaction Force) vehicles in the army. Just a little extra that goes unnoticed until I need it. I thought that having a compact weapon that has a high cycle rate, high capacity, controllability, and reliability would be perfect. Enter the Lone Wolf R&D 9mm AR15 pistol. Why the 9mm versus 5.56 for the car? To begin, if I ever need to use this, it will be in a reactionary scenario where it will be deployed for immediate use. I will most likely have little to no additional gear on my person. I want to be able to interchange magazines with my pistol, but I want the accuracy and fast target acquisition I can get with a long gun and the red dot reflex site. AR15 operating system and ergonomics makes it ideal for use under stress and in tight quarters. I can grab this weapon and two Glock stick magazines in my pocket and will have ample fuel for both weapon systems should the need arise. A good place to keep this weapon is behind the passenger seat on the floor. With tinted windows and some “dirty” laundry on top of it, no one will be the wiser, and you can get to it with a quickness. Some ranges will let you live drill deployment, and your garage will allow you to dry drill it. One thing I really liked about the Lone Wolf was its rugged construction and reliability. I used and abused it out on the range, allowed others to use it in training courses, and traveled with it to teach. I was able to use my standard M4 shooting stance, ergonomics for controls and optics, lights, etc. I would highly recommend putting any new weapon through its paces and really running it to failure to know where that failure point is. The LWD G9 proved to be easy to use, reliable, and rugged.
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The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 11
IS YOUR ACTIVE SHOOTER TRAINING READY FOR THE AFTERMATH? 12 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
by Steve Hynes
In 1996 I was issued a M16A1, an M14, a Remington shotgun, and my duty weapon (a Glock 21). I was told by my boss that whatever I get myself into, I had better be prepared to get myself out of. (I was a patrol deputy in rural Colorado.)
I
n 2000 I attended my first active shooter training and full-scale exercise involving the 4-officer “diamond� formation. (This tactic always reminded me of the TLZ formation we would take when jumping out of a Huey.) This tactic was in direct response to the Columbine HS shooting. I was working in South Florida by then, and backup was always available. Now, fast-forward 20 years and
Photo by: Tech. Sgt. Matt Hecht
here we are looking at immediate response tactics to eliminate heavily armed criminal and terrorist threats. We have expanded first responder tactics to include rapid medical response teams, casualty collection points, rally points, small unit tactics, team tactics, SWAT tactics, and most currently individual officer tactics. We spend a lot of time on training and exercising these operationally based tactics.
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 13
What I am wondering about is when was the last time your agency conducted training on command management planning? In instances of active shooter incidents (excluding terrorist acts), they all end by one of the below: • suspect committing suicide • officer eliminating suspect • suspect being arrested These incidents are active for a few moments, but what about the aftermath? This involves setting up the mass casualty incident response and mass mortality incident plan; the crime scene process; the investigation; doing interviews with victims, witnesses, and suspects; assessing property damage; engaging community recovery; interacting with the news media; obtaining warrants; case filing; branding and marketing; dealing with economic impacts; etc., etc., etc. Each step must be addressed and planned for carefully, and the lack of proper training in regards to command management planning can have long lasting effects on the community. So, when was the last time community stakeholder leaders and public safety command staff members along with elected officials exercised their ability to manage such an incident and make clear executive decisions? Active shooter scene dynamics change depending on many variables: geographical location (did it happen in a tourism area, rural part of state, metro area, etc.), type of location (government property, local business, convention center, school, etc.), victim type (children, elderly, racially focused, religious affiliation, gender specific, etc.), number of victims (did the injured or dead quickly overwhelm your ability to render aid and serve the community?), and type of media coverage (terrorist related, lone wolf, disgruntled employee, domestic violence). All of
these change the scene dramatically. Jurisdictional concerns include such questions as do you have properties that are in overlapping jurisdictions, did the scene involve transportation entities, is the incident terrorist related which means federal jurisdictional issues, and were explosives or hazardous materials involved? The recent terrorist incidents in Paris and San Bernardino, CA,—and now Orlando, FL—caught strong media attention, but there was little “behind the scenes” coverage, and rightfully so.
14 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
When active shooter incidents involve explosives or terrorism, we run joint operations with federal agencies. (I’ll save the NIMS/ICS terms and dynamics for your ICS instructors.) In Paris, California, and Orlando the investigation is still ongoing. Outside of the fact that any act of terrorism is federal jurisdiction, you will be tasked with running a joint investigation led by the alphabet agencies. The federal agencies bring a lot of resources and talent to apprehend the offenders, but they will impact your
A South Florida Multi Agency Response Staging Area.
community every day, they are in your jurisdiction, and they will focus on the crime; the community is yours. They will need room to operate, they bring resources that attract a lot of attention, and every day they are there, the media is right there with them. A tremendous amount of manpower is reallocated to mitigate such an incident, and you still have a city that needs you to run everyday calls for service. Example: Back in 2001 I was a patrol officer. On September 12th I came into
Operational Command Center in the ICS (Incident Command Systems), National Incident Management System
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 15
briefing 15 mins early and my Sergeant said to get out to the FBI crime scene. I didn’t know it, but I just was assigned to the FBI crime scene security detail at Muhammad Atta’s apartment. The apartment was a few stories up, and I could see several media vans parked in every residential home driveway across the street from the apartment complex. (I later found out homeowners were getting a few hundred dollars a day for parking.) That’s the day I also discovered that those antennae periscopes on top of the media vans contain good cameras. (My mother called me up and wanted to know what the hell I was doing on TV.) The neighborhood was tense, people continually called 911 wanting to know what was going on (which overwhelmed our systems and manpower), and considering this was a tourism area, I doubt vacationers wanted anything to do with our city.
Let’s look at schools, for example. When innocents lose their lives to such horrific actions, there is an emotional impact to those that witnessed the incident. Employees that witnessed such horrors will no longer be productive. The witnesses, first responders, and crime scene investigators exposed to such scenes and incidents can have a higher likelihood of PTSD. To lessen these impacts, does your agency train in Critical Incident Stress Debriefings? This process involves evaluating any and all persons involved in the incident for signs and symptoms of PTSD. The impact to the community is just as devastating and can have ripple effects that last long after the incident. The treatment starts before they are sent home. Does the scene involve a manufacturing plant or major place of commerce? Shutting down such a
16 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
place as a crime scene for several days or weeks can have several ripple effects. The businesses no longer have the ability to produce products or sales, which can cause job loss and financial impacts. The business itself has a brand or image that can be permanently damaged by such an incident. Did you place the media staging area in a place that constantly advertises the incident in association with that company’s brand or property? How long will the scene need to be held? Can we shut down a school in the middle of a school year? Can we shut down a hospital ER or a large day care center? How about city hall, can we shut that down? If so, how long? Through all of these considerations, you need to keep in mind that the goal is not only to process the scene but also to recover as quickly as possible so that the community can heal and move forward.
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The location itself has a brand to protect. If I say Sandy Hook, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Orlando, FL, or even Naval Ship Yard, what pops in your mind? Case in point: Many years ago I was listening to a conversation between an executive of a major amusement park and corporate brand and my risk analysis/ threat assessment instructor. He explained that there would never be a crime scene picture of his corporate-owned property or brand. His company could not suffer the branding damage. He also made it clear that regardless of court orders or warrants no one would be allowed on his property without the corporation’s consent. This corporation not only has the property designed to keep out anyone they want but has the technology to prevent cell and Wi-Fi signal. This corporation also has a rapid response
maintenance team that will respond to any incident or accident and will clean, repair, paint, and cover up any incident to prevent branding issues. Does a company like this exist in your jurisdiction? If so, have you ever spoken with them to come up with a plan? Does your city, department, or agency work with the local Chamber of Commerce or local Marketing Cooperative? These entities have experts that understand branding and marketing and can try and get ahead of the pitfalls of branding and marketing image loss from such an event. (and if the thought “what do I care about that” runs through your head, I would suggest you keep in mind that if the local economy takes a hit so does your budget, pension, and future contract wages.) Invite these civilian entities to your tabletops so that they can understand what you are trying
These entities have experts that understand branding and marketing and can try and get ahead of the pitfalls of branding and marketing image loss from such an event.
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Palm Beach County Incident Command Tent.
ICS in Action.
to accomplish for public safety is and so that you can learn what the business community perspective is. Our tactics should never increase the damage that a suspect caused. Example: A few years ago I was a patrol sergeant involved in relieving night shift officers that were handling three different crime scenes involved in a homicide. One of these scenes involved
18 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
a gas station. The other two scenes were in residential areas, an alley, and an abandoned home. The crime scene investigators were on the alley and were planning to handle the gas station last. While on scene, the gas station owner approached me and we were having some “small talk.� It was during this time that the gas station had already lost $8,000.00 in sales due to our crime
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Staging Prior to Deployment
scene. Upon verifying that there was no chance of evidence destruction, I switched the order of crime scene process, placing the gas station first. The suspect did enough damage to our community image and businesses; why make the gas station owner suffer additional financial losses? Whenever we
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can, we must try to make sure our tactics do not make a situation worse for any community member. When was the last time your agency exercised with the medical examiner’s office? The medical examiner’s office (in most jurisdictions) has the legal responsibility to handle a Mass Mortality Incident. Do they have a current plan? Does your command staff know what it is? Is the medical examiner’s office capable of handling it, or do they need to call in a larger resource? If so, who and what will that larger entity’s response time be and what will their needs be? As the scene unfolds and grows, are persons being screened through triage, treatment, and transport and being separated into victims, witnesses, and suspects? Do you have enough personnel to cover the screening process? Is there a plan that covers multiple screening locations on the crime scene’s inner and outer perimeters, the hospital or hospitals, the suspect’s or suspects’ homes and places of work, the command post, the media staging area, the staging area, the family reunification center, the family assistance center—and don’t forget, you still have a community to
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prosecutor’s office have a view, policy, or procedure to follow? The Type “A” personality that is required to become a very good first responder allows us the ability to jump into the fray and deal with situations that others cannot. The training and years of experience enhance our ability to perform. But there is little training that addresses and enhances our ability to obtain good situational awareness (outside of the military which has some great training schools for this). As a public safety command staff member, you must ask yourself a few questions to obtain a better operational picture: • Will this incident involve a single or multiple operational periods? • Will this incident exceed my agency’s current capabilities? • Will my budget cover the additional expenses and overtime?
• Will this incident have any secondary or tertiary long-term effects to my community? • Will this incident involve the activation of Mutual Aid agreements, Memorandums of Understanding (MOU’s), or Memorandums of Agreement (MOA’s)? • What kind of support do I need to provide for outside agencies (food, water, housing, parking, office space, etc.)? • Do I have staff currently capable to command all the needs? If the answer is yes to any one of the above questions, then planning is needed at a command level. There are several ways to train for such command-level decision-making processes. One of the most cost-effective and efficient ways is to conduct tabletop exercises. Invite the public safety command staff members,
serve and 911 calls to handle. Depending on the incident, how much evidence is needed? Do you send in and expose your entire crime scene and detective unit to the carnage? How much evidence is needed on a scene when the suspect is deceased? How
would you select your personnel? Would you choose those that are not parents when kids are involved? What if the incident involves fellow first responders or popular members of the community or elected officials? Does this change who we expose to the scene and how we process the scene? Does the local
22 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
community leaders, and elected officials. Set up a scenario and discuss the problems and solutions. From these tabletops, plans are created, bonds are formed between community stakeholders, and a better understanding of everyone’s concerns and needs is developed. Those municipalities that are large enough to have an EOC within its jurisdiction have a distinct advantage, as they can rely on Emergency Management (EM)-trained professionals to guide them through the planning processes. Does your jurisdiction have an All Hazards Incident Management Team (AHIMT)? A recent Department of Justice After Action Report was published regarding the Ferguson and Baltimore incidents of civil unrest. In that report, the DOJ states that Ferguson had failed in their command management planning processes to set up proper command
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management systems to coordinate all law enforcement and governmental efforts. In caparison, Baltimore requested the assistance of an AHIMT to respond and assist the city of Baltimore with command management. (Note: AHIMT DO NOT take command; they execute the local authorities objectives.) The DOJ recognized the AHIMT as a pinnacle
role to the successful outcome of the Baltimore incident. When a private corporation does not have formally trained experts in the areas of logistics, finance, planning, media, etc., they hire consultants. In government public safety, this role is filled by an AHIMT. Check with your local EOC, find out who is the point of contact for your closest AHIMT, and get to know those folks; they could be instrumental to your success. The bottom line is operational tactics are important and personnel should always be trained to sharpen the tip of the spear. But we must be cautious not to focus so much energy and resources on operational tactics without applying the same amount of focus, energy, and training on the ability to implement proper and holistic recovery for the community that you serve.
•
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Steve served as a USN - FMF Hospital Corpsman from 1989 to 1993. He has been a law enforcement officer since 1996. His assignments have included: Patrol Officer, Detective, Training Officer, Patrol Sergeant, and Training Sergeant. He currently is assigned as the city of Delray Beach Director of Emergency Management under the Police Department. Steve is a Federal and State Certified Instructor and recognized expert in Firearms, Defensive Tactics, CBRNE/ Terrorism public safe.
24 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
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The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 25
“SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL”: MORAL INVERSION & THE WAR ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
26 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
By Sgt. Glenn Schenk
“Just as every cop is a criminal; And all the sinners saints; As heads is tails; Just call me Lucifer; ‘Cause I’m in need of some restraint” “Sympathy for the Devil” –The Rolling Stones (1968)
S
ince the summer of 2014, the American law enforcement community has increasingly come under a barrage of belligerent scrutiny not seen since the Rodney King beating controversy of the early 1990s, or even the civil unrest that gripped the nation in the 1960s and 1970s. Ferguson, Missouri. New York City. Cleveland, Ohio.
Charleston, South Carolina. Baltimore, Maryland. The common thread all these cities share is police utilizations of force, all of which have resulted in the high-profile deaths of suspects. Justified? Unjustified? That is the question. With over twenty years of police service, it has pained me and countless other fellow law enforcement officers
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 27
to see the nobility of our profession maligned and slandered to the extent it has in recent years. As cops, we expect that from the criminal element as well as those who despise any type of authority, including some in the media with their own anti-law enforcement agendas. It comes with the territory. What is troublesome is the propensity of much of the political establishment today to hastily reach preconceived judgments regarding such volatile instances. Are they reacting to intense pressure from their outraged constituents as well as reprobates on social media? Or are they heeding Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s notorious advice about “not letting a good crisis go to waste” in order to satisfy their craven agendas? Whatever their motivations, I cannot help but reflect on the verse from the song “Sympathy for the Devil”: “Just as every cop is a criminal; and All the sinners saints.” Has the professionalism of law enforcement decayed to the irreparable state where we are now the criminals? Has the plurality of American public opinion about the police shifted to mirror the negative sentiments shown to our returning military during the Vietnam era? Has the world really turned upside down, or is there actually something more insidious and subversive afoot.
ANTONIO GRAMSCI AND CULTURAL HEGEMONY In Melanie Phillips’ seminal work Londonistan, the author explores the gradual decline of English society through the abandonment of its traditional identity and values concurrent with an insidious Islamist movement permeating much of Britain under the cover of an
28 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
overly accommodating multiculturalism. Through the nefarious exploitation of Western freedoms, this movement seeks to eventually transform the once-great empire and center of Western culture into another outpost of an ever-expanding caliphate. It was once said, “The sun never sets on the British Empire,” and now Great Britain is seemingly headed towards its twilight. Phillips defined the significant contributing factor to this transformation as the rise of the nihilistic doctrines of postmodernism that have captured the institutions of traditional English society and national identity through the erosion and subversion of moral codes.1 Within an atmosphere of cultural relativity and moral equivalence, those who were once marginalized in society have switched roles to become the adjudicators of an inverted morality, while those on the flip side of the equation are targeted for blame and regarded as the old oppressive order. She traces the genesis of this technique of societal inversion to one of the most influential thinkers of the leftist movements of the past half-century: Italian communist political philosopher Antonio Gramsci. A founding member and one-time leader of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), Gramsci was most known for his theory of cultural hegemony. The father of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin, regarded the concept of hegemony to typify the political leadership of the working class in a democratic revolution. In the Marxist view, the working-class (proletariat) needed to develop its own culture to dislodge the notion that capitalist ruling class (bourgeoisie) values represented the accepted conventional values of a society. Gramsci expanded on
the concept to explain how the ruling class was able to maintain its control over a capitalist state.2 Under his theory of cultural hegemony, the notion of the “state” is divided into two components. First, the “political society” is defined as the platform of political institutions and legal constitutional control embodied in societal components such as the police, the military, and the legal system. Second, the “civil society” is regarded as the private or “non-state” platform mediating between the state and the economy embodied in the family, the educational system, trade unions, etc. Gramsci claimed the capitalist state is thus able to dominate a diverse society not only by force but by the consent of the “civil society” through the manipulation of beliefs, perceptions, values, and cultural mores that become the societal norm.3
MORAL INVERSION AND LAW ENFORCEMENT Revisiting Londonistan, Melanie Phillips wrote that Gramsci proposed the most effective means of overturning a Western capitalist society to be subverting its culture and morality from within, as opposed to the more traditional Marxist strategy of fostering a mobilization of workers for a violent revolution to overthrow the ruling class and eventually usher in a communist state worldwide. In Gramsci’s cultural war, the moral beliefs of the majority of society would be inverted, and the beliefs of those marginal elements would become dominant as the “new normal” through the ruthless enforcement of this secular and nihilistic ideology. To achieve this cultural inversion, all of society’s institutions would have to be captured
Radical lawyers, the vanguards of the hard left, are relentless in their never-ending campaign of manipulative lawfare to advance their various causes. and transformed: educational institutions, churches, voluntary groups, the media, the legal profession, and… the police.4 Arguably, Gramsci’s strategy of cultural hegemony is at work in America today. The controversial Common Core curriculum is creeping its way through local schools, while some institutions of higher learning have transformed into cauldrons of leftist indoctrination. Some churches and civic groups champion sanctuary cities and uncontrolled immigration through open borders despite the threats posed to American sovereignty and national security. The “mainstream” media and Hollywood are hopelessly left leaning. Radical lawyers, the vanguards of the hard left, are relentless in their neverending campaign of manipulative lawfare to advance their various causes. Lastly, the American military has been targeted for transformation into a platform for “progressive” social experimentation at the expense of a jeopardized national defense. American law enforcement has not remained unscathed by Gramsci’s strategy. One example is the push for all law enforcement officers to wear body cameras as a panacea to controversial use of force issues. Although the majority of videos exonerate officers, one can’t help but feel there is a very subtle message being conveyed to law enforcement: We don’t believe you. We don’t trust you. Another example is a link to a website under the instructor resources section
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 29
Photograph of a Female Demonstrator Offering a Flower to a Military Police Officer on October 21, 1967. Photo by: Department of Defense
of the 2013 version of the Community Diversity topic for the Ohio state peace officer training curriculum. When one visits that website, they are greeted by a large icon proclaiming “Getting Together For Social Justice”. (Whenever the phrase “social justice”’ is encountered, a literal “red flag” with the hammer and sickle should go up.) An exploration of the site reveals a litany of leftist progressive “social justice” issues and buzzwords such as racial justice, gender justice, economic justice,
30 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
white privilege, Islamophobia, Christian hegemony, and the “Occupy” movement.5 Lastly, there are the controversial recommendations published by the Police Executive Research Forum in the report titled “Use of Force: Taking Policing to a Higher Standard” featuring “30 Guiding Principles.”6 Law enforcement writer Missy O’Linn regarded the document as “a continuation of the politically motivated, irrational and unrealistic approach to use of force that was presented at the PERF conference in 2015.”7 Some of the “ridiculous and impossible” criteria the report recommended include adopting policies calling for a(n) (impossibly) higher standard for uses of force while discarding the time-tested legal standard of “objective reasonableness” of Graham v. Connor; making sure police use of force meets the “test of proportionality” by taking into account the (unenlightened and untrained) general public’s view
of the action(s) taken; and, lastly, abandoning the “outdated” concept of the “21-foot rule” regarding the reactionary gap where officers use a firearm to subdue a subject armed with an edged weapon, while suggesting officers should be trained to wrestle those weapons out of a suspect’s control. Proponents of these measures, some with undeniably leftist academic pedigrees, discount the fact that American law enforcement has developed into the well-educated, highly trained, and specialized profession that it is today. They remain steadfast in their objective of “evolving” the role of law enforcement in society, and misguided efforts like the PERF guidelines report give credence to the presence of Gramsci’s strategy in practice. Ultimately, such efforts will only make it more difficult and dangerous for police officers to protect and serve.
RED SPECTER: THEN AND NOW While some leftists have opted to implement their objectives through more legitimate means as they employ Gramsci’s strategy of moral inversion, there are those who hearken to the more violent methods of the past. In his compelling book Days of Rage, author Bryan Burrough chronicled the forgotten leftist revolutionary movements like The Weather Underground, The Black Liberation Army (BLA), The Puerto Rican Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN), and others that rampaged across America during the social upheaval of the late 1960s and early 1970s. As diverse as those organizations were, they all shared a unified hatred of American ideals and institutions and strove to “make a better world” via leftist
revolutionary means. Their misguided idealism was ultimately impotent in fostering the Marxist/Maoist revolution of the masses they so naively believed would happen. One of the troubling legacies that Burrough found, though, was the example the leading figures set
for the new generation of “Social Justice Warriors” of today to follow, including some in the Occupy movement.8 Take, for example, apparel with the phrase, “Assata Taught Me.” Most people would say, “Who?” Assata Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, was a
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Photo by: Jason Taellious member of the Black Liberation Army convicted for the 1973 murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout between police and the BLA. The BLA was most notorious for the murders of numerous police officers across the nation in the 1970s. Sentenced to life in prison, Shakur was aided by the BLA in her escape and fled to communist
32 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
Cuba, where she resides to this day.9 A Google search of protests today involving groups like Black Lives Matter will undoubtedly yield some protesters donning “Assata” garb. What message are they conveying? As the new “Hate America First” generation of mal-educated radicals emerges, we are seeing the boundaries of
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A crowd of community members gather outside the Governor's Residence in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the 2 a.m. hour on July 7, 2016, following the police shooting of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, by a St. Anthony Police officer. Photo by: Tony Webster social restraint being tested as hostility towards the police rises. Radical elements are becoming emboldened, and some have resorted to assassinating police officers in New York and Texas in recent years. They are hell-bent on seeing their dystopian nightmares come to fruition, and they will stop at nothing to do so. Law enforcement stands in their way, and we must be on our guard.
THE RED-GREEN MENACE
Community members gather for a Black Lives Matter demonstration outside the offices of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis the Minneapolis Police Department's union on December 3, 2015. Photo by: Tony Webster
President Reagan defeated the Soviet Empire, but the relentless menace of socialism/communism is, unfortunately, alive and well and making common cause with an equally dangerous existential threat. At the conclusion of The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels proclaimed, â€œâ€Ś
34 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
the Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things.�10 Despite their larger ideological differences, pre-violent
A few thousand people met in St. Paul the day after Philando Castile was killed. After some speeches the crowd marched to the Minnesota Governor's Mansion. Philando Castile was shot to death by a St. Anthony Police officer during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights MN on July 7, 2016. Photo by: Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota Islamist elements will converge with their leftist “fellow travelers” in largescale social movements and protests, sometimes with the tacit approval and complicity of the very political
establishments they seek to undermine and eventually overthrow. European Islamic scholar Lafif Lakhdar has noted that the Muslim Brotherhood has been implementing
Gramsci’s strategy of cultural inversion in Western societies through the spreading of their culture to the public by means of education and the media.11 The Brotherhood believes that once their
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 35
…in March 2016 a German police officer was stabbed in the neck by a young ISIS-inspired female Muslim immigrant.13
cultural rule is established, their political rule over a society will soon follow. Like the communists, the Islamists are employing the strategy of gradual subversion. In both European and American societies, Islamist-influenced operations continue to blind these governments to the true existential threats they pose in order to control domestic and foreign policies. The long-term effects of these efforts will be chilling. Today, many European cities are afflicted with the phenomenon of “No Go Zones,” selfsegregating immigrant enclaves resistant to integration to their host societies. Former Federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy identified a potential flash point of hostility with the entry of “police, firefighters, building inspectors,
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emergency medical personnel, and anything associated with the armed forces” into those areas. “The presence of those forces symbolizes the authority— the non-submission—of the state.”12 For example, in March 2016 a German police officer was stabbed in the neck by a young ISIS-inspired female Muslim immigrant.13 In America, the ISIS cyber caliphate army recently released the names of Minnesota and New Jersey cops, undoubtedly as a hit list for its acolytes.14 Independent Islamist attacks on police officers in Queens and Philadelphia in recent years clearly demonstrate the increasing threat to law enforcement, and as Europe goes, so may the United States.15 Imprisoned terrorist Illich Ramirez Sanchez aka Carlos the Jackal proclaimed
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that “only a coalition of Marxists and Islamists can destroy the United States,”16 and both radical leftists and Islamist elements have taken his notion to heart. What those leftists fail to realize, though, is that in the eyes of their Islamist “objective allies” they are nothing more than “useful idiots” who will be the first ones eliminated if they were to ever achieve their goals. A variation of an old adage is quite apropos here: The enemy of my enemy is my friend…for now.
CONCLUSION Nazi propaganda minister Dr. Joseph Goebbels once said the following regarding The Big Lie: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it… (and) the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie…”17 So, has The Big Lie taken root in America? Has law enforcement become “the criminals” Mick Jagger once sang about? The answer is an emphatic… NO. Law enforcement is still highly regarded in this country, and the American public is decidedly supportive of the men and women in blue. Their heartfelt appreciation is evident on social media as well as in face-to-face interactions, and they share our sorrow for those officers who make the ultimate sacrifice. We have not lost the American people, but their faith in law enforcement can never be taken for granted. We need to continue to uphold the high standards of the code of ethics and hold accountable those officers who falter. We can never allow law enforcement to be successfully delegitimized, either in the eyes of potential recruits, those already serving, or the people we have taken a solemn oath to serve and protect.
As officers and citizens, we need to be engaged politically and remain vigilant for Gramsci’s moral inversion strategy in order to counter it. The threats are right before us, such as an innocuoussounding web address like revcom.us on a protester’s sign, which, in actuality, stands for the Revolutionary Communist Party USA. Much like a photo-mosaic poster, we need to take a step back to recognize and understand the “bigger picture.” Law enforcement officers, like the military and intelligence services, are Guardians of the Republic, and we cannot afford to have a myopic and isolationist view of the world. To quote Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, “We didn’t want this world, but we have to live in it now. WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT!”18 To my brothers and sisters in blue in the Home Guard, allow me to leave you with the sage words Sgt. Phil Esterhaus imparted to his officers as he concluded his roll calls on Hill Street Blues: “Let’s be careful out there.”19
•
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Glenn Schenk is a sergeant and terrorism/intelligence liaison officer with the Bay View Police Department in Ohio. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice (cum laude). He has served for over twenty years in law enforcement in Ohio and North Carolina. He is also a police academy instructor, and, for the past decade, he has taught at over twenty police academies across the state of Ohio.
ENDNOTES Londonistan, pgs. 70-71 Wikipedia entries: Antonio Gramsci, Western Marxism, Prison Notebooks 1 2
38 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
Wikipedia entry: Cultural hegemony Londonistan, pg. 71 5 Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission curriculum Unit 3-10 Community Diversity (July 1st, 2013), Instructor Resources, pg. 5 www.paulkivel.com 6 Police Executive Research Forum; www.policeforum.org 7 PERF’s Principles: An Insider’s Objections (Calibre Press online) 8 Days Of Rage pg. 539 9 Days Of Rage, pgs. 246-248, 474-479 10 Manifesto of the Communist Party, pg. 32 11 “Jihad In America: The Grand Deception” documentary 12 National Review article “Bobby Jindal Gets It Right on Islam”, January 24th, 2015. 13 Breitbart.com article “Face of an Angel With a Heart Full of Hate,” March 7th, 2016. 14 Clarionproject.org articles “Islamic State Hackers Publish Names, Addresses of NJ Police,” March 8, 2016 and “ISIS ‘Cyber Caliphate Army’ Posts Hit List of Minnesota Cops,” March 16, 2016. 15 Breitbart.com article “Man Killed After Hatchet Attack on NYPD,” October 23, 2014; Foxnews.com article “Suspect in Pa. Cop Ambush Said He Acted in the Name of Islam,” January 8th, 2016. 16 L’Islam Revolutionnaire (2003) 17 Thinkexist.com: Joseph Goebbels quote 18 Unpublished notes from Dave Grossman-John Giduck anti-terror training seminar (September 22, 2005) by Glenn T. Schenk 19 “Hill Street Blues” Seasons 1-3, MTM Enterprises (1981-1984) 3 4
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BOOK REVIEW
Islamic Fascism by Hamed Abdel-Samad
I
n the US there is an intense avoidance of the phrase Radical Islam, or indeed anything negative about Islam, in an effort not to offend Muslims, who are our best bet in finding terrorists according to the Obama administration’s narrative. If they are offended, they won’t help us find the Radicals! The rationale behind this is that all acts of violence committed in the name of Islam are a perversion of the Religion of Peace. After every act of terrorism on our soil, or the very few he comments on across the world, we are reminded of this by the president himself. No matter that it is hard to reconcile with an estimated 5200 victims of this spirit of peace during last month’s Holy month of Ramadan, the man keeps saying it. How awkward, then, for the administration that an Islamic scholar would write a book right here and now and call Islam something much worse; he calls political Islam (Islamism) Islamic Fascism. Abdel-Samad shows in both the historical context and in nine detailed chapters covering subjects such as defining Fascism and showing the connection between early Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood to the History of World War 2 and right up to Zuckerberg and Facebook. The author examines why Islam is
Reviewed by Editorial Staff
fascist, and why failed states produce Heil Osamas as surely as the early twentieth century produced Heil Hitler. According to the author, Islam needs to make up for the past 500 years from Johannes Guttenberg to Facebook that they have cut themselves off from, something that the possession of social media does not make up for. Only a profound transformation would bring the concepts we have and the culture of expression that we began during the enlightenment to the world of Islam. Fascism is a normal outcome of the religion and its adherents that want Sharia law to prevail. No “Arab Spring” is rational, let alone likely. As if to prove his point in the flesh and up front, Hamed Abdul Hamed-Samed wrote two books, Leaving Heaven and The End of the Islamic World, and for his pain, a fatwa or religious decree was issued calling for his murder in 2013. The scholar, willing to risk his life to call political Islam “fascist”, now lives in Germany under police protection. Abdel-Samad, a Sunni, is the son of an Imam and a former UNESCO consultant on Arab education. He was a prominent scholar in Egypt before having to leave to save his life and is an expert in Islam. He lectures on Islam at the University of Erfurt (Germany). He writes for
40 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
publications such as Die Zeit, Die Welt, and Cicero. It is hard to classify this man as an Islamophobe! “Worshipping Mohammed so devoutly they feel moved to kill those that attack him, even if only verbally. They believe in killing others simply for disagreeing with them about things they consider sacrosanct. What does their worldview deserve to be called if not Islamic Fascism.” (p.13) He goes through showing how the Muslim Brotherhood’s founder was influenced and connected to the fascists in Italy, in Germany, and in Jerusalem. Hassan al-Banna was in touch with Amin al-Husseini as early as 1927. “The Mufti is a whole nation to me,” said alBanna. Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, was one of Hitler’s poodles and got himself a home in Germany making broadcasts about the virtues of killing the Jews right up to the end of the war and years before Israel existed. This historical connection is mapped out in detail right up to Erdogan’s Turkey, the Ennahda party in Tunisia, and thanks to the continuing Brotherhood influence— right into the Obama administration where many serve. The motto of the Brotherhood says it all: “Allah is our leader, jihad is our way, death for Allah’s sake is our highest goal.” As he points
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 41
4th
out, just substitute Der Fuehrer for Allah and you have a perfect fascistoid organization. But the organization’s fascist nature is obvious in every point of the Brotherhood’s 50-point plan. It is very clear: Do whatever it takes, assume any form you need to temporarily to suspend the abomination of government by men (democracy) and institute the law of Allah, Sharia. So it was in 2012 in Egypt, a government supported by the US, the Muslim Brotherhood government by Morsi until General Sisi rid the world of it. As if to prove his neutrality, he also takes on Iran in a chapter on Shia fascism that foretells where our agreement with Iran will lead. He even takes on sacred cows like Jihad and the Promise of Paradise in a chapter named “Pornotopia.” God offers the Muslims powerful incentive for fighting for his cause. (p.107) From the
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Surah 9: Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties in exchange for Paradise. But what kind of Paradise? One in which virginity is fetishized, women exist for men’s potency, and homosexuality does not exist. “Shortterm” marriages are permitted so that soldiers can get their war booty—literally. This book should be required reading if only to balance the propaganda about political Islam we have had to endure over the past eight years. At the same time, it does show that people like AbdelSamad do exist in Islam, though they may be threatened with extinction. There is always hope.
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HOW CAN LAW ENFORCEMENT HARDEN SCHOOLS AND OTHER SOFT TARGETS IN THEIR AOR? PREPARING THE SCHOOL FACULTY FOR AN ACTIVE SHOOTER EVENT 44 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
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T
INTRODUCTION
he devastating effects of an active shooter event can wreak havoc on a community. This is especially true when it occurs in a school where America’s children are supposed to be safe. A notorious school mass murder occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut on December 14th 2012, where 20 children and 6 adults were killed. Another, nationally known mass murder occurred at the Virginia Polytech University on April 16th 2007, where 32 people were murdered. (Blair, Nichols, Burns, & Curnutt, 2013) The most precious resource we possess as a nation is our people. (The White House, 2010) Acts of violence in our schools can cause rippling consequences throughout our society. If there is a way to bring our powerful nation to its knees, it is by attacking our children. This was witnessed as our entire nation mourned the deaths of the innocent at
the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. (Maresca, 2012) Throughout our nation approximately 24% of the active shooter incidents occur in schools. (New York City Police Department [NYPD], 2012) Often this issue can be seen exclusively as a police issue, but unfortunately, the police will not be there immediately. The average response time to these events nationally is three minutes. (Blair et al., 2013) Steps can and must be taken by the schools to address prevention of and response to these horrific acts of violence. The faculty in the school are not helpless; the actions that they take can be decisive in saving lives. There is supportive evidence from the Virginia Polytech University massacre that actions taken by the victims saved human life. (Blair et al., 2013) The community looks to law enforcement for their protection from violence, and they look to law enforcement to help them prepare for
violence. The data that surrounds the prevention of school violence is growing and growing. Unfortunately, these events keep occurring, but from these events lessons are learned. While there exist excellent strategies and recommendations that focus on threat assessments, facility upgrades, and first responder actions, I am going to focus on the faculties’ response in the school. This is a great place to start because this approach is very cost effective and it utilizes resources already in place, namely the faculty. I am going to focus on schools throughout this article, but local law enforcement officers can apply the concepts and methodologies to any soft target or vulnerable section of their community. How will teachers be trained in order to respond to an active shooter event? In order to accomplish this endeavor, the building block approach, which was championed by the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 45
(HSEEP), will be used. The learning starts with discussion-based exercises such as a seminar, lecture, or tabletop exercise. (U.S. Department of Homeland Security [USDHS], 2013) A lecture will be delivered to the faculty, which will be followed with a discussionbased exercise focusing on a scenario. This training will be reinforced by the use of operations-based exercises such as drills, which will be conducted throughout the school year. These drills allow the faculty to build confidence in the skills that they have learned. (New York State Education Department, 2013) The skills that are needed for response during stressful situations require a thorough and comprehensive training program. Without reinforcement, these skills can diminish and ultimately be lost. Since this skill can diminish, active shooter response could easily be classified as a perishable skill.
FIRST: START WITH A LECTURE
Rose memorial for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Photo by: Alexisrael
46 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
The first part of the training should consist of a two-hour lecture that includes supportive video and real-life stories. This training is modeled after the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) “Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events.� (Blair et al., 2013) This training covers the physiology of the human person during stressful events. The increase of the heart rate and the deterioration of fine motor skills as well as the deterioration of decisionmaking skills is examined. It reviews how the brain functions and how it can be programmed to respond. The response by the teachers should be guided by mental scripting. The teachers will be educated on the effectiveness of scripting a response to a stressful scenario. The training stresses the need to develop a plan prior to a stressful event due to the limitations of the
Norris Hall, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Norris Hall, where most of the shootings occurred. Photo by: Christopher brain during extreme duress. The training concludes with the recommended concepts of avoid, deny, and defend. The need to get away from the attacker is covered. This may be accomplished more easily depending on whether the faculty member is by her/himself or if s/he has students with her/him. Fleeing the building may or may not be the best first option, but it should be considered an option depending on the circumstances. The next concept involves denying access to the attacker. Once an attacker is inside the school, the main point of access to the classroom is through the classroom door. While a locked door can provide some security, it may be necessary to barricade it. The use of desks and shelves may become a viable option. If the door opens into the hallway, it may need to be
tied off from inside the room. Belts can be utilized to try to hold the door closed and thus prevent entry of the intruder(s). The last concept covered is defending yourself. If the mass murderer has a firearm, then the best place may not be across the classroom. A teacher armed with a fire-extinguisher next to the doorway may be her/his only hope for survival. Concepts such as swarming and using deadly physical force against the armed attacker are presented as options. (Blair et al., 2013)
SECOND: PROGRESS TO A DISCUSSION-BASED EXERCISE While this training is a good building block, it leaves room for guidance on specific actions that a school teacher
will have to face. Here we reinforce the training with a tabletop exercise. The second part of the training becomes very specific and involves scenariobased discussions. (USDHS, 2013) The participants are placed into small discussion groups and then are led by a facilitator through an active shooter scenario. The participants are asked questions as to how they would respond. The responses would be specific to their area in the school and the students they are responsible to protect. The concepts of avoid, deny, and defend are emphasized by the facilitator. These questions need to address basic situational awareness as well as specific action steps that may be taken. Some examples of these questions are: What are the points of ingress and egress to your classroom?
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 47
THIRD: CONDUCT DRILLS
The community looks to law enforcement for guidance and direction when it comes to preparing for acts of violence.
Is your window a viable escape route? What is available to barricade your door? Is there anything available to defend yourself? Many questions are raised during these discussions, but the faculty will think through realistic responses to the scenario. They will realize that there is no cookie cutter approach to the complex, stressful, and dynamic situation of an active shooter event. The individual responses that they develop are just that, individual responses. There are individual physical capabilities, environmental factors, and varying situations that must be considered when developing a response. Throughout the tabletop exercise, the concepts from the lecture are reinforced, and the faculty begin to develop their individual plans that they will mentally script.
Although this training can be considered perishable, it can be easily reinforced by practicing mental scripting throughout the school year. The use of lockdown drills provides a key moment for the faculty to review the basic concepts they learned during the training. (New York State Education Department, 2013) While they will follow the school protocol to lock the door, they can take a few moments to intentionally think through a few scenarios. They can recall the training and walk themselves through answers to the questions of how would I avoid, deny, or defend against an attacker. Even if the faculty members find themselves in a different classroom or location from when they went through the original training, all of the concepts still apply. A teacher may find her/himself in a classroom for a few periods of the day but on the other side of the school on lunch duty for other periods. By taking a few moments to think through the concepts and apply them to the current environment, a mentally scripted plan could be quickly developed. When someone has done this process once, it is easy to repeat and apply to any of the areas throughout the school.
USE A TWO-PHASED APPROACH TO DELIVER THIS TRAINING A practical way to deliver this training is to divide it into two phases. In the first phase, a select group of the faculty will be trained. This faculty will be used to help deliver phase two of the training, so it should consist of faculty members with good emergency response wherewithal (i.e., members of the building emergency response team or the crisis intervention team). These members should be
48 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
comfortable leading a group discussion. Faculty members trained in phase one should be about 10% of the total faculty to help roll this out in two training sessions. This would be set up as a trainthe-trainer. For instance, if you have 200 faculty members, to train then you would train 20 of them in phase one. When phase two is implemented, each of the members from phase one would be used to help facilitate the group discussions of 20 groups, each group consisting of approximately 8–10 people.
PHASE ONE Your phase one personnel would go through the process as outlined above. It is recommended that the primary law enforcement agency for the school delivers the lecture and helps facilitate the group discussions for phase one. This allows the groups to hear the message directly from their local police agency and be guided by their response protocols. (U.S. Department of Education, 2013) If the local police agency does not directly deliver the lecture or facilitate the phase one groups, then they should be present and take an active part in the group discussions to ensure consistency with their response protocols. Your phase one personnel act as a force multiplier when it comes to the delivery of phase two. Using the example above, 20 phase one personnel could easily be trained by 2 law enforcement officers. After the lecture has been delivered, each officer could facilitate a group of 10 through the discussion group phase of the training. After the discussion group component of the training is complete, a thorough debrief should bring the groups into a consensus. (USDHS, 2013)
PHASE TWO Phase two will be implemented when the phase one group is comfortable
enough with the material to facilitate the scenario and questions with their peers. While it is ideal to proceed from phase one to phase two in a short time period, sometimes this is not possible. If a protracted amount of time lapses, some refamiliarization with the material may be necessary. When phase two is delivered, law enforcement officers would still provide the lecture, but now the small group discussions would be led by phase one faculty members. During the discussions, the law enforcement officers would remain available to provide insight into their perspective to all of the phase two groups. You wouldn’t need one law enforcement officer per group, but it would be recommended to have one available to rotate between 2–w3 groups. In the example given above, 20 groups could have 7 law enforcement officers available to provide their perspective. After the lecture and the small group discussions, an all-encompassing debrief with all of the participants must occur. (USDHS, 2013) This debrief will allow the groups to reveal their challenges and solutions to the scenario presented. During the smaller group discussions, there will be many similar points, but there will also be distinct aspects that the entire group will benefit from hearing. There may also be important facility limitations brought to the forefront.
REINFORCE THE TRAINING WITH DRILLS The training does not end here. Following with the building block progression, the use of lockdown drills will now provide a key moment for the faculty to review the basic concepts they learned during the training. (New York State Education Department, 2013) While faculty members may not physically have
a simulated intruder present, they can visualize and rehearse the steps necessary to avoid, deny, or defend.
CONCLUSION Failure to safeguard our children could bring cascading disastrous effects to our nation. The community looks to law enforcement for guidance and direction when it comes to preparing for acts of violence. A key component of preparing is training our school faculty on how to respond to an active shooter event. The teachers and administrators are not just potential victims. Through the guidance provided by their local law enforcement, they can take an active and decisive role in protecting themselves and the priceless lives of the children that are in their care.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amery Bernhardt is a Sergeant with the Westchester County Department of Public Safety in New York. He has 15 years law enforcement experience. He is currently assigned to Patrol Operations, and his responsibilities include coordinating the department’s School Resource Officer program. Sergeant Bernhardt is certified as an instructor for law enforcement and civilian active shooter response through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program. He has conducted training and numerous exercises with schools and law enforcement agencies throughout Westchester County.
Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.com/ msnbc/nation-mourns-newtown-schoolshooting-victims New York City Police Department. (2012). Active Shooter Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation (2012 Edition). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. New York State Education Department. (2013). New York State School Safety Guide. In New York State School Safety Guide (Revised 2013). : New York State Education Department, New York State Police, New York State Office of Homeland Security, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and New York State Office of Emergency Management. The White House. (2010). National Security Strategy (May 2010). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. U.S. Department of Education. (2013). Guide for Developing HighQuality School Emergency Operations Plans (). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2013). Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
REFERENCES Blair, J. P., Nichols, T., Burns, D., & Curnutt, J. R. (2013). Active Shooter Events and Response. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group. Maresca, C. (2012, 12/14/2012). Nation mourns Newtown school shooting victims [Society]. MSNBC.
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 49
HEAD IN THE SAND
NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION FROM ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE ATTACK (EMP) OR SOLAR FLARE
50 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
by Colonel Mike Cheston
Whether from a near miss of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from our sun, like the one the Earth experienced in July 23, 2012, or an attack from a hostile state (or non-state player) bent on destroying our way of life, the outcome is the same.
O
ur society and national, local, state and personal domicile infrastructure is totally dependent upon the electronic grid, (high voltage and low voltage), and the complex interconnected systems that support it, for normal, day-to-day, moment-bymoment living. The loss of this critical cog in our societal wheel (or should I say, loss of the hub of the wheel), would cause the complete collapse of the US; no nice way to say it!
EMP/CME Effects: EMP and CME have been studied for a number of years, with a Congressional Commission reporting on the threat and recommended mitigation in 2008. The EMP threat is specifically from a High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse or HEMP attack, triggered by the detonation of a nuclear device above earth’s atmosphere (from 25-250 miles above the surface)1. While most of us have a vision of fireballs and shock waves smashing everything in
sight, the effects of a HEMP would cause no direct physical damage from heat, blast or radiation. Instead, its byproducts are in the form of an electromagnetic pulse, showering line-of-sight to the earth’s surface in three devastating pulse waves (E1, E2 and E3). The pulse can disrupt computers, damage electronics and insulators and cause significant damage to key power transformer systems. In essence, the pulses that follow each other down to any form of
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attenuation (power lines, antennas, etc.) will crash through or destroy any circuit protection system and in essence, send the US back hundreds of years. The US currently has about 2,500 high-voltage transformers that support our power grid, one which is designed to operate on a relatively thin margin. Losing one or more of these major systems causes power disruption until they can be replaced, but there are no large numbers of spares in warehouses waiting for a call. Under normal circumstances, it takes the better part of a year to manufacture each of these key systems. Between the powerlines and the home or business that depends on electrical power, are a significant number of programmable control systems, such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, and their counterparts, Digital Control Systems (DCS) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PCL)—many of them would experience the effects of an onslaught of this type, destroying or otherwise compromising the device. Any that would survive, may not be able to interact with others it is dependent upon because they are inoperative. Similarly, a major CME event would prove to be equally devastating to the national infrastructure. In a published article from NASA, the physicist Pete Riley of Predictive Science, Inc. concluded that there is a 12% chance of a major CME event impacting the Earth’s magnetic field during the next 10 years.2 The CME is likened to a “solar EMP” that would likely have the same outcome within our power infrastructure noted above; catastrophic. Scientists agree that the Earth was exceptionally fortunate that the “superstorm” that missed the Earth in 2012, did not take place a week earlier. If it had, the Earth would have been on a collision course with the storm’s wave, and would have caused “…widespread
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blackouts, disabling everything that plugs into a wall.”3 So What: The gravest concern from the outcomes from either of these events would be the impact on the population that is totally dependent upon a system that provides food, medical supplies, water, and crime prevention. With a collapse of the power infrastructure that supports these needs, as well as communication system seriously degraded or smashed, one need only look as far as New Orleans, 24-hours after hurricane Katrina. The wide-spread looting and other criminal activity, even with a significant set of national resources sent to help, should provide a sobering view of what a national-level Katrina might look like. An EMP/ CME event could severely,”…disrupt food infrastructure posing a significant threat to life, industrial activity and social order.”4 It is estimated that most of the population has 24-hours or less of food in the house. With food transportation stopped, and production halted from either of these causes, starvation, looting, and overall social breakdown could take place in mere hours after the impact. Our municipal water systems require power to operate. Even with back-up power systems, they will only operate until the bunker fuel is expired. Again, similar impacts to the fuel production industry, the transportation industry and the like will equally effect water purification and distribution. People will run out of water. The water infrastructure contains a vast array of SCADA systems that control electronically driven pumps, valves, filters and such. If these systems are disrupted, water does not flow. Finally, but not the only remaining consequence, is that of emergency services. With the expected increase in demand for emergency services (fire, EMS and police), and the concomitant
degradation in emergency services (loss of communication, inability to refuel or transport, personnel challenges), people will be subject to whatever they have on hand. Those already requiring medical services for sustainment will be compromised; any with acute needs will fail, and social disorder will likely take hold unabated. Threat: “One of the challenges U.S. policy makers face is to resist the urge to focus simply on those threats that are unusual, different, or designed to evade American strengths. Instead, defensive energies should be directed to defeat those threats that would wreak great damage upon American interests.”5 Any reasonable person would support the approach that considers the threat of such an event, and the risk of it actually happening. When considering a Solar Flare event, the likelihood of one hitting the Earth in the next 10 years ranges from 10% to 70%, depending on which scientist speaks. Suffice to say, it isn’t “if ” but “when” the Earth will be hit. The likelihood of a HEMP is measured subjectively (at best) by intelligence estimates and research. When considering nation actors that might have an interest in launching a nuclear-tipped missile into the atmosphere above the USA, there are several, I suspect. When considering how close or capable they may be to take on such an endeavor, the number reduces to a few who have the capability, but probably won’t, and a few who would probably launch now, if they had the capability… and are getting there as fast as possible. A number of countries clearly capable of employing an EMP weapon against the US, namely China and Russia, are probably not ready to execute the tactic just yet, though they have practiced the concept in wargames at their military academies, and accept it as a viable
strategic option. On the other hand, North Korea (DPRK) and Iran have risen to new levels as international wildcard players with a seemingly unending thirst for nuclear weapons AND advanced missile packages; this should draw the attention of even the most skeptical in our midst. Many experts agree that it isn’t “if ” Iran and North Korea will reach ICBM-packable nuclear weapons, but “when.” The current administration does not seem to be concerned, opting for strong language about treaty violations when we find they are marching forward against established treaty limits. One of the greatest challenges we have in national security planning and programming, is visualizing a potential threat as real, even if it hasn’t happened before. The entire world was tossed on its ear when box cutter wielding killers took control of US-flagged commercial aircraft in September 11th, and instead of demanding to hijack the plane to some remote, third-world landing strip, they flew them into key US landmarks. Wait a minute! They were supposed to just hijack the plane… in the past we just complied and took them where they wanted to go. This and other scenarios had been discussed in the past, but since it had never happened before, why worry, right? Today you need a forklift to get through a flight deck door, and TSA will pull you to the ground for a wine opener with a 1" blade on it… but I digress. Red teaming is a common practice where out-of-the-box thinkers and military strategists gather to play the wildcard to see if leaders can react appropriately. These can be great places to test new ideas and asymmetric attack scenarios. I remember participating in a so-called “Red Cell” at a Naval War College command exercise several years ago (just command and planning staff—no real forces), supporting a
The current administration does not seem to be concerned, opting for strong language about treaty violations when we find they are marching forward against established treaty limits.
scenario where an amphibious task force was landing on the shores of a fictitious hostile nation that possessed nuclear capability and threatened to use it. Once our national forces were ashore and moving to their objectives under constant command and control from the flagship (the leadership team commanding the exercise), I “launched” a missile straight up and detonated it in the upper atmosphere, releasing an HEMP, essentially shutting down all command, control and communications (C3), and leaving command and control to the small unit commander who’s boots were in the sand; their forces had no way of further communicating to the command group, requesting fire support, or launching any high-tech equipment they happened to have on hand. They were
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 53
on their own, and the command group was essentially watching the air move in their planning office. Of course, my idea was deemed foul play (unfair) and the exercise went on… and the good guys won… go figure. This type of narrow thinking will ultimately cause this nation to fail under the weight of fighting the last war, and in this case, leave the national power grid unprotected. The threat is real… whether looking to our Sun on the day it gets “angry” with us, or wondering what that weird glow I the sky was about the same time the lights go out. We are fundamentally unprepared and the endless chit-chatting about it in the halls of government is a disservice to our national security, and an open invitation to our adversaries to launch… soon. The Problem: The US has engaged the leading minds in scientific research, working with government leaders to assess this issue for over 10 years, yet we have not taken the first step to physically do anything about closing gaps in our national infrastructure resiliency. Fundamentally, the old adage of the money follows the blood, has taken hold. Our administration has other more pressing threats to our national security to consider… or it simply does not recognize it as a threat… which is also possible. In this case, the US Congress submitted bills in the past aimed at funding programs to build resiliency into our power infrastructure, but ultimately never made it to the floor. On Monday, November 30, 2014, the House passed a bill that required the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to include the threat of EMP events into the national planning scenarios. After 10 years of scientific analysis and discussion, we were apparently at a stage where the US recognized it as a potential threat and
54 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
started thinking about placing it in a plan… too little, and most likely, too late. Representative Yvette Clarke (DNY) noted, “We have an opportunity to foster progress on low-probability but high consequence threats to the grid…”6 Okay, the “high consequence” she got right, but the “low-probability” remark is simply false—whether talking about a CME or EMP, the probability is fairly high. Protection of our dynamic and infinitely complex electromagnetic spectrum serving our national infrastructure should be one of our highest priorities, especially given the underlying movement of our most strident hostile adversaries (Iran and North Korea) to unabated nuclear weapons and ICBM development. By the way, the bill was introduced in 2013, referred back to committee, and after its 2014 passing in the House, was never carried or read in the Senate, so it died an un-ceremonial death. In essence, our leaders responsible for establishing protections in place against a real threat of a potential societal meltdown, are doing nothing, hoping it won’t happen. In Closing: Retired James Woolsey and Peter Vincent Pry wrote in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, “What is lacking in Washington is a sense of urgency. Lawmakers and the administration need to move rapidly to build resilience into our electric grid and defend against an EMP attack that could deliver a devastating blow to the US economy and the American people.” 7 The lack of effort is probably due to the inherent difficulty of understanding the technical aspects of CME and EMP, getting people’s heads around the likelihood and after effects of such an event, and committing limited resources to something that has never happened before… even though we know it will happen (i.e. CME could be
tomorrow, or 1000 years from now). I have spoken to one of the ex-members of the Congressional Commission to Assess the Threat to the US from EMP Attack, and he confirmed his sincere belief that the threat is very real… and has in fact, moved to a remote part of the US in anticipation of that event and the anticipated total breakdown in our urban centers. He believes it is already too late. We need to stop talking about it and take action to protect our grid including, (1) Developing stockpiles of key components critical to our power grid (High Voltage Transformers, etc.), (2) Engaging and developing a more robust communications system among power system operators and key national warning centers (i.e. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center), and (3) Soundly thwart any hostile nation’s or third party actor’s efforts to reach or deploy HEMP capabilities. Whether Solar Storm or HEMP, it’s not if but when.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Colonel Mike Cheston, USMCR (Ret) is currently a Program Manager at Advanced Sciences and Technologies, LLC and served as an intelligence officer and ground combat arms officer before he retired in 2005. He had published several articles for the Counter Terrorist Magazine and presented the topic at the 2011 National Defense Industrial Association Homeland Security Symposium. He holds a number of degrees including a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College.
2012, NASA Science News, July 23, 2014, http://science.nasa.gov /science-news/ science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm/ 3 ibid 4 Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, Critical National Infrastructure, April 2008, pg 34. 5 Understanding “Asymmetric” Threats to the United States, Lamakis, Kiras and Kolet, September 2002, National Institute
for Public Policy 6 House passes bill to mitigate threat of EMP attacks, The Hill, December 1, 2014, http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/ house/225640-house-passes-bill-tomitigate-threat-of-emp-attacks 7 The Growing Threat From an EMP Attack (Commentary), The Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2014, http://www. wsj.com/articles/james-woolsey-and-petervincent-pry-the-growing-threat-from-anemp-attack-1407885281
OUR NAME HAS CHANGED BUT NOT OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU For nearly 50 years, Intergraph® has had the privilege of partnering with public safety agencies to solve complex challenges. After five years as a Hexagon brand, we are embracing the future under a new name – Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure. As Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure, we will continue to be a trusted partner, delivering integrated solutions that increase public safety performance and productivity while reducing the total cost of ownership for missioncritical IT investments. Discover how we can help you build safer communities. www.hexagonsafetyinfrastructure.com
ENDNOTES Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, Critical National Infrastructure, April 2008. 2 Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 1
©2016 Intergraph Corporation d/b/a Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure. Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure is part of Hexagon. All rights reserved. Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure and the Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure logo are trademarks of Hexagon or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries.
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BUILDING A RANGE KIT 56 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
by Garret Machine
Anyone can go to the range, get settled in their “phone booth,� and keyhole rounds all day. You have your $2,000 1911 in hand, Big Gulp to your right, Starbuck latte to your left, the AC blowing cold, and a silhouette out to 7 meters.
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e all know this can build a lot of confidence, but the saltier among us will understand that this is false confidence and translates little to nothing in reality. Training needs to be as realistic as possible; combat skills are perishable and must be maintained sharpened and continually enhanced. To
start you need to be training outside in the elements with your peers. The only time you should be training inside (if you can help it) is when you are using a shoot house or doing force-on-force scenarios. No matter if you’re training inside or training outside with rifle, pistol, or sims, you need a range kit or, as I use, a
range box. I originally got the idea in my military service; each team would have their own box with everything for the range. Here is how to outfit a range box for use professionally and personally. My range box comes with me all over the country each week as I conduct firearms training; inside are:
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58 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
Training “red” gun for dry draws and other inert demonstrations for the class. Cleaning kit consisting of toothbrushes, barrel brushes, and picks. Gun oil, usually a few different kinds, one with a needle applicator, one spray can, and one presoaked cloth. I use the needle for applying to the inner surfaces before I fire or dry drill. Anywhere metal touches metal should be oiled. The spray is used when I want to soak everything before a good cleaning or when my bolt carrier group is very dirty and I just need it to work. I will take it out and spray it down and then just put it back in. I use the cloth can available from The Mako Group for applying a thin protective coat to all the external metal parts in and around the barrel, etc. 10 Barrel plugs for both 9mm and 5.56mm weapons. This is a great safety aid for dry drills and weapons manipulation. The secret to excellence is dry practice at lease 15 minutes per week per weapon system. Both 3M super 77 spray adhesive and a DeWalt staple gun. I prefer to use the spray when hanging targets but need the staple gun for cardboard backers and
when I use plastic composite manikins. Always have a box of staples. Ear and eye protection is usually ESS Rollbar with copper lenses and blackstrap installed. They work great for both day and night shooting. They also function somewhere in between goggles and glasses. I keep Howard Light inner ear plugs in the glasses case and use those 100% of the time. I double up if I shoot anything bigger then 5.56 or if I have to shoot indoors. The outer ears are never worn alone as they provide insufficient protection and get knocked around too much. The obvious exception is when they are used in conjunction with your helmet. IFAC (Individual First Aid KIT) Leatherman tool or similar, screwdrivers, Allen wrenches, razor blade, Glock punch, and any specific proprietary tools one may need for specific weapons or optics. Also, you should have a small knife, scissors, duct tape, 550 cord, and a lighter. You will use that for securing kit and slings, etc. Spare magazines for the weapons you and students or friends will be using. At least 4 Glock 17 magazines and 2 extra
AR15 magazines. Spare holster and magazine holster. Target tape for pasting holes, some sharpies and pens. Plenty of ammo, even some frangible 5.56 so I can shoot steel up close. Snacks in the way of Quest bars. A shot timer, charger, and De Walt distometer with 6 small orange marking cones. Small can of white spray paint for steel. Glow sticks for night shooting. Surefire G2 flashlight. I like to keep this kit in the trunk of my car since I don’t use it in the house and I need it almost daily. I would recommend building your own range kit for your own professional development and maximizing your training time.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Machine instructs firearms across the US on a weekly basis and has instructed, credentialed, qualified and trained thousands of professionals and civilians in high risk tactics.
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RECONNAISSANCE OPERATIONS
60 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
by Orlando Wilson
I wrote this a few years ago while training a security force from a West African Government who was active in counter terrorist operations. I was taught and employed covert reconnaissance (recce) while in the British Army over 20 years ago in numerous environments.
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ince then I have taught and employed it while operating commercially in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Personally from what I have seen over the years recce training and operations are often neglected, I think because people would sooner focus on more exciting “direct action” training and operations. But without recce operations, accurate intelligence and proper pre-planning “direct action” operation usually fail.
RECCE OPERATIONS Reconnaissance (recce) operations are a necessity in all tactical operations as they provide pre-operations intelligence on locations, terrorists and can verify or deny a local source’s information. All recce operations need to be done covertly, the terrorists/criminals should not know you’re in their area or what you are doing. Recce operations in hostile areas should be done in plain clothes and civilian vehicles, you need to blend in
with the environment and population. Nothing tactical should be carried and if armed try to go with no government issue weapons. When I was working with vigilantes in West Africa in 2012 we detained a guy who we had spotted watching and following us while on a regular patrol. He was from a cultist gang and the clear give away he was a criminal doing surveillance on us was that he had nothing on him; no money, no ID, no phone, nothing; Just the clothes
Pfc. Anthony Quinn, an M240B gunner and Eaglewood, Fla., native with Troop A, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, waits to conduct training on dismounted patrol and reconnaissance operations during the Network Integration Evaluation 13.1 at Doña Ana Range Complex, N.M., Oct. 16, 2012. Photo by: Sgt. Jonathan Thomas
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 61
he was wearing. I take it he had the misconception the vigilantes would have stolen his possessions… Moral of the story, when trying to blend in with the local population don’t overdo it or under do it! Things that could need to be recced include areas for arrest operations, terrorist/criminal safe houses, camps, meeting locations, routes, ambush locations etc. in urban and rural areas. For example, if recceing an area for an arrest operation some of the things to be considered would be: 1. Approaches 2. Team drop off locations 3. Team’s surveillance / cut off / snatch team positions 4. Communications dead spots 5. Vehicle and pedestrian traffic 6. Any terrorist/criminal surveillance or security in the area 7. Friendliness of civilians to the terrorists/criminals; would they intervene to protect them 8. Safe arcs of fire and no fire areas 9. Any CCTV that is in the area 10. Escape and exfiltration routes Some things to consider if conducting a close target recce on a terrorist/criminal safe house could include: 1. Approaches 2. Surveillance and remote camera locations 3. Communications dead spots 4. Routes for walk by recce’s 5. Terrorist/criminal surveillance and security 6. Lines of communications to the safe house 7. Any visible security or defensive measures 8. Any vacant buildings in the area 9. What vehicles are in or near the safe house 10. Does the building have electricity, if yes what’s the source?
62 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
11. Where are the phone lines and is there Wi-Fi? 12. Where are the water sources and supplies? 13. Does the building have air conditioning? 14. What type of roof does the building have and can you access it? 15. How could you enter the building? 16. Types of doors and windows? 17. Form up positions for an attack team and cut off positions 18. Possible terrorist escape routes from the building and area 19. If terrorists are seen are they armed, how are they dresses and are t hey alert? 20. Etc. Maximum use should be made of video and stills cameras on all recce operations, these days with cameras in cell phones there is no excuse for not getting good video and photos. Video and photos should always be analyzed after the operation as they could have picked up an important detail that you had initially missed. Pictures speak a thousand words so get good video and photos! You have two ways of conducting physical recce operations; static observation posts (OP) and close target reconnaissance (CTR). An OP operation would usually take the form of an operative taking a position in a vehicle, covert hide or even a café and watching a location or area. These days this usually includes the use of monitored or unmonitored surveillance cameras. Over the last decade unmanned aerial drones have been used effectively for intelligence gathering and direct action operations. As technology develops and prices fall drones should be an option in all recce operations. CTR operations take the form of operatives walking or driving past a location and getting as much information
as possible on each pass or infiltrating a terrorist/criminal location. You must be careful not to use the same vehicles or operatives to often on CTR’s as they could be compromised. All operatives should have a believable and checkable cover story for being in the area, how detailed you go depends on the operation. Very few operations are perfect and you need to get the most information possible without compromising the operatives and potential future operations. The basic principles of recce operations apply to both urban and rural areas. In say a rural environment a static observation location could take the form of a camouflaged OP in a ditch, a bush or dug underground etc. Where as in an urban environment a derelict building, roof top or garbage skip/area could provide you with a concealed observation position.
OBSERVATION POST OPERATIONS Covert observation posts (OP’s) can be put in place for a few hours or a few weeks. Operatives conducting OP’s need to be very self-disciplined, be able to keep quiet, handle extreme boredom and very uncomfortable conditions for extended periods of time. The general size of the OP team would depend on the task; usually they are between two to four operatives. The equipment required for the OP would depend on the environment and the length of the operation. Once in position the OP team would keep their noise and movement to a minimum, so that will mean they will need to carry in with them everything they need for the operation; food, water, communications and spare batteries etc. In hostile areas re-supply can be risky but on extended operations it will be needed, generally supplies will be dropped off and picked up a distance away from the OP.
On OP operations over 24 hours’ team members would need to work out a rotation system for who is observing and who is resting, one operative would need to be awake at all times. If there is limited cover the OP can be split with an observation and supporting location, if the operatives are moving between both, extreme care needs to be taken not to be spotted. Operatives need to be dressed, armed, with important equipment packed and at hand at all times. If the OP is compromised the team would need to flee the location, they will not be equipped or have the strength in numbers to engage a large terrorist/criminal force in a firefight. To avoid detection an OP needs to be perfectly camouflaged using such things as scrim netting and in a rural environment local foliage. Any foliage used needs to be replaced regularly as dead foliage would give away the OP position. Noise must be kept to a minimum, even a poncho providing overhead cover can make noise that’s unfamiliar in the bush and can alert locals to your presence. Another potential problem are smells coming from the OP team such as body waste and food, which will usually be eaten cold due to the smell from cooking and the weight of cooking equipment. Body waste would need to be stored in airtight plastic bags, bottles and carried away with the team when they leave the position. The OP team cannot leave any ground sign of their presence as it can jeopardize any future operations. OP’s can be for logging and reporting or reactionary purposes. A logging and reporting OP will do nothing but gather intelligence on a target. A reactionary OP can call in direct action forces or perform direct action operation themselves. It all depends on the task at hand and the resources available. When working in West Africa in late 2012 we deployed logging and reporting
Very few operations are perfect and you need to get the most information possible without compromising the operatives and potential future operations.
OP’s into suspected cultist and criminal areas to initially determine the extent of illegal activity, the terrorist/criminal routes and meeting locations etc. In Latin America while working with tactical police units we have had operatives go undercover as beggars in high crime urban areas on reactionary tasking while surveilling narco and whore houses. The basic rule is there are no rules, use your imagination and remember that flexibility of action is essential for all counter terrorist/criminal operations.
CLOSE TARGET RECCE OPERATIONS Close target recce (CTR) operations are extremely important and supplies the intelligence that is the basis for all successful direct action operations.
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 63
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. David Pena, left, Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Yaudas, center and Capt. Sean Tennimon, conduct reconnaissance operations in the Abu T'shir community of the Rashid district in southern Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2009. Photo by: Sgt. 1st Class Brent Williams
CTR’s are where operatives will get close to or infiltrate a target area or compound to gain real time intelligence. This requires the CTR operators to be extremely stealthy and devious to be able to get close to the terrorist/criminal locations without being detected and compromised. If they are making an undercover overt penetration they must have believable cover stories, look the part and be able to speak the local accents etc. The size of a CTR team will depend on the task. Our usual CTR team is
64 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
two operatives with others in a support position. I will advise the use of two operatives for a CTR team as they can move a lot more stealthily than a large team and can assist each other in an emergency. In a lot of situations it is a lot more effective for a lone operative to get close to or infiltrate a targeted location, it goes without saying that the operative should be trained and experienced! The equipment carried by the CTR team should be minimal, their job is to gather information, not to get into fights.
are nervous or they want to impress the operations commanders. Facts need to be reported, not suspicions, opinions or predictions. Operational security must be understood by everyone involved, nothing about operations should be discussed with anyone not directly involved; lose lips do sinks ships. The basic recce principles apply to all situations but the core requirement is having disciplined and well trained recce teams. Reece operations are essential and are required to ensure successful direct action operations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Since leaving the British army in 1993, Mr. Wilson has worked in South and West Africa, Western and Eastern Europe, U.S., Middle East, Latin America and Caribbean and co-ordinate projects in
many other countries. His experience has ranged from providing close protection / bodyguard services for Middle Eastern Royal families and varied corporate clients, kidnap and ransom services, corporate intelligence, para-military training for private individuals and tactical police units and government agencies. Contact info: Risks Incorporated International Defense Strategies LLC E-mail: contact@risks-incorporated.com Risks Incorporated: www.risksincorporated.com Orlando’s Blog: www.cornishprivateer.com Risks Inc. on Facebook: www.facebook. com/risksinc
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BANGSTICK – NFDD DELIVERY POLE
Everything carried by the CTR operatives must be able to be accounted for in a cover story. Items such as voice recorders, high end communications equipment and cameras will immediately draw suspicion of security forces and terrorists/criminals alike if the operatives are searched. In many places high end equipment will just end up being stolen by corrupt security forces if it doesn’t get you detained, which can cost you money and heighten the risk of compromising operations! CTR operatives need to travel as light as possible and be able to move cautiously and quickly, if compromised by the terrorists/criminals they would exit the area with maximum speed and not engage the enemy. If pushed to action they must be able to end confrontations quickly and efficiently without civilian casualties, which can be detrimental to future operations. Over the years we have worked with teams employing CTR’s on meetings in 5 star hotels, rural safe houses and numerous urban and rural terrorist/ criminal locations. Commercially we have employed CTR’s in Eastern Europe on suspected locations of counterfeiting EW FOR 2014 operations, in Central America while working with police tactical teams we conducted the successful infiltration of whore houses looking for drug activity, human trafficking of underage sex workers and gathering intelligence for future raids. When working with vigilantes in West Africa the main targets for recce’s and infiltrations were drug houses, kidnapper’s locations in the bush, and when raids were organized the politics started, but such is Africa! Where time, manpower and the situation allows several CTR’s should be run on a location by separate teams to ensure the operatives are seeing the same things. Inexperienced operatives can over exaggerate what they saw because they
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 65
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TRAINING REVIEW
SWAT Certification Course
I
recently attended a S.W.A.T. School that was offered by Miami-Dade County. The course was challenging, educational and a lot of fun. I do have some observations that might improve the course and prepare each officer a little better to handle circumstances when a SWAT Team is called to respond. Officers who want to be part of a Special Weapons and Tactics Team or Special Response Team for a local law enforcement agency must pass a SWAT school. Several accredited training centers throughout your state offer such programs, which typically range from 40–80 hours. In Florida this is an 80hour course taught over two weeks and typically done in the evenings. The course is run by several officers from different departments who serve on teams. All of these teams have their own AOR, mission sets, and methods of operations. All of them operate differently, yet with the same end result in mind. The course covers several different relevant topics such as rappelling, gas training, first aid, and vehicle takedowns. Most of the time was spent on closequarters team tactics for three primary police tactical missions: hostage rescue, barricaded subject, and search warrants. Each is dealt with differently by different departments. Here is what I would sustain: lots of shooting, great training facilities, paint marking cartridges (sims), and good people. Professionalism is performance on demand. SWAT Teams are always changing
by Editorial Staff
This is not the place to come and learn how to shoot or the place to try and see if you can get by. You must come to this class ready because the qualification is much more than the state police shooting qualification. tactics to meet the ever-increasing violence of today’s society. Mass shooters are now using increased firepower, explosives and taking hostages. Teams must meet this challenge with increased performance. Here is what I would change to improve the program. To begin with the qualification to pass the course is done on week two, and we lost about half the class on that alone. This is not the place to come and learn how to shoot or the place to try and see if you can get by. You must come to this class ready because the qualification is much more than the state police shooting qualification. For example, we did a lot of shooting with a gas mask on and after stress such as sprints, pushups, etc. This part of training is excellent; however, the onus is on the individual departments to make sure that their men come to the class properly prepared to perform. I would suggest making it mandatory for each agency or department to only authorize those who have completed and passed the shooting qualification three times in a row to enter SWAT school. This eliminates the need for testing and dropping people from
70 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
the course and saves valuable time and money. If you want to be on the team, you need to be able to shoot. Next I would require a simple fitness test for entry into the program. The course as it stands is a physically demanding one. We did PT every day for at least an hour and a half leading up to our PT test. The test was extensive, including rope climbs, sprints, buddy carries and pull-ups, etc. We lost a few people to the PT test, not because the test was that hard, but because they were simply not prepared. Each agency that has people slated to go to the course should be mandated to have them pass a uniform PT test that will be standard for all police tactical team operators and entry into the program. Once you graduate SWAT school, you are SWAT certified but not necessarily on a team. Sometimes it takes a catastrophe for change to come, I believe that we have had our catastrophe with the Orlando attack. No team would be ready to handle such a situation with only two weeks of total training, and in the three hours it took the team to make entry, they could
have had any asset on the entire eastern seaboard. That includes the FBI HRT and various other DHS elements and resources. If you expect a team to be ready to handle the worst, they need to train to be the best. I would like to see some aspects of the SWAT school standardized between police departments and multiagency teams. Meaning that in my class we had instructors from no less than 7 police departments, and each had their own tactics, techniques, and procedures. So while we learned a little about what each team would do and how they might handle a scenario, it was not standardized. Considering that there are three primary SWAT/SRT mission sets and we have two weeks dedicated to training, I would recommend picking one of them and learning that to a set standard. Hostage rescue is the most obvious one to focus on; it’s a no-fail mission with the highest stakes and should be standardized by FDLE. It’s not standardized, and SWAT is not even an FDLE-accredited course. The two weeks should cover all aspects of hostage rescue from the assaulters’ point of view up to the team leader’s decision making. The idea would to be able to return a finished product to the department that sent the officer, a turnkey product that could be almost immediately integrated. However, this would be dependent on all departments following the same techniques and tactics when preforming a hostage rescue. In order for this to happen, FDLE would have to step in and standardize SWAT hostage rescue best practices. Currently there are very few full-time teams in the state of Florida, the rest being part-time teams, meaning they have other police duties and come together for missions. Seeing as hostage
The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016 71
situations happen suddenly and they cannot be planned out like a warrant or barricaded suspect, a ready team or QRF should always be on standby. This is done in several government units already but rarely utilized. The rotation would provide a team staying on base 24/7 for a rotation period. As my commander used to say about warrants, “nothing you seize on a warrant is worth the safety of a team
member” and “a barricaded subject can wait, forever.” These were comments made in passing, but they show the perspective of a veteran commander and help put things in perspective for young hungry assaulters. The bottom line is this: SWAT school is educational and fun. The training needs to be recognized and then standardized by FDLE. Best practices must be adopted from formidable and proven DOD and
72 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2016
federal elements. Potential operators need to be hand-selected by their departments for qualification and then trained to be interchangeable with partner agencies in a crisis. Thinking a few steps down the road, one could see a development into departments having select elements that specialize in barricaded subjects, warrants, etc. and hostage rescue. As situations can be dynamic, two teams with different mission sets at the same scene could be an option.
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