All by Special Tactics Staff
Our latest book focuses on room clearing tactics (RCT) as they apply to VIP protection work. The book is the first volume in Special Tactics’ new advanced series. The term “advanced” does not necessarily mean that the techniques themselves are more advanced. The book still focuses on basics and fundamentals but instead of covering individual techniques, it focuses on providing more real-world, scenario-based examples of how to combine various techniques to solve tactical problems.
Law enforcement officers are currently facing some of the most difficult and confusing challenges they have encountered in recent history. Crime, violence, and civil disobedience are rising around the world. At the same time, social trends have in many cases turned public opinion against the police, limited police funding and placed increased restrictions on police use of force. Given the current lack of funding, resources and manpower there is a need for defensive techniques and training methods that can achieve effective results with minimal training time. The Special Tactics Fighting Art (STFA) offers an approach that can allow officers to achieve high levels of performance in a short time by ensuring techniques are as simple as possible, easy to learn, and easy to apply under great stress.
The ambush is one of the most commonly practiced but least understood tactical skills in the modern U.S. military. This short article is taken from our new Small Unit Infantry Ambush Tactics book. The article is drawn from the book’s introduction and discusses how the doctrinal “schoolhouse” mentality has caused many small unit leaders to forget the hard-earned ambush lessons of previous conflicts.
We are happy to announce that our Outcomes Based Learning Professional Handbook is now available in hardcopy (paperback) from our online store. Emphasizing realistic, scenario-based evolutions, the OBL approach greatly improves combat effectiveness. Embedded in this post are links to both the hardcopy and e-book versions as well as re-prints of the last two articles taken from the OBL book.
Our latest book goes into detail on a wide range of topics relating to home defense and security while providing examples of effective tactics and techniques that can help you protect yourself and your family. This article takes a few passages and diagrams from the sections on alert plans, neighborhood security and response. The full book goes into more detail on this topic also and covers personal response and law-enforcement response to a home invasion.
Our latest book goes into detail on a wide range of topics relating to home defense and security while providing examples of effective tactics and techniques that can help you protect yourself and your family. This article takes a few sections and diagrams from the chapter on armed defensive techniques. The full book goes into more detail on this topic and covers many other topics including community defense planning, threat assessment, improvised weapons and security systems.
This article, drawn from our latest book on machine gun employment discusses some key concepts that relate to fire control and surface danger zones. Machine guns are some of the most decisive infantry weapons but they can also be difficult to employ effectively and safely. Fire control and direct fire control measures are critical for ensuring you take maximum advantage of your guns and avoid accidental friendly fire incidents. The full book goes into more detail on this topic and offers additional fire control techniques and examples for leaders at all levels.
Our latest book on machine gun employment goes into detail on a wide range of topics relating to machine gun theory and various tactics and techniques for using machine guns in combat. This article takes a selection of short paragraphs on several key concepts and useful tactics that are critical for effective machine gun employment. The full book goes into more detail on each of these topics and shows how they relate to each other in the bigger picture.
This article is adapted from our new Escort Detail Venue VIP Protection book and offers a few examples of techniques for physically controlling and evacuating the VIP in an emergency situation. When an attack takes place you will generally not continue moving in your standard walking formation. Rather you will either form a close or contact protective ring and grab hold of the VIP to physically control the VIP’s movement. Depending on the location of greatest threat, there are techniques for either pushing the VIP in front of you or pulling the VIP to safety.
This article is adapted from our new Escort Detail Venue VIP Protection book. The article offers one technique for how a four-person detail might handle an unruly or violent crowd and evacuate the VIP to safety. When protecting the VIP from a large crowd, the detail must carefully monitor the mood of the crowd to anticipate problems or incidents before they occur. Crowds tend towards extreme behavior, whether positive or negative. If the crowd grows unruly for whatever reason, the detail might have a short time window to respond and get the VIP to safety.
This article is adapted from our new Outcomes Based Learning (OBL) Professional Handbook. It discusses how unexpected training outcomes can present hidden challenges, even for those who are experienced at implementing OBL. The article takes a real-world example from a CAT-C course that was implemented properly but did not end up achieving the same desired outcomes across the board. The results are surprising and can teach us a lot about how to get more out of training.
This article is adapted from our new Outcomes Based Learning Professional Handbook. The article discusses the difference between outcomes-based training and process-based training using the Combat Applications Training Course (CAT-C) and traditional Army Basic Rifle Marksmanship (BRM) training as examples. In an outcomes-based course like CAT-C you start with the desired outcomes and build every aspect of the training around those outcomes. This approach has proven itself to greatly improve real-world combat effectiveness.
This short article is taken from our new Squad-Level Infantry Rural Combat book and discusses some critical drawbacks in the way the U.S. Army teaches battle drills to small units. While the standard suppress and flank battle drill is intended only as a guideline or starting point for tactical maneuver, there are a number of problems with using the unmodified battle drill exactly as prescribed in the Army manual. Understanding these problems is a good starting point for developing better tactical options.
This short article is taken from our new Squad-Level Infantry Rural Combat book and discusses how to maintain situational awareness while executing individual movement techniques in a real-world combat scenario. Even if a unit masters movement formations and techniques they may still find themselves at a great disadvantage if they don’t know how to look for and identify potential threats while moving.
This short article is taken from our new Squad-Level Infantry Rural Combat book which includes 200-pages of detailed full-color pictures and diagrams. The article discusses how to incorporate individual movement techniques into small-unit tactical movement in a real-world combat scenario. Even if a unit masters movement formations and techniques they may still find themselves at a great disadvantage in combat against an adversary that better knows how to apply those techniques to the reality of combat.
The security mission never stops. If a detail is protecting a VIP against a serious threat, they will need to provide security 24-hours per-day and 7-days per week. It is impossible to predict where and when an attack might take place. Even if the VIP cannot afford round-the-clock security, there must still be plans and measures in place to maintain security at all times. Therefore as time passes, security operations generally fall into three phases or categories: site security (including compound, building, office, home etc.), mobile security and venue security.
There are many factors to be considered when selecting vehicles for a motorcade. In some cases, you will not have a choice and will have to work with whatever vehicles are available. Regardless, as the security detail it is your responsibility to know your vehicles and understand their advantages and disadvantages. This short article is taken from our new Escort Detail Mobile VIP Protection Online Course. It discusses considerations for choosing the right vehicle for a motorcade or protective detail.
Mobile security focuses on protecting the VIP when he/she is moving from one point to another. The VIP could be moving from his/her home to a venue or moving between scheduled and unscheduled stops. While the techniques of VIP protection vary widely depending on the situation and a number of influencing factors, there are certain core concepts and fundamentals that apply to almost all aspects of mobile security operations.
Should the limo/motorcade come under attack, the detail generally has four options to be executed in the following order of priority: drive through, push out, crossload or evac/bailout. This article provides a general discussion of each of these four options along with some of their advantages and disadvantages. The full book goes into great detail on how to execute each procedure from different directions of attack and with different size details.
If you have to move through an urban environment where threats could emerge from any building or direction, you must be prepared to move tactically in the safest way possible. Urban movement tactics are particularly useful for dealing with terrorist attacks or active shooter (deadly attacker) scenarios. The last installment in this two-part article focused on cover and concealment. This second part focuses on crossing alleys and streets.
