Conga Line O' Death
Active Shooter Training?
"The Fulton County Sheriff's Office held a special exercise called Active Shooter Training on Saturday.
The Commander of Court Services, Captain Thaddeus Lee asked the sheriff's SWAT Team to conduct the seminar to help train deputies on responding effectively to a gunman in the courthouse."
But, but, but, how could a gunman get inside the courthouse when guns aren't allowed inside the courthouse?
Ok, now that I've got that out of my system...
What the heck kind of training exercise is this? It looks like some horrid cross between teaching kindergarteners how to walk in a straight line and how to commit mass murder-suicide among a group of idiots. I count at least six, possibly seven in the line, all pointing their guns at the head of the person in front of them (!!!) while some "instructor" stands off to the side watching the Idiots on Parade, and apparently approving of what he sees! Note the non-waving-his-hands-non-sweaty-non-screaming "STOP!!" not coming from his mouth. I'm only cutting them a small break simply because I can't see if their fingers are on the triggers or not (rule #3).
Let's honestly break down what would happen if these bozos were suddenly confronted with a Bad Guy. First of all, they have no cover walking down the middle of the freaking hallway EXCEPT the person in front of them. The whole line and their reactions will be dictated by what the people in the front three positions do, because right in the middle of the line is where they decided to place the tallest member of the group, effectively blinding everyone behind him to anything that does occur - they won't know whether to go left or right unless they've been previously told what to do, and if they were, they wouldn't be walking like a line of elephants under a circus tent to the slaughter.
The shooting starts - person number One goes down, left, right, back, maybe (but probably not) forward. Number Two literally has the crappy choice of waiting to see what One does; even if she doesn't and reacts, what happens if she goes the same direction as Number One - answer, she's inneffective. Number Three - henceforth referred to as Sasquatch - is the only one in the entire line to actually have a semi-good position; he can plainly see the events in front of him, has a (human) shield, and regardless of what happens to One and Two, he can make a decision on his own to end the thing... if numbers 4 through 6 don't accidentally shoot him in the back.
Bottom line (err...): by choosing to practice this formation, they've rendered anybody beyond the first couple of shooters to be ineffective or decisive if a gun battle were to erupt. Which we all know it's not, because the law says you can't have a gun in a courthouse.
So, what would work better? (Thanks for asking)
For starters, put the guns to the ground and for crying out loud (rule #2) don't ever point the gun at anything you're not willing to destroy! Stopping the baddie is the objective - perforating a coworker, not so much.
Next, give the bad guy more than one target to shoot at - spread out! Hug the walls, use a doorway, duck in to the alcove, drop to a knee - anything to 1) make yourself a smaller target and 2) open up more shooting lanes for the guys around/behind you.
Also, no more impersonating the Germans moving in to France - the bad guy will probably be a heckuvalot more dangerous than Frogs anyway. Move station to station, cover to cover. Big point - it's not necessary to have every gun shooting if it all goes down. True, you want superior firepower, but if it's done by compromising the safety of others, what's the good? Keep a few shooters to the rear to overwatch everything, but most importantly, to make sure there isn't anybody else!
Lastly, arrange from shortest to tallest. That way, the tall shooters could, if the need arose, fire over the heads of those in front. This is important anytime, most especially in cramped hallways where space is limited.
Oh, and for heaven's sake, get a real gun, not a brick.
"The Fulton County Sheriff's Office held a special exercise called Active Shooter Training on Saturday. The Commander of Court Services, Captain Thaddeus Lee asked the sheriff's SWAT Team to conduct the seminar to help train deputies on responding effectively to a gunman in the courthouse."
But, but, but, how could a gunman get inside the courthouse when guns aren't allowed inside the courthouse?
Ok, now that I've got that out of my system...
What the heck kind of training exercise is this? It looks like some horrid cross between teaching kindergarteners how to walk in a straight line and how to commit mass murder-suicide among a group of idiots. I count at least six, possibly seven in the line, all pointing their guns at the head of the person in front of them (!!!) while some "instructor" stands off to the side watching the Idiots on Parade, and apparently approving of what he sees! Note the non-waving-his-hands-non-sweaty-non-screaming "STOP!!" not coming from his mouth. I'm only cutting them a small break simply because I can't see if their fingers are on the triggers or not (rule #3).
Let's honestly break down what would happen if these bozos were suddenly confronted with a Bad Guy. First of all, they have no cover walking down the middle of the freaking hallway EXCEPT the person in front of them. The whole line and their reactions will be dictated by what the people in the front three positions do, because right in the middle of the line is where they decided to place the tallest member of the group, effectively blinding everyone behind him to anything that does occur - they won't know whether to go left or right unless they've been previously told what to do, and if they were, they wouldn't be walking like a line of elephants under a circus tent to the slaughter.
The shooting starts - person number One goes down, left, right, back, maybe (but probably not) forward. Number Two literally has the crappy choice of waiting to see what One does; even if she doesn't and reacts, what happens if she goes the same direction as Number One - answer, she's inneffective. Number Three - henceforth referred to as Sasquatch - is the only one in the entire line to actually have a semi-good position; he can plainly see the events in front of him, has a (human) shield, and regardless of what happens to One and Two, he can make a decision on his own to end the thing... if numbers 4 through 6 don't accidentally shoot him in the back.
Bottom line (err...): by choosing to practice this formation, they've rendered anybody beyond the first couple of shooters to be ineffective or decisive if a gun battle were to erupt. Which we all know it's not, because the law says you can't have a gun in a courthouse.
So, what would work better? (Thanks for asking)
For starters, put the guns to the ground and for crying out loud (rule #2) don't ever point the gun at anything you're not willing to destroy! Stopping the baddie is the objective - perforating a coworker, not so much.
Next, give the bad guy more than one target to shoot at - spread out! Hug the walls, use a doorway, duck in to the alcove, drop to a knee - anything to 1) make yourself a smaller target and 2) open up more shooting lanes for the guys around/behind you.
Also, no more impersonating the Germans moving in to France - the bad guy will probably be a heckuvalot more dangerous than Frogs anyway. Move station to station, cover to cover. Big point - it's not necessary to have every gun shooting if it all goes down. True, you want superior firepower, but if it's done by compromising the safety of others, what's the good? Keep a few shooters to the rear to overwatch everything, but most importantly, to make sure there isn't anybody else!
Lastly, arrange from shortest to tallest. That way, the tall shooters could, if the need arose, fire over the heads of those in front. This is important anytime, most especially in cramped hallways where space is limited.
Oh, and for heaven's sake, get a real gun, not a brick.
posted by misawa at 8:22 AM
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