CRAWL, WALK, RUN
During our visit with HCSO, the aviation section was performing a very specialized, multi-day joint training event with the SWAT team utilizing the helicopter for rapid SWAT team insertions. The three types of insertions practiced were skid landing, skid light landing, and fast-rope insertions. The event trained two levels of team members; one-third were new to SWAT and this training was their initial introduction to helicopter insertions. The remainder of the team members were completing their recurrent training to maintain proficiency in all three insertion techniques, as well as operating in and around the helicopter.
Fast-roping, also known as Fast Rope Insertion Extraction System (FRIES), is a technique for descending a thick rope. It is useful for deploying personnel from a helicopter in places where the helicopter itself cannot touch down.
The benefit to this technique is that because team members are not connected to the rope, they can be rapidly inserted by sliding down the rope. There’s virtually no margin for error. If a team member loses his or her grip, or uses the wrong technique, they could fall. Of course, given the high- risk situations that these specialists may face such as active shooters, the relative risk of a fall is low in comparison.
According to Master Sheriff’s Pilot Jeramy Butler, these insertion techniques were developed following an active shooter incident. HCSO SWAT identified that they would enhance the agency’s ability to rapidly insert a mitigating force very close to an active shooter scene or a potential domestic terrorist situation (e.g., 2021 Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa).
Butler describes the training as “crawl, walk, run.” He explains, “Because of the hazards, risks, and complexity of these operations, the training has to start off very slowly and will evolve into a more fluid, fast-paced, scenario-based evolution as proficiency is gained over the three-day event.”
The first phase of training occurs in the classroom where the teams discuss gear, communications, and safety in and around
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