the helicopter. The second phase involves static training in the hangar, where initial fast-roping skills are honed from a 20-foot forklift platform in a quiet, hazard-free environment under the watchful eye of team instructors.


In phase three of training, team members move just outside the hangar and begin operating from


the actual helicopter.


Utilizing the Tyler tactical bench attached to the helicopters as the primary platform, each team member is deployed multiple times in groups of two using all three techniques of insertion to include skid landing, skid light landing, and fast-rope deployment. Again, in an effort to keep things slow and safe, initial fast-rope deployments start off low at approximately 15 feet and gradually increase in elevation over time.


On day two of the event when the entire SWAT team (rookies and veterans) convenes, they start off in a semicircle around the helicopter to brief the operations and emphasize safety points with the instructors and pilots. Once the engines go hot and the rotors start turning, the teams will get fully kitted out (weapons, body armor, radios and special equipment) and perform numerous variations of the three insertion techniques, with the pace of operations increasing as the day goes on. The addition of the kit adds a level of realism and difficulty, since the gear can weigh 40-60 pounds.


54


May/June 2021


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