I think it’s on the edge of sexist and valid, but you have a vested interest that could lead to bias.
I think most (hesitate to say all) men have similar concerns to varying degrees.
Personally feel that for combat roles all physical standards need to be the same. Same jobs, same qualifications isn’t sexist.
Where it gets into a gray area is mostly with emotions. I’ve heard of those… 
I really hope (but sadly doubt) that the Brits are having a serious conversation about arming their police officers. The death toll of the last London attack would have been significantly lower if that brave officer who charged the terrorists with nothing but a baton had been armed with a pistol and adequately trained on how to use it.
My earlier response about medical gear got me thinking about how inadequate my preparation is there. A huge part of why I got my EMT certification and became a firefighter is that I came across a badly injured person, and didn’t have the knowledge to help him. But having the knowledge is useless without having the tools. I have nightmares about not being about to help.
So I went ahead and ordered a few CAT tourniquets. Still looking for a small pouch that I can fit a tourniquet and a few items in and carry in a cargo pocket on my pants or shorts.
Here’s what I know about tourniquets: get one, and don’t be scared to use it. When I took my EMT class in 2008, they were still saying that tourniquets were the devil, and you should never use them. That has very recently changed, thanks to the hard won knowledge brought home by our combat medics. Tourniquets work, and won’t cost anyone a limb. Tourniquets can be left on for hours, without causing any damage. I think the record is 31 hours.
Unlike most medical supplies, they’re re-usable, obviously not on a patient, but you can take it out of the packaging, and practice applying it to yourself or any other willing participant. Just don’t put it on their neck. In fact, they say the best spot is high in the armpit, or high in the groin. The arteries there are closer to the surface, and easier to shut of, with out having to crush down a lot of tissue.
There are two brands that the experts recommend. SOF tourniquets, and North American Rescue. They run around $20 to $30 bucks each. Here is a North American Resuce.
.There are cheap chinese knockoffs out there, but I wouldn’t trust anyone’s life to cheap chinese knockoff. Order from a reputable source. They will not expire, and you don’t need to worry about keeping them sterile. Take care of them, keep them clean and out of the sun and they should last a lifetime. Again, practice with them! They are so simple a chimp could use them, but you’re not going to figure it out after the shit has hit the fan.
Thought for the day:
Death rides a pale horse
It has been a bloody weekend for my brothers, 6 shot and 2 dead. And for what? a country where most of its citizens could give a shit whether you live or die?
://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-police-officers-killed-4-others-injured-in-3-shootings-in-florida-and-pennsylvania
If any LEO’s are on this thread, this is a very timely article by Aaron Barruga. For civilian carry, I dont know how many of you are carrying carbines/ rifles, but, you need to read this to.
Since Thursday, 13 people have been killed and 100 more injured as vehicles were driven into crowds in Eastern Spain as part of terror attacks executed by the Islamic State. In March, a car plowed through pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge in London, killing 5 and injuring 49. Last December, a truck driven through a crowd in Berlin killed 11 people and injured 56.
For terrorists, vehicles pose numerous tactical advantages over traditional small arms or explosive attacks. For these reasons, law enforcement officers should consider the following five concepts.
1: PRE-STAGING A VEHICLE PATROL RIFLE
Whether in the trunk, the center console, or the back of a motorcycle, officers must be familiar with the rapid employment of carbines or any weapon capable of defeating windshields and door panels. Simple dry-fire exercises such as releasing the carbine from its mount and dismounting the vehicle can help with minimizing officer response times during crises.
If responding to crises, officers should consider releasing the carbine and staging it for quick access on the passenger seat of their patrol car. The ability to arrive on scene and immediately step out of his vehicle with a patrol rifle allows an officer to be an immediate force multiplier when responding to crises.
Stow your sling with rubber bands or similar retainers. Slings that hang loosely inside of vehicle mounts can create unnecessary headache should an officer need to rapidly dismount his vehicle. To ensure a patrol rifle’s sling doesn’t catch on dashboard equipment or the steering wheel, slings should be stowed against the patrol rifle with rubber bands. When stowing a sling with rubber bands, remember to build in a quick release by “s” folding the sling. This allows it to move freely of the carbine when an officer decides to sling his patrol rifle.
2: UNDERSTAND SAFE WEAPON READY POSITIONS
Vehicle attacks are most likely to occur in urban environments because of the target density available to terrorists. Responding officers will need to navigate through crowds, possibly with weapons at the ready. Officers must feel confident running with both carbines and pistols in these confined areas. The ability to move aggressively in and around terrain without flagging bystanders or fellow officers is critical for a safe response.
When teaching ready positions, competency should not be sacrificed in favor of misinterpreted simplicity. Despite sayings such as “more tools for your toolbox,” during a stressful situation individuals fall back on the technique that they have the most repetitions performing. Furthermore, utilize common sense when validating ready positions. If a technique contradicts the tenets of developing competent shooters (such as placing a pistol against the shooter’s forehead for “safety”) avoid these methods so that you can instead develop more well-rounded tactical responders.
3: THE DANGERS OF SYMPATHETIC FIRE
Our senses are overwhelmed by stimulus in urban environments. In close quarter engagements, over saturation may cause an individual to pull a trigger as part of a sympathetic reaction to another officer shooting. It is paramount that officers always understand what lay in front and behind the threats they are engaging.
4: HOW TO CLEAR A VEHICLE AS A SINGLETON
The exigent circumstances of terror or active shooter attacks might demand that an officer individually clear vehicles containing suspects. Although certain protocol might advise officers to wait for backup or even SWAT, in his dying breaths a terrorist’s resolve might be to continue killing bystanders. For this reason, an officer must feel confident in his ability to clear a vehicle by himself. This does not suggest that officers unnecessarily put themselves at risk, but it also does not excuse them from performing the task should it be necessary.
5: IMPROVISE, ADAPT, AND OVERCOME.
In preparing for urban terror attacks, perform scenario training that encourages adaptability and abandons rigid training approaches, or “if this, then that” mentalities. Despite being labeled as “stress induced” or “unscripted,” a lot of scenario based training fails officers because the techniques taught only work under the very narrow guidelines of the specific training scenario. This produces officers that are great at navigating artificial training environments, but these individuals are more likely to freeze when responding to the spontaneous nature of a real fight.
It is impossible to predict exactly how an attack will be executed, or what exactly will transpire on the ground during the attack. For these reasons, it is critical that officers participate in training that encourages both flexibility and decisiveness.
My deepest sympathies for the families of the fallen officers. There’s supposed to be some kind of stupid rivalry between cops and firefighter’s, but I’ll tell you cops have a harder and more dangerous job than firefighters.
Part of what I love about my job is that we can ride through the worst neighborhood and the kids wave and jump up and down and love to see us. It breaks my heart that this doesn’t happen for the police. The police are the ones who come to save them from the real monsters.
I went digging through my podcasts and found this one: The American Warrior Show from 7/23/15. Trauma Management for the Armed Citizen. There is a ton of solid information in this hour long podcast. It’s worth listening to multiple times.
Interesting game planning there @idaho. But I have to think… firing a carbine at a moving vehicle while it mows people down. I don’t see a scenario where rounds don’t exit the vehicle and hit civilians. Unless you’re firing at the front of the vehicle and everyone behind it is already on the ground.
Thoughts?
Rest in peace Brothers. Prayers for those left behind. I can only imagine how hard it is on morale trying to police in the social climate of the US. All I can say is, it’s good to hunt the wolf regardless of how the sheep think they feel about you.
Thanks for doing what you do. There are few enough of us in LE who “get it”. We can’t afford to lose those that do. Who else will be ledt to keep the barbarians in check?
Concerning Aaron’s article, if I were to pick out one item in there that came as a revelation, it’s the idea of stowing the sling on the patrol rifle with rubber bands. I can’t tell you how many times, under no pressure at all, usually tired at end of shift, I’ve snagged that thing on every imagineable item in the cab of the PC.
Concerning rapid access/deployment of the carbine inside the cab, defeating the windshield etc. That is a bit of a logistical issue for me. Our standard PC is the new model ford taurus. I am 6’4" 235 lbs. Once you get a computer terminal, gun rack etc in there and I am in full kit I am shoehorned into that thing. The explorers are s bit better, but we only have a few of those.
I can drive with the rifle already slung if I know I’m going to something, but to get that thing out with any speed it needs to occupy the same space I do in the driver’s seat. I’m thinking I’ll drive somewhere out of the way and drill this a little with an unloaded carbine.
Thanks for running this thread. There is gold in here.
Stay dangerous Brother.
I spoke to a female medic who felt that women didn’t belong in combat.
She got shot through the arm while trying to drag a wounded soldier out of the line of fire.
She wasn’t able to move him very quickly because of all his gear, and another soldier had to come help her and he wound up getting wounded as well.
The way she saw it, she put those two guys in more danger by being there.
Just a comment:
It varies based on the woman. I knew a female Army combat medic that could’ve drug my 200lb ass with my 50+ lb pack slung, while having her own pack slung.
They also have to complete SERE to qualify. I’ll be damned if anyone who completes that can’t hang with the big dogs.
Some people can while others can’t, male and female alike.
Which is why there needs to be one standard that accurately reflects the demands of the job and those who can’t meet or exceed that standard shouldn’t be able to get/keep the job.
Same goes for LE, Fire Rescue etc…
That is true.
I remember years ago seeing video of women trying to complete firefighter training, and they were unable to pass the physical requirements.
They sued the fire department and the video was shown as justification for not passing them.
One woman who was able to pass the tests argued that lowering the standards for women put everyone in danger
Interestingly enough, I remember when women started going through Ranger school there were arguments about the physical standards, and a lot of Rangers were arguing that the standards bore little actual resemblance to what they actually did as Rangers.
I agree. I think many physical standards bear little resemblance to the job they are meant to test for. Cooper’s test for LE is a prime example. 2500m steady pace foot pursuit? Probably not happening.
Tests need to be better designed so training for the test is as relevant as possible to training for the job. True of skills (i.e. firearms) as well as fitness. Static shooting on a flat range and max rep pushups have very little bearing IMHO in tactical readiness.
That is commendable:)
Thank you, I will try to track it down. Also, was sent this link for eval. Nice looking equipment, but, unless, I have been gone too long, seems very expensive to me.
Really good point and unfortunately, I don’t have a good an answer. I believe this is the classic “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. I have only been involved in one situation in Baghdad, where we had to stop a vehicle from ramming us. Another vehicle had prematurely detonated before reaching the convoy and the second vehicle decided to go for us instead. Fortunately they were using a soft skinned vehicle, but, it still took multiple hits before being stopped.
I agree with you, taking an accurate shot on a moving vehicle, much less, putting a fatal round into the driver is remote. On the other hand if you don’t, more people will die while you look for the perfect shot, not going to happen.
Now it also is a question of angles. If it is a large truck like used in France, then I would take the shot, since the angle will place the round above street level. If multiple people are dying, you have to do something, just be willing to live with a stray round doing collateral damage and if in the US, the multiple criminal and civil procedures to follow. Harsh, I know. Sometimes you are dealt a bad hand and you just have to play it out.
Another concern is the 5.56 being the dominate round used by police and military. This is IMHO, an inadequate round for vehicle stoppage. I will post a picture to illustrate what an armed vehicle can withstand from a blast and AK rounds. Another concern I have observed, is European police still rely on the 9mm SMG and that is a windshield round only, so disabling the vehicle is moot. A 7.62 is at the bottom for vehicle stoppage. A 300 Norma, 338 WM, 338 Lapua Magnum, and .50 are basically reliable. Like I said no easy answer.
Some thoughts from Mike Pannone on vehicle combat:
From the tactical perspective there are 6 principles I adhere to in open air engagements around vehicles. These should be common sense:
A vehicle is terrain unless it is moving, then it’s a vehicle again.
Fighting around vehicles is outdoor fighting and uses standard basic infantry tactical principles. _THIS IS TRUE NO MATTER WHO SIGNS YOUR PAYCHECK, WHAT UNIFORM YOU WEAR OR WHERE YOU_** ARE i.e. RAMMADI IRAQ OR RICHMOND VIRGINIA**. This is too often conflated with Close Quarters Battle (CQB) which is a more refined form of fighting “on a built up or enclosed structure”. It requires much more training, specialized equipment and detailed rehearsals when possible.
Anything is better than nothing but very little on a soft vehicle is cover.
Use every bit of ballistic protection that the vehicle may offer but don’t assume it is cover.
Keep the biggest chunk of metal you can between you and the threat as long as you can and be looking for the next best piece of terrain. As the threat moves you move keeping the vehicle as close to directly between you as makes tactical sense.
Move as soon as you can, move before you get pinned in a spot from which you can’t move.
That’s why the second of the first three steps of the SOF targeting methodology F3EAD is (Find) Fix and is followed by Finish.
If you fix someone in place, then the finishing part is only a matter of time. If you were attacked in a certain spot more than likely it’s for the distinct advantage of the attacker. By moving and changing the angles you are disrupting the plan and can regain the initiative. If it is chance contact and you are losing the initiative, again the best course of action is to change the angles on the threat to regain it.
Don’t fight from the ground unless it is the last option you have. It is too easy to lose track of an adversary and across the hood or around a car it’s really just “who gets seen first gets shot first”. If an adversary rushes the vehicle you will not be able to counter his actions in a timely manner while trying to get up. Know how to do it but understand that fighting from the ground is a last resort.
A vehicle that is not in motion is terrain and should be treated as an obstacle with enhanced concealment that provides an unpredictable level of ballistic protection. The best course of action is to immediately return the best suppressive fire you can to blunt the attack and then move as soon as is tactically prudent to regroup and counter-attack or withdraw. Changing the angles changes their plan and changes the fight.
True. The only static shooting I do is for agency qualifications, which are just bullshit to begin with. After some training yesterday, I decided to “workout” on the range. I ran this drill numerous times, both strong and support hand. I had the 90 lb Rogue bag again, which is becoming my best friend:)). If you get the chance, give it a try. Also, Pat received some criticism about “turning his back to the enemy”. I will post his reply to ths.
“I should run backwards, fall over, get my teeth kicked in? Get out of flat range mindset. You need to see where you are going. Gunfights happen when it’s dark and scary, in walmart parking lots, where there are obstacles. Mobility equals survivability”
Motivational Monday
Take a kid fishing, it will do you and the world some good.
