bungi74
11 June 2005, 16:44
TEES High Risk Personal Security Detail Course
Howdy everyone. At the request of the moderator I wrote this review of the TEES High Risk Personal Security Detail Course. This was my first course at TEES, and learned a lot. I am an active duty 11b1V in a non-deployable unit. My Army schools are: Basic/Airborne/Ranger School. I took the TAC Pistol I course at Blackwater last year, but most of my shooting is done thru IDPA/IPSC/3-gun. No PSD experience to speak of, and no time in the sandbox. That's where I'm coming from, here is my review:
Monday, Day I
Monday morning we met at the hotel nice and early. You could tell the guys in the lobby were waiting for the TEES instructors to show up, because there was 5.11 gear everywhere. After a quick roll call we headed out to the TEES range in a nice long convoy. The range isn't that far from the hotel, and by 0800 we were in class. The class was comprised of people from all over, there was even a guy from Europe. There were definitely some experienced guys attending, who had done convoy ops and site security in Iraq, and PSD in Haiti and the US. A few SF guys, a few guys trying to get in the business, and a bunch of cops, all of which had SWAT experience. I thought there were going to be a few more total newbies like myself, but most everyone there had some sort of PSD experience or previous training.
The first block of instruction was on the history and mission of TEES, an overview of the class and an intro to the facility. Both instructors seemed to know the subject very well, though I may not be the best judge of that. Either way they definitely had a lot to teach, and did a good job doing just that. The next block of instruction was on the basic formations of a detail both on foot, and in a vehicle. The roles and responsibilities of each member were also explained.
After a short break we loaded up our pistols and headed out to the range. There were all sorts of body armor, holsters and gear, but Glock was definitely the pistol of choice. The firing was done at the 3 and 5 yard line, and the instructors just went over the basics of pistol marksmanship. I believe they just wanted to see that we were all safe, and understood the range commands. One thing they taught us that I hadn't seen was a low-ready with the pistol. I've seen people use it in the movies, but never had it explained to me. There was a fancy name for it, but it is basically holding the pistol straight down, up next to your chest, with your support hand laid flat, parallel to your chest. (Mod note, this is postion Sul)They also stressed after action drills, which are a good habit to learn. Part of their after action drill was to keep your finger on the trigger until you have looked left and right, and then move the finger to the trigger guard while bring the pistol to the low ready. Most of us are used to putting our finger on the trigger guard after you've engaged. But, like they said in Ranger School... it's a technique. Our final pistol exercises were draws from concealment and shifting left or right before you engage your target, to throw off the guy trying to shoot you. I had never done drills like that before, but will definitely be adding that to my dry fire & range regimen. I believe Tom Cruise's character does this during the shootout at the Korean bar in "Collateral". This is not a shooting school, it is a PSD course, but I thought they did a good job focusing on accuracy and good fundamentals in the limited time we had.
Next was a walk through of the basic formations. We did the box and linear, but focused most on the diamond. We practiced changing directions and who issues commands. The instructors also started focusing on where our hands should be when we are not walking, and where we should be looking while moving.
Next we were back in the classroom watching video tape of a variety of assassinations and assaults from the past 40 years. The Reagan one was the most interesting because we got to see much more of the tape than you normally see in the news. The news usually stops tape right after the Secret Service pulls out the UZI. There were animated recreations of what went on, which added a lot to the presentation.
After lunch it was back to the range for rifle marksmanship. Again the basics were emphasized and the shooting was done from 5m and 10m. Everyone had an AR, except for 2 guys who had MP5s. People had all types of optics. We then did some transition drills, and incorporated lateral movement into the transition drill. For both the pistol and rifle portions, the instructors got us used to the commands "Gun Front", as opposed to "Ready, Up" like I have used in the Army.
Next, the rifles were put down and the basic technique for moving the principal was practiced. I was surprised how easy it was to physically manipulate someone with the right technique. The mindset of PSD struck me here. In the Army, when you get shot at, you keep a low profile, but in this drill, we were taught to keep our bodies between the bullets and the principal. Just a reminder of the mindset and job here. Next we incorporated this movement into a buddy team, principal evacuation, and finally a 4-person diamond formation evacuation. This was also our quick intro into buddy team movement. All this culminated in a live fire exercise, evacuating the principal. Everyone at the class was very aware of their muzzle, and worked well together which surprised me because of the lack of time we had been together. The experience of some of the people here was showing.
After an AAR of the day, we called it quits. It was a fast paced day, but I learned a lot. The instructors and students were very motivated and did not bullshit their way through things, which was nice to see.
Day II
Day two started off with a practical exercise of how to work a rope line. This included techniques on handshaking, breaking handshakes and formations.
Day two's classroom work started off with the always exciting topic of: OPORDs. Luckily, TEES teaches the same Army standard OPORD format. From some of the guys who had come from in-country, they use this format as well. After the OPORD class we examined the part of the OPORD that would be covered after a site survey. This set us up for our lunchtime lesson of doing a site survey of a restaurant. We did routes, exterior and interior surveys, and then did a presentation with our findings. This concluded day 2. A lot of classroom work, but very educational. The attention to detail here was eye opening. You really have to examine a lot to do a good job.
Day III
We started off the day driving our vehicles down to the other TEES location. From here, we did our classroom work on convoy driving. We went over formations, and techniques for 2 and 3 vehicle convoys. Next we hopped on the freeway and practiced our maneuvering as a convoy. The rest of the morning was spent in an arena parking lot doing some evasive driving, and anti-ambush drills. These drills were A LOT of fun, and made me want to learn a lot more about precision driving. One guy in our group had done a BSR course and other driving schools, and you could really tell how he manipulated his vehicle. After lunch we returned to the classroom and did some arrival/departure lessons. We then returned to the vehicles and practiced those a lot. It was emphasized that these are just one solid technique to use. These techniques can be modified depending on the personnel, vehicles, etc.
Day IV
Thursday we were back on the range doing shooting from vehicles. We practiced shooting from the well and sides, and got to see how it is pretty hard to shoot accurately at higher speeds. Optics were an advantage here, and you could really tell. The SWAT guys and myself were using EOTechs, and were getting good hits. Next we practiced arrival drills, taking contact. All drills in this school are practiced dry first for a few times, then live. A couple more drills were done, some dealing with down vehicles and evacuating the principal. After each dry/live iteration we switched around roles, which gave us all a chance to be part of a different team.
Day V
Friday was all FTX day. We did more complex scenarios, taking contact, evacuating, getting hit with an IED, evacuation, etc. The instructors let us do the planning and assignments, while they monitored. Everyone was safe and motivated. We tried some scenarios different ways and got to see the pros and cons of each one. We finished up in the early afternoon and went our separate ways.
Howdy everyone. At the request of the moderator I wrote this review of the TEES High Risk Personal Security Detail Course. This was my first course at TEES, and learned a lot. I am an active duty 11b1V in a non-deployable unit. My Army schools are: Basic/Airborne/Ranger School. I took the TAC Pistol I course at Blackwater last year, but most of my shooting is done thru IDPA/IPSC/3-gun. No PSD experience to speak of, and no time in the sandbox. That's where I'm coming from, here is my review:
Monday, Day I
Monday morning we met at the hotel nice and early. You could tell the guys in the lobby were waiting for the TEES instructors to show up, because there was 5.11 gear everywhere. After a quick roll call we headed out to the TEES range in a nice long convoy. The range isn't that far from the hotel, and by 0800 we were in class. The class was comprised of people from all over, there was even a guy from Europe. There were definitely some experienced guys attending, who had done convoy ops and site security in Iraq, and PSD in Haiti and the US. A few SF guys, a few guys trying to get in the business, and a bunch of cops, all of which had SWAT experience. I thought there were going to be a few more total newbies like myself, but most everyone there had some sort of PSD experience or previous training.
The first block of instruction was on the history and mission of TEES, an overview of the class and an intro to the facility. Both instructors seemed to know the subject very well, though I may not be the best judge of that. Either way they definitely had a lot to teach, and did a good job doing just that. The next block of instruction was on the basic formations of a detail both on foot, and in a vehicle. The roles and responsibilities of each member were also explained.
After a short break we loaded up our pistols and headed out to the range. There were all sorts of body armor, holsters and gear, but Glock was definitely the pistol of choice. The firing was done at the 3 and 5 yard line, and the instructors just went over the basics of pistol marksmanship. I believe they just wanted to see that we were all safe, and understood the range commands. One thing they taught us that I hadn't seen was a low-ready with the pistol. I've seen people use it in the movies, but never had it explained to me. There was a fancy name for it, but it is basically holding the pistol straight down, up next to your chest, with your support hand laid flat, parallel to your chest. (Mod note, this is postion Sul)They also stressed after action drills, which are a good habit to learn. Part of their after action drill was to keep your finger on the trigger until you have looked left and right, and then move the finger to the trigger guard while bring the pistol to the low ready. Most of us are used to putting our finger on the trigger guard after you've engaged. But, like they said in Ranger School... it's a technique. Our final pistol exercises were draws from concealment and shifting left or right before you engage your target, to throw off the guy trying to shoot you. I had never done drills like that before, but will definitely be adding that to my dry fire & range regimen. I believe Tom Cruise's character does this during the shootout at the Korean bar in "Collateral". This is not a shooting school, it is a PSD course, but I thought they did a good job focusing on accuracy and good fundamentals in the limited time we had.
Next was a walk through of the basic formations. We did the box and linear, but focused most on the diamond. We practiced changing directions and who issues commands. The instructors also started focusing on where our hands should be when we are not walking, and where we should be looking while moving.
Next we were back in the classroom watching video tape of a variety of assassinations and assaults from the past 40 years. The Reagan one was the most interesting because we got to see much more of the tape than you normally see in the news. The news usually stops tape right after the Secret Service pulls out the UZI. There were animated recreations of what went on, which added a lot to the presentation.
After lunch it was back to the range for rifle marksmanship. Again the basics were emphasized and the shooting was done from 5m and 10m. Everyone had an AR, except for 2 guys who had MP5s. People had all types of optics. We then did some transition drills, and incorporated lateral movement into the transition drill. For both the pistol and rifle portions, the instructors got us used to the commands "Gun Front", as opposed to "Ready, Up" like I have used in the Army.
Next, the rifles were put down and the basic technique for moving the principal was practiced. I was surprised how easy it was to physically manipulate someone with the right technique. The mindset of PSD struck me here. In the Army, when you get shot at, you keep a low profile, but in this drill, we were taught to keep our bodies between the bullets and the principal. Just a reminder of the mindset and job here. Next we incorporated this movement into a buddy team, principal evacuation, and finally a 4-person diamond formation evacuation. This was also our quick intro into buddy team movement. All this culminated in a live fire exercise, evacuating the principal. Everyone at the class was very aware of their muzzle, and worked well together which surprised me because of the lack of time we had been together. The experience of some of the people here was showing.
After an AAR of the day, we called it quits. It was a fast paced day, but I learned a lot. The instructors and students were very motivated and did not bullshit their way through things, which was nice to see.
Day II
Day two started off with a practical exercise of how to work a rope line. This included techniques on handshaking, breaking handshakes and formations.
Day two's classroom work started off with the always exciting topic of: OPORDs. Luckily, TEES teaches the same Army standard OPORD format. From some of the guys who had come from in-country, they use this format as well. After the OPORD class we examined the part of the OPORD that would be covered after a site survey. This set us up for our lunchtime lesson of doing a site survey of a restaurant. We did routes, exterior and interior surveys, and then did a presentation with our findings. This concluded day 2. A lot of classroom work, but very educational. The attention to detail here was eye opening. You really have to examine a lot to do a good job.
Day III
We started off the day driving our vehicles down to the other TEES location. From here, we did our classroom work on convoy driving. We went over formations, and techniques for 2 and 3 vehicle convoys. Next we hopped on the freeway and practiced our maneuvering as a convoy. The rest of the morning was spent in an arena parking lot doing some evasive driving, and anti-ambush drills. These drills were A LOT of fun, and made me want to learn a lot more about precision driving. One guy in our group had done a BSR course and other driving schools, and you could really tell how he manipulated his vehicle. After lunch we returned to the classroom and did some arrival/departure lessons. We then returned to the vehicles and practiced those a lot. It was emphasized that these are just one solid technique to use. These techniques can be modified depending on the personnel, vehicles, etc.
Day IV
Thursday we were back on the range doing shooting from vehicles. We practiced shooting from the well and sides, and got to see how it is pretty hard to shoot accurately at higher speeds. Optics were an advantage here, and you could really tell. The SWAT guys and myself were using EOTechs, and were getting good hits. Next we practiced arrival drills, taking contact. All drills in this school are practiced dry first for a few times, then live. A couple more drills were done, some dealing with down vehicles and evacuating the principal. After each dry/live iteration we switched around roles, which gave us all a chance to be part of a different team.
Day V
Friday was all FTX day. We did more complex scenarios, taking contact, evacuating, getting hit with an IED, evacuation, etc. The instructors let us do the planning and assignments, while they monitored. Everyone was safe and motivated. We tried some scenarios different ways and got to see the pros and cons of each one. We finished up in the early afternoon and went our separate ways.