'It's the option between doing nothing and deadly force'

Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Tyler Hlavac | Lance Cpl. Allen Smith, an assaultman with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment and Ashland City, Tenn. native, is shot with a taser by Gunnery Sgt. Brian Dye, the chief non-lethal weapon instructor for exercise Tradewinds 2011, during taser training. The Taser X26E is capable of firing up to 35 feet and delivers a 50,000 volt charge.  

ST. JOHN'S, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

03.04.2011

Story by Cpl. Tyler Hlavac 

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda – More than 90 infantrymen, military police and civilian law enforcement personnel from the U.S. and several Caribbean nations gathered at the Antigua and Barbuda Royal Police Force’s training school March 4 for training in what has become an exercise Tradewinds staple; non-lethal weapons training.

From a U.S. military perspective, non-lethal training encompasses training with techniques or weapons, such as tasers or batons, that can be used to stun, subdue or capture an enemy combatant or criminal without any loss or life or permanent injury. Non-lethal weapons training is usually one of the more prominent training events in Tradewinds and was conducted last year by military policemen from Military Police Company’s A and B, Headquarters and Service Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group, who again reprised their role as lead instructors this year for Tradewinds 2011.

March 4, was the second day of training and the students spent the day learning how to fight with and defend against batons, knives and tasers; as well as learning hand-to-hand combat techniques and takedowns for disabling opponents. The MP’s used humor and personal experience as military law enforcement, and for some of the Marine Reservists, civilian law enforcement, to connect with the students who were from various cultures and professions. The students at first seemed only half-interested in the training, but could later be seen constantly practicing the techniques amongst themselves during their breaks between periods of instruction. The training day ended with taser training, where the students took turns shooting and being shot with the Taser X26E which is capable of firing up to 35 feet and delivers a 50,000 volt charge.

Non-lethal weapons training is particularly useful to members of smaller countries, such as those in the Caribbean, who often have militarized police forces or have a military that function as more of a defense force or home guard, where service members are expected to function as police and enforce law and order.

The students come to the training to gain experience and knowledge to bring back to their own country.

“This training is really wonderful, it will come in handy back home,” said Sgt. Crispin Castillo of a Special Patrol Police in Belize. His unit deals with riots and violent demonstrations, and has begun looking more into non-lethal training over the years. “If we simply kill a criminal, we will not know why he did what he did and we will not be able to gain knowledge from him. We also don’t want innocent people to be scared of us. We want them to cooperate and give us more information,” he said, referencing the fact that killing, even in self-defense can sometimes scare a local populace and make them afraid of their own police or military.

Non-lethal weapons training is regarded as one of the many specialties of the American armed forces. Traditionally, only military policemen had specialized in this skill set, but now non-lethal weapons are becoming more prominent in the infantry field. Today’s grunts in Iraq or Afghanistan often find themselves functioning as police in their areas of operation as they interrogate suspects, search for evidence of crimes or weapon caches, and attempt to apprehend insurgents. Having this skill set allows them to function more like their MP counterparts if they are needed in that capacity.

“This is good knowledge to know because in Iraq and Afghanistan we are dealing with personnel in a closer capacity,” said Lance Cpl. Von Richcreek, a squad automatic weapon gunner with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment a Nashville, Tenn., native who, like many infantrymen, has an Iraq tour under his belt. “You never know what you may encounter over there and it’s better to have this skill set and not need it, than need it and not have it. You don’t want to kill all the bad guys because that may not be your mission or they may have information you need.”

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Rodney Barnes, the operations officer for MP Company A, summed up the basic philosophy and guiding concept of the day’s training.

“Today’s society has far less tolerance of abusive force. This (non-lethal weapons training) gives leaders another option to deal with a person. It’s the option between doing nothing and deadly force.”

Tradewinds is a joint-combined, interagency exercise involving U.S. personnel from the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, Joint-interagency Task Force-South, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with forces from: Antigua and Barbuda (host nation), Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago.

• Date Taken: 03.04.2011
• Date Posted: 03.05.2011 19:00
• Story ID: 66544
• Location: ST. JOHN'S, AG