FORT CARSON, Colo. - The call came in to dispatch – a possible hostage situation at a fictitious post High School – and the Fort Carson police Special Reaction Team rolled out. Its mission was clear – free the hostages and eliminate the hostage takers.
The two-part exercise Oct. 3 tested both military police from 148th MP Detachment, 759th MP Battalion, and Department of the Army civilian police officers.
“It went really well,” said 1st Lt. Adam McLarty, officer in charge, 148th MP. “We’ve been utilizing new tactics. This was really good to let our Soldiers know that, although it’s not the most ideal situation, they’re fully equipped to deal with any situation.”
When officers arrived on the scene, they quickly stormed the building, freed the hostage and arrested the hostage taker.
“I didn’t really have time to do anything,” said Spc. Gabriel Berry, 984th MP Company, 759th MP Bn. Berry played the role of hostage taker. “I didn’t even have time to get a shot off.”
After the initial scenario, the officers were surprised with a second scenario – one of the hostage takers had slipped out the back and barricaded himself in a building down the street.
The first mission, complete with marksman observers, was designed as an exercise in planning and executing, but the second mission was to test the SRT’s ability to react to a situation they had no time to plan for.
“The first mission was a little more deliberate. It was the full process we’d take. The second was a barricaded subject, no planning, just react to the situation,” said Staff Sgt. Christopher Logan, noncommissioned officer in charge, 148th MP.
“The second type of mission is one we never want to have to do,” McLarty said.
Dealing with the unexpected is a necessary part of the SRT mission, though.
“That’s one of the curses of this job. You have to be able to control chaos,” he said.