PACIFIC OCEAN – Laughter and screams echoed through the hangar bay while Marines with Military Police Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 17, conducted Taser training aboard USS Bonhomme Richard, Sept. 30.
Military police conducted the training to better understand the Taser’s shock effects and to practice apprehending and securing procedures.
“We need to experience it,” said military policeman Lance Cpl. Jason Kaub. “If we’re going to use the Taser, we have to know how it feels and what the repercussions are. Once you shock the person you’ve got to get on him and cuff him before he counter-reacts.”
Tasers are used to take a suspect down or for self-defense. The MPs also taught martial arts and takedown techniques.
“It’s very effective for people who are a bigger size,” Kaub said. “It’s more important to take down the suspect than getting me or other people put in harms way.”
The device is effective due to the 50,000 volts running through a person’s body, forcing the muscles to contract. The tased person loses control of their body. For training purposes, the person operating the Taser holds the trigger down for five seconds.
“It’s probably the most pain you can experience within five seconds of your life,” said Kaub, who has been tased twice in the last two weeks. “It goes through you and locks up your entire body, and you can’t bend or do anything. You are pretty much stiff as a board.”
The MPs are only on the ship for a few days and chose this exercise for two reasons: to provide the MPs with valuable training and to give Marines and sailors an opportunity to interact with one another.
“It’s extremely interactive,” said military policeman Cpl. Robert L. Swift, a 21-year-old from Beaumont, Calif. “Anyone can do it, and it is much safer than pepper spray.”
The MPs finished their training and opened the floor to anyone on the ship who wanted to experience the Taser. Marines, sailors and civilians stepped forward for the shock.