August 17, 2011 by Dennis O'Connor - Director of Training

Spending my entire adult life either in the military or law enforcement, I have learned, or thought I learned to be very conscious of my surrounding. In reality what I did learn was to be vigilant in anticipation of a violent act or crime to be committed. What I never spent time on, was once the violent act or crime was committed and a response was required, how to deal with processing.

Over the last four years I have had the greatest opportunity to train some of the best tactical officers in the law enforcement community as well as first responders. Regardless of whom the students are, the one most notable down fall, is the ability to see past the end of their gun and to process what they see.

In a high stress environment, we know that the sympathetic nervous system takes over and tunnel vision begins to occur. The question that arises is how do we as trainers teach the student how to process everything they see, prioritize and act accordingly.

Read the complete story on our website.

September 19th - 23rd Surveillance in Barnwell, SC
October 11th - 13th Tactical Breaching in Barnwell, SC
October 24th - 28th Tactical Response to Terrorism in Barnwell, SC

To register for these or any of GTI's courses, please contact me directly:

Scott Sailor
Training Coordinator
info@gtitraining.org
803-259-1935 - Office

For the second year in a row, law enforcement fatalities have risen sharply nationwide during 2011, including 49 officers killed by gunfire-the highest number in two decades.

One hundred twenty three officers have died in the line of duty through August 17th, 2011, according to figures released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF). This represents an 19 percent increase over the 103 officers who lost their lives during the same time last year.

For 13 years in a row, traffic-related incidents have been the leading cause of officer fatalities, but so far this year, firearms-related fatalities have out-paced traffic-related fatalities as the primary cause of law enforcement deaths, with 50 officers shot and killed. This represents a troubling 32% increase from the same period in 2010.

Many authorities attribute the increase in officer fatalities to cuts in training, equipment and manpower. "The economy has forced reductions in training, safety equipment and personnel at law enforcement agencies across America," stated NLEOMF Chairman Craig W. Floyd. "These budget cuts have put our officers at greater risk, especially as they face a more brazen, cold-blooded criminal element and a continuing terrorist threat," he added. Making sure officers are thoroughly trained and providing proper funding for law enforcement is key to protecting the police officers that protect our communities.

Download the Complete 2011 Mid-Year Officer Fatality Report.

While the numbers from the above article show an alarming trend in the casualties of our nations law enforcement officers they are not alone in making the ultimate sacrifice. Over the past decade more than 6000 of our countries military troops have given their lives, in Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting the global war on terrorism in support of Operations New Dawn, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

When the SEAL team took out Osama Bin Laden in May of this year it was a significant achievement and victory for America, but we were warned by our country's leaders that the war was not over and we needed to remain vigilant. Since that day our country has lost over 180 soldiers in action, training or accidents including the single deadliest day (August 6th, 2011) for US forces in the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

The war against terrorism continues on. On August 14th, 2011 current al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri released a video in which he called on his followers to continue to fight the United States, calling America a "criminal country" that has corrupted the world.

So as we go about our daily activities remember and honor, the fallen and those still fighting, in both the military and law enforcement that spend their days protecting the freedoms we as Americans get to enjoy.

In July and August, operator's from Beaufort County SO, Greenville County SO, Horry County PD, North Las Vegas PD, Richland County SD, Rock Hill PD and Santa Ana PD, attended GTI's 20-day DHS Type I SWAT class at GTI's Joint Operations Center (JOC) in Barnwell, South Carolina. The Type I SWAT course gave students instruction and practical application in the following tactical training:

To attend or bring a GTI Type I SWAT course or any of GTI's courses to your agency or area, please feel free to contact me for a free quote.

Scott Sailor
Training Coordinator
info@gtitraining.org
803-259-1935 - Office

CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, RADIOLOGICAL, NUCLEAR, EXPLOSIVES

The JOC is a former nuclear fuels reprocessing plant that has been converted into an all hazards training site. With much of the structures remaining complete, including control room, tanks, miles of pipes, etc., the JOC can offer a real world training experience.

Scenario Based Training Facilitations for:

• Chemical agent production or incident
• Biological agent production or incident
• Radiological agent production or incident
• Nuclear agent production or incident
• Explosive production or incident
• IED rigged buildings and lanes
• Clandestine labs
• Confined space rescue/recovery
• Chemical and Biological WMD-Warfare
• Radiological WMD
• Industrial Agents WMD
• Asymmetrical Weapons
• Decontamination

To schedule a training event or to set-up a site visit, please contact Jason Kemper at 803-259-1935 or info@gtitraining.org

Aug 22nd - Sep 14th
Sep 5th - Sep 30th
Sep 8th - Sep 10th
Sep 10th - Sep 16th
Sep 12th - Sep 14th
Sep 19th - Sep 23rd
Sep 19th - Sep 25th
Oct 3rd - Oct 21st
Oct 3rd - Oct 28th
Oct 11th - Oct 13th
Oct 24th - Oct 28th

Type II SWAT (Rapides Parish, LA)
Type III-II-I SWAT (Smyrna, DE)
Immediate Action Teams (IAT) Active Shooter (Santa Ana, CA)
Basic SWAT (Pottsville, PA)
Immediate Action Teams (IAT) Active Shooter (Santa Ana, CA)
Surveillance (Barnwell, SC)
Basic SWAT (Chemung / Elmira, NY)
Type II SWAT (Buffalo, NY)
Type III-II-I SWAT (Smyrna, DE)
Tactical Breaching (Barnwell, SC)
Tactical Response to Terrorism (Barnwell, SC)