SWAT Training Schools

Tactical use of handguns is part of SWAT training.

Major police departments often have members assigned to special units such as a SWAT team. SWAT stands for Special Weapons and Tactics, and the members of these units must undergo special training. In addition to the training offered by departments, there are a number of outside bodies that offer SWAT training and ongoing education for SWAT teams.

Tactics

Tactics are a critical element of any SWAT officer's training. Schools like the North American SWAT Training Association, or NASTA, and Operational Tactics put a strong emphasis on certain tactics such as techniques and principles for breaching and clearing a room or response to hostage situations and hostage negotiation. Some SWAT teams will have only certain members undergo specialized training such as hostage negotiation tactics, while others will have all members take the training.

North American SWAT Training Association

P.O. Box 1031

Powell, Ohio 43065

614-392-4001

Operational Tactics Inc.

P.O. Box 4111

Hagerstown, MD 21741

443-616-7822

Weapons

A SWAT member is much more heavily armed than the average police officer. SWAT members work with handguns, shotguns, sub-machine guns and long distance rifles. Training covers not only the tactical use of handguns that the officers may already be familiar with, but also marksmanship and the use of sub-machine guns. HSS International and the Strategic Weapons Academy of Texas offer specialty sniping courses.

HSS International Inc.

P.O. Box 50 No. 337

Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352

909-336-4450

[e-mail]

Strategic Weapons Academy of Texas

1045 Cutoff Road

Ennis, TX. 75119

[phone]

Personal Fitness and Hand to Hand Combat

SWAT members are held to a much higher level of fitness than regular members of the police force. In addition, they undergo specialized training in hand-to-hand combat. There are many types of combat training they might receive, such as in combat arts like Krav Maga, or other specially developed close-quarters combat training. Most trainers in SWAT schools have a combination of military, martial arts or law enforcement combat experience.

Civilian Protection

The primary role of SWAT teams is to protect life, and this is emphasized in all SWAT training schools and programs. This is why so much SWAT training in the advanced program at NASTA, as an example, focuses on hostage extractions or victim rescue operations.

References

• OpTac Internationa: National SWAT/Sniper Symposium
• Operational Tactics: Training Curriculums
• North American SWAT Training Association: Advanced SWAT School
• Max Security Solutions: SWAT - Training

Resources

• HSS International
• Strategic Weapons Academy of Texas
• Special Operations Systems LLC
• SWAT Team USA
• North American SWAT Training Association
• Operational Tactics