By Linda Herridge
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center
NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) members finished in the top 10 overall during the 37th Annual SWAT Round-Up International at the Lawson Lamar Firearms and Tactical Training Center in Orlando. A team of eight of Kennedy’s ERT members competed during the Round-Up held Nov. 10-15, 2019.
The team competed in five tactical challenges that were physically and mentally demanding: hostage rescue/barricade operations; officer/citizen rescue operations; high levels of physical fitness and proficiency with multiple weapons systems; use-of-force decision-making and positive target identification; and a thorough understanding of SWAT tactics and principles.
ERT members keep up their skills by training on a regular basis. They train at the center’s NASA Protective Services Training Facility, which includes multiple shooting ranges, a rappel tower and a live-fire shoot house that provide a challenging environment for the team to test and update the skills necessary to be prepared for any threat.
“The ERT’s top priority is to ensure the safety of all Kennedy employees and the tens of thousands of tourists that visit the center and the visitor complex each year,” said Nathaniel Moore, Emergency Response Team commander with Chenega Infinity LLC. “We conduct weekly shift level training and full team training sessions annually to maintain proficiencies in tactical responses to all types of high risk incidents.”
These risks include active shooter scenarios, hostage rescue scenarios and barricaded gunmen scenarios. The ERT attends nationally recognized training conferences and seminars, including the SWAT Round-Up International training conference and competition.
During the Round-Up, ERT members also engaged in specialized training and operational debriefs, met to discuss common issues and challenges facing law enforcement, compared training and operational methods, and continued to build on relationships with neighboring agencies that can support each other during real-life critical incidents.
They competed with more than 50 teams from the U.S. and around the world. International competitors included teams from Brazil, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Jamaica and the United Arab Emirates.
Some of the family members of the ERT team attended to help support and cheer them on during the challenges.
“It is rare that family members have the opportunity to watch SWAT officers train,” said ERT Lieutenant Clint Knowles. “It is always cool to see the kids out here supporting their mother or father and the law enforcement community.”