Mendocino
03-13-2011, 12:52
This week I took OnPoint Tactical's (OPT) Urban Escape and Evasion course in Dallas. This was an intense course that really illuminates many issues. There is also a lot of stress inoculation. We were handcuffed and locked in a trunk and had to escape and on Saturday we were kidnapped, hooded, and had to escape and evade "hunters" while completing a set of mission objectives before arranging our extraction via partisans.
This course is not for the faint of heart. You will learn lock picking, social engineering, improvised weapons, surveillance detection and evasion, intelligence gathering, operational area book creation and use, safe houses and hides, escape from custody, and much, much more.
Historically this course has only been offered to elite military groups and Other Governmental Agencies. After hurricane Katrina, Kevin Reeve, the owner and primary instructor for OPT realized that the training needed to be made available to all citizens.
I took this in Dallas because it was a city I was not familiar with and wanted to get the "full effect." OPT will hold a training in Denver June 16-18, 2011. I highly encourage anyone interested to take this course. Here is a link to the course description and registration: http://www.onpointtactical.com/Enroll.aspx?id=208
Course: Scout Urban Escape and Evasion
While on an international business trip, you are kidnapped and held for ransom. Or, a terrorist attack closes the business district of your city and you find yourself in a dangerous, chaotic fix. How do you stay alive? How do you get to safety on your own?
This class provides leading-edge skills to civilians who live or work in challenging urban environments or who may find themselves in a destabilizing urban area during a crisis. Topics covered include covert movement (day vs. night), the judicious use of caches, understanding urban baseline movement and urban awareness training, the use of disguises and false papers/identification, lock picking, escaping from unlawful custody, obtaining and driving local transportation, the use of "specialized" urban gear, and instruction on how to develop urban escape and evasion go-bags. A one day urban escape scenario is held the final day of class. Training will be held as follows:
SCHEDULE
Please be advised that upon entering the training facility, you will be entering a "safe-house in a foreign country", and the enemy will have surveilance in operation at all times. Training will begin Thursday morning in the hotel's conference room, and run until 6:00 pm that evening. You will be assigned tasks which will require additional time (usually a couple of hours) into the evening after class to hone your new skills.
Friday's schedule will be the same: 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, with additional exercises out in the city well into the late evening hours. Keeping an attitude that you are in dangerous, hostile territory all the time you're in the training city will make the training that much more effective.
Saturday's exercise will begin at 8:30 am and involve putting your new skills and mindsets to the test in a real-life scenario lasting most of the day until around 5:00 pm. You will be "kidnapped": hooded, cuffed and taken somewhere dark and uncomfortable to start your day. You will be expected to escape, find your own transportation legally using your social engineering skills, and make your way to the first cache location, where directions for a series of tasks using all your new skills await.
Meanwhile, expert trackers will be hunting you down, and if they catch you, you will have to start again from a more distant location.
Discussion and debriefing will be held after the formal exercise, so any flights out Saturday night should be scheduled no earlier than 8:00 pm.
Be advised, therefore, that this training is extremely demanding physically, emotionally and intellectually. You can plan on walking around the city at least ten miles, perhaps fifteen, by the end of the course. You will also experience a high degree of stress that you will be expected to manage successfully. In addition to hands-on skills learned in class, there will be long hours of absorbing as much lectured subject matter as possible. Some of which may be disturbing in content, as self defense and self preservation are the core topics covered in this course.
In essence, you will be learning how to save your own life and others' lives in an urban environment. We hope you become an expert in, but will never have to implement these skills!
EQUIPMENT
Equipment needed is minimal. You should wear casual clothing that will not draw undue attention in this particular city. Camouflage clothing is probably going to draw unwanted attention, so that should be avoided. Rain gear should also be avoided as most people use only an umbrella on city sidewalks. The key, as we will learn, is to blend in with your urban surroundings to the extent that you can easily hide in plain sight.
Also, bring a notebook & pen or laptop for notetaking.
You may wish to bring extra funds in order to purchase some gear available at the class such as lock pick sets and auto jigglers. But no purchase of gear is necessary to participate and learn the skills taught in class.
Here are some pictures from the kidnapping:
http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab58/jhamilt/Dallas_UEE_5.jpg
http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab58/jhamilt/Dallas_UEE_4.jpg
This course is not for the faint of heart. You will learn lock picking, social engineering, improvised weapons, surveillance detection and evasion, intelligence gathering, operational area book creation and use, safe houses and hides, escape from custody, and much, much more.
Historically this course has only been offered to elite military groups and Other Governmental Agencies. After hurricane Katrina, Kevin Reeve, the owner and primary instructor for OPT realized that the training needed to be made available to all citizens.
I took this in Dallas because it was a city I was not familiar with and wanted to get the "full effect." OPT will hold a training in Denver June 16-18, 2011. I highly encourage anyone interested to take this course. Here is a link to the course description and registration: http://www.onpointtactical.com/Enroll.aspx?id=208
Course: Scout Urban Escape and Evasion
While on an international business trip, you are kidnapped and held for ransom. Or, a terrorist attack closes the business district of your city and you find yourself in a dangerous, chaotic fix. How do you stay alive? How do you get to safety on your own?
This class provides leading-edge skills to civilians who live or work in challenging urban environments or who may find themselves in a destabilizing urban area during a crisis. Topics covered include covert movement (day vs. night), the judicious use of caches, understanding urban baseline movement and urban awareness training, the use of disguises and false papers/identification, lock picking, escaping from unlawful custody, obtaining and driving local transportation, the use of "specialized" urban gear, and instruction on how to develop urban escape and evasion go-bags. A one day urban escape scenario is held the final day of class. Training will be held as follows:
SCHEDULE
Please be advised that upon entering the training facility, you will be entering a "safe-house in a foreign country", and the enemy will have surveilance in operation at all times. Training will begin Thursday morning in the hotel's conference room, and run until 6:00 pm that evening. You will be assigned tasks which will require additional time (usually a couple of hours) into the evening after class to hone your new skills.
Friday's schedule will be the same: 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, with additional exercises out in the city well into the late evening hours. Keeping an attitude that you are in dangerous, hostile territory all the time you're in the training city will make the training that much more effective.
Saturday's exercise will begin at 8:30 am and involve putting your new skills and mindsets to the test in a real-life scenario lasting most of the day until around 5:00 pm. You will be "kidnapped": hooded, cuffed and taken somewhere dark and uncomfortable to start your day. You will be expected to escape, find your own transportation legally using your social engineering skills, and make your way to the first cache location, where directions for a series of tasks using all your new skills await.
Meanwhile, expert trackers will be hunting you down, and if they catch you, you will have to start again from a more distant location.
Discussion and debriefing will be held after the formal exercise, so any flights out Saturday night should be scheduled no earlier than 8:00 pm.
Be advised, therefore, that this training is extremely demanding physically, emotionally and intellectually. You can plan on walking around the city at least ten miles, perhaps fifteen, by the end of the course. You will also experience a high degree of stress that you will be expected to manage successfully. In addition to hands-on skills learned in class, there will be long hours of absorbing as much lectured subject matter as possible. Some of which may be disturbing in content, as self defense and self preservation are the core topics covered in this course.
In essence, you will be learning how to save your own life and others' lives in an urban environment. We hope you become an expert in, but will never have to implement these skills!
EQUIPMENT
Equipment needed is minimal. You should wear casual clothing that will not draw undue attention in this particular city. Camouflage clothing is probably going to draw unwanted attention, so that should be avoided. Rain gear should also be avoided as most people use only an umbrella on city sidewalks. The key, as we will learn, is to blend in with your urban surroundings to the extent that you can easily hide in plain sight.
Also, bring a notebook & pen or laptop for notetaking.
You may wish to bring extra funds in order to purchase some gear available at the class such as lock pick sets and auto jigglers. But no purchase of gear is necessary to participate and learn the skills taught in class.
Here are some pictures from the kidnapping:
http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab58/jhamilt/Dallas_UEE_5.jpg
http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab58/jhamilt/Dallas_UEE_4.jpg