The Heart of the Lion...A Week They Will Never Forget Wow! It started as an experiment. The premise, to determine if it would be possible to gather some of the best and most noted trainers in the law enforcement community, provide them with a training program and see if they would be able to train the same concepts together as a team, not as individuals. The hosts, the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Team, were told that they would never be able to overcome their trainer’s egos. They were warned that the trainers would pick their program apart and teach it the way they though it should be trained, not the way their hosts wanted it trained. They came one week after
Thanksgiving, some by plane, some by vehicles, few really knowing what to expect. They
brought with them only their suitcases and the knowledge that they were the top percentage
of all the trainers, nationwide, who had completed the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. System of
Training.
We began the experiment on a Monday, a mass of individuals each possessing our own tried and true method of putting across information to our students. We each had our own training program, one we held on to tightly for comfort and we were sure, each and every one of us that our training method was the best available. Even with all those differences, we did, however, have two things in common. First, we had all been trained in the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. System of training and second, we had a common goal, a commitment if you will, of working for the betterment of the law enforcement officer. There was, of course, a period of
testing, of trying each other out to see what the other had to offer. What we didn’t
grasp right away, but what the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Team knew all along, was that we
were, each and every one of us, hand chosen, brought together, each for our own particular
skill.
The first day was simply a review, a fast review. The entire three-day Controlled F.O.R.C.E. training program was completed again in eight short hours. Our bodies were sore, and at the end, I was pretty convinced that our host’s critics might, in fact, be right. You see, we spent half the time showing off our skills, and the other half examining our opponent to see where their skill level lied. Oh we were polite about it! But I’d be lying if I tried to convince you that it wasn’t second nature for us to test each other, to see what each other was made of. Like lions out in the wild, we stalked each other, watching and waiting to see were each other’s strengths or weaknesses lied. We couldn’t be described as anything even close to a team on that first day. In fact, if we had to be classified, I guess the best way to describe us would be…competition. Although they didn’t openly show it, I sensed that our hosts felt the same way. They seemed a bit nervous, almost preoccupied as they took their breaks and stood in the wings. But when they taught, and when they spoke to us, they did so with the same confidence and authority that had won us over to the program originally. When the day ended, they remained patient as some of us took advantage of the extra time and showed off to each other. But I was beginning to get to know this team, and I knew that they were making sure that they kept one step ahead of us at all times.
It was a sight to behold. The trainers circled the outside of the room like young lions who, because of their position in the pride had to wait their turn to show off their skills and earn a better position in the pride. While the new officers took the center of the room, defending themselves through their masses, much like young lion cubs. Each time a member strayed, a lion jumped in to assist in corrections. You could actually feel the intensity in the room. The outside doors were kept open in an attempt to suck in any wind the unforgiving Las Vegas desert saw fit to provide.
Although it started a little intense, something happened that second day, but when it happened, I mean the exact moment that the transformation took place, I can’t really say. What occurred, was the mass of individuals started becoming a group of trainers. Individual styles were meshed and combined for the betterment of the whole. When one trainer stumbled, the lions rushed in, not for the kill, but to help their team member in any way possible. Criticism was accepted graciously and assistance was offered without the need for notoriety. You see the lions on the outside of the room weren’t really waiting for the opportunity to show off, they were simply acting like a pride, protecting the young. And the young they were protecting, the cubs they were raising to survive weren’t the new officers, it was the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. System of Training, The Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Team. Sounds silly doesn’t it? I can’t blame you for thinking that way, I probably wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t witnessed it.
When the second day ended, we were still a bit reluctant to leave. But this time we weren’t testing each other’s abilities, we were learning from each other. The Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Team took us aside and critiqued the day’s events, asking our input on how we did and what, if anything, we should change. I left there that night with a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling that I was part of what was growing into a team. Although it was the third day for us, it was the second day for the new students and it was the most important day of the experiment. You see, having been through the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. System of training ourselves, we knew that it was on the second day that the whole program began to make sense to the new student. It was most important that on this, our third day and their second, that we acted as a team, or the whole experiment would fail. As we met on the patio that morning, there was a sense that each and every one of us was well aware of the importance of the day.
Bill Falkner, a defense tactics instructor for more than eight years described the experience as breaking new ground. "Its easy to do something well that’s been done many times before" he continued, "but Controlled F.O.R.C.E. is breaking new ground". As with each previous day, when the classes were over and the critiquing was done, the trainers stayed in the room, only on this day we all seemed a little more reluctant to have the day end. They shared skills, techniques, theories, everything they had to offer was willingly put out for the group to take. And take they did, "people got together from different agencies and shared information and ideas". Explained Vince O’Neil, an Oklahoma Defense Tactics Specialist, "It was an atmosphere of listening and sharing, not competition".
So I watched. I watched for three days and picked out two individuals who I felt made the most progress. They weren’t the two who displayed the best mastery at applying the techniques, they were the two who made the greatest progress from the level where they started. Why did I choose them? Because a course can only be judged by how well it teaches the least of its students. That is, you can’t really determine if a course is beneficial by examining the best student in the course. To get a true reading, you have to watch the student with the least skills and examine their progress. I spoke with two young ladies who struggled most of the first day. Marilyn Arroyo and Dawn Bradley, both Security Officers at a major hotel/casino in Las Vegas, agreed to speak with me about the whole process. Although they both wanted to give up, they hung in and continued giving one hundred percent. "After the first day, after lunch, things started coming together," said Marilyn. It was a comment I had heard before, but what I really wanted to know was how they felt about having so many trainers in the course.
Probably the best comment of the day, however, came from Marilyn who stated that each and every trainer she came in contact with "told us the same things, just in a different way". A training machine. How often have you seen so many trainers, with so many varied backgrounds and education come together to teach as one? And that, after all, was what the whole experiment was about. A group of professionals sharing their ideas, striving to come together for the betterment of the law enforcement officer. Although the first part was complete, the experiment was far from over. On day four, when our newest trainees completed their training and graduated, they did so to thunderous applause from the trainers, the lions. The term pride took on a whole new meaning as each new officer’s name was called, their certificate handed to them and they were lead to a gauntlet of hands, eager to accept the newest member of the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Team. Ideas flowed freely, and it was on this fourth day that we began to understand the direction Controlled F.O.R.C.E. was taking.
On day five the United States National Standard of Training Association was organized. It started with a personal request from Henry Kingwell. "Find the one guy in the back of the room, the one guy who may be struggling a little more than the others and key in on that officer", he asked "Train those officers and make sure that they know the system". So why does the world need another law enforcement organization? Why, because, law enforcement officers need access to quality programs. They need an organization that will take the time to seek out those quality programs and have them evaluated by some of the best trainers in the law enforcement community.
So how will the program support itself? I mean isn’t it money that makes the world go round? Actually no! By supporting the U.S.N.S.T.A., Controlled F.O.R.C.E. is demonstrating that they aren’t afraid of other training programs, in fact, they’re opening their arms to it. "We’re not afraid of competition." says Donni, "There is no competition. It’s all for the good of the officer". Once the program has been accepted, the creator of the program can decide if they would like the U.S.N.S.T.A. to market their program for a fee. Is this the catch? Absolutely not, it’s meant only to assist the creator in distributing their program nationally. It opens another door, it’s a way of giving back. It allows people with quality programs to get that boost that they wouldn’t get anywhere else. Its hard to imagine how many law enforcement officers in small towns or communities all over the United Sates have created quality programs, but have no way of sharing those programs with the rest of the law enforcement community. If one of these officers has created a program that could enhance officer’s performance, or save an officer’s life, would you want access to that program for your department? Sure you would, now you’ll have it.
Bill Falkner was right, it was groundbreaking. It was a great event and I was honored to have been part of it. But we’ve only just begun, and with that, I put out the call to all of you who have a training program that deserves to be evaluated. It’s a chance, a scary step, but having put my own program forward for evaluation, I can assure you that it is the best step you can ever take. So be brave, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, that is, if your goal is the same as those trainers in that room on that day, to advance the betterment of the law enforcement officer. < Page Created or Modified on Monday, May 19, 2008 Website designed by Xeon Incorporated |
You see, not too long ago I
was granted the opportunity to experience something that, in this day and age,
doesn’t happen very often. In fact, it wasn’t supposed to happen at all, at
least that’s what the critics said. The people who organized and hosted the event
were told that they would never be able to pull it off. That their idea was just one of
those things that looked good in theory, but in actuality could never happen. Well, if
there’s one thing I’ve learned about the people I spent a week with, it’s
not to challenge them. You see, I found out that the words can’t and never simply
aren’t in their vocabulary.
One by one they trickled into the upstairs buffet. Most approached
cautiously, as is natural when entering unknown territory. While still others arrived
pre-announced, spotlighted by the war stories of their prior performance in Controlled
F.O.R.C.E. training. We all gathered around the table cautiously listening as our hosts,
obviously excited, began to outline a bit of what the next week held for in store for us.
It was a lesson that would soon become as clear as day.
On day two, the
small room was filled with not only the trainers from day one, but also, a whole new group
of law enforcement officers who were going through the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. System of
training for the very first time. The Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Team gathered us together that
morning on a patio just outside the training room and informed us that they had made a
decision. Their decision was that we would be the ones training these new officers. If you
don’t think this was intense, if you don’t realize the risk involved, then
you’ve never given anything you cherish to another person for safekeeping. You could
smell the anticipation fill the room. But this was the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Team, and
even from the very beginning, Tony and Donny let us know that the team included each and
every one of us. We weren’t about to let them down.
Anthony Grano,
Executive Director and founder of the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. System of training and Donald
Roberts, Director of Controlled F.O.R.C.E., both kept a watchful eye on the entire
proceedings, watching the room like expectant fathers. Before we began, Mr. Grano told us,
" You have all been chosen because of your professionalism and your abilities to
teach, (which I consider to be a gift). Remember you are only as good as the weakest
student, and, with that in mind, I ask you, is one officer’s life more important than
another’s? NO!!! So look for the weakest student and take it upon yourself to make
him, or her your strongest student. This is the standard we teach by at Controlled
F.O.R.C.E. and it must never be allowed to be compromised."
Kevin
Rittenhouse, a North Carolina Highway Patrol Officer and a Defense Tactics Instructor
said, "It was the first time any of us taught together and we were a little rough
around the edges the first day. We had our shields up and were feeling each other out, but
the second day we put the shields down and the camaraderie came together".
But it happened.
Slowly, steadily the group evolved into a whole, a training machine with interchangeable
parts. When one group was done teaching a certain aspect, the next group was sent in
without so much as a misstep, or hesitation. "I liked the fact that they let us
teach", said Anthony J. Farmer also a North Carolina Defense Tactics Instructor,
"I learned a lot from the styles of other instructors".
It was easy to
see how the trainers felt about the course. However, as I looked around the room at all
the new officers surrounded by so many trainers, each more than willing to lend their
point of view, I couldn’t help but wonder if these new trainees perceived the
training in the same positive manner.
"They were
just awesome," said Marilyn. "I found it refreshing" added Dawn, "If I
didn’t have a partner, I’d grab one of them". Both agreed that no trainer
brought in their "attitudes", with Dawn adding that "it was easier with the
trainers all around".
On day one,
Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Director Donald Roberts (Donni to us) told us that "to continue
teaching Controlled F.O.R.C.E. we must keep it simple and not go off on tangents, there
are no individual instructors here, only a team." It was advice we all took to heart.
And they made us think. "What if" Anthony Grano asked us, "we could locate
other professional instructors who would be willing to share their different styles,
talents, techniques, and training courses and bring them all together so that they and
their courses would be available to all law enforcement officers to benefit from.
Now", he continued, "what if the focus of these meetings was the officer’s
well being and not the trainer’s own opinions, styles or personal systems. Imagine if
it were possible?" he concluded. An organization was needed.
The U.S.N.S.T.A.
is an organization that will allow instructors all over the country the opportunity to
present their training programs and have those programs evaluated. Anyone who wishes to
avail themselves of this opportunity can submit a copy of their program to the
U.S.N.S.T.A. board for review. If the board feels the program has merit, the system’s
creator, or a representative, will be invited to conduct a live demonstration in front of
the board for final approval. If the board votes to support the program, it will receive
the U.S.N.S.T.A. seal of approval. The creator of the program need not be a member of the
U.S.N.S.T.A. to present their program, nor will the creator have to pay a fee to present
the program. In fact, even if the program is approved, there still won’t be a fee.
If sharing
doesn’t rely on how much money the program’s creator must come up with to
present his program, then those programs will become more available. And if the best
trainers in the world have given their unbiased opinion regarding the program, an opinion
not based on the amount of money they receive for evaluating the programs presented to
them, if those trainers support a particular program, then just think how great that
program must be.
Copyright 2008 Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Inc