“Tactical” Communications
As anyone who has ever attended an LTAC class can attest, I often say that we are victims of our experience. I am in my 14th year assigned to a full-time tactical unit, so that is the perspective from which I am writing. I add that disclaimer because I never want anyone to think that what I am saying IS for them or IS NOT for them. It is up to you, the reader, to evaluate this information through the lens of your own experiences and needs. I say all this so that the message of this article is clear. Communication is perhaps the most important of skills, especially once we begin working with others. However, too often we attempt to be understood, when the most important goal is to ensure that we cannot be misunderstood.
Obviously, pretty much every law enforcement officer carries the ubiquitous walkie-talkie and a smart phone for communication. Below is a photo of some of the nontraditional items I regularly carry for communication. A bundle of chemlights, a chemlight on 550 cord (aka a buzzsaw), two chemlights taped together, a mini VS17 panel, a handheld laser pointer, a mini smoke grenade, a helmet marker, and a weapon-mounted laser. Each of these serves a purpose, but more importantly, others that I work with understand their purpose. I won’t delve into specific SOPs open source, but I will talk broadly about the utility of some of these items.
I have no doubt that many of those reading this article have chemlight bundles. They’ve become very common, especially for police active-shooter response kits. However, what does that chemlight mean to someone else once you crack it and leave it somewhere? If you are carrying chemlights regularly, are you employing them regularly in accordance with an SOP, so that the presence or absence of a chemlight means something? I routinely see police teams carrying chemlights, yet rarely see them employed in training or on routine operations. I can assure you that if you are not marking rooms in training or on routine operations, you will not remember to do it in a crisis.
You’ll notice there is a bundle of green chemlights, a green chemlight on 550 cord (aka a buzzsaw), and two red chemlights taped together. At work, I use Nicaboyne chemlights and I’ll write an article on those and my preference for them later…(I promise, Jared). The green chemlights are carried so as to be easily accessible, as they are the most frequently used. The red chemlights are less frequently used and are taped together so that they can be differentiated by touch. The buzzsaw extends the range at which a chemlight is visible and allows you to send a more emphatic visual signal to others. I won’t tell you what your SOP regarding chemlights should be, only that you should have an SOP, and that you should ensure everyone knows it and is following it.
This brings me to the mini VS17 panel (made by Velocity Systems). VS17 panels are not typically used by law enforcement. Their role in the military is chiefly to mark friendly positions on the ground to aircraft. However, as we at LTAC always say, principles are more important than tactics. The principle is making sure people know who and where you are. Back to the chemlights – they work great in dark environments but have you ever tried to signal someone in a commercial setting with the lights on in the middle of the day? This is often where active-killer incidents occur, and chemlights are not nearly as visible in that environment as they are in the middle of the night. The mini VS17 panel is far more visible and it can be folded into different configurations to add another layer of communication.
Besides being used to aim your weapon when using night vision, lasers are another great tool for visual signaling. Pictured are a cheap, handheld laser from Amazon and an LA23 NGAL. The handheld laser is a holdover from before my unit issued weapon-mounted lasers. It was used for signaling, and it is still sometimes used as part of the comms plan because it emits a green laser versus the red laser of our weapon-mounted lasers. Again, I won’t get into specific TTPs in this forum, but if you are using night vision, it is a great benefit to have a visible laser as part of your IR laser/aimer.
Also present in the picture is a red mini smoke grenade. While it doesn’t produce enough smoke to aid in concealment, it has proven to be invaluable for signaling, especially in a multi-agency environment where everyone may not be on the same radio frequency. Keep in mind, many smoke grenades are pyrotechnic so one must be mindful where it lands. As with the chemlights – you need an established SOP that is understood by all personnel. If you were working a large event and suddenly saw a plume of red smoke, would that mean anything to others present?
Finally, the Core Survival HEL-STAR 6 helmet strobe. This is another piece of equipment I often see used by law enforcement, but much like chemlight bundles, it is sometimes employed without an established SOP. Again, I don’t like to be vague, but I do not like discussing TTPs, especially communication TTPs, open source. There are a host of uses for it in a law enforcement application, but if you are not using it for that purpose…why have it on your helmet? Life is hard enough without additional weight on your head.
In conclusion, each of these items have proven themselves to be invaluable to me in training and on operations. They help communicate something without needing to tie up the radio or delay actions to ask clarifying questions. And (perhaps more importantly) when properly used, all of them can help you avoid fratricide. However, they are only useful if they are part of a larger communications plan that is enshrined in SOP and understood and followed by all those to whom it applies. Otherwise, that stuff is just dead weight. Especially in the age of social media, we must ensure we are doing things with a purpose, not simply to copy something we saw in our IG feed. Remember ABC shouldn’t stand for “Always Be Cool”, but rather “Always Be Competent”.
Stay safe and I hope to see you on the range.
—“Flynn”