SRF B Class

I did not have much going on last week so I signed up for an overdue class. SRF B is a course that covers everything related to keeping the ship secure from base security to basic self defense. The first three days were what we in the military like to refer to as "death by powerpoint." We discussed issues like security levels, how to conduct counter survalence and what to look for in personal and vehicle inspections. Deadly force is big issue to base and ship security personnell. The military is expected to make nearly perfect decisions when it comes to handling weapons and deciding on the correct actions to take.

The last two days of class were much more hands on. We conducted mock simulations of pier and ship searches using pistols, mace and handcuffs. Those are extremely dangerous situations. The chief who trained us gave us about a 30 percent chance of survival in real conditions. Then the next day, we practiced the techniques we had spent the previous days reviewing. These were practical exercising involving hand to hand combat, batons, knives and guns. We were taught how to use blocks to evade punches and knives.

When using batons there are very specific rules to follow. Never raise the baton over your head. A person in military uniform raising it over his/her head equals national televison. Most of the time it should be clipped to a belt that may also hold a pistol and OC spray. Actually using the OC spray (pepper spray) has its own rules.

We were taught how to use pressure points to subdue unresponsive or indebriated individuals. I thought those were a little harder to figure out. If done right they are extremely effective though. As an added bonus we were able to watch a ju jitsu grapling lesson.

The most interesting part to me was on how to disarm a gun pointed at you. There are a couple of different strategies that were taught depending on the situation. The most obvious being the distance between yourself and the person holding the gun. The moves actually are not all that difficult but you better know exactly what you are doing.