Whether or not you are an officer assigned to a tactical team or other Law Enforcement visiting this website, welcome. We invite you to browse the newly constructed website designed to give you more up to date information and provide more frequent communication amongst tactical officers around the region.

            Last year’s MSTOA President, Brandon Kelly, did an exceptional job last year for MSTOA and it showed at the 2011 conference, which was just held May 2, to May 5, 2011.  At the conference, Brandon was elected to fill the new position of Training Officer.  Jon Runner, of the Great Falls PD, is currently the Vice President of MSTOA and strives to make MSTOA better. Amos Ridenour of Gallatin County S.O. was reelected as MSTOA’s Secretary and is also a go-getter for MSTOA.  David Merifield of Missoula County S.O. was also reelected and will continue to serve as our Treasurer.

            MSTOA is most fortunate to have outstanding trustees.  Last year they were Yellowstone County Undersheriff Kevin Evans, and Gallatin County Sgt. Paul Lewis. They truly put forth a lot of effort ensuring that MSTOA was a success.  Both were reelected this year.

            At this year’s conference, Deputy Brad Hickok of Gallatin County S.O. was elected as MSTOA second Vice President.  Also newly elected to the board, is Sgt. Neil Lawrence of the Billings Police Department.  Neil will be serving MSTOA as a trustee.  MSTOA welcomes Brad and Neil aboard as they both will be an asset to MSTOA.

            Throughout this next year, we will strive to make MSTOA even better. We truly want to see more officers and tactical teams at the 2012 MSTOA conference. Please contact us with suggestions or questions about MSTOA.  I would like to remind those not assigned to a team, that there will be training at MSTOA that can assist you in patrol and other fields of Law Enforcement as well.  We focus on tactical training, but any good Law Enforcement officer knows that tactical training can benefit you every day, on any type of call.

            Finally, I would like to thank those teams and officers who attended the conference this year. We hope you enjoyed your training and had a good time while you were there. We hope to see you at the 2012 conference. Thank you for what you do and please be safe out there.

Sincerely,

Tim McMahon

MSTOA President

MSTOA Summer News letter

The 2010 MSTOA conference is officially in the books and everyone seemed to have a great time.  The body count was not as high as we wished, but we are aware that department budgets, miscommunication, and lack of interest in the conference are to blame.  We suffered problems posting track information on the website in a timely manner and tracks have become stagnant. 

 This year we had a few challenges with acquiring instructors for the conference and had to look outside the box for the solution.  FLETC Instructors put on the sniper course.  During the sniper course, sniper attendees requested that the trainers change up the track and add new ranges and ideas.  This communication seemed to assist both parties in a positive manner.  The remainder of the tracks where either instructed by new instructors or they were new tracks.  Military/Law Enforcement Training Company “Redback One” provided instructors a new angle on the tactical pistol and carbine courses.  Both of the instructors have prior Special Forces experience and are currently working overseas.  Safariland has always provided us with excellent instruction and this year was no different with a Shield Operator Instructor Course.  The last track provided this year was an Open Air Rural Movement Course put on by one of MSTOA’s own, Nick Reyna, from the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office. 

The board members received several compliments on the changes made with the tracks this year and are looking to continue in providing more of a variety of advanced instruction.  Along with the change of instruction, MSTOA is currently working on its website.  The current website is out dated and difficult to update in its current operating format.  These changes should make the website more user-friendly.  These changes will allow the website to be updated faster and allow us to share information within the association and throughout the law enforcement world in a more efficient manner.  This ability to trade information will assist us in how we train and operate as tactical officers. 

The MSTOA Board is striving to give the association “a face-lift” that will provide its members new and interesting training and information.  For those who attended this year’s MSTOA Conference, thank you and we look forward to an even better conference next year.

Brandon Kelly

MSTOA President

Spring News letter

Greetings    

     MSTOA has wrapped up another successful year of training and competition. Although attendance was not as high as previous years, the training was top notch and the value to training ratio was the best it has ever been. This year we saw a shifting in the training agencies represented. In addition to the always outstanding quality of instruction provided by FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center), private companies rounded out the gamut of experience. Safariland was present and put on a Ballistic Shield Operations Instructor Course and, completely new to the conference, was a company called Red Back One.

Safariland Shield Instructor Course (Amos Ridenour)

     I attended the Shield Instructor Course hosted by Safariland Training. It started with several hours of classroom including a textbook and miscellaneous other teaching aids. Then the fun began. We moved the classroom onto the range and began engaging targets while learning the different ways to operate the shield and handgun together. The instructor was from Phoenix, Arizona (think current immigration law battlefield) and currently works SWAT and Gang Task Force. Needless to say, he did not just talk the talk. 

     We went full speed on the range for two days and then went to Fort Harrison’s “shoot house” for some force on force practical applications. Since returning to my team after MSTOA, we have conducted two training events that have focused on shield operation and we have deployed the shields during real time missions. This hardly ever occurred in the past as the shields were seen as cumbersome and not worth the extra weight/trouble. Now that the team understands the right way to use the shields the thought process on deploying them has changed. Ultimately this training benefited the entire team and the Sheriff’s Office I work for.

Rural Movement Open Air Assault with Nick Reyna. (Chad Gunlikson)

     The rural movement course instructed by MSTOA member Nick Reyna was an excellent course to attend.  The course focused on rural movement principles including: mission planning, patrol movements & tactics, team organization, team responsibilities, rural surveillance techniques, immediate action drills and many other areas.  The course consisted of a few hours of classroom material, and then we were off and running practicing the techniques and tactics up in the hills.  I must say the most fun from this course will come on your range day when you get to practice immediate action drills and conduct the “Australian Peel”.  

     Any law enforcement officer has the potential to benefit from attending this course.  Whether it’s moving towards a rural location for a warrant service, conducting a fugitive hunt, or simply approaching a residence for a call in a rural location – you will gain knowledge you can apply by attending this course.   

AAR- Advanced Tactical Carbine Course with Red Back 1. (Ryan Allen)

I attended the advanced tactical carbine course at this year’s MSTOA conference and it more than exceeded my expectations. Our Instructor Luis Gines, from Redback 1, served eight years in the U.S Marine Corp/Special Forces, working in Iraq and as an tactical instructor.  Luis then joined the instructor cadre at Blackwater USA for two years before joining Redback One.  Luis was very knowledgeable, and his real-life combat experience definitely showed in his instruction. From day one he challenged us to try new tactics and techniques that resulted in all the operators immediately seeing improvement in their speed, tactics and accuracy. His course was definitely an eye opener for the majority of the class. His motto of, “It’s not the way, it’s just a way,” challenged us to try new things and either add them to the tool box or discard them. I can say I didn’t discard any of his advice. Some of the topics covered included: Sights, zeroing considerations and techniques, external ballistics, slings, equipment placement, fundamentals of rifle marksmanship, reloading & malfunctions drills, shooting positions, multiple target engagements, set-up and shooting on the move, proper use of covered positions & barricades, training mindset and methodology. If you are looking to learn the most up to date and current rifle tactics that will challenge you, attend this course next year.

Handgun with Red Back 1. (Rick Musson)

This year’s Mountain States Tactical Officers Association was beneficial to me not only as an individual, but as a tactical team member.  I was in the handgun tract taught by Redback One instructor Stephen Bailey.  Bailey served five years in the U.S Army 3^rd Special Forces Group and deployed in Kenya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  Bailey then joined the instructor cadre at Blackwater USA for two years before going to work for Redback One.  Bailey was very knowledgeable and experienced from his training in the special forces of the Army and his experience in combat.  He made the training practical and fun and left me wanting more.  

The course topics included turns and pivots, shooting on the move, man vs. man drills, multiple targets and adverse angles, and other shooting drills.  Bailey emphasized accuracy, but pushed us to be faster.  He explained the necessity to be faster because in our jobs, sometimes milliseconds make the difference.  He encouraged us to practice to make ourselves faster and when practicing to do it the right way every time to build the muscle memory necessary to react in the best way possible when involved in real life stressful situations.  We were pushed to rise to the professional level of shooting.

Bailey inspired me to become better by having the proper mindset.  He related his experience in combat to the work we do as SWAT officers.  The streets are our battlefield and we need to be prepared.  We must perform at professional levels and be ready for what may come our way.    

Sniper Tract with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy Instructors (Don Peterson)

     This year’s Sniper Tract for MSTOA was taught by FLETC instructors at the Limestone Hills training range outside of Townsend. On our first half day of training, we confirmed everyone’s 100 yard zeros on Fort Harrison, without having to travel to Townsend. This proved to be a good move as a couple of officer’s weapons apparently did not travel well and were a few inches off! FLETC provided some nice x-ray, head targets that allowed a person to see not only the skull profile but also the brain stem, to help practice shot placement.

            On the following two days at the Limestone range, we were able to utilize the terrain and open area to our advantage and get some long range training that most agencies don’t usually get to practice. We used the shoot house outfitted with Hurricane and regular double pain strength window glass to see the effects on bullets. It was noticed that the commonly used Sierra HPBT 168 grain bullet was prone to separation and glass spray when going through the windows at an average of 100 yards. Agencies that were shooting bonded bullets were able to show their superior bullet’s performance with less glass spray into the target and limited separation once the glass was penetrated. 

            Shooting at the shoot house was done from a ridge above. This forced shooters to compensate for the angle while finding a stable shooting platform on the hill’s slope. The FLETC instructors also used the open terrain to place hidden targets out to distances pushing 1000 yards. Teams were given time to locate and identify the targets before being able to engage them. This allowed some teams to record new shooting data and others to confirm their previous shooting data. A vehicle windshield and target were placed at about 950 yards and after engaging, the different brands of bullets were recovered and their performance was compared.

            A Special Forces group was getting ready to deploy and allowed us to come up on a ridge top and engage targets ranging in distance from 600-1200 yards, at extreme angles. Shooters were able to get some extreme distance and angles in at the same time. The SF group also allowed us to shoot some of their ammo and utilize their new weapons and optics systems that the military is changing over to. All in all it was a nice change up for most shooters and officers were able to get some good data.                                 

Team Competition Day Standings

     The week of training culminated in the Team Competition Event. Operators were put into six man teams and given the opportunity to compete against other teams in a grueling day of physical, mental and tactical challenges. Pulling from each tract, the MSTOA board (and the instructors from the courses) put together numerous situational challenges in which the operators demonstrated their abilities under the stress of time, points and most importantly competition. All of the disciplines from the week plus numerous other established skills were presented to the teams and each was left to navigate through the situations/terrain as tactically as they could. The final event was the Team Obstacle Course. It was a fitting way to end a physically demanding week as teams crossed the finish line together showing these guys truly are a cut above.

     By displaying the heart and understanding of the team concept that make these operators unique in their trade we finished out an amazing week of team building and training. If you have not attended an MSTOA conference in the past, I encourage you to check us out. Take a few minutes and explore the website and please ask questions. There is no other training arena in the mountain states where you will get as much “bang” for your dollar in high quality, full speed, and real world training than the MSTOA conference. Hope to see you all next year.

Regards,

Amos Ridenour

Gallatin County Sheriff/Bozeman Police Department Special Response Team

MSTOA Secretary