How to Beat Special Forces, S.W.A.T. and Special Operations Groups
by Anonymous
How to Beat Special Forces, S.W.A.T. and Special Operations Groups
To enforce tyranny, the systems relies on Special Forces, SSG, SWAT and Special Operations Groups. SSG stands for Surveillance Specialist Group -- that's spytalk for a surveillance team. SWAT stands for Special Weapons And Tactics (i.e. a paramilitary death-squad). Special Forces, Special Operations Groups, SWAT and Special Activities Staff are all military squads that participate in a more advanced training for fighting in unusual environments. They all have a common componant, although each of them have features peculiar to themselves. A major distinguishing factor is the ability to fight in close-quarters with a small group to achieve the goal.
They go by a lot of different names around the world. In the United States, each organization has teams with slightly different training and goals, but essentially they are the same. The local police have SWAT teams, and the Armys Delta Force, the Navys SEAL and Naval Special Warfare Development Group, CIAs Special Activities Staff, the U.S. Marshalls Service Special Operations Group, the FBIs Hostage Rescue Team, the U.S. Secret Services Counter Assault Team, etc, etc, etc. But a goon by any name is still a goon.
Up to now, the lethal combination of SSG and SWAT has proven disastrous for underground activists and their movements in the USA.
Is SWAT effective? Yes.
Does it get results? Absolutely.
Is SWAT invincible? No.
There is also a big difference between the tactics of SWAT teams and the more military units. To quote Danny Coulson, from "No Heros:Inside the FBI's Secret Counter-Terror Force":
"When SWAT officers enter a building, they move slowly and stealthily, taking cover wherever they can find it, using shields if possible and mirrors to look around corners, into closets and under beds."
"Counterterror units rush entrances with a blinding, deafening clamor, then engage their adversaries in close-quarter battle, an art developed by the SAS and refined at Delta."
"The operators rush into the crisis area tossing stun grenades to disorient and blind the hostages and bad guys."
Despite their massive firepower and use of brute force, SWAT teams have
weakness that can be exploited.
A typical SWAT element is composed of five people -- a Team Leader,
a Scout, a Backup, and two Assaulters.
The Team Leader is the most experienced of the five. He is the nerve
center and tactical command of the team. The Team Leader is in direct
voice-contact with the other four members of the SWAT element, who each
wear a hands-free UHF transponder with an earpiece and a throat-vibration
microphone.
The Scout performs on-scene reconnaissance. The Backup carries a 12-guage
riot shotgun. He provides security for the Scout. The two Assaulters
each carry Heckler & Koch 9mm MP-5 submachine guns. All members of
the SWAT element usually carry handguns, often a .45 or 9mm semi-automatic
pistol.
SWAT members often wear balaclavas for the purpose of intimidating suspects
and bystanders. The balaclava also keeps them anonymous -- this is
handy because they reside in the same communities whose citizens they
execute.
SWAT members wear military helmets and bullet-resistant body-armor. These guys are goons in the true sense of the word. They'll kill you and go for lunch five minutes later. It's nothing to them. Because of their myopic training, they figure the solution to every problem is massive application of force, preferably lethal.
Once it's arrived on the scene, SWAT never withdraws.
In a typical call-out, the SWAT element is reinforced by duty police
officers who form a containment perimeter at a distance from the suspect's
location. Police snipers may also be present. More than one SWAT element
may be on the scene. A Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) is often mustered.
CNT is somewhat of a misnomer, because their actual role is to obtain
intelligence for an assault by SWAT -- and to fatally distract the suspect
in the moments preceding the assault. Ambulance and Fire personnel
are also usually deployed.
Know the Language
To again quote Danny Coulson from "No Heros":
"Black is commando jargon for back. Front is white. Green is left. Red is right"
Weakness: Lack of Knowledge of the Terrain. SWAT teams plan for many different environments, but can never know the terrain that they will be going into EXACTLY. You are on the ground there first, do your homework. Scout the building or area completely, and know it like the back of your hand. Find areas of weakness or exposure for incoming SOG teams. Try to lure them into those areas and then act.
Weakness: Training. They think of it as an advantage, and it is. Training is the only way to know how you and your teammate will react in any certain situation. However, this advantage can be turned to weakness. The SOG teams have a response for every situation, and that response is PREDICTABLE. Take time to study SOG training, and you will see that they perform standard manueuveres in situations. Apply this knowlegde to your local environment, and you will be able to map out a SOG teams reaction everywhere in your location. If you are in a building, study widely available SOG manuals for the manuveures, such as:
WEAKNESS - Intelligence. SWAT and Special Forces teams rely on intelligence to find and identify targets, which usually(in the case of Special Forces) means paid informants in a city or other locale. They pass their information on to the Joint Operations Command, which has coordinates Special Forces activities, and then the JOC passes the intelligence on to the commanders of the units.
TACTICAL RESPONSE - Confusion is the worst enemy of Special Forces. Interrupt the intelligence chain with conflicting reports. Use double agents as the paid informants for the JOC. Broadcast erronous information.
SWAT WEAKNESS -- LACK OF MOBILITY. Their combat gear prevents them
from sprinting long distances in pursuit of a suspect fleeing on foot.
A number of suspects have escaped in exactly this scenario. This is
the reason behind the containment perimeter. The regular cops pin you
inside the "holding pen" while the SWAT goons methodically stalk you
and then dispatch you, preferably from behind.
TACTICAL RESPONSE -- If you know the terrain, you'll often be able
to beat the containment ring. The cops on the perimeter cover the escape
routes and checkpoints. The ring has gaps you can exploit. The cops
seldom cover hidden routes that the only the local residents know about. Do your homework. Gather accurate intelligence. And rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
SWAT WEAKNESS -- THEY DON'T THINK. Their training has ingrained them with the mindset that the solution to every situation is force. SWAT is not motivated or inclined to negotiate or compromise. And they never withdraw.
TACTICAL RESPONSE -- Plan your operation so that political considerations and/or public relations are more attractive to the authorities than a lethal resolution of the crisis by SWAT.
SWAT WEAKNESS --- OVERHEATING. Their balaclavas, gloves, shooting goggles, helmets, and combat fatigues mean that they can easily overheat in urban situations. It doesn't take much activity to get them sweating. Literally.
TACTICAL RESPONSE -- Plan an operation that will require lots of
physical movement by the SWAT members. Give them lots to crawl over,
through, and around. Even big tough guys don't have much stamina when
they start to overheat.
SWAT WEAKNESS -- PERIMETER OVER-RELIANCE. They always set up perimeter
control. They have become dependent on the "holding pen" strategy.
In "Blackhawk Down" Mark Bowden notes that while the Delta Force "operators" are highly skilled, battle-tested veterans capable of almost anything, their support and perimeter control team, the U.S. Army Rangers, are generally young, inexperienced, overconfident, and unready for the ugly realities of real combat.
The elite "D-boys", as the Delta Force members are referred to, also have a serious lack of communication with the Rangers and other military units. They have, in fact, an almost total distain for them, which aggravates co-ordination problems with the rest of the armed forces. This can be turned to your advantage.
TACTICAL RESPONSE -- Post an accomplice (ie sniper) outside their perimeter and SWAT becomes vulnerable to a flanking attack.
SWAT WEAKNESS -- ONE TRICK PONY. They are trained to attack fixed targets. They are befuddled and confounded by a moving target. Especially a target they are continually losing contact with.
TACTICAL RESPONSE -- Hit and run. Hit and run. Hit and run. Then disappear. Your key to tactical success consists of carefully planned escape routes, accomplice drivers, and prearranged support (ie hiding) from the local population. This was used to great effect in Mogadishu, Somalia, by local warlord forces. After the ambush, U.S. troops were withdrawn, leaving local forces in control.
SWAT WEAKNESS -- LACK OF INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE. Without their body-rig
communication sets, SWAT members are lost. UHF frequency range is often
less than a mile. Range deteriorates in locations with reinforced concrete
and metal debris.
TACTICAL RESPONSE -- Forcing or duping a SWAT member to transmit
bogus messages over his transponder is an effective tactic for disorienting
the entire team. Seizing a transponder and issuing your own messages
is effective psychological warfare. Your voice is right inside their
heads -- and these guys aren't exactly the brightest specimens our species
has produced. Selecting a location that interferes with UHF transmission
is a sound tactic.
3 RULES FOR BEATING SWAT:
RULE #1 -- Surround the SWAT element, including its perimeter force.
RULE #2 -- Fight scattered, never in a compact body.
RULE #3 -- When attacked, never stand and fight. Retreat, then counterattack.
Some resistance movements hold the view that if surrounded, you should
immediately pick the weakest point, focus on it, and make a determined
effort to break out. The resulting break in the enemy's line will produce
two exposed flanks which you can counterattack, possibly more.
Savvy readers and students of American history will recognize these
tactics as the same as those used by the natives to maul the British
Regular Army in the 1600s and 1700s in colonial America.
All things considered, however, your greatest single asset is your ability
to choose the location. This means planning ahead. It means being
a moving target. It means not sleeping where SWAT can find you.
Heed the warning in the training manual of the Provisional IRA -- "Get
your defense before you get your offense." And remember that F9 does not endorse, condone, or encourage illegal activity.
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