Military
Today, the challenges our Warfighters face are unique, and challenging. The enemy remains evasive and devious in an increasingly complex operating environment (COE) that is constantly changing and requires a unique ability to fight an adaptive enemy hiding within the civilian populace, in a decentralized manner, with individual actions having strategic impact. Our modern enemies have capitalized on using simple tactics, techniques, and procedures to evade our advanced technologies and practices.
Since the involvement of the United States, Canada and Allies in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCOs), nearly 60% of the total casualties and fatalities are the direct result of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Military leadership has had to constantly update Programs of Instruction (POIs) to train Warfighters for success in defeating a modern enemy who is both creative and rudimentary. It is essential that our Warfighters operate with similar cunning. Thinking like your enemy is a fundamental skill and is critical to adapt in this complex environment.
DSI has identified requirements for the instruction of an Austere/Combat Environment (A.C.E.) Awareness Course for military personnel deploying to operations in non-permissive environments. DSI’s A.C.E. Awareness program is designed to support the U.S. military’s ultimate goal of training soldiers to proactively identify the enemy and threats within their working environments through methods of predictive analysis and advanced situational awareness. This training is critical to military’s counter-terrorism and special operations forces as well as air, sea and land combat forces and their support personnel. It is necessary for soldiers to stay current on the most up-to-date evolution and advancements in the explosive threat and IED field. This training will increase observation and visual detection skills and give the soldier the ability to detect the enemy hiding/blending in the local populace as well as explosive threats, IED’s and ambushes. It also enhances their operational capabilities in foreign countries, increase inter-operability with their allies, and assists in gaining mobility and survivability skills to operate in various Threat Environments.
DSI has developed a 6-day Level 1 and a 5-day Level 2 training program that is superior to all other current similar programs. Our program has been proven to increase potential threat and IED recognition skills. This increase is accomplished by building upon the utilization of the 5 senses that all of us possess. The training offers a more detailed understanding of the individual’s threat assessment as well as an increased performance in observation skills and tactical acuity/situational awareness. It increases the likelihood of locating “low metal” or “no metal” IED’s. It enhances/compliments skills and assets such as Search and Rescue, Reconnaissance, Patrol Movement, Small Unit Tactics, Surveillance, Counter Surveillance, Engagement Drills, Enemy Pursuit, Weapon Cache Site Location, K9, Manned/Unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Route Clearance Equipment, Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE), etc. It increases the capability for intelligence gathering and improves all other assets under the commander’s control.
The foundation of the Level I course centers on teaching the students how to recognize their current threat assessment by analyzing the variables of enemy intent, capabilities and location and teaching various forms of visual recognition skills used to observe and locate potential threat personnel and IED’s. The ACE Awareness course is a program designed to give students the tactical edge when moving through or operating within a semi- or non-permissive environment. It provides the student with a tactical and analytical mindset that will give him/her a key tactical advantage when confronted with adversaries or threats. The training for this course takes place in both day and night conditions and in both urban and rural environments. Training includes classroom instruction with over 70% of the training time dedicated to realistic, hands-on field exercises. Field exercises include training scenarios that complement the client’s current operational environment and other potential future operational areas.
We use subject matter experts (SME) from the field of tracking to teach the students to identify the difference between a natural ground environment verses an unnatural one. This skill will give the student the ability to identify and analyze any ground disturbance in their surroundings and use this information for assessing threat indicators for Predictive (environmental) Assessment. This skill set can also complement incident site investigations by providing operators an ability to interpret subtle disturbances and indicators. This will aid the student in determining and reconstructing the sequence of events at any location without prior knowledge or observation of the actions taking place. It will make the student more aware of incident scene surroundings and enhance the ability to detect subtle evidence and clues at sensitive site exploitations.
The course includes training to familiarize or reinforce students with the make-up, function, materials, ingredients and appearance of a variant of IED’s. The course details the different components used to assemble an effective IED and covers the most current IED trends being utilized throughout the world. The students will not only be familiarized with common IED’s but also P-IED’s (Suicide bombers), V-BIED’s (vehicle bombs) and booby traps and emplacements.
This ACE Awareness Course is designed to give students the ability to proactively identify threats, criminal activity or enemy personnel through Ground Sign Awareness and Human Behavior Pattern Analysis and Recognition. It includes a combination of time-tested, current-trend enhanced observation techniques, and behavior-patterning analysis. This analysis give students the ability to detect security breaches, criminals, terrorists or enemies hiding within a general population. Since humans by nature tend to follow predictable patterns of behavior, these signatures can be readily identified and exploited by the keen observer.
The students are taught how to understand the natural flow of the environment and to actively seek out and focus on the indicators that disrupt that flow. The students learned to establish a baseline and look for anomalies that exist either above or below that baseline. We give the students the tools necessary to assess an area by utilizing criteria and formats developed by DSI’s Subject Matter Experts. Some of the criteria include understanding human daily routines of movement, habits, behavior patterns, and how to identify them. The students learned about the “natural lines of drift”: the routes people take while going about their daily routines. They will be taught to understand the complex working environment and know why people do what they do when they do it. This is established by giving the student knowledge about people (human characteristics, group dynamics, psychology and anthropology). Being able to apply this knowledge will give them the ability to identify such anomalies as enemy or criminal activities.
Threat area assessments are often indicators based on criminal behavior patterns and the enemy’s tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) and their observable and measurable behavior patterns. When students learn to identify and analyze the enemies’ TTPs or criminal behavior patterns, they will be able to more readily identify the enemy or criminals among the civilians. They learned that whatever the threat; be it enemy activity, IED’s, equipment sabotage, perimeter breach, ambush, surveillance, snipers, etc., there are certain observable, identifiable and measurable characteristics that the saboteur, terrorist, enemy and local pattern of life (POL) will display that can be identified by the trained observer from a distance. The students learned that a cluster of certain anomalies (including ground disturbance) is an indication of the presence of threats.
During the ACE Awareness course we will also teach enhanced observation skills. During this phase the students learn why things are seen and why they sometimes go unobserved. This phase includes a lecture followed by an ongoing barrage of unique enhanced awareness/observation exercises developed by our qualified subject matter experts.
Upon graduation, students will be capable of operating in friendly or hostile environments with a keener sense of understanding, knowledge and awareness of their surroundings. They will have the ability to know if a threat is present and the knowledge and skill necessary to react properly.
DSI’s Combat Tracking Course is designed to teach or in some cases revise the unique skill set required of Military Operators when operating in austere and non-permissive environments. The tracking skill set taught during this course supports Enemy Pursuit, Improvised Explosive Device Detection (C-IED), Search and Rescue as well as Advance Force, Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency Operations.
This program is designed to directly enhance the students war fighting capabilities. It allows an aggressive approach to identifying and hunting down enemy forces during kill/capture operations in a multitude of environments and expands the military’s capabilities in combating the global war on terror.
The DSI Combat Tracking Course is offered in an extensive five-day Level 1 and a ten-day level 2 format. The level one program will take the uninitiated through the basic foundations of tracking and the level 2 program onto more advanced Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs). DSI tracking experts will lay a solid foundation in track/sign identification and classification during both courses. Many hours will be spent on ‘dirt time’, teaching the student to identify subtle changes in different types of terrain. Since tracking is a highly visual skill and often times require the tracking team to follow a track under unfavorable conditions and terrain, we put our best efforts into forming training conditions that mimic similar scenarios. This means that during our training, the tracking teams are forced to cross unfavorable terrain in unfavorable conditions while undergoing mental challenges. The training will be conducted in a harsh rural environment with students remaining exposed to the elements for lengthy durations. Students will learn the necessary skills to overcome the limiting factors that harsh environments create, including restricted maneuverability, visibility, exposure and difficult communications which are all hampered by the nature of physically demanding terrain. During the course, we will concentrate on aggressive team pursuit tactics and Immediate Action (IA) drills, enabling a tracking team to gain the initiative and track down and effectively engage a dangerous enemy in urban and rural environments, under both day and night conditions. The training also includes delivering lessons on Anti- and Counter Tracking to ensure that students have a solid understanding on how to reduce their own ‘footprint’ while operating in a non-permissive environment.
Tracking can also be utilized as an intelligence gathering asset, enabling a team to reconstruct events long after the enemy has departed the area. Implementation of the Combat Tracking concept into the intelligence-gathering chain will integrate actionable intelligence into a longer-term intelligence analysis of the enemy’s overall goals. Skilled Combat Trackers can exploit intelligence and develop actionable target packages that will enable targeting and/or detainment operations. We will focus on the ability of the student to turn sign left by the enemy into information that can readily be used to mount subsequent operations. These skills compliment any evidence collection and Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE) operations.
During the Combat Tracking Course, over 70% of the training time is dedicated to realistic field exercises as opposed to classroom. Field exercises include training scenarios that complement the client’s current operational environment and other potential future operational areas. Upon completion, the student will be Combat Tracker Certified. The tracking skills taught during the Combat Tracking Course support the full range of current and future military operations
Today's common enemy tactics are predictable. The tactics are centuries old and have been utilized by an inferior force against a superior force for thousands of years. The Guerilla warfare tactics of attack, flee and hide are still just as effective today as they were decades ago. Today's attacks are usually in the form of an IED or ambush. After the IED is placed, the insurgents flee by foot or vehicle and hide by blending within the local civilian populace. Due to the changing characteristics of international threats, Team DSI has determined that in order to be effective in pursuing terrorists and enemy combatants worldwide, operators need to be trained and educated in the lost or forgotten skill of Ground Sign Awareness (GSA). GSA provides an asymmetric approach to conducting warfare against guerilla enemies in multi environments including jungle operations. DSI has developed and delivered GSA platforms all over the world that have been proven to be effective against these tactics.
DSI has recognized that one of the enemy's recurring weaknesses is that he must physically move in and out of target areas to emplace/set up the IEDs, rocket/mortar sites, ambushes and booby traps. To do so, he must first reconnoiter the site to determine suitable placement of an ambush or IED, establish unobstructed fields of view, probe for sites of concealed observation points, and plan escape routes. When all the aforementioned requirements have been met, he must then get onto the ground, sometimes during the hours of darkness, to set up ambush sites, lay and disguise the IED, set up mortar tubes and firing positions. To accomplish these activities, he must travel on foot, and in doing so he leaves definitive evidence of his presence and identity. DSI is prepared to deliver a GSA program that is designed to teach soldiers how to observe, locate and analyze disturbance and in some cases pursue and identify the unseen author of the disturbance. These observation and pattern analysis skills help soldiers identify a threat, reduce the risk of casualties and contribute to survivability. GSA students are taught how to notice small details and problem solve using unusual behavior or irregularities to detect an ambush, IED, weapons cache, enemy activity and the motivation behind their activities.
DSI has prepared a training program that gives the student the ability to learn information, actions and immediate use intelligence about his adversary and potential threats based on the evidence left behind, giving the operator the definitive tactical advantage. Since it is virtually impossible for the enemy to duplicate the effects of Mother Nature and the elements used by the environment to restore the disturbed earth of an IED or ambush site, the DSI GSA Program can give a trained operator the ability to observe sign from a distance, recognize it as being “man or machine made” and accurately assess the potential of danger. The trained eye and the enemy’s inability to effectively disguise their activity, especially when conducting operations at night, become a weakness that can be successfully exploited.
DSI is prepared to deliver GSA techniques to students through educational classes and field training exercises to revise the GSA skill set in three-day and five-day training formats. In addition, the DSI GSA program includes implementing and validating forms of GSA strategy, sign observation techniques, vulnerable point areas, method of attack, visual search techniques, sensitive site intel reporting, incident site interpretation, explosive hazards and booby trap detection. The GSA program enhances awareness and gives the operator the ability to detect potential danger from people, vehicles, or events in hostile jungle, desert, grassland and urbanized terrain.
The finale of the five-day course will consist of a complex FTX that will require the students to utilize all GSA skills taught in the program including; C-IED detection, threat detection, incident site interpretation, and reporting procedures. We fully intend to utilize a multitude of training areas and terrain to replicate the current or future theatre of operations, including both open country and jungle (close country tropical) environments.
The Jungle Operations Training Course is a highly intensive 6-day, 60-hour field course designed for Students who could be called upon to operate in any close country tropical environment around the world. The foundation of the course centers on teaching students both theory and practical lessons. This includes teaching the basic building blocks required for operating in the jungle and advances to the more specialist skill sets required of Special Operators. DSI Jungle Warfare Instructors will teach the student advanced map reading and navigation skills through the use of compass, pacing and a non-reliance on GPS in a canopy covered landscape. Individual and team Jungle Survival Skills including water, food, fire, traps and shelter stances will increase the student’s confidence in his ability to live and fight in this arduous environment. Once these individual skills have been mastered the course will advance to specialist skills such as Jungle Patrolling, Tactical Movement and Drills, Close Target Reconnaissance, including Jungle Contact Drills and Jungle Tracking techniques. Upon completion, the student will be fully prepared for living and operating in a Jungle environment, being both mentally and physically prepared to implement tactics that will lead to successful operations.
In the Basic Jungle Patrol Course, DSI will provide the student with Combat Jungle Patrol and Tracking techniques through educational classes and field training exercises to enhance combat jungle skills in an advanced setting. In addition, DSI will teach and validate forms of combat jungle patrol strategy, tracking, movement, navigation, formations, tactics, survival, obstacle/river crossings and validating those elements for current and future combat in close country tropical environments.
The course includes a complex Field Training Exercise (FTX) that will include a rescue operations scenario requiring the students to utilize rotor wing insertions (if available), air support operations, jungle patrol, and high angle close country movement maneuvers.
All training will be conducted in a close country environment with students remaining under the canopy for overnight durations. Students will learn the necessary skills to overcome the limiting factors that this harsh environment creates, including difficult C2, limited visibility, difficult communications which are all hampered by the nature of the physically demanding terrain. The DSI Jungle Courses are delivered by specialist DSI Jungle Warfare Instructors with many years of experience in both training and operating in a close country tropical environment as Special Forces or Commando Forces.
DSI has designed a two-week course for operators who may be required to engage in Covert Operations in urban environments. The course will teach the student basic, intermediate and advanced skills that will allow the operator to exist covertly in domestic and foreign urban and rural environments. The course includes extensive surveillance training and practical applications for individual and team movements. All practical applications will be performed within selected cultural districts in order to simulate foreign & domestic working environments.
The program is designed to fulfil unit requirements to transition the inexperienced student into a covert role and close the experience gap between newly assigned covert operators and seasoned veterans. The course is also designed to bring the seasoned operator current with the latest tactics and techniques in undercover operations and procedures.
The Military Covert Operations Program is divided into intense two and half day sections and include topics for military students assigned to units that enforce narcotic, vice, organized crime, intelligence, raid planning, interdiction and protection details and students assigned to work covertly in any hostile and non-permissive environments.
These sections Include:
Level 1 Intro to UC Techniques
Level 2 Rural Covert Operations
Level 3 Dismounted Covert Surveillance
Level 4 Mounted Covert Surveillance
Upon graduation the student will be capable of performing covert operations in an undercover role in friendly or hostile environments and with a keener sense of understanding, knowledge and awareness of their surroundings.
The Program includes training that is filled with hands on practical exercises in an array of scenarios that places the student in real life training environments. The students are exposed to scenarios that required them to perform in both rural, urban and suburban environments during the daylight, lowlight and late night demonstrations. The training encompasses complex Field Training Exercises (FTX) that includes scenarios requiring the students to apply all learned skills in environments shaped to simulate common working or operational areas. Over 70% of the training is dedicated to realistic field exercises as opposed to classroom.
Law Enforcement
While ambushes are a leading cause of officer fatalities in firearms related deaths, current law enforcement training does not typically focus on instruction to mitigate ambush encounters. DSI has developed a training program focused on detecting and deterring threats toward law enforcement officers and local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The Ambush & Lethal Environment Recognition Training (ALERT) program is a proven method of proactively identifying threats and events through predictive analysis of human behavior patterns, terrain awareness and enhanced observation techniques. ALERT is a skill set that allows officers the improved ability to make accurate analysis of threatening events before they escalate by being able to predict common actions based on observed human behaviors within the environment. The ALERT course ensures that officers receive the necessary training and communication skills to diffuse those potential threats into nonthreatening events. This training will give the participating officer an ability to recognize, assess and mitigate risks before they take place.
DSI delivers Subject Matter Expertise, classroom instruction, field exercise programs, instruction material, training, certification, and assessment of training in a skill set that dramatically enhances and improves the law enforcement officer’s Awareness and Threat Detection (ATD) capabilities. The training is offered in a 3 Bay Basic Level or a 5 Day Advanced Level program. The 5 Day Advanced Level program includes the Basic Level plus additional hours of training filled with hands on practical exercises in an array of scenarios that place the student in real life training environments. The students will be exposed to scenarios that required them to perform in both rural and urban environments during daylight, lowlight and late-night demonstrations. The training includes a complex Field Training Exercise (FTX) and scenarios requiring the student to apply all learned skills in an environment shaped to simulate their current job assignment. Over 70% of the training will be dedicated to realistic field exercises as opposed to classroom.
Former students overwhelmingly agree that our awareness programs should be a requirement for all Law Enforcement officers.
Because courthouses are vulnerable to acts of random violence, they must have proper court security procedures, not only protect the safety of the people and property within and around the courts, but also the integrity of the judicial process. While there is no one solution to issues concerning court security, many current security training programs center on reactive verses proactive solutions. Security Threat Assessment Training for the Courtroom is a training program that focuses on proactive methods of predictive assessment of the courtroom environment that will dramatically enhance and improve the Court Security Officer’s (CSO), Law Enforcement and Judicial Personnel’s Awareness and Threat Detection (ATD) capabilities. These capabilities will give the student the upper edge for detecting and deterring courtroom threats such as active shooters, custody escapes, bomb incidents, emotional confrontations etc. The training teaches methods to accurately assess the courtroom environment and public and gives the student the ability to predict the potential for a threatening event.
The program is designed to directly enhance the Court Security Officer or Judicial personnel’s capabilities in advanced threat awareness skills and allows for a proactive approach to observe and identify threat indicators that exist in the human and courtroom environment. The program teaches CSO’s and Judicial personnel how to establish baselines in their environment and how to recognize certain anomalies that indicate potential threats through human behavior, body language and environmental awareness.
Today, the challenges our Law Enforcement officers face are unique, and challenging. The criminal remains evasive and devious in an increasingly complex working environment for officers that are unpredictable and constantly changing. DSI has identified a requirement for training police officers in a tracking program to support an officer’s ability to identify, tactically pursue and apprehend evasive criminals and suspects. This training can also increase an officer’s observation and visual detection skills to detect explosive threats such as IED’s and booby traps and enhance their capabilities to operate in various threat environments and increase their awareness and survivability skills.
DSI has developed a Tactical Tracking training program that is superior to all other current programs on the market. Our program has been proven to increase a unit’s ability to tactically pursue armed and dangerous fugitives and identify potential threats and booby traps. The training also offers a more detailed understanding of the individual’s threat assessment as well as an increased performance in observation skills and tactical acuity/situational awareness. It enhances skills and assets such as Search and Rescue, Reconnaissance, Patrol, Unit Tactics, Surveillance, Counter Surveillance, Reactions, Criminal Pursuit, Cache Site Location, K9 teams, and crime scene processing. It increases the capability for criminal intelligence gathering and enhances all department assets.
Basic Visual Tracking Techniques - We use tracking subject matter experts (SME) to teach the students to understand the difference between a natural ground environment verses an unnatural one. This skill will give the student the ability to identify and analyze any ground disturbance in their surroundings and use this information to identify and pursue fleeing suspects. This skill set will assist in confirming and denying positive links from a crime scene to any potential suspects. This skill set also complements incident site and crime scene investigations by providing officers an ability to interpret subtle disturbances and indicators.
Our program includes considerable time in the spoor pit demonstrating different activity indicators and methods to interpret those indicators. The students will become proficient in their ability to approach disturbances on the ground and through analyzing and interpretation of that disturbance, be able to accurately assess the actions that took place such as direction of travel, movement types, goals, mental state, injuries, tactics, awareness, equipment, weapons, intent etc. of the quarry.
The program includes instruction on different team tactical formations and methods of tactical movement and how they are critical to the terrain and environment the team is operating in. For example, the student will understand that in order to remain tactical, being able to observe ground disturbance in all environments is essential. The students are taught that moving through a close country rural environment verses movement through open high visibility type environments require distinctly different formations, procedures and team communications. Each of these formations require their own unique drills for “contact”, “quarry sighted”, “time distance gap” etc. The program will also familiarize the student with techniques for aging sign/spoor and the effects that the terrain and environment has on that process.
During our program the student will learn Micro Tracking techniques and the role it plays in incident site and crime scene processing. This technique and the indicators are also important for operating in new or unfamiliar terrain and assists trackers in adjusting to a sudden change in the track line or environment.
The students will be taught to interpret ground indicators induced by quarry along with other available information in order to identify the quarry’s intent. Students learn that in order for a tracker to make intelligent, accurate and logical assumptions about a target it is also essential that he has a detailed knowledge of the criminal. The target’s mission will rarely be known at the beginning of a tracking task and will normally be determined by intelligence based upon both the information provided by the tracker and from previous information on the target. The information required to correctly identify the intent should also come from the following sources: our own intelligence network, previous patrol reports, population, police and other departments. Students will learn additional methods for “getting into the mind of the quarry” through “reverse mindset training”.
Lost Spoor Drills - In order for a tracking team to be effective, it is paramount that students be knowledgeable of lost spoor drills. Our program teaches a variety of lost spoor drills for both close country and open country environments.
Backtracking Techniques - Backtracking techniques have their own unique formation and procedure requirements and are generally non-tactical in nature. Our course teaches backtracking techniques that will give the student the ability to locate criminal caches, ambush sites, surveillance positions, and secondary explosive devices. The student will learn that each of these sites possesses indicators that are unique identifiers for those specific sites, which are essential for proper evidence processing.
Intelligence Fusion - Since Tracking can be an intelligence gathering asset, enabling a team to reconstruct events long after the event has taken place, we will spend considerable time reaffirming these “attention to detail” skill sets through complex practical exercises covering all areas of the skill set. The program teaches implementation of this concept into the intelligence-gathering chain and how to integrate and fuse gained intelligence into the departments intelligence capabilities.
Night Environment with/without Night Vision Goggles - Students will be introduced to the use of all learned skills in a night environment with and without the use of Night Vision Goggles (NVG’s). Students will understand the limitations and advantages of using NVG’s and their effects on movement, tactics and security in relation to the Tracking skill set. The program includes classroom lecture and demonstrations on types of lighting, light colors, infra-red verses thermal imagery, all of which culminate into a nighttime practical exercise.
DSI recognizes that a Program of instruction (POI) is only as effective as it is relevant. DSI is familiar with the requirements for POI development and implementation and the importance of reference materials for training. We continue to develop and refine our Tracking curriculum by debriefing our SMEs and past students upon returning from related tracking operations. We recognize their unique perspective on the tactics that criminals are using and leverage their insights and experiences to refine our POIs. We adhere to the principles of the highest standards for program development and curriculum.
DSI possesses a developed Tracking Mobile Training Team (MTT) Program of Instruction (POI) that we can easily modify to meet the any agency’s requirements and to ensure that all subject areas are covered and that we are able to execute inside the identified time frame. DSI will execute the course in your Area and in your designated time frame. DSI’s instructional staff will conduct the necessary coordination for any required training support well in advance to ensure that all of the required training areas, materials and support requirements are identified and addressed.
As we do with each of our MTT events, the Tactical Tracking program will include a supply of CD/DVD with Microsoft compatible course material and course agenda with scheduled topics and timings along with operational reference handout on weatherproof paper for all students participating in class. DSI will supply these materials to the students in advance of serial start date.
DSI’s Tactical Tracking course provides an appropriate mix of classroom and practical exercises with at least 70% of the program dedicated to practical field exercises covering all skills learned. DSI’s instructors will present information in the classroom and reinforce the main learning points during the practical exercises.
Transitioning an officer from a uniformed patrol position to perform surveillance or operate in a covert or undercover role without proper learning process can result in civil liability, weak cases, officer injury and even death. Conducting a competent surveillance or covert operation can take years to master and the learning process can be risky and dangerous for the officer which can also result in costly recoveries for the department. The DSI U/COP program is designed to fulfil department requirements to transition the inexperienced undercover officer into a covert role and close the experience gap between newly assigned officers and seasoned veterans. The Program is designed for officers assigned to units that enforce narcotic, vice, organized crime, intelligence, raid planning, interdiction and protection details. The course is also designed to bring the seasoned undercover officer into the most current tactics and techniques in surveillance and covert operations and procedures.
The Program includes training that is filled with hands on practical exercises in an array of scenarios that places the student in real life training environments. The students are exposed to scenarios that require them to perform in both rural, urban and suburban environments during the daylight, lowlight and late-night demonstrations. The training encompasses complex Field Training Exercises (FTX) that includes scenarios requiring the students to apply all learned skills in environments shaped to simulate common working or operational areas.
The Undercover/Covert Operations Program is divided into intense two and half day sections that can be performed individually or combined and include topics for officers assigned to units that enforce narcotic, vice, organized crime, intelligence, raid planning, interdiction and protection details. The program teaches law enforcement officers basic, intermediate and advanced level skills that will allow the officer to exist covertly while performing investigations in rural and urban environments.
Upon completion of the course the student will be able to function as a member of a surveillance or covert operations unit. The student will be able to communicate effectively, plan a surveillance and covert operation, and minimize personal and team risk during those operations. The student will also understand the legal elements of covert operations and how to obtain admissible evidence for court.
These 4 Level sections Include:
Level 1 Intro to UC Techniques
Level 2 Rural Covert Operations
Level 3 Dismounted Covert Surveillance
Level 4 Mounted Covert Surveillance
During the course, students learn the importance of building a proper undercover role and the liability that can be created by placing themselves into a character role that they are not familiar with. Students are taught how to design a role that fits into their own character, knowledge and background. In other words, someone with little or no medical knowledge should not attempt to pass themselves off as a doctor. Students will be challenged through practical exercise to tap into their own hobbies, trades and interests that they are the most passionate about and mold those into a character for an undercover role.
In addition, the course trains students on an array of techniques such as grey man roles. A grey man is a term that describes a person that can move through an environment unnoticed. It is descriptive of a person that blends within their surroundings so well that they become almost invisible. Similar to good camouflage techniques used for successful hunting, covert operators must have a keen awareness of their immediate surroundings and be able to manipulate themselves to blend into the natural state of their environment. Appearing unnatural against a natural environment will result in being compromised. The student will learn that unlike Hollywood movie characters who depict a flamboyant, well dressed, outgoing, daring, and center of attention lifestyle, a covert operator should be low keyed, humble, moderately dressed and avoid contact as much as possible.
Students will learn how to blend in their environments by the process of understanding baselines and avoiding the appearance of being an anomaly within that baseline. Anomaly detection is a method of identifying actions and events through predictive analysis of human behavior patterns, terrain awareness and observation techniques. Upon mastering this skill, it will become second nature for students to blend in.
Upon graduation the student will be capable of performing covert operations in an undercover role in friendly or hostile environments and with a keener sense of understanding, knowledge and awareness of their surroundings.
The Program includes training that is filled with hands on practical exercises in an array of scenarios that places the student in real life training environments. The students are exposed to scenarios that required them to perform in both rural, urban and suburban environments during the daylight, lowlight and late night demonstrations. The training encompasses complex Field Training Exercises (FTX) that includes scenarios requiring the students to apply all learned skills in environments shaped to simulate common working or operational areas. Over 70% of the training is dedicated to realistic field exercises as opposed to classroom.
In a recent survey of 256 firefighters and emergency medical workers from throughout the U.S., more than 48 percent said that they had been physically assaulted at least once while on duty. Experts estimate that there are 700,000 assaults on paramedics and EMTs every year, and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation lists assaults as one of the top 16 safety issues that firefighters face when responding to calls.
On a daily basis, first responders will risk their lives to save innocent civilians while exposing themselves to the dangers of evil men who wish to do them harm. Unfortunately, many responders have been harmed or killed while responding to assist those in need at the hands of angry shooters, terrorists, explosive devices, emotionally distraught, mentally disturbed and many other facets of danger. In light of the recent events surrounding violent attacks and assaults directed towards First Responders, DSI is prepared to offer a proactive training program designed to mitigate assaults and help reduce the risk of injury and death of responding personnel. The Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) program was developed and designed specifically for all men and women who earn a living by rushing into hazardous situations to help those in need.
The HEAT program relies on a proactive approach that teaches skill sets to dramatically enhance and improve the responders Awareness and Threat Detection (ATD) capabilities. The training can help 1st responders detect and thwart planned assaults and gives the student the ability to recognize the potential for any situation to turn hostile. This will give them the opportunity to respond, mitigate and deescalate the event before it can turn into a life-threatening situation. It benefits EMT/Paramedics, firefighters, security personnel, police officers and also helps protect all from ambush-type situations. The training teaches 1st responders methods to accurately assess bystanders and the environment and gives them the ability to predict the potential for an encounter to escalate into a threatening event.
The program is designed to directly enhance 1st responder personnel capabilities in advanced threat awareness skills and also allows an aggressive approach to observe and identify booby traps, IED’s, ambushes and other threats in a multitude of environments through threat indicators. The program teaches responders how to establish baselines in their environment and how to recognize certain anomalies that indicate potential threats using human behavior analysis, body language and environmental awareness.
The ability to recognize, identify, interpret and collect evidence at any scene and the surrounding environment where a crime has been committed by observing, analyzing and understanding indicators left by nature and human activity.
DSI has developed a training program that gives the student the ability to increase their evidence identification & collection skills with up to 80% better effectiveness. It offers increased performance in observation skills and situational awareness. The foundation of the course centers on teaching the students various forms of visual recognition skills used to observe, locate and interpret crime scenes and is being offered in a 3 day Level 1 and 5 day Level 2 training format.
The DSI Crime Scene Awareness Training program is a designed method of proactively identifying human activity through ground sign awareness techniques and human behavior pattern analysis. Since humans by nature tend to follow predictable patterns of behavior, these signatures can be readily identified and exploited by the keen observer. We give the students the tools necessary to assess crime scenes by utilizing criteria and formats developed by DSI’s Subject Matter Experts. Some of the criteria include understanding human daily routines of movement, habits, behavior patterns, and how to identify them. The students learn about the “natural lines of drift”, the routes people take while going about their daily routines. They will understand their complex environment and know why “people do what they do when they do it”. Being able to apply this knowledge while assessing crime scenes will give them the ability to accurately identify actions, intentions and motives of suspects.
During the 3-day Level 1 program, we teach the student enhanced observation skills where they learn why things can be observed and why they sometimes go unobserved. This phase includes a lecture followed by an ongoing barrage of unique enhanced observation exercises developed by DSI’s qualified subject matter experts.
We use subject matter experts (SME) from the field of tracking to teach the students to identify the difference between a natural ground environment verses an unnatural one. This skill will give the student the ability to identify and analyze any ground disturbance in their surroundings and use this information for assessing the crime scene. This will aid the student in determining and reconstructing the sequence of events at any location without prior knowledge or observation of the actions taking place. It will make the student more aware of incident scene surroundings and enhance the ability to detect subtle evidence and clues left behind by the suspect.
Exploitation/Crime Scene Processing - Exploitation involves the immediate collection, prioritization of items of potential evidence value and recording the information. The Level 1 program will familiarize the student with the ability to properly process a site for evidence value without contaminating or destroying important information. They will understand the different formats of reports and how they are dictated for courtroom testimony and directives based on the student’s departmental protocols. They will learn how to process, log, categorize, and exploit gained information to the best of their abilities in support of the criminal case and how to pass it through the chain of command to the appropriate level for inclusion into intelligence records.
Our Level 1 program includes considerable time in created artificial environments demonstrating different activity indicators and methods to interpret those indicators. The students will become proficient in their ability to approach disturbances on the ground and through analyzing and interpretation of that disturbance, be able to accurately assess the actions that took place such as direction of travel, movement types, goals, mental state, injuries, tactics, awareness, equipment, weapons, intent etc. of the suspect.
Characteristics of the Human Gait - Our program includes understanding the basic fundamentals of a human footprint and how they relate to specific actions being conducted by the suspect. DSI’s human gait instruction uses numerous lessons conducted in a dirt pit to teach students the elements of a human pace, and how to interpret the observable indicators by understanding the broad range of information gained from a footprint.
Indicator Signatures - Our program stresses the importance of building mental file folders and will demonstrate the signatures of a variety of different types of equipment and items, their components, weapons and personal items when they are placed on the ground and removed. We also demonstrate signatures created by human movement and actions. This is critical in helping the students properly identify evidence, weapons, equipment, human intent and activity signatures that were placed on the ground prior to the student’s arrival.
Forensic Identifiers - Our program teaches the importance of forensic identifiers and the procedures for processing and applying these identifiers to the department’s intelligence database and methods to protect the “chain of evidence”.
Ground Sign Recognition - Our Level 2 training teaches students sign observation techniques, e.g. how to use available light; the time-shadow effect; night time sign identification techniques using infrared, LEDs, incandescent light, etc.; where and how to look for sign; the Seven Characteristics of sign; the classifications of sign; the categories of sign; sign in different terrain, e.g. sandstone, gravel, sand, woodlands, wetland, etc.; top or aerial sign; mother nature disruption; and non-observable sign, e.g. smells and odors, unnatural noises, lack of noises, the sixth sense, etc.; and finally how to build ‘file folders’ to equip our students to continue to learn and improve after completion of the course.
Interpreting Atmospherics - Our Level 2 program teaches students that Atmospherics is defined as “...the environmental mood, e.g. those Activity Indicators that demonstrate how a place looks, sounds, tastes, feels, and smells.” Atmospherics include Geographic’s (the study of the physical terrain and how humans interact with it), Symbolism (the representation of something in symbolic form or the attribution of symbolic meaning or character to something; the practice of representing things by symbols or of investing in things with symbolic meaning), and an overall understanding of human beings interactions with their surroundings.
Micro Tracking Indicators - During our Level 2 program the student will learn Micro Tracking techniques and the role it plays in incident site and crime scene processing.
Search Techniques - Search techniques have their own unique formation and procedure requirements and are generally non-tactical in nature. Our course teaches search techniques that will give the student the ability to not only locate crime scenes but in addition, locate and identify criminal caches, ambush sites, surveillance positions, and booby traps. The student will learn that each of these sites possesses indicators that are unique identifiers for those specific sites, which are essential for proper evidence processing.
Practical Exercises Covering all Skills - Since crime scene assessments can be an intelligence gathering asset, enabling a student to reconstruct events long after the event has taken place, we will spend considerable time reaffirming these “attention to detail” skill sets through complex practical exercises covering all areas of the skill set. DSI’s Crime Scene Assessment course provides an appropriate mix of classroom and practical exercises with at least 70% of the program dedicated to practical field exercises covering all skills learned. DSI’s instructors will present information in the classroom and reinforce the main learning points during the practical exercises.
Civilian
Incidents such as missing persons, lost individuals, natural disaster etc. commonly need search and rescue professionals and volunteers for assistance in recovery efforts. DSI has developed a Search and Rescue training program specifically designed for citizens who could be called upon to augment search and rescue efforts. Our Search and Rescue Training takes a comprehensive approach by offering tiered training programs in K9 Search and Rescue, Search & Rescue Tracking, and SAR Management. The program consists of structured classes of varying levels from basic foundation training to advanced skills. This not only teaches the students skills needed to properly search for missing persons, but it gives citizens and agencies an opportunity to coordinate each other’s roles during a search & rescue incident.
We use subject matter experts (SME) from the field of tracking to teach the students to identify the difference between a natural ground environment verses an unnatural one. This skill will give the student the ability to identify and analyze any ground disturbance in their surroundings and use this information for assessing indicators to identify lost or missing persons. By analyzing disturbance, the skill set can assist in confirming and denying positive links to the missing person. This skill set also provides for an ability to interpret subtle disturbances and indicators that will aid the student in determining and reconstructing the sequence of events at any location without prior knowledge or observation of the actions taking place. It will make the student more aware of incident scene surroundings and enhance the ability to detect subtle evidence and clues left behind.
Our program demonstrates and teaches the basic techniques for measuring activity by teaching the elements of the human pace. Our program includes considerable time in the spoor pit demonstrating different activity indicators and methods to interpret those indicators. The students will become proficient in their ability to approach disturbances on the ground and through analyzing and interpretation of that disturbance, be able to accurately assess the actions that took place such as direction of travel, movement types, goals, mental state, injuries, tactics, awareness, equipment, weapons, intent etc. of the quarry. Students will be taught that direction of travel can also be interpreted through the use of pointers (compressed grass and broken sticks), transference, and primary impact points.
The program includes instruction on different team formations and methods of movement and how they are critical to the terrain and environment the team is operating in. For example, the student will understand that in order to remain vigilant, being able to observe ground disturbance in all environments is essential. The students are taught that moving through a close country or tropical environment verses movement through open desert type environments require distinctly different formations, procedures and team communications. The program will also familiarize the student with techniques for aging sign/spoor and the effects that the terrain and environment has on that process.
During our program the student will learn Micro Tracking techniques and the role it plays in search and rescue. This technique and the indicators are also important for operating in new or unfamiliar terrain and assists trackers in adjusting to a sudden change in the track line or environment.
In order for a tracking team to be effective, it is paramount that students be knowledgeable of lost spoor drills. Our program teaches a variety of lost spoor drills for both close country and open country environments.
Backtracking techniques have their own unique formation and procedure requirements and are generally non-tactical in nature.
The program also includes training in additional field craft skills and topics such as: SAR management, outdoor survival, self-sufficiency, outdoor environmental hazards, outdoor clothing, personal equipment, land navigation, night time operations, and negotiating hazardous terrain.
DSI offers several courses to meet the needs of civilians in today’s uncertain times. These courses offer skill sets that carry over into every aspects of life including family protection, situational awareness, self-awareness, team building, boost of confidence, increased self-esteem and most importantly, survivability.
Our most popular course is the 2 day Rural Bush Craft program. This program is a basic survival course designed to be enjoyed by individuals seeking to learn to enhance survivability in rural settings while using limited resources. The course includes teaching the student basic survival skills and priorities such as finding food, shelter, fire and water. The course also includes teaching a basic understanding of terrain association land navigation. This course is conducted in the outdoors and includes an overnight duration in a secluded rural setting. Upon completion, the student will possess the basic skills and knowledge required to sustain life in multiple types of austere rural environments.
Our 5 day Bush Survival Tracking program includes the two day Bush Craft course plus an additional three day program that includes advanced survival skills and basic tracking techniques. Students will learn advanced techniques to enhance survivability in austere rural environments including snares/traps, water collection, purification and preservation, advanced fire-starting skills, nighttime navigation, primitive weapon acquisition, and advanced shelter construction.
Our 7 day Adventure Course is a program designed for the student seeking a physical challenge that will result in a strong sense of accomplishment and confidence. The Adventure Course includes the 5 day Bush Tracking Survival Course plus an additional two days of movement and hiking over rough terrain and distance. It includes teaching the student Proper River and Obstacle crossing techniques and climbing techniques. Even though this course is enjoyable, it is physically and mentally challenging and requires the student to be in good physical condition.
DSI offers a 2-day Situational Awareness program and a 5-day Urban Survival Program dedicated to city survival. These programs are designed for almost any age, gender and physical condition who desire to increase awareness and perspective on things and events taking place around them in urban environments. Both of these courses are ideal for individuals wishing to increase awareness of the everyday work/home environment or preparing for a major catastrophic event. Once completing the course, all students will leave with a sense of achievement, self confidence, reliance and awareness. These courses are intended for those who wish to be properly prepared for catastrophic events in urban settings such as major hurricanes, earthquakes, manmade or natural disasters or the breakdown and deterioration of society. The skill set can also be used to enhance and increase effectiveness in the decision making process of everyday life events. These programs increase a person’s ability to not only survive but to prosper in any environment that might otherwise prove to be life threatening.
The core of the 2-day course centers on teaching body language, observation techniques and the proven skill set of human behavior and predictive analysis. These skill sets help students recognize and understand the natural flow of an environment and the way people move within it. Understanding this “natural flow” gives the student the ability to detect potential threats in any environment and the knowledge to take proper actions to mitigate those threats. Human threat indicators are traits based on common patterns that people display when preparing for a threat event or hostile act. These traits can be recognized from a distance, are universal and applicable to the general populace of any culture. DSI will teach the student key methods to substantially increase their ability to not only observe, recognize and identify threats and dangerous situations but proper reactions to counter those threats. The program includes an exercise where students will have the opportunity to test their new skills by locating anomalies and threats in both staged and real time environments.
The 5-day Urban Survival Program includes the 2 day Situational Awareness program plus an additional 3 days of urban survival techniques. It also includes techniques to enhance security and family oriented safety, communications, movement, and basic survival elements such as seeking food, shelter, fire and water in urban settings that are experiencing deteriorating events. It also covers planning and preparation for such events.
Because churches and religious gatherings are vulnerable to acts of targeted and random violence, they must have proper security measures in place, not only protect the safety of the people and property, but also promote the freedom to worship without concern. While there is no one solution to issues concerning church security, many current security training programs center primarily on reactive measures verses a safer proactive solution. Security for Worship Organizations & Readiness Development is a training program that focuses on proactive methods of predictive assessment of the worship environment that will dramatically enhance and improve the student’s Awareness and Threat Detection (ATD) capabilities. These capabilities will give the student the upper edge for detecting and deterring threats in congregations such as active shooters, violent disruptions, attacks, bomb incidents, emotional confrontations etc. The training teaches methods to accurately assess the congregation premises and the worship environment and gives the student the ability to predict the potential for a threatening event to escalate.
The program is designed to directly enhance the student’s capabilities in advanced threat awareness skills and allows for a proactive approach to observe and identify the threat indicators that exist within human dynamics and the physical environment. The program teaches students how to establish baselines in their environment and how to recognize certain anomalies that indicate potential threats through analysis of human behavior, body language and environmental awareness.
Compared to other professions, Real Estate is considered by security experts and law enforcement to be a high-risk profession. According to recent Bureau of Labor studies, the real estate industry experiences about a 40% higher rate of on-the-job crime than the average profession. Real Estate Agent attacks can be motivated by a variety of incidents such as theft of money and jewelry or can be a sexual predator preying on a target of opportunity. The Real Estate industry has seen an average of more than 75 homicides a year beginning in 2003 and according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the numbers continue to rise. Most of the deaths and violent acts were identified as personal attacks that took place while the agent was at work or alone with a potential client.
Randy has recognized the need to mitigate the growing trend of the criminal violence, robberies and assaults directed towards Realtors and has developed a proactive training program to counter those trends. These learned skill sets will dramatically enhance and improve the Real Estate Agents Awareness and Threat Detection (ATD) capabilities. The program is designed to directly enhance the Real Estate agent’s capabilities in threat awareness skills and allows a proactive approach to observe and identify threats through indicators that exist in the human and terrain environment. The program teaches students how to establish baselines in their work environment and how to recognize certain anomalies that indicate potential threats through human behavior, body language and environmental awareness.
The training teaches methods to accurately assess public contacts and gives the agent the ability to predict the potential for an encounter or public contact to escalate into a threatening event.
In a recent survey of 256 firefighters and emergency medical workers from throughout the U.S., more than 48 percent said that they had been physically assaulted at least once while on duty. Experts estimate that there are 700,000 assaults on paramedics and EMTs every year, and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation lists assaults as one of the top 16 safety issues that firefighters face when responding to calls.
On a daily basis, first responders will risk their lives to save innocent civilians while exposing themselves to the dangers of evil men who wish to do them harm. Unfortunately, many responders have been harmed or killed while responding to assist those in need at the hands of angry shooters, terrorists, explosive devices, emotionally distraught, mentally disturbed and many other facets of danger. In light of the recent events surrounding violent attacks and assaults directed towards First Responders, PATC is prepared to offer a proactive training program designed to mitigate assaults and help reduce the risk of injury and death of responding personnel. The Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) program was developed and designed specifically for all men and women who earn a living by rushing into hazardous situations to help those in need.
The HEAT program relies on a proactive approach that teaches skill sets to dramatically enhance and improve the responders Awareness and Threat Detection (ATD) capabilities. The training can help 1st responders detect and thwart planned assaults and gives the student the ability to recognize the potential for any situation to turn hostile. This will give them the opportunity to respond, mitigate and deescalate the event before it can turn into a life-threatening situation. It benefits EMT/Paramedics, firefighters, security personnel, police officers and also helps protect all from ambush-type situations. The training teaches 1st responders methods to accurately assess bystanders and the environment and gives them the ability to predict the potential for an encounter to escalate into a threatening event.
The program is designed to directly enhance 1st responder personnel capabilities in advanced threat awareness skills and also allows an aggressive approach to observe and identify booby traps, IED’s, ambushes and other threats in a multitude of environments through threat indicators. The program teaches responders how to establish baselines in their environment and how to recognize certain anomalies that indicate potential threats using human behavior analysis, body language and environmental awareness.
