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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Negative.
Breaking contact drills or defensive fire against aircraft.
I hope you don't have to do either.
TR
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Gotcha.
Actually we practice and have had to use break contact drills. This occurs during the execution of a high risk search warrant. While moving to breach or in the process of breaching if the team comes under fire we will not press the assault. If the threat can be put down immediately so be it. However, this is not always the case. Shooters will shoot through walls or doors at us. The purpose of a search warrant is to secure evidence. Once the suspects shoot at you things have gone to a whole new level. We will back off, surround/ contain and call out. Gas will be introduced almost immediately. If this doesn’t achieve the desired result we can bring other tools into play. Proper training and execution of break contact drills are crucial for the safety of the team. While under fire you cannot just turn and run.
We have had to use a break contact drill on actual call outs. In the course of serving a search warrant the suspect opened fire through a window at the breachers striking one of them in the plate and dropping him. The shooter was deeper in the house (concrete block). All that could be seen was muzzle flash from his AK47 variant, glass exploding out and the window blinds moving. Directed fire was used to push him back long enough to extract the breacher and move the team off the pouch in a controlled manner. Multiple officers used controlled, directed fire to suppress the shooter as they egressed from the closed in porch. All officers that shot had a site picture of where the muzzle flash was coming from and shot at it. It was too dark inside to see the suspect himself. It was later learned the shooter was crouching down and holding the rifle over his head and just blazing away. Was it effective? While many would say no the shooter did manage to get lucky and hit one of our guys with his first shot and avoid being shot.