There are many methods of training proving and testing that the Todd Group employs on military CQB/CQC, police defensive tactics, close personal protection, tactical prisoner handling, security forces and self-protection courses.
These methods include battle handling exercises, practical handling exercises, stands, operational scenario training, toughener and sickener training, battle inoculation, familiarization with enemy fighting arts, battle conditioning, psychological conditioning for battle exercises and category of incident training etc.
Category of incident training (COI) is something I have practiced and delivered since 1979 and is a fundamental part of my combative specialist training.
COI training provides a wide ranging scope of categories of threat, factor of confusion, ranging intensity from low threat levels to the realities of sudden aggressive shock action high intensity and everything in between.
COI is the best means of ensuring operators can combat and counter both expected and unexpected threats and will identify the individual operators ability to assess an immediate threat decide on the best and correct anti counter or combat means of threat neutralisation and effectively employ it.
The major realism mechanism of COI training is fast mapping assessment and decision-making and the employment of not only primary options but also secondary and contingency options to neutralize the threat situation.
COI training is an indicator of the rank qualification and experience of the instructor delivering it.
While the qualified experienced military CQB/CQB Master Instructor is well-versed in developing and managing the doctrine and training and management packages and conducting category of incident courses what really proves the individual experts calibre is delivering category of incident training free of a written program or aid memoir competently.
Delivering a changing category of incident course of instruction that is logical cohesive and challenging without hesitation is an elite primary training practice.
This will not only challenge the exponents but also require the instructor to be extremely competent.
The instructor must be able to mentally advance plan up to eight or more categories of incident ahead.
The six Ps planning preparation and practice to prevent piss poor performance really apply.
The mental advance planning must ensure that the categories of incident are not only realistic but that they fit with the exponents capabilities to counter or combat the presented threat category.
The COI instructor has to have not only the highest level of knowledge and a long instructing service history but they also need to be current with threats armed and unarmed.
They need to be able to apply themselves in both a specialist operator capacity and the capacity of the most dangerous enemy in order to provide current COI specialist courses.
They need to be able to think like a deadly cunning calculated enemy and as such introduce common current deadly threats of categories of incident.
Having the knowledge and a long service record are instructor required individual attributes but they must also be competent in setting up a specialist course of instruction or testing..
Location, props, weapons, equipment, stores, support, the enemy party, hazards, distractions, special effects, safety practices, methods of briefing, isolation secure holding areas pre-and post-COI training and the test courses and much more are all aspects the instructor needs to ensure are covered.
The training team instructing cadre must maintain control of the category of incident training and test phases shadowing the exponents and be competent to assess and record competency levels.
They need to be vigilant to not only the exponents and enemy party performance and safety considerations but also environmental dangers.
I have conducted elite forces category of incident test courses with full muster courses going through and with the average minimum timing from entry to exit per exponent being five minutes.
Several hours of shadowing candidates through such courses requires constant concentration and there is no place for complacency.
The intensity of COI test courses is considerable and is as close to actions on CQB as it gets without the loss of life.
The category of incident training phases do not generally involve as high a level of intensity as the COI test phases but they do still provide high levels of the factor of confusion and the need for the individual exponents to fastmap and make sound anti, counter or combat decisions and employ them on the move.
The COI training courses have multiple format ranging from Buddy training to combative lines, stations and battle handling exercises and other regular and irregular formats.
Buddy category of incident training can be focused on a single combative subject and a range of categories of incident that are common or not so common to that subject.
An example could be an unarmed threat where the exponent may under the instructors commands deal with a range of strikes kicks approaches grabs holds takedowns etc.
This is a basic means of category of incident training with low level factor of confusion as the exponents are privy to the category of incident enemy party orders via the instructor.
Employing time restraints does cause added intensity and to some degree training stress levels and a greater factor of confusion.
The enemy party needs to be alert and proficient in providing realistic threats.
Generally at this basic level in training the exponent enemy party will alternate roles.
Repetitions are usually single repetition but can range from 1 to 3 before the category of incident is changed.
Employing stands the course is laid out before the exponents come on course and the enemy party are briefed and provided with the required equipment and weapons etc.
Stands specific threats can be expected where the enemy party states the category of incident as in the exponent arrives at the stand and the enemy party states unarmed offensive assault for example.
Another expected stand threat option is to have the category of incident on a small white or chalk board.
The key component is even though the exponent is made aware of the category of incident through the required time restraints per stand they have two assess decide and execute their option and move to the next stand fast time.
Stands generally are made up of common but varied threat categories.
The number of stands we set up is usually between eight and sixteen.
Another form of COI stand training part of COI training is the single stand where the enemy party will present themselves one after the other as soon as the exponent has counted or combated the immediate threat the next will be presented.
The threads must be logically decided by the instructor to produce realism and cohesion.
An example of the logical order may be unarmed offensive assault unarmed counter offensive assault hold application attempt hold escape non-ballistic weapon dynamic entry assault ambush non-ballistic weapon.
This format of category of incident employs a logical escalation of threat basis.
Ultimately stands will produce an unannounced threat category where the exponent or candidate will start on the stand one make the D and neutralize the presented threat and move through each stand in the same manner.
This form of stands training increases the factor of confusion.
The better trained kitted out and briefed the enemy party the better the training or testing.
Battle handling exercises is the best category of incident training and testing means.
Train and test the combative way is the modus operandi of category of incident battle handling exercises.
There is an ultimate objective to be achieved covered in the pre-battle handling exercise brief.
The candidate has a definite role standard operating procedures rules of engagement and is briefed in relation to safety and scope.
They are shadowed and directed by the instructors and then must face every category of incident make the D and neutralize the threat before moving on.
Constant assessment and scanning secondary or multiple threads is essential.
Deception cunning sudden aggressive shock actions are mandatory and nothing is ever as it appears and threats may change in an instant.
The employment of not only a skilled enemy party but unfamiliar surroundings environmental dangers special-effects to confuse or disorientate and extreme deception provide a great combative testing ground.
Ultimately the candidate must be competent in the required skills confident in their ability to achieve the objectives and possess mental toughness to the maximum levels.
Facing the unknown and at times the completely unexpected makes for the development of great operational skills in training and testing.
Being kept in isolation secure handling areas pre-and post-battle handling exercises ensures that the candidates have no specific knowledge of the individual or collective categories of incident.
There are other restricted information aspects in relation to categories of incident options we apply on training and test phases that are specialist and have increased risk factors high levels of difficulty employing more specialist armed components and four specialist roles.
These specialist operational roles including specialists close personal protection categories of incident battle handling exercises require considerably more resources and the nature of the category of incident requires a candidate that is highly trained and motivated.
Live fire shock knives aggressive driving ambushes and many other components are factors of specialist category of incident actions on battle handling exercises and the duration and scope expands into full exercises over days or even weeks.
In conclusion this form of training and testing properly delivered is as close as it gets to the ultimate employment and operational close combat.
