Introduction
The practical measures taken to fight criminals include strengthening the agencies tasked with the implementation of the law, setting up the necessary bodies, and ensuring that organized crimes are investigated and prosecuted accordingly (Gregory, 2009). The strengthening of operational capability entails various measures such as combat training. The common combat training methods include close-quarter combat battle, hostage rescue, and military action. The overall goal of the combat training of the legal force departments is to equip the staff with the right skills and enhance combat readiness. With the increase of terrorists’ actions, combat training plays a critical role in foiling the actions of terrorists. According to Gregory (2009), combat training equips the forces with the expertise required to overcome criminals in the shortest time possible. However, combat training sometimes results in friendly hurts. Sulsky et al. (2014) stated that injuries that result from training are great fears to the preparedness and health of the military. The Legal force department believes that improving combat training helps the staff achieve their goal and finish their mission successfully. This is due to the fact that anti-terrorism war requires the legal force department to have better level ability to successfully finish their mission
Combat Training and Legal Force Department
The mandate of the legal force department is to apply the best methodology to conduct proactive investigations in order to stop violent crimes and terrorism (Gregory, 2009). In every country, the legal force department is at the frontline of the efforts to fight crime. Transactional and organized crimes have significantly increased in the recent past. The legal force department is thus tasked with proactive measures to carry out investigations using the criminal intelligence capabilities. The legal force department is tasked with the use of resources at its disposal to prevent organized crimes. However, in the line of duty, the legal force department staff encounters challenging situations that put the lives of the officers in danger. In order to protect the citizens, the staff requires dynamic training to operate in challenging environments.
Spaulding (2001) noted that proper combat training places the legal force department at an advantage over the criminals and terrorists. Combat training prepares the security forces with the necessary proficiency to encounter armed criminals. Despite the critical importance of combat training, sometimes it results in damages. However, its role in the fight against criminals outperforms the injuries and damages. Gregory (2009) retaliated that combat training equips the armed forces on the use of sophisticated weapons and builds their physical and psychological capacity; hence, the ability to neutralize armed criminals and terrorists in the shortest time possible. For instance, intensive combat training is credited with the rescue of 19 people when the British Commandos executed a successful operation to rescue hostages held in the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980. However, there are accidents that result during the combat training present the greatest setback. For example, training results in injuries and even death.
Combat Training in Improving the Efficiency of Legal Force Department
Combat training boosts the psychological preparedness of the staff, makes them physically fit, and increases their ability to use weaponry most efficiently (Gregory, 2009). To carry out an effective combat mission, the legal force department is required to respond promptly to instances of crimes. This is made possible by combat training that enhances staff readiness. The advent of organized gangs and terrorism by non-state actors such as al-Qaeda has been growing significantly. The people affiliated with the groups are armed and very violent. As a result, the forces tasked with preventing such crimes are required to be ready to respond to violent attacks that may arise. Issues such as hostages by terrorists, indiscriminate killings, and armed criminal gangs necessitate combat readiness among the staff of the legal force department.
Real Successful Event and Failed Mission in the Past
Combat training prepares the staff of the legal force department to accomplish their missions with high precision (Gregory, 2009). There are really successful event missions in the past that can be attributed to effective combat training. An example is the killing of five out of six terrorists in the Iran Embassy siege in London. The British commandos tasked with the operation carried out the rescue mission within a period of fewer than fifteen minutes. The fast operations took the attackers by surprise, and they only managed to kill one of their captives. The S.A.S commandos had been training for seven days. The training gave them the necessary combat readiness for the mission. For instance, they used stun grenades, pistols, and submachine guns. An example of a failed mission is the failure by the American Special Forces to rescue the U.S Embassy hostages in Iran in 1979. Two rescue attempts failed due to poor prior planning. In the planned second rescue attempt, an aircraft intended for the rescue crashed during the training process.
Injuries in Combat Training
According to Sulsky et al. (2014), combat-related injuries are the utmost fears facing preparedness and health of the military. In the process of combat training, some people are hurt and sometimes the apparatus for the training get damaged. For example, during the second rescue attempt of the U.S hostages in Iran, one aircraft crashed during a demonstration. Therefore, the prevention of injuries during combat training is very essential. The factors that contribute to combat training injuries include the socio-demographic and other characteristics of the trainees. For example, low levels of physical fitness, past injuries, gender, and ethnicity are some of the risk factors (Knapik et al., 2014). In addition, the characteristics of training and the environmental conditions are also risk factors for combat training-related injuries.
Sulsky et al. (2014) recommended that army studies should be carried out to identify the strongest predictors of injuries before the training. To reduce injuries, prior research should be carried out to determine the environment of training and the characteristics of the people being trained. The studies are crucial in designing the interventions measures to avoid injuries and damages. For example, army studies should analyze data of trainees’ past physical activity levels, the use of alcohol, physical and fitness scores before the combat training. Furthermore, clear weather forecasts and the nature of the intended training should be analyzed.
Conclusion
The personnel of the legal forces department is sometimes involved in operations that are complex. The operations require the staff’s ability to withstand physical and psychological stress. In addition, the operations are carried out in uncertain, severe, and urgent conditions that are very challenging. As a result, there is the need for combat training that makes the staff ready to overcome the difficult challenges. The combat preparations sometimes cause injury to the staff which has high security, cost, and health implications. The Legal force department believes that improving combat training helps the staff achieve their goal and finish their mission successfully. Bearing in mind the importance of combat training in the fight against criminals and the injuries that result during combat training, prior studies should be carried out before training in order to design effective training that reduce combat-related injuries.
References
Gregory, F. (2009). Who Dares Wins: The SAS and the Iranian Embassy Siege 1980. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
Knapik, J., Sharp, A., Hauret, K., Patton, J., & Jones, B. (2001). Risk factors for training-related injuries among men and women in basic combat training. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Journal, 33 (1), 946-54.
Spaulding, D. (2001). Close quarter battle concepts. Law & Order, 49 (5), 116-117.
Sulsky, S., Karlsson, L., Bulzacchelli, M., Luippold, R., Monguio, R., Bulathsinhala, L., & Hill, O. (2014). Methodological challenges of using U.S. army administrative data to identify a cohort of basic combat trainees and descriptive analysis of trends in characteristics that are potential risk factors for training-related injury. Military Medicine, 179 (12), 1487-1496.