The Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program at the National Park Ranger Academy is in full swing entering its 5
th
week of training. The SLETP is a unique program at CNCC in that the Ranger trainees experience a far different learning environment and culture than the average college student. Most mornings, training starts at 5:30 a.m. with physical conditioning. As training progresses, arrest techniques and control tactics are intermingled with the physical conditioning sessions, which involve cardio, strength, speed, and flexibility training.
Every trainee is required to attend every class and class participation is mandatory. Over the course of 16 weeks, the trainees will learn discipline, U.S. law and regulations, how to shoot, run faster, fight harder, drive better, conduct patrols, interview people, arrest people, and all the other knowledge and skills that goes with a career of a law enforcement officer. The knowledge and skills they learn in the NPS Ranger Academy prepare them to face a career where there are many stressors and a huge amount of responsibility. The environment is constantly changing, quick and concise decisions must be made on a daily basis, and one must develop the ability to prioritize, adapt, and overcome. It is challenging training, but comes with big rewards!
At this stage of training, the Ranger trainees have already learned how to effectively shoot the 9mm semi-automatic handgun and all have made qualifying scores on the firearms range. They will now transition into learning specifics about shooting the M-4 Rifle and .12 gauge shotgun as well.
The class has moved well through two written exams and one physical efficiency battery. The physical efficiency battery measures their upper body strength through a bench press, agility and speed through a cone course, flexibility through a sit and reach test, and endurance through a mile and a half run. There are certain standards of fitness which each Ranger Trainee must attain or they will not be able to successfully graduate from the program.
The Ranger trainees underwent OC spray training, which is known commonly as pepper gas. Each trainee was required to receive a dose of OC so they can better understand the effects it has on a person if they ever need to deploy OC on the job in their field of work as a law enforcement Ranger.
The Ranger trainees have also completed an exhausting week of physical combative training known as control techniques, designed to give the Ranger the advantage when dealing with a non-compliant or an assaultive subject on the job. During this phase of training they learn to defend themselves against a violent or assaultive subject, control and constrain the subject, make arrests and search a subject safely. Approximately one week of legal training preceded this phase of training to enable a Ranger trainee to understand the U.S. Constitution, Civil Rights, Authority and Jurisdiction, Use of Force, Search and Seizure and other legal subjects necessary to be able to perform their job duties and functions as a National Park Ranger within the confines of U.S. laws.
As of this writing, the Class is now moving into their Electronic Control Devise training, better known as Taser, and are studying the effects of the Taser on a subject, how to safely deploy, and when to deploy a Taser against a subject based on use of force considerations and other quickly developing circumstances that can trigger deployment of a Taser against an assault.
The class still has a lot of intensive training ahead, which will include working a continuous case investigation that will test them in all the knowledge and skills learned to date, as well as off road driving skills and high speed pursuit, DUI/DWI training, Drugs of Abuse, Surveillance, Crime Scene investigations, Archeological and resource protection, and many more law enforcement subjects over the next remaining weeks of the Course!
For more information on the NPS SLET program, contact victoria.miranda@cncc.edu .
