MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Twenty Depot Military Policemen participated in their yearly refresher training on the Monadnock Expandable Baton at Provost Marshall's Office headquarters April 22.
After spending the morning practicing baton handling techniques, the MP's put their newly refreshed skills to the test as they took on the "Red Man Suit," which allowed them to practice both offensive and defensive techniques at full speed.
"Facing someone in the suit lets them see what it's really like when someone is resisting or attacking," said Staff Sgt. Eric Bryant, PMO training chief. "It lets them see what happens in real time, what it feels like to swing the baton with full force, what works and what doesn't work, all while protecting the person inside the pads."
Immediately the importance of practice in real-time was evident to all the training MPs, who said they hope they can react the same way in a real-life situation.
"You can practice the techniques and movements all you want, but when it comes down to it, when it's not in slow motion, and someone is actually coming after you, you just react," said Cpl. Shawn M. Pancoast, MP. "And it's then that all that practice kicks in and keeps you from doing something stupid or illegal."
In un-trained hands, the baton becomes a deadly weapon, and if the MPs use the baton incorrectly they can be charged with assault.
"Around here we have a saying: Practice like you play, because you'll play like you practice," said Bryant. "With this practice, when they need to use the batons for real it will be automatic, just like it should be. Handling the baton correctly needs to be second nature."
Even in the practice situation, the MP's could see immediate reactions from the man in the red suit when they struck him incorrectly.
"It hurts to receive a bad hit when it's outside the pads," said Bryant, who sported a bruise the size of a cantaloupe on his leg the day after the training. "But it all goes back to being prepared and ready."
Pancoast, who has been preparing for real-life situations on Parris Island for three years, said although he's never needed to use his baton he, and his fellow MPs, understand the importance of the training and are prepared for anything.
"The training is motivating," said Pancoast. "You actually get to apply the tactics in a safe, controlled environment. Afterwards, you know exactly what you can do and what you can't do, as well as what works and what doesn't work."
Having tools that work at their disposal helps the MPs achieve their main goal of compliance, and often inflicting some degree of pain gets them to their goal faster.
"If you're confident in who you are and what you can do, you can protect yourself better and you can use less force," said Bryant. "It's all about pain compliance - getting that person to comply with you. The less force we can use to gain compliance the better."