DAY ONE | Monday, December 5

The conference kicked off at 9:00 sharp on Monday morning. U.S.N.S.T.A. Commissioner Kevin Rittenhouse welcomed the attendees, over 100 first responders from across the nation, and introduced Controlled F.O.R.C.E. founders and lead instructors Tony Grano, Don Roberts, and Diana Grano.

Kevin Rittenhouse also talked about the goal of the U.S.N.S.T.A., which is to develop training that can be delivered to students in short periods of time with maximum rates of retention in order to save lives. To emphasize the importance of this goal, Tony Grano asked attendees how many hours a year their department allows for defensive tactics training. Answers varied from 32 hours a year, to 4 hours every two months, to as little as 4 hours a year. Many attendees even said that their department had not provided any training since they graduated from the academy.

By 9:30 all attendees were up and moving with Body Positioning Drills. Body Positioning Drills provided a framework for this large group of people with various training backgrounds, levels of experience, and familiarity with the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. system to begin to work together by developing a set of common movements and terminologies that would be reiterated and expanded upon throughout the seminar. Since it was critical to establish this framework for such a diverse group of trainees, the instructors spent the entire morning working students through these drills.

After lunch, Controlled F.O.R.C.E. National Instructor Toby Flaget took the reins and dove into the certification categories of Level 1: Mechanical Advantage Subject Control. Level 1 is designed to teach first responders how to engage and control non-compliant subjects utilizing body positioning, movement, momentum, and joint manipulation. Before moving on, though, Toby Flaget introduced the Master Instructor team that would be assisting with the training.

In order to maintain the integrity and quality of the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. system, the Executive Staff identifies the most highly qualified candidates for Master Instructor Certification. Some of the requirements for qualification include length of time as a Controlled F.O.R.C.E. instructor, superior competency in teaching the system, and a demonstration of superior performance in accordance to the core values and expectations of the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. Executive Staff. A dozen Master Instructors were on hand to not only assist with training, but to demonstrate how the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. system establishes a national standard of training by providing a consistent level of instruction.

The objective of day one training for Toby Flaget and the Master Instructors to achieve was to complete the certification categories of Level 1 in approximately one hour each. The primary purpose of this plan was to show departmental instructor candidates how they can give their students a base level of proficiency in a very short period of time. This plan also made sure that attendees participating in the Level 1 End User Certification Fast Track would be proficient after one day.

Level 1 training is based on Mechanical Advantage Control Holds™ (M.A.C.H.), which consists of a series of five holds that teach the student how to use a subject’s resistance against himself without the introduction of pain. Once students had a handle on the five M.A.C.H. holds, the instructors moved to M.A.C.H. Takedowns and Handcuff Positioning. This portion of training showed students how to breakdown a subject to a knee from each of the five M.A.C.H. holds, and from there perform a takedown to a prone handcuff position.

Once students had a grasp of M.A.C.H. Takedowns and Handcuff Positioning, the instructors moved to M.A.C.H. Baton Subject Control. This portion of training showed students how to perform the M.A.C.H. Holds and Takedowns and Handcuff Positioning with a baton. The purpose of using the baton as a subject control tool is to increase leverage, and provide the officer with options for maintaining control of the drawn baton once the subject shows compliance.

From M.A.C.H. Baton Subject Control, the instructors moved right into M.A.C.H. Team Arrest Tactics. This portion of the training showed the student how to perform M.A.C.H. techniques with one or more officers. Students learned how to use verbal and non-verbal communication to work together as a team to safely and effectively control and arrest a non-compliant suspect.

Day one training concluded with In-holster Weapon Retention techniques. This portion of the training gave students simple techniques to maintain control of their sidearm when a subject attempts to pull it from their holster. Once students covered all the material, the instructors wrapped for the day with a parting message from Toby Flaget: “you should be starting to see how everything we do leads to something else, and if you are feeling a little uncertain of the techniques, you will see them come together more tomorrow.”