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extremist wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 9:30 pm What is this "free professional training" being spoken of?

Curious. From DPS?

My interactions with the DPS officers, the staff at Florence, and the facilities have been nothing but professional. One thing I appreciated, and didn't expect, was when we were at the Florence facility we were treated with respect and dignity. Everyone I interacted spoke and treated me as an equal, not like some "civilian" there for a three day course. The training, at least thus far, has not been a "Gunsite" experience but it has been respectful to the nature of the course we were being trained in. They are not going to train us to be a SWAT team instructor but that doesn't make the training any less "professional".

It also adds to the credentials. Most people don't know who Tom Givens is or what Gunsite is or what IDPA even stands for. They do know the DPS. I see that as a plus...along with the training.

howdy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:58 pm With so few Instructors that will be allowed to attend this course, it would seem they would take the best qualified. (I did not consider myself really qualified to teach some of the subject matter required) I would venture to guess that 90%+ Instructors are not really qualified either. We all know Instructors that have "been there, done that" and they should get first shot at this.

I suspect they will allow as many instructors that wish to take the course to do so. Our School Safety course was also limited to 12 participants per class. We were told at our instructor renewal that the FRC would likely be patterned after the SSC. If so, we aren’t going to be training the FRs to be SWAT teams. It will cover the basics of cover and concealment, using barricades, shooting from different positions, target discernment, situational awareness, and the like. The stuff we don’t get to teach in the LTC class but what every LTC should know how to do. Sounds like the round count is going to be pretty high (at least for the instructor training) so there will be a lot of range time. The round count is comparable to other “intense” training courses, so that should be both instructional and fun.

What criteria would they be able to use to determine “best qualified”?

The biggest problem is they threw this course out there without any real information. Now we’re all guessing what it is, how it’s going to be run, and if we really want to mess with it. For me it’s an easy decision. Training is training and this is free. The DPS does good training at a nice facility. The last three day course I went to cost me about $800 tuition. It’ll be worth a couple of nights hotel and ammo. If I don’t ever teach a FR class I’ll still come out ahead.

hitwsr wrote: ↑Sat Mar 26, 2022 5:13 am I got the class full email.
I'm going to throw a few questions out there.

Any thoughts on what to charge for a 40 hour class?
Who is going to pay for it? The 1st Responder? Their Employer?
How feasible is it for them to ask for a week off?
Range rental fees for "run & gun" & concealment/cover training?
Equipment standards? As in City carries Glock, County carries Sig, others Beretta, etc?

Pass/Fail Criteria? 2nd chance cost if they maybe pass written and not pass "advanced" shooting?

I’m guessing it will not be a 40 hour course. More like a 16-24 hour, similar to the School Safety. This would make it more of a weekend class.

Who pays for it is up to the department. Out of our control.

Finding a range might be problematic. With the School Safety I have used a range the school had arranged and I have used my range.

Since it is based off of an LTC I would think there would be no equipment standard. Run what you carry. ETA - The training may require extra mags, flashlight, knee pads, etc. but I don't think the training itself will be equipment (gun) specific.

Fees are always a bit tricky. I try to charge what’s worth my time and still make it affordable.

Again, all guesses. We’ll find out more when the first class goes through.

Did anyone get a “we received your application” email after they sent in the application? I don’t know whether to expect one or not. I’m used to getting one when I send in other correspondence. Makes me a little nervous not knowing if they got it on their end if, as it seems, they got overwhelmed with applications.

Thanks for the update AF. As we suspected the “specialized” equipment isn’t that special.

I sent my application back in just under an hour at 1329. Makes me wonder how many got sent before me.

Now to see how quickly they offer classes.

Tex1961 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 11:31 am I'm curious as to how many active instructors they sent this to. Assuming somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 to 3000 active across the state, there are only what 150 chairs in the classroom... Usually when your get your initial LTC instructor email you get a date about 6 months out and you are informed that you must act quick as the first X who respond with affirmative will get that class... This time they gave a date..

Checked RSD website this morning and still no update...

I’m presuming they will have multiple classes and haven’t released all the dates. They may also be seeing what the interest is before they schedule a bunch of classes.

If there is much in the way of “tactical” training, I can’t see there being more than about 20 max to a class. It’s one thing to stand on a static line with 60 others and wait for the target to turn. It’s a totally different thing to be running drills. Again, I just guessing at all of this. Hopefully we’ll get clarification soon.

AF-Odin wrote: ↑Sat Mar 19, 2022 7:46 pm required "specialized" equipment

If I was to guess, and it is only a guess, the specialized equipment will be extra magazines, mag holsters, OTB holster, kneepads, maybe electronic muffs, flashlight, or the like. You know, the normal load out for a lot of us. "Specialized" because it is not needed for the LTC class. But, again, I'm just guessing.

Hopefully one of us will get our registration back soon and share the details.

What we were told, I believe at our one hour (grrr) instructors renewal class, is the class was probably going to be patterned, somewhat, after the school safety course. I'm sure it will build off of some of the same basics and supplement specifics for situations common for first responders

The RDS and DPS are not likely to give any advice on pricing. That is up to each instructor.