JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Members from the 316th Security Forces Squadron and the Maryland State Police Special Tactical Assault Team Element, or STATE team, conducted training exercises in unoccupied Joint Base Andrews housing units Tuesday.
The goal of the exercise for the elite security teams was to share experience and tactics between military and federal law enforcement agencies. Both sides provided an array of learning opportunities for the other.
"One of the main goals of today is to see the tactics that the Maryland STATE team uses and to see if we can adapt ours to make what we're doing better," said Staff Sgt. Thomas Klajder, 316 SFS NCO in charge of reports and analysis.
This joint exercise, held in unusable base housing, is a means for pooling materials and training techniques such as the standard breach of a house.
"Everyone in the unit enjoys working with the 316 SFS team," said Trooper 1st Class Dave Miranda, point man on the STATE team. "It's important to work with other teams to find out what their tactics are."
Part of the exercise included protocol procedures for entering a building in which there are potentially armed hostiles.
If a breaching team has issues entering the building after armed inhabitants refuse police access, their secondary means of gaining access is the use of small explosives. During this training exercise, members of the Maryland STATE team detonated a 100-grain explosive so powerful it removed a door on a housing unit and caused it to travel a few feet, Sergeant Klajder said.
Through this joint exercise, the 316 SFS and the Maryland STATE teams improved their procedures, incorporating various tactics into their combat arsenal to enhance the security of the National Capital Region and the country, Sergeant Kladjer said.