Very Tough Call for SPO Ninjas

Ahoy there Shippers,
Sitting in a nice warm office drinking a brew but deep inside dreaming of the Oggin, Monkeys fists and Rollin' 'Iches... Haha.. Right me-hearties what d'ye reckon to this. You're on upper deck as QM or B-mate. You're well armed with SA80 A2, Baton and 32 JSP Cards. 3 fat Portsmouth fans start walking up the Gangway. You issue the firm but friendly stop there guys. They continue to walk up and one shouts where's Big Billy he owes me a fiver! You reply with a weapon cock, a pipe for the RF (Response Force) and 'ROYAL NAVY STOP OR I'LL SHOOT' There's no way I'm going to take on 3 fat 8a5tards with 1 telescopic Baton! They reply with F off mate we're coming on board. Me and my oppo shout 2 more warnings and they are now 3 metres away from me. They do not look armed but i feel threatened. There's still no sign of the RF what should i do? Shoot one or more of them? Let them on board? Try go talk them down even though I've issued 3 warning or Should i have drawn my baton in the first place and let my oppo cock and issue warnings? Tough one this. If you reply to me please mention if you've done a SPO course, Cheers.

Remember minimum force required but maximum effort to achieve your aim. My aim is to stop them getting on board the Ship. If it helps with your answer I'm over 6ft and I'm about 14 stone.

 

Give him the fiver!!

 

Done SPO Course - would baton-up and move to the front of the gangway. Restrict their movement, get back up from the BM, who should be drawn as well. Cock your arm, extend left hand, and warn them that they should retreat to the dockside whilst you sort their complaint out with the OOD. First one who puts his foot on the deck gets it across the knee. Puts him down, blocks the gangway, stops his mates and gives you a barricade. Even if you get a standoff, the MOD Plod should have turned up. If you are single-gangwayed, your RF are no use because they can't get behind them anyway!

Size unimportant. I'm 6 foot, 16 stone and a martial artist, but I wouldn't be thinking of anything that wasn't covered on the cards!

 

Good answers both of you,
In a real sitch i wouldn't go for the weapon i'd go for the Baton. I'd like to think so anyway.
Thought the SPO course was great. Did you do it under Chief B****y?

 

SPO Course is a giggle. Can't remember who I did mine under, to be honest. Baton training is fun, especially as the protective mats get thinner every week....

 

Is there anyone else (like me) who thinks the course was a little light on the cqb aspect? Having served at Poole i found it quite worrying that (although i really enjoyed the course and found it relevant) there was no real time spent on the RF side of things. Don't get me wrong, i'm no Rambo but room clearance is an art that becomes good through repetition and constant evaluation. Should the worst come to the worst and a team finds itself in this scenario for real, there's a very real chance that they're going to be found wanting. Is anyone else thinking we need some weekends dedicated to this side of things, followed by regular in-unit exercises? I mentioned this to an aquaintance of mine who's former SB and he reckoned Poole and Fleet Pro. Grp. would be ideal training grounds as they are the only 'Navy' people doing this for real. If we're serious about this (and let's be honest we're now being entrusted with the security of multimillion pound ships) we should be looking at this aspect closely, not pissing about with seamanship which the crews of these ships will never let us near. Can you imagine the guys on a foreign merchantman letting us near their kit, never mind Fleet Auxiliary guys!!!

Any feelings on this from the other guys in the teams?

 

Did you know I was in the 1st group to train for the Baton!

It was great, only one on ship who could use it! Good for forcing the fellow shippers to make brews too!

But hell if I am going to use the baton first when a mad man is running towards me with a shot gun :twisted:

 

Switch to automatic, let him have the entire magazine in the chest. When his oppos turn to run, let them have a few rounds in the back. Be sure to plant a pistol on each of them, and fire off a couple of rounds from each pistol in the general direction of the gangway so you can claim they fired on you.

If you can nick his wallet at the time, so much the better.

 

That'll work. They can't get lairy when they are pissing themselves laughing.

 

Jenny Dabber,

Top Ensign on your signature, looks great!
What does the saying mean?

 

No EASYYYYY's from me Mr!

p.s.Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow

 

Shoot all three and tell the arresting officer you thought they looked Brazilian...

 

When did Pompey triple it's number of supporters !!

 

This sounds a bit like a training scenario from your SPO course, is it?

There's no way you'd get away with shooting them, (unless they were shouting 'Allah Akbar!' and wearing rucksacks!), so obviously it's got to be the baton.

I'd say your oppo should be the one with the cocked weapon, your baton should be drawn, and you should never have let them get within ten feet of you!

If they're daft enough to keep coming after three warnings to stop or be shot, they're definitely Pompey fans though!

14 stone of you and your baton running at them down the gangway is likely to stop them, remember they're going uphill!

Not done an SPO course, but well aware of the issues surrounding use of force against civilians.

Where I am at present there is more and more emphasis on our peacetime role, and R.O.E. in situations where terrorism is the main threat.