Petty Officer 3rd Class Jessie Ramirez, right, Seaman Keisha Ferguson and Seaman Andrew Smith prepare to enter a vacant hangar at Naval Air Facility Misawa on Thursday as part of a security exercise. (T.D. Flack / Stars and Stripes)
NAVAL AIR FACILITY MISAWA, Japan — Ten U.S. naval security forces sailors finished up two weeks of training last week led by a team of visiting Naval Criminal Investigative Service specialists.
The junior sailors, all masters-at-arms, spent the first week earning a basic-level certification in nonlethal weapons training at this base in northern Japan.
Chief Petty Officer Chris Clavier — an anti-terrorism/force protection physical security specialist from Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan — said the sailors he was training are now authorized to give basic nonlethal weapons training to their peers.
That includes techniques such as pepper spray, using the baton and physically controlling suspects, he said.
The second week focused on first-responder training, everything from crime scene investigation to vehicle stops, domestic violence calls to clearing a building occupied by armed suspects.
They also studied procedures for dealing with homemade explosives.
"Even if they don’t use these techniques at this command, they should know" what to do and be able to look back on the training in future assignments, he said.
On Thursday, Clavier joined fellow team members Chief Petty Officers George Dettman, from San Diego, and Emmett Roberson Jr., from Yokosuka, in leading the students through the "crawl, walk, run" stage of clearing a building.
Moving in three- or four-member teams, the sailors burst into rooms, armed with rubber training weapons, shouting at fellow sailors playing the role of "bad guys."
The trainers walked the students through the scenarios, stressing communication and attention to detail on each step.
They also peppered lessons with personal experiences.
Roberson told one group of students how a minor mistake meant that he took two "simunition" training rounds, similar to paintballs, to his lower back during a training session.
"You don’t forget that," he said. "I would have been dead that day" in an actual situation.
Dettman said the goal was to provide the students a taste of reality and good basic skills sets.
"They can take all this information and continue to train and build on it," he said.
Seaman Andrew Smith said focusing on every little step with the fundamentals was difficult but important to him during his training.
Getting it right, he said, means "no one gets hurt, everyone comes home safe."
Petty Officer 3rd Class Jessie Ramirez, right, Seaman Keisha Ferguson and Seaman Andrew Smith prepare to enter a vacant hangar at Naval Air Facility Misawa on Thursday as part of a security exercise. (T.D. Flack / Stars and Stripes)
Navy Chief George Dettman, left, explains how to take out a threat during a room-clearing exercise Thursday at Naval Air Facility Misawa. (T.D. Flack / Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Navy Chief Emmett L. Roberson Jr., an anti-terrorism / force protection physical security specialist from Yokosuka Navy Base, waits for a group of Navy security force sailors to enter a room during the exercise. (T.D. Flack / Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Navy security forces sailors clear a room and take down a threatening suspect during a room-clearing exercise Thursday at Naval Air Facility Misawa. (T.D. Flack / Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Navy security forces sailors are, for the moment, airborne as they take part in a series of jumping jacks to get their hearts racing before conducting the security exercise Thursday at Naval Air Facility Misawa. (T.D. Flack / Stars and Stripes)
