Posted on 04/09/2006 3:09:39 PM PDT by wagglebee
A man jumped up from behind a car on the side of the road and started shooting at a three-car motorcade just before a car bomb went off nearby.
The three cars, carrying a dignitary in the middle car, squealed into reverse in unison to escape the trap, running backward at high speed for several hundred feet before wheeling around and speeding away.
The man shot only paint ball ammunition, and the car bomb was no more than small explosives set off for effect. The location was a 3-mile-long paved practice track at the Blackwater USA compound in Moyock that may be the only one of its kind in the country.
While there are other tracks that allow for training in skills such as high-speed chases and tight turn maneuvers, this course also simulates combat conditions.
As with everything else at the expanding Blackwater training center, when the track was built, clients came.
On any given day, there can be about 1,000 employees and clients scattered over the compound, which covers about 6,000 acres in Currituck and Camden counties. The track, on the Camden side, is in use seven days a week.
"We built this all on speculation," Gary Jackson, president of Blackwater USA, said Thursday. "We didn't have a contract."
The company is looking at building more training roadways soon, he said.
Thursday afternoon, the motorcade scenarios served as final tests for a group that could be sent to Iraq soon, said a senior Blackwater driving instructor named Chris. For his own security, he said, he could not reveal his last name . He may be in the Middle East in the future, he said.
The faces of the 14 men in the class could not be photographed, nor could their names or company be revealed. Typically, only about one-third of the class passes the Blackwater course in tactical driving, Chris said. This group, a civilian mix of physically fit and out-of-shape, would have a slightly higher failure rate, he said.
"It's a very steep learning curve," Chris said. "They're asked to do several things at once under stress. Ninety-five percent of the attacks occur while on the move, so this type of training is on the priority list."
The mock-motorcade dignitary was a short blond woman hired by Blackwater as a role player. The men in training carried rubber rifles that looked like M-16s and wore flak jackets over khaki-colored pants and shirts. The dignitary just wore a T-shirt, jeans and running shoes, but she was the highest priority in these drills.
The instructions were to save this woman at all costs.
The class had spent hours in the classroom and several days at driving practice on the track, learning how to take sharp curves at high speed, avoid barricades and drive on asphalt slick with water, among other tasks.
All of the six motorcade protection scenarios are based on real-life situations in battlefield areas, Chris said. Scenario No. 4 , the most explosive and unpredictable of the six, is based on a real event in which a British motorcade confronted an enemy, Chris said. In the real case, the British stopped and prepared to fight. As they stood beside the vehicles with weapons at the ready and doors open exposing the dignitary, a car bomb next to them went off, wiping out the entire group, Chris said.
"This type of training is very dependent on realism," he said.
Thursday's motorcade, made up of three Ford Crown Victorias from Blackwater's fleet , approached a mix of older model cars along the side of the track. A gunman popped up and began firing paint ball ammunition at the dignitary car in the middle. About the same time, a real explosion went off behind another car on the roadside. The lead driver commanded every car to go in reverse fast to get away. The lead car backed into the middle car, which in turn backed into the rear car, but within seconds, all three were headed in reverse at a fairly high speed.
The reverse driving was a bit erratic, and the instructor driving the monitoring car pulled off the road to make sure he was out of the way as they passed.
Despite the troubles, they did all right, Chris said. Some confusion is to be expected . The worst thing a student can do is stop and be indecisive. In training, the evidence would be several paint balls splattered on the back door of the dignitary's car. In real life, the dignitary could be killed.
The track is divided into three different connected parts, each built with specific challenges, including sharp curves going in both directions and a man-made hill.
A paved area just off the course has a round track treated to make the asphalt slicker than normal when wet. It's there that clients get training in handling a vehicle in rainy weather.
In a compound nearby, dozens of later-model cars, dented but ready to roll, were parked around the edges. One especially dented little car sat between two orange barriers much like those used in road construction. At the other end of the barricades was a late-1970s Chevrolet Caprice with a badly bashed front end. The crushed body had been pulled from the tires so it could still run. It had been used to practice ramming through the little car at the other end of the barricade.
"This has gone through about 50 rams," said Dave Beedle, program manager for driving courses at Blackwater. "We'll use it again and again until it dies."
The complex includes a garage with state-of-the-art equipment and experienced mechanics, Beedle said. The crew can change tires and do a brake job in minutes, he said. They need to be fast. A set of tires on the Crown Victorias used in training lasts only about two days.
Blackwater driving courses are not just for combat areas, Beedle said. The company offers public courses that show drivers how to react on a slick road or when an oncoming car veers into the opposite lane.
Corporations send drivers to Blackwater's course to learn what to do in countries where there might be civil unrest or robbers on the streets.
"Because Blackwater is so worldwide, we have current knowledge from all over the world," Beedle said.
In the Philippines, when headlights on an approaching vehicle flash, it is a signal to get out of the way because the vehicle is passing through on the wrong side of the road. Local law allows for that.
In Panama, men will start washing the windshield if the car stops on the street whether or not the driver wants them to do so. Often the cleaners will signal robbers not far away if valuables are visible. If they are, the robbers might throw a brick through the side window and steal what's in reach.
In Mexico City, bandit cab drivers will fake a flat tire and pull over where robbers await.
Beedle is a Vietnam veteran who retired from the U.S. Army in 1984 and has driven on roads in several countries. He once owned his own company that trained clients to drive in areas where terrorists often strike. He came to Blackwater two years ago because the facility and training is the best available, he said.
I have seen a short video of the training that these guys do and I so want to do the training; alas, grannies don't usually need this kind of stuff.....
I live near Moyock and I've met a few of these Blackwater guys, they are very impressive.
My sister and her family live right down the street from Blackwater's compound. I visited them over the summer and wanted to get a look at the place, but we weren't able. Sounds like an interesting place.
My family lives in Grandy (Currituck County). I was up there a couple of times in the past month and wondered where the Blackwater compound might be.
Granny turning green from envy....:)
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