Crash and Bang Part Deux

Today our training course took "crash and bang" literally.  We started with some warm-up exercises of backing the car around the racetrack at insane speeds and doing Y-turns periodically.  Then we went into scenario-playing where we put the techniques learned yesterday to actual use.  We practiced identifying threatening situations and getting out of them.  Sometimes we were drivers, sometimes participants, sometimes just observers, all of which reinforced the main message.  Basically, it's (a) maintain control of yourself and your vehicle and (b) get as much distance between you and the bad guys as possible, as quickly as possible, as safely as possible.  Crazy driving is frowned on, since if you wreck your car while trying to get away, you do yourself no favors.

We also practiced how to ram your car through a roadblock, both forward and backward.  We beat that poor Honda Accord to pieces.  After ten students had hit it twice each, it looked like a beer can in a bar's parking lot.  Our rammers, by contrast, were still running just fine.  They looked like hell, but all the important pieces were still in place.  I think I'm ready for the Demolition Derby.  Or the DC Beltway.  

At the end of the day, we got a demonstration of several different types of explosives.  Very impressive ... except for the part where they accidently set the grass on fire, which grew into an alarming little brush fire before getting put out.  Ooops.  For a finale, they had put a half pound of high explosives into the dash of an old Dodge Intrepid.  That little bit of HE just blew the crap out of the Dodge: roof blown off, doors blown out, glass gone, dash disintegrated.  Most impressive.

There was an article on CNN this morning about an attack on a US official in Peshawar, Pakistan.  Some gunmen in a Land Rover blocked the official's car and started shooting, and the driver threw it in reverse and got the hell out of there.  That's exactly the kind of thing we've been getting training for over the last two days.

Tomorrow, we'll be on the shooting range, then back to town for classroom studies.  I'm going to go see some friends tomorrow night.  And I'm looking forward to getting a decent internet connection again.  Our hotel advertises "high speed wi-fi", but their definition of "high speed" is somewhat questionable ... a good dial-up connection would be faster ....