{"id":6172,"date":"2013-10-23T21:12:09","date_gmt":"2013-10-24T01:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=6172"},"modified":"2013-10-23T21:12:09","modified_gmt":"2013-10-24T01:12:09","slug":"in-the-swat-van","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=6172","title":{"rendered":"In the SWAT Van"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSCN2901\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The guys were loading up the van for a full blown SWAT call a few weeks ago. I was
\nstill a street supervisor and working the evening shift.\u00a0 Thinking I might be of some use,
\nI hovered around the equipment room to help.\u00a0 As we collected gas, less lethal, long
\nguns, tools, and the rest of the gear, I told each one of them to “Be careful,” or “Watch
\nyour buddies.”\u00a0 Just before the van was pulling out, I waved and told the last pair
\naboard, “Have fun stormin’ the castle!”<\/p>\n

Something special to me about serving on SWAT was the camaraderie and shared
\nexperiences that unfolded under serious pressure.\u00a0 For decades, I rode in the van while
\nen route to high risk situations.\u00a0 It was the job of the senior shooters to keep the junior
\nguys from stressing out over all the things the could happen when we dumped out.\u00a0 Thus, the van became a place of brutal humor.\u00a0 Who the hell picks on and makes fun of one another while driving into danger?\u00a0 We found that lightening the atmosphere dissipated some stress.<\/p>\n

I once watched one newer team member nearly blow up and lose his sh#*t as he sat
\ncatatonically fretting the details about a shots-fired barricaded subject to which we were headed.\u00a0 His eyes were bugged out and he had gone pale.\u00a0 A quick distraction in the form of a personal jab and some laughter brought him back to readiness.\u00a0 The van is not a cruise
\nship–you have to get off at every port.<\/p>\n

Amid the sounds of Velcro and straps being adjusted, the caustic banter would continue
\nas city lights streamed by and radio transmissions crackled.\u00a0 The driver shouted out
\nturns like a vocal directional signal and bodies leaned and braced.\u00a0 The circus on radials
\nwould continue until we heard, “One minute out!”\u00a0 It got real after that.<\/p>\n

We had many vans, but the experiences in each were mostly the same.\u00a0 Some vans
\nsuffered…operational damage…and another caught fire (with us in it), but they got us
\nwhere we were needed.\u00a0 No matter the exterior paint scheme, the same shenanigans
\noccurred within.\u00a0 I will miss The Van.\u00a0 I will surely miss The Guys more.<\/p>\n

Randall<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The guys were loading up the van for a full blown SWAT call a few weeks ago. I was still a street supervisor and working the evening shift.\u00a0 Thinking I might be of some use, I hovered around the equipment room to help.\u00a0 As we collected gas, less lethal, long guns, tools, and the rest of the gear, I told each one of them to “Be careful,” or “Watch your buddies.”\u00a0 Just before the van was pulling out, I waved and told the last pair aboard, “Have fun stormin’ the castle!” Something special to me about serving on SWAT was the camaraderie and shared experiences that unfolded under serious pressure.\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humor","category-swat"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t