Tuesday, April 17, 2007

TRAINING, SIR!


This is going to be a good week.

Starting later this morning I will be attending the ILEETA International Training Conference and Expo in Wheeling. ILEETA stands for International Law Enforcement Educators And Trainers Association. The conference runs 5 days, and it's the best variety of workshops, classes and instructor certification courses assembled in one place that I've ever seen. I've been a police defensive tactics instructor for about 10 years, and it's really good to have programs like this to help stay sharp.

As an added bonus there's an expo that runs the first two days where you can check out lots of cool new equipment; maybe I'll even get to pick up one of those cool rubber slappers. Oh, did I mention the goody bag? ILEETA, without a doubt, gives out the best swag of any conference I've been to. I can't wait to see what I get today.

Here's what my schedule looks like:

Tuesday-attend the vendor expo in the morning, then an afternoon presentation titled "Characteristics of the Armed Individual."

Wednesday-official opening ceremonies. The guest speaker is Officer Marcus Young. You can read his amazing story here. In the afternoon I'll attend a presentation by Bill Lewinski of the Force Science Research Center.

Thursday-I'll be attending the Glock pistol armorer's course. At the end of the day I'll be a "factory-trained armorer capable of servicing all models of GLOCK pistols."

Friday- Another 8-hour class, this one from Phil Messina, on takedown techniques and "how to better adapt and adjust to unexpected environments, weapons and extra assailants, as well as the chaos of a violent confrontation." That should be fun.

Saturday- If Phil Messina doesn't beat me up good enough, this should finish me off. Frank Shamrock is presenting an 8 hour class titled "Mixed Martial Arts for Law Enforcement."

So, my week in a nutshell--two days of shmoozing and free stuff, followed by one day in a classroom, followed by two days of rolling around on the mats. I hope everyone has a week as fun as mine!

8 comments:

Mob said...

Yowza!

What, there's not an arts and crafts day at this summer camp?

I don't think the slapper will replace the night stick, it's just not intimidating to look at.

Johnny Yen said...

What, no pepper spray? I imagine you find this a little disappointing.

The nice thing about the two days of bruising is that it'll be a good excuse for some bourbon.

lulu said...

I think I could use some of the stuff from your goodie bag. Teachers just get pens and mouse pads.

Joe said...

Lulu, we'll talk...

Johnny, check my next post. They threw some in the gift bag.

Mob, we call them batons now. And we don't hit people, we strike them. It's a kinder, gentler beating.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

It just took me five days to say International Law Enforcement Educators And Trainers Association International Training Conference and Expo! I hope they don't say that a lot this week.

Coaster Punchman said...

Your business trips are officially better than mine.

Joe said...

CP, the beautiful thing is that I don't even have to leave town. It's right up the road in Wheeling, IL, and across the street from a microbrewery. Not a bad gig.

Barbara, that's why we love acronyms in law enforcement.

Johnny Yen said...

Hmmmm-- cops, guns, booze-- sounds like a party to me. I think I'm considering a career change...