Kern SWAT honors, new Chavez School playground

What began at 6 a.m. with a sniper briefing and ended somewhere around 6 p.m. with a precision handgun shoot had finally paid off for one group of local SWAT guys.

Among the group was my husband, Julio Garcia, a deputy with the Kern County Sheriff's Department who had been a bit worn and challenged to a new level, thanks to the recent Ventura Police Department’s 15th annual SWAT competition.
At the Ventura competition, he and our good friend, Deputy Jay Heisey, landed first place in the “Sniper Team challenge.” It was a two-man SWAT team event where both had to shoot different targets at a distance of 100 yards. The targets were about an inch in size, and each team was timed.
But they weren’t the only local winners.
The Kern County Sheriff’s SWAT team received second place in the overall team competition — the main category of the event. First place went to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Other competing agencies were: Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo county sheriff’s departments; as well as Oxnard, Redondo Beach, Simi Valley, and Pasadena police departments.
Kern’s SWAT competition team featured my husband, and his comrades, Sgt. Drake Massey; senior deputies Dustin Downey and Larry McCurtain; and deputies Jay Heisey, Pat McIrvin and Jesse Alvarez. Alvarez was the team’s alternate.

 “I was so proud of our guys and the effort they put forth,” said Massey, who also serves as the department’s SWAT Team Leader. “The team was ecstatic with the second place finish because all the teams were extremely competitive, and it was so hard to place in the top three.”

To place in the overall team honors, SWAT teams had their scores tallied from the different categories they entered. The categories were Team/Sniper Shoot; Precision Handgun; Entry Weapon Shoot; Team Physical Fitness Course; Team Obstacle Course; and Team-building Exercise.

“It’s nice to know that KCSO SWAT can hold their own against some quality law enforcement agencies from Southern California,” added Massey. 

All eight categories required intense running and some other physically demanding event, like dragging a 165-body dummy, climbing a mountain, climbing numerous fights of stairs, shooting with gas mask, and shooting from awkward positions.

“The team had to tactically plan, strategize and stay focused for 12 hours,” Massey said. “We were beat up and totally exhausted at the end of the day.”

I guess I can forgive my husband for devoting higher-than-usual hours for SWAT training exercises in preparation for this competition.
And it was no easy feat.
Talk about being surrounded by rows of SWAT teams, all who were focused, physically fit, and shot well under extreme conditions.
But gotta give credit to Ventura Police Department for putting on a fine event.

“They put on a quality competition that was very challenging and fair,” Massey tells me. “We have developed a good relationship with Ventura and many of the proctors told us they were pulling for us to do well.”

The SWAT team is now thinking about participating in the Police Olympics next summer.

“We will be selective on entering numerous competitions during the year,” he said. “One, maybe two a year is plenty due to the fact that we do not want competitions to interfere with our numerous SWAT missions and  regular training with the remainder of our team.”

He added, “As I mentioned before, it did not matter where we finished, as long as we were professional, humble and gave 100 percent in the field of competition. Our SWAT troops did exactly that, and as their team leader, I was very proud of them.”

We all should be.

On other matters, I wanted to give special recognition to a local woman who has generously given to Cesar E. Chavez School in northeast Bakersfield.

On Monday, Chavez School is going to dedicate the new kindergarten playground equipment to Nema Traynor, and her husband, Joe.
School Principal Ruscel Reader (talk about another amazing woman) tells me that Traynor has been a major contributor since her granddaughter, Cosette, was a student of the Chavez Challengers. Cosette is now a 7th grader and on to another school.

“The current playground equipment was old,” Reader said. “Nema was out there one day, looked at the playground and says, ‘Our kids deserve more. They're good kids. They need more.’ ”

Traynor recently donated $16,000 for a new kinder playground. It features several slides, decks, climbing latter, and benches. The Chavez Booster Club also helped with installation costs.

“She’s a very humble person,” said Reader of Nema Traynor, who worked as a teacher at Mt Vernon School for many years. “She’s a good kind, generous woman. Unassuming.”

Traynor was also involved in the active Chavez Booster Club and the former Chess Club. In the past, the Traynors have given money in the past for chess scholarships, science materials and other programs.

“They’re just so giving,” Reader says. “They love kids. Just good people.”

Kern Sheriff's SWAT readies for competition

It’s 7 a.m. on a Sunday, and do you know where your Kern County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team members are?

More specifically, do I know where my husband, Deputy Garcia, is.

Actually, I do.

He and his fellow SWAT comrades — Sgt. Drake Massey; senior deputies Dustin Downey and Larry McCurtain; and deputies Jay Heisey and Pat McIrvin — have been spending their Sunday mornings, as well as many other morning and evenings, preparing for the Ventura Police Department’s 14th annual SWAT Competition to be held Monday.

They’ll be testing their skills against fellow SWAT competitors from through Southern California.
Among the participating SWAT teams: Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo county sheriff’s departments; as well as Oxnard, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Santa Monica, and Pasadena police departments.

So what’s the big deal behind this event? I decided to ask Massey, SWAT team leader for the county sheriff’s department, to fill us in:

Q: Tell us about this event.
A: This competition is an “invitation-only” situation, and it is a very popular event among SWAT teams in California. Interested SWAT teams submit an application, and Ventura PD will randomly select which teams can participate. A small amount of teams are asked back by the host agency. This was the case with our department.
Part of the “ask back” process is based on good sportsmanship in previous competitions.

Q: So it must be nice to return and show what your team can do.
A: SWAT competitions are a good thing to enter because, as with any competition, there is a level of stress, tactical planning, physical and emotional challenges.
All of these categories translate to what we have to deal with during an actual SWAT operation. Essentially, competitions are another way to practice for real life SWAT events.
In addition, there is a level of bragging rights that go along with winning.

Q: Winning is always great. Have you guys placed before?

A: I believe our best finish was second place in a 20-team event the Bakersfield Police Department hosted about five years ago. We are hoping for gold in this one.

Q:  Gold would be nice.
A: I think we are very prepared, as most of the teams will be. I have found that the team that makes the fewest mistakes is usually the winner. Unfortunately,  these events are designed for you make a lot of mistakes. I know our guys will give 100 percent effort and be totally professional. That’s all that really counts.

Q: What events are lined up for Kern’s SWAT team?
A: Team/Sniper Shoot; Precision Handgun; Entry Weapon Shoot; Team Physical Fitness Course; Team Obstacle Course; and Team-building Exercise.

Q: Sounds like a lot of tough categories. What are some scenarios?
A: It’s not standing before a target and shooting.
Every event will require of some type of physical exertion, such as running, push ups, pull ups, or going over some walls, before you can shoot.
And when you take on physical exertions, and you are rushing to beat the clock, there’s a good chance that your blood pressure will rise, your heart rate will increase, and your  adrenaline will be going. You can make a mistake if you are rushing and not focused.
For instance, one scenario may require you to shoot a (fake) hostage who has his arms around a (fake) hostage, and you’re given a small portion of the suspect’s area to shoot. If you miss, you can hit the hostage.
Another example they can put you through is, first, the physical exertion portion, followed by “shoot-and-don’t-shoot” targets. You have to think critical or you risk shooting a target that you weren’t supposed to hit.
In addition, some events will require you to use multiple guns, such as a handgun, entry rifle, and sniper rifle.

Q: So how do you train for that?
A: In our training sessions, we set up different scenarios, some where we’ve used multiple guns and shields. We’ve implemented physical exertion activities into our training, and we’ve always been in full gear, which can weigh up to 50 pounds alone.

Q: That’s dedication! You must be looking forward to the big day.
A: We are looking forward to the satisfaction of good clean competition and sportsmanship. We are hoping this competition can further sharpen some of our skill sets and make us a better team for the citizens of Kern County.
Wish us luck!