Sunday, September 12, 2010

F.A.T.S. Training

In less than two weeks, I'm headed to the Writer's Police Academy in North Carolina.  One of the additional things I signed up for was FATS Training (Firearms Training Simulator).  Friday, I received this in my inbox...


Greetings, Recruits GunDiva and OtherRecruit. You have been assigned to a violent crimes task force. The officer in charge of this assignment is Commander JC, a certified Firearms Training Simulator instructor.


You both are commanded to appear at the entrance to the FATS training room (GTCC campus) on Saturday September 25, 2010 at precisely 10:15 a.m. You must present your FATS pass to the officer guarding the perimeter before entering (passes are included in the WPA registration packet). No pass, no entry. You will remain on deck as an observer of the preceding team until your shoot time of 11:00 a.m.

Remember, all suspects inside the FATS training area are considered armed and extremely dangerous, and they are not afraid of law enforcement. You are authorized to use deadly force to save your life and/or the life of others. The decisions are yours to make, but please spare the innocent. Not everyone is a bad guy! You'll have a split second to decide to shoot, or not, so use that time wisely.

--Lee Lofland
Being the GunDiva, I saw the FATS training as an option when I registered and signed up without even knowing what it is.  I saw the words "firearms training" and immediately thought simmunitions training (NLTA - non-lethal training ammunition); it wasn't until I got the email that it dawned on me that the last word was "simulator".

I looked up FATS and it is, indeed, simulation utilizing a giant screen and real guns loaded with computer chips that interact with the software.  At first I was disappointed that I wouldn't get to "really" shoot someone with NLTA, but then I breathed a sigh of relief, because it also meant that even if the bad guy shoots at me, I'm not going to end up with welts and ouchies from the impact of the round.  I think I'm going to have a ball with FATS.

Has anyone ever utilized FATS training, and if so, what did you think about it?

7 comments:

Momma Fargo said...

Yes. It is awesome. You will love it! Gets your adrenaline pumping. Great training! Have a hoot!

Mr. Daddy said...

Yep, the day that Rach got the pic of her holding the AR15 we both got to use the simulator..

It was a hoot. She liked it especially cause there was no hot brass to deal with...ROFL...

Have fun. :o)

Allenspark Lodge said...

Cool beans, kiddo. Knock 'em dead!
Mom

brian said...

Sounds like a blast....

911 and the Randomness.. said...

Oh yeah, I got to do it with the officers and loved it. You'll have fun.

911R

Linda Medrano said...

This sounds like it will be a blast! How fun!

Killlashandra said...

I think it could definitely be interesting to try and compare to the real thing. :)