Non-lethal weapons course develops cadre of instructors 

Deep in a dense and dark southern German forest, within the confines of nearly 50 acres of fenced-in pines and tall-grassed meadows, twenty-two students stand in a haphazard formation. Their eyes are trained on their instructor’s hands, which are clenched tightly around a grenade the size of a small grapefruit. The matte black sphere has a smooth surface, and the words “Grenade, Non-Lethal” written in white paint around its middle.

“This grenade is filled with rubber pellets,” explains Gunnery Sgt. Shane Sheaffer, NLW instructor trainer. “It is an effective non-lethal crowd control device.”

The students, all members of the U.S. military, gathered here for a two-week Interservice Non-lethal Individual Weapons Instructor Course. The course, which runs from Nov. 8-18, has been transplanted from its usual location in Fort Leonard Wood, Miss., to Germany, as the result of a vision by U.S. Marine Forces Africa’s (MarForAf) NLW Program Manager Michael Cleveland.

“We brought over a Mobile Training Team (MTT) to increase the cadre of certified instructors here,” said Cleveland. “Our aim is to leverage our new instructors to provide NLW training, familiarization and orientation to our African partner nations.”

The advantage of training instructors here, said Cleveland, is twofold.

“First, bringing a MTT here increases the likelihood that we’ll get to work with people we’re familiar with,” he said. “Instead of requesting forces from throughout Europe, and not knowing who’s going to show up or how they’ve been trained, we have a higher comfort level working with people we’ve trained.”

Second, the employment of an MTT is fiscally responsible, according to Cleveland.

“The cost to send one student to the NLW Instructor Course from Europe is $5,000,” he said. “We pulled off the course for just under $25,000. With 22 graduates, I’d say we won.”

Previous NLW familiarization engagements between MarForAf, which serves as the lead NLW component for U.S. Africa Command, and African partner nations, have taken place during scheduled exercises on the continent. However, that approach allowed for only a small number of countries to be provided this important resource, according to Cleveland.

“The concern is that if we’re only going to engage partner nations through exercises, it’s not enough,” Cleveland said. “That’s why we’re working to provide a phased NLW train and equip capability. Our goal is to engage our African partners for approximately 30 months each, and to develop their eventual ability to sustain their own NLW capability, and directly contribute to peace support and regional stability operations.”

To that end, students learned the fundamentals of close range subject control, OC spray training, crowd control with riot gear and batons, grenades, shotguns and claymores that use non-lethal projectiles, sponge-ball and beanbags rounds, or Human Electro-muscular Incapacitation (HEMI) more commonly referred to as TASER.

The graduates earned certifications as NLW instructors, and are qualified to instruct various less than lethal capabilities, according to Sheaffer.

“As an engagement tool, NLW will be imbedded into exercises and other smaller military-to-military activities by MarForAf,” said Col. James Bright, MarForAf chief of staff. “The purpose is to provide our African partner nations less than lethal options when faced with situations such as law and order operations, riot or crowd control, humanitarian assistance, and noncombatant evacuation operations. In short, the NLW program can be a significant aspect of the professionalization and capacity building of our partner nations’ military organizations by emphasizing escalation of force that is appropriate for the situation.”

The NLW capability could be critical to the success of partner nations who are working to support United Nations and African Union missions, according to Bright.

Future plans for MarForAf’s NLW program include a rolling timetable that would allow engagement with three African partner nations each year, according to Cleveland.

“For each country we go, we do an initial survey, then we come back to provide Phase One instruction,” Cleveland said. “If a country team is looking for something specific, we can tailor a training package to suit their needs.” Phase One, which includes basic instruction on topics such as crowd control, food distribution and voting station security, is followed by an evaluation several months later, according to Cleveland.

“If a partner nation has met the goal of self-sustained training for Phase One, then Phase Two, which includes intermediate and advanced techniques for tasks like perimeter security and checkpoints, will be provided,” Cleveland said. “If not, Phase One will be repeated.”

Phase Three includes advanced techniques such as convoy security, cordon searches and facility clearing, Cleveland noted.

“Non-lethal weapons are a perfect complement to our lethal capabilities,” Cleveland said. “It fills that gap between deterrents and deadly force, and allows us to better manage the escalation or de-escalation of force.”

The U.S. Marine Corps is the executive agent for the NLW Program within the Department of Defense, according to Bright.