Test Your Mettle: skills, strength, character, and determination as individuals and teams against your peers worldwide by participating in our Skills Competition.
The Skills Competition is designed to test skills, training, endurance and teamwork, but these competitions are not training. From marksmanship, to hostage rescues, to our obstacle course, you'll find our competition exciting and challenging every year.
Just as the title of the event implies, it is a skills competition, not a training event. (The Mock Prison Riot portion of the tradeshow comprises training events, but the Skills Competition portion does not.) In the development of each event, every effort is made to put in place specific tasks that are universal in nature and need. Whether you are a part-time operator from a small department or a full-time operator from the largest department, there are skills that any and all team members should be able to perform on demand. As previously stated, this is not a training event, though competing in the event does have some definite and extensive training value. Stress inoculation has become a popular term in training circles as of late. The competitive nature of this event provides the real stress that is often very difficult to incorporate in to your regular monthly training.
The skills events themselves are designed to reward a team that conducts the proper intelligence gathering, team preparation, and task/mission rehearsals and then properly executes the plan. The competition has repeatedly proven the idea that a good plan, which is well rehearsed, is far better than the perfect plan with no rehearsal.
The Obstacle Course event rewards well-conditioned teams and teams who exhibit sound teamwork.
The team competition has drawn up to 30 competing teams from local, state and federal Corrections, Law Enforcement (both domestic and international) as well as Military. This provides an excellent networking opportunity as well as a broad base of knowledge from which to draw and gauge your own team’s mission readiness and performance under stress.
The Skills Competition is always scheduled for the two days preceding the start of the Mock Prison Riot. For 2019, the Skills Competition will be held on Sunday, Monday: 5-6 May 2019. There will be a mandatory Team Leader meeting on Saturday, 4 May 2019, starting at 5 pm at the Training Center onsite at the decommissioned West Virginia Penitentiary. The site will be open from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, 4 May 2019, for Team Leaders and their Teams for walk-throughs and briefings. The day will culminate with the Team Leader only meeting at 5 pm.
Additional information will be posted as it becomes available. A complete operational order and additional information will be posted under Competition Details.
We look forward to hosting your team for this event, and hope you enjoy the team building skills and camaraderie our competition offers!
Please note that the Tactical Skills Competition is designed and judged by the West Virginia Division of Corrections Special Operations - Tactical Section. The WV DOC does not compete in the event.