NCJ Number
218059
Journal
Tactical Response Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2007 Pages: 76-79
Date Published
April 2007
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the features and facilities of the Valhalla Training Center in Montrose, CO.
Abstract
The Training Center is located in the San Juan mountain range and the Elk Mountain Resort, which has five-star service and accommodations. The firearms training center is a 5-minute walk from the lodge. The training center has a fully functional indoor range and a two-story, 360-degree live-fire shooting "maze." Mazes are housed in a building that recreates settings of businesses, homes, cars, aircraft, hallways, and stairways filled with furniture and props. Lighting and noise can recreate a bar or disco. Settings are designed to provide realistic environments where police officers may have to use their firearms. The use of frangible ammunition and fixed or portable bullet traps permits 360-degree scenarios. The targets are mostly full-size, plastic, 3-D mannequins that may or may not be armed. Students are outfitted with UTM air munitions pistols and sent into the mazes against live role players. Participants have helmets and body protectors. The scenarios played out are close range, intense, and violent, as students learn to use pistols at close range with role players who act out various types of close-range attacks that require skilled resistance and response with a firearm.