The MO19’s top-tier of armed policing – the Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers (CTSFOs), also known as “Trojan” units are required to complete a series of annual aircraft training tasks in order to ensure that they are able to respond to an incident on a plane in the UK. 5. Aircraft clearance is an important skill for CTSFOs to stay current in. It is vital that the training team make training as realistic as possible for them, with this in mind Cranleigh CCF were asked to be hostages on a plane.
The afternoon began with a talk from a CTSFO instructor on the units role followed by a chance to climb over the equipment and vehicles used by them. Cadets then boarded a Bowing 747 to deliver BAFTA performances, acting as hostages for a Police Officer pretending to be a knife wielding terrorist.
The CTSFOs were then tasked to perform a rescue, Armoured vehicles approached the plane with various Police Officers hanging from platforms before breaching the plane, dealing with terrorists, administering first aid and managing the hostages. A good fun afternoon, had by all!
