Non Lethal Weapons

Marines train on new escalation of force equipment

Spray cans that detect explosive residue, spike strips that can be quickly spread to immobilize vehicles, and SQU.IDs that translate English to Dari audibly in real time.

No, these are not high-tech gadgets off the latest superhero’s utility belt, but a shortlist of tools Marines trained with Aug. 22-25, during a Marine Corps Systems Command course at the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s motor pool and Harriet B. Smith Library.

The Marines, primarily from units scheduled to attach to the 24th MEU, spent the week training on the ins and outs of the new Escalation of Force Mission Modules. The 24th MEU received the EoF-MM early this year. The training served as a means to enable them to employ it during the MEU’s upcoming deployment.

Escalation of force procedures give units the ability to minimize civilian casualties through nonlethal means. The EoF-MM is comprised of a plethora of nonlethal-centric weapons systems such as riot shields, batons, lighting systems, powerful speaker systems, restraint devices, explosive detection devices and more. Basically, it provides Marines the assets to incapacitate personnel or material while minimizing fatalities, significant injury to personnel, and undesired damage to property in a target area or environment.

The EoF-MM divides those assets into mission specific modules such as urban patrolling, entry control points, and crowd control. The organization of the modules allows Marines to quickly gather the assets they need to conduct various missions, according to Thomas Ritchie, the project officer for the EoF-MM, with MCSC.

“Everything is so quick to access, it’s all organized for you,” said Cpl. John Angiono, a military policeman with Combat Logistics Regiment 27. “It is really all inclusive, everything you could possibly need is going to be found in one of its quadcons.”

The EOF-MM is phasing out both the Force Protection Capability Set and Nonlethal Capability Set Marine Corps-wide as an all round lighter and more efficient asset. The EoF-MM takes less than half the space than the previous systems because a number of its contents, such as lighting systems, have greatly been reduced in weight and size. The EoF-MM takes up four quadcons whereas the previous sets together filled more than 10 quadcons.

New non-lethal weapon replaces Tasers in Fairfax | Eye on the ...

“One thing that puts officers in jeopardy is transitioning to another device,” said Chief Rick Patterson. (With this) everything is at hand, and you have access to it.”

The Mark 63 can be used for blocking and as an impact weapon or stun device. It has an LED light which can be used to blind an attacker. Mace can also be sprayed from the device.

All of these features are incorporated into a self-contained unit.

“Our department had stopped using Tasers and was looking for an intermediate range weapon,” said Patterson.

The department stopped using Tasers last year and began training on the Mark 63 devices in August.

The Mark 63 and the similar Mark 911 Patriot were developed by Ken Stethem, a former Navy Seal.

“There was a need to do things a different way,” said Stethem, who is a resident of Virginia Beach.

Stethem designed the device shortly after 9/11. He was also inspired by the death of his brother, who had been killed during the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985.

Stethem said the pain of both tragedies had an impact upon him.

Weapons, an international encyclopedia from 5000 B.C. to 2000 A.D.

Weapons, a pictorial history

Weapons

50 Weapons That Changed Warfare

Weapons, a brief discourse on hand-weapons other than fire-arms