Police SWAT Teams Target "Eye-Sized" Marks: 9-Minute Tactical Evaluation with 20kg Gear

"Ready!" Following a signal over the radio, two SWAT team members, each carrying approximately 20kg of gear including body armor and sniper rifles, sprinted up a steep incline.
On July 3, the National Police Agency held the sniper evaluation, the final event of the 20th Police SWAT Tactical Evaluation Competition, hosted by the Seoul SWAT team.
A total of 34 officers, organized into 17 two-person teams, were given just 9 minutes to complete the course.
In this evaluation, which simulated a hostage terror situation in an urban area, each team was tasked with running up a slope to complete both pistol and sniper shooting drills.
After crossing the field and sprinting up 52 steps, the officers were met with 10 targets, each 15cm in diameter.
Each officer was provided with seven 9mm rounds (five for the drill and two spares).
It took the officers only 1 minute and 20 seconds from the starting line to reach the shooting range and hit all five targets each.
After finishing the pistol drill, the teams had to sprint up another incline to reach the final task: the sniper shooting mission.
The fourth team, from the Gyeonggi Northern Police SWAT, reached the sniper range 1 minute and 40 seconds after starting.
The two-person team took positions inside and outside a van.
Acting as shooter and spotter, they had to assist each other to hit a total of 10 targets.
To earn points, they had to hit a 1.5cm-diameter circle at the center of a human torso-shaped target as quickly as possible.
The officers pulled their triggers with precision.
Each was given seven rounds.
"Searching!" "Center black tire!" "Confirmed!" "Take it slow!"
The constant communication made the sniper drill feel like a real-life operation.
Upon declaring the completion of the sniper drill, the team members showed clear signs of exhaustion, saying, "The hill is so tough," and "Wow, this is hard," yet they smiled with relief that the evaluation was over.
After the evaluation, members of the Gyeonggi Northern Police SWAT said, "Since the targets were as small as a human eye, we prepared for various scenarios." They added, "Trying to shoot under time pressure in a new environment narrowed our field of vision and made it feel very intense."
They emphasized, "We prepared according to the conditions of the competition venue, but in real-life situations, there will be even more difficult and challenging environments. We realized that we must always prepare for the worst-case scenario to perform well in actual operations."
The National Police Agency has been holding the tactical evaluation competition annually since 2007 to enhance real-world capabilities through competition and exchange among SWAT teams.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.