Ryan Bates, Cameron Fath and Dean Stott are three former members of the American and English Special Forces who travel around several countries, from Europe to America, to show the training of various elite groups of the Armed Forces.
Through a series broadcast on the Netflix platform, they show the working methods of each of these special forces. They also face the contrasting climates of each region, which influences the performance and endurance of the soldiers.
Former military personnel infiltrated some of the armies to learn about their ways of working, which depend on the crimes they are fighting. In the case of Mexico, a country they also visited, the main fight is against drug trafficking.
Former US SEAL Ryan Bates explained to the newspaper Milenio that “in urban areas you must block, turn, move and shoot at the same time.”
To do this they practice the “Serpentine”which consists of driving at full speed, also in reverse and in a zigzag with great precision, for which they use cones that represent civilians, since the chases take place on the street, full of cars and people.
In order for the military to be able to shoot in conurbated areas – which occurs in practically every operation to combat drug trafficking in Mexico – they must first reconnoitre the area to find the best place to shoot the criminal, controlling movement and shooting at the same time.
“The difficult thing is not to shoot, but to stop the entire body mass to position oneself”former Ranger Cameron Fath explained to the newspaper Milenio.
The House of Death
One of the obstacles that soldiers face is that most criminals hide in houses that look like real fortresses. A member of the national forces explained to the newspaper Milenio: “In Mexico, drug trafficking groups have many tactics to protect themselves from the Army, including gates that make access to their properties difficult.”
This is why members of the Army use hand tools to open any type of lock that allows them to enter homes.
Once inside, they protect themselves with bulletproof metal shields and face one more test: differentiating civilians from hitmen, for which they use the training method known as The House of Death.
In Mexico, unlike other countries, It is prohibited to shoot any armed personThey can only do so if the person intends to shoot or raises the weapon, so they cannot shoot all the criminals, only subdue them.
Rescuing kidnapped villages
Because Mexico has a high rate of kidnappings, as part of the training the military also They must practice rescuing a person inside a car; the challenge is to block the vehicle’s passage without putting the life of the kidnapped civilian at risk.
The final challenge shown in the chapter titled “Fighting cartels in the streets”is the rescue of an entire town that has been in the hands of drug traffickers, who use it to manufacture and store drugs.
The armed forces must go undercover to obtain information about the cartel leaders and their modus operandi, in order to distinguish civilians from hitmen.
Once the authorities were informed, the soldiers carried out a coordinated operation in the area to recover the town, closing off the streets most influenced by criminals.
Finally, it was reported that in Mexico the Army’s training is more for fighting drug cartels than for fighting enemy armies, so the identity of each member must be protected.
Keep reading:
– Mexican Army finds armored truck with huge arsenal and drugs in Sinaloa.
– Drug traffickers are increasing their attacks on the Mexican Army with drones and explosives.