The Swat Team Manual [Paperback]

Robert Cappel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0873641698 | ISBN-13: 978-0873641692 | Publication Date: September 1, 1979 | Edition: 1st ed

Formerly restricted to official police use only, this guide - the first S.W.A.T. team manual ever published - covers the theories, tactics and training techniques as practiced by a first-rate S.W.A.T. team. Get the inside info on team member and equipment selection, training regimens, principles of counterguerrilla and countersniping ops, ambush and counterambush techniques and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press; 1st ed edition (September 1, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873641698
• ISBN-13: 978-0873641692
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,023,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is what it is, February 24, 2001

By 

Robert Cappel (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Swat Team Manual (Paperback)

I wrote the manual and believe it is what it is. The manual was published in the early seventies (Not a lot of high tech, sophisticated graphic design available back then). The illustrations were decided upon by the publisher. They are line drawings, yet extremely clear in their meaning, for anyone with at least some sense. This manual was used to train countless police departments when it first came out. This was during a time when our law enforcement agencies began to find themselves outgunned and tactically unprepared to meet the threats posed by an increasingly violent faction of lawbreakers. It was meant as a first generation training regimen. I expected, and hoped that more and better material would be published on the subject. It was!

As time continues, all things change and hopefully improve. This was the Model "T". It got things started. The tactics and procedures in this manual are relevant today. The highly evolved equipment availble today (weapons, personal protective gear, pyrotechnics, vision enhancers etc.) makes adaptations to some of the manual's content necessary.

If I had never studied mathematics and needed to learn it quickly, I doubt that I would start with Trigonometry. I'd probably get the basics down first, and build from there.

It did the job in its time. Ask the police departments that used it... It is what it is!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Very Pleased, November 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Swat Team Manual (Paperback)

I am not in a law enforcement related vocation. I purchased this book to try to get an understanding of what our police departments might use in preparing them to do some of the more dangerous tasks associated with their jobs.

This book was extremely clear and insightful in explaining the uses of special teams, describing in-depth, step by step tactics, outlining training procedures, and exposing me to many other great to know items.

I have always had a great respect for our police officers. Knowing that they have this type of reference material available to them, makes me feel all the more confident in their abilities to handle situations that occur over and above their normal, already dangerous daily operations.

I'm glad that I bought it...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Maybe as a historical reference?, April 4, 2011

By 

Currahee (South Mississippi) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Swat Team Manual (Paperback)

This book is completely out dated in terms of the production quality and the information it presents. I read the author's own review: "It is what it is," true enough, it's a 1970s style manual. It does outline some basic tactics, dos and don'ts etc about moving under fire in an urban environment. It has these tactics on an individual and team level. So, there is quality stuff in here, timeless basics even. However the presentation is so archaic that you will be left wondering what you paid for. I would recommend a more modern manual. There are probably better purpose built SWAT manuals out there or most of this information can be found in military FMs with better production quality. A lot of the individual and small team stuff is in Gabe Suarez's tactical advantage.

"It is what it is" indeed. In the early 80s it was a beginners SWAT manual. Today it is Paladin Press trying to turn a cheap coin.