Deadly-Force Training & Assessment

DEA Agent Marksmanship Assessment (AMA)

Customer

Drug enforcement agency firearms training unit

  • Prepare trainees to handle real-world threats at realistic speeds and distances

  • Score 50+ trainees on time and accuracy at three distances in under 90 min

  • Feed data back to instructors to inform curriculum development

Objectives

Deadly-Force Encounters require accuracy AT SPEED

DEA firearms instructors recognized that simply preparing their trainees to pass the Handgun Qualification Course wasn’t enough to prepare them for the high-speed reality of officer-involved shootings. While the qualification serves as a good “Pass/Fail” assessment, it lacks the definition required to predict success in a lethal force encounter against an armed, motivated, and potentially trained assailant; something new was required. 

Enter the Agent Marksmanship Assessment (AMA) - digitally scored to provide critical information about the timing and shot placement of 30 rounds from 25 to 7 yards.

Bluetooth shot timer paired with an iPhone running JMAP

The AMA was developed in collaboration with ScoringTech’s assessment designers to provide individual performance data across 17 key metrics that all lead to success in a close-range gunfight. Using Hit Factor scoring to incentivize speed balanced with accuracy, and penalizing missed shots to minimize risk to the public, the AMA encourages a more realistic style of shooting to what agents may encounter in the field.

Using the Joint Marksmanship Assessment Package (JMAP) app paired with a bluetooth timer, the AMA can easily be conducted for a 50-person class in under 90 minutes.

assessment overview

By introducing the AMA at Basic Agent Training and the Handgun Qualification Course (with immediate scores and metrics provided by JMAP Insights), DEA instructors can now cement the importance of continuing firearms training education to trainees. Using JMAP Insights, instructors can also predict success against theoretical trained and untrained assailants, as well as against any other group of shooters measured on the AMA. 

With the upcoming implementation of the AMA with a minimum Hit Factor as a prerequisite for DEA Firearms Instructor School, DEA FTU is now positioned to incentivize realistic marksmanship training across the force for any DEA Agents interested in a Firearms Training position. 

OUTCOME