Georgia state SWAT team officers "zip" to the LZ (landing

Georgia state SWAT team officers "zip" to the LZ (landing zone) during aerial operations training exercise, Wednesday courtesy of the Georgia National Guard's 1-185th Aviation Regiment. A chance encounter created the training scenario that will reinforce professional relationships between the state of Georgia's Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT) and the Georgia National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment. The aerial training exercise, featuring fast rope insertion and extraction operations that included rappelling, had historical value as the first of its kind for the unique partnership between Georgia's public safety and department of defense. History not withstanding, the two entities are critical components of the infrastructure that comprises Georgia's security assets. Dive and SWAT team officer in charge Capt. Steven B. Bone says it makes good economic sense to use combine resources for the state's public safety entities. "When the colonel (Mark W. McDonough, Georgia Department of Public Safety commissioner) and Maj. Gen. Butterworth (Jim Butterworth, the adjutant general for Georgia's Department of Defense) met at a meeting recently they wanted to cement a training partnership that would make better use of our resources and give us the edge in crisis response." Although the first of its kind, the partnership will be solidified with additional training slated later in the year.