Technical Standards

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Purpose

To provide SkillsUSA members with an opportunity to develop and carry out a plan to demonstrate basic tactical team skills.  The team will also compete in an obstacle course and a written test.

First, download and review the General Regulations at: http://updates.skillsusa.org/. Be familiar with any and all guidelines. Any special requests must be submitted at least 15 calendar days before the competition. 

Eligibility

Open to active SkillsUSA members enrolled in career and technical education programs with Law and Public Safety as the occupational objective. This competition requires a team of four. Each school may send one team. 

Student competitors must be enrolled in, or just have completed (within the current membership year), a law and public safety, or other closely related technical, skilled, or service occupation. 

This contest DOES NOT advance to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference.

NOTE: this competition is under submission to become a National Competition in 2025.

Clothng Requirement

Class D: Contest Specific — Blue Attire

• Official SkillsUSA light blue work shirt.
• Navy pants – must be work-style pants (e.g.  Dickie’s) or BDU/tactical style (e.g. 511). Black or brown belt. 
• Solid black, brown or tan leather work safety shoes or tactical style boots (with protective toe cap). Not having a protective cap carries no penalty. Shoes must be professional/police style. No tennis/running style shoes. 

These regulations refer to clothing items that are pictured and described at: www.skillsusastore.org. If you have questions about clothing or other logo items, call 1-888-501-2183. 

Equipment & Materials

1. Supplied by the technical committee: All necessary materials for the competition not specified elsewhere.
2. Equipment required for each team member: 
   1. Duty Belt
      1. Training holster with training/simulated weapon
         1. Training weapon must be inert 
         2. Training weapon must clearly be a training weapon – red gun style. Similar bright-colored training weapons are acceptable. 
         3. Weapon should be stored until needed for competition 
         4. Do not wear in public areas outside of the competition area 
      2. Handcuffs and case
      3. Flashlight 
      4. Two pairs of non-latex examination gloves and a pouch
   2. Handcuff key 
3. Tactical Gear – local school/advisor determined. No point deductions for teams not having such. Examples of acceptable equipment are helmets, shields, knee pads, elbow pads, inert training rifles, and similar tactical gear. 
4. All competitors must create a one-page resume. See “Resume Requirement” below for guidelines.

Note: Real weapons, including batons, are prohibited. This extends to team members who are certified peace officers or similar.

RESUME REQUIREMENT

Competitors must create a one-page resume to submit online. SkillsUSA will have guidelines for you to follow. 

Note: Check the Competition Guidelines and/or the updates page on the SkillsUSA website.

PROHIBITED DEVICES

Cell phones or other electronic devices not approved by a competition’s national technical committee are NOT allowed in the competition area. Please follow the guidelines in each technical standard for approved exceptions. Technical committee members may also approve exceptions onsite during the SkillsUSA Championships if deemed appropriate.

Penalties for Prohibited Devices

If a competitor’s electronic device makes noise or if the competitor is seen using it at any time during the competition, an official report will be documented for review by the SkillsUSA Championships director. If confirmed that the competitor used the device in a manner which compromised the integrity of the competition, the competitor’s scores may be canceled.

Scope of Competitions

The competition is defined by industry standards as identified by the SkillsUSA technical committee. The following is a list of resources and materials used in the formation of the competition:

• Precision Room Clearing in Urban Operations – Click Here
• SWAT Manual – Click Here 
• Archive of Presidential Fitness Test – Click Here
• Youth Fitness Test Norms – Click Here

KNOWLEDGE PERFORMANCE

The competition includes an exam assessing knowledge of laws, tactics, and procedures related to tactical responses from law enforcement officers. Each team member takes the exam individually. The collective scores from the test are worth 150 points. See Appendix B for a study guide. Competitors are also required to take the SkillsUSA professional development test. This test is worth 50 points. 200 points come from this section.

SKILLS PERFORMANCE

The competition will include activities that simulate situations or training common to tactical response teams.

Fitness Course (300 points) – The course is designed to demonstrate the physical readiness of the team for tactical operations. One part is individual performances that are added together for a team composite. One part is team-orientated where the team will complete a challenge together. The team is not required to have their tactical equipment or be dressed in uniforms. Teams may bring yoga mats, beach towels, or similar.

Modest fitness attire is acceptable: sweat/workout pants made of industry-appropriate materials, close-toed and close-heeled shoes, and a plain “T” style shirt. Clothing needs to be professional and sharp. Any identification of a department, school, or city must be covered and should be avoided.

Note: course design may vary due to venue restrictions and layout. Not all fitness stations will be used each year.

1. Individual Stations (160 Points) – four exercises are evaluated. Each team member is scored, and the team points are added together. See Appendix C and D.
2. Group Stations (140 points) – the team will complete this together. These stations require problem-solving and fitness to complete. In each challenge, the team will be given up to one minute to brainstorm prior to the start of the clock. It might be having to get something over an obstacle, a physical problem-solving scenario, and similar challenges.

Obstacle Course (200 points) – the course is designed to demonstrate team abilities to move tactically. In tactical readiness (guns ready), the team will enter the course and move from a marked location (poster with “X”) to a marked location. Arrow posters will mandate the direction the team must take from point to point. Some obstacles will have simple instructions such as “go over individually.” Teams will be graded on communication, officer safety, weapon control, tactical movement, and efficiency.
Examples, but not exhaustive:

1. Entering a space
2. Crossing a funnel (i.e., doorway)
3. Various corner angles
4. Moving over an obstacle – individually or as a team
5. Moving under an obstacle – individually or as a team
6. Subjects may be encountered in the course. Teams must control, secure, and search the subject. When the judge states “cleared” the team can leave the subject (s) assuming they are secured.
7. A team member may be identified as injured and the team must move while transporting the injured team member. Medical treatment will not be required, just safety extracting the team member while keeping movement tactical.

Scenario (300 points) – a scenario that reflects tactical response assignments will be designed. See Appendix A for a list of examples.

1. The team will be briefed on the scenario.
2. The team will have up to five minutes to plan their response. Teams MAY ask questions during the brief.
3. Hostage negotiation skills are NOT a part of this competition.
4. Assume all legal requirements are fulfilled. The team is tasked with the tactical response, not legal issues, however, legal issues will be assessed in the knowledge exam.
5. Once the team is ready or five minutes have passed – the judge will call START. They have five minutes to complete the scenario.
6. After five minutes the judge will call STOP.
7. A judge may call STOP prior to the end of time. This may happen for various reasons such as safety, equipment malfunction, personnel issues, etc. In the event of a premature “STOP”, the team must stop all movement and wait for instructions. The team will be allowed to continue or have a redo based upon the judge’s decision.
8. Once the time is called, the judges may offer a debrief of the scenario.

COMPETITION GUIDELINES

1. Each team must work independently without assistance from instructors, other competitors, or observers. Contact with competitors must be coordinated through designated event staff only. Any violation of this may disqualify the competitor.
2. Cell phones, iPads/tablets, smartwatches, wearable technology or any other electronic device is prohibited from the competition area.
3. Only competitors, judges, and event staff are allowed in the competition area at any time. Observation is limited to the area designated by the judges or event staff. Any outdoor competition area may only be accessed by judges, competitors, and event staff. Any violation of this may disqualify the competitor.
4. No one may contact judges in any way and at any time without the expressed permission of the competition coordinator.

Appendices

APPENDIX A 

The list below is not exhaustive but represents the range of possible competition scenarios:

• Hijacked bus
• Two patrol car high-risk vehicle pullover
• Entry into a residence for a high-risk offender
• Searching a wooded area for a suspect 
• Workplace/school shooter 
• Bank robbery 
• Burglar alarm call 
• Shots fired call 
• Barricaded domestic violence call
• Executing a high-risk warrant 
• Fugitive search 

APPENDIX B 

The list below is not exhaustive but represents most terms and topics on the test. This test may be updated year to year, so do not assume content will be the same year to year. 

• articulable suspicion 
• reasonable suspicion
• suspicion
• probable cause
• 1-10th & 14th Amendments
• general rights of each
• application to scenarios 
• Gideon v Wainwright
• Terry v Ohio
• United States v Ross
• Mapp v Ohio
• Arizona v Fulminante
• Dickerson v United States 
• Proper weapon control 
• Proper arrest procedure
• Proper search procedure 
• Proper handcuffing 
• Usa of force 
• Lethal force examples
• Less than lethal force examples
• Positional asphyxiation

APPENDIX C 

Individual fitness courses may include sprints and/or dragging an object of weight between exercises. Points and times for fitness exercises are earned by each member – all in one minute. Runs are allocated points by time to completion. This list is representative of exercises that will be evaluated, but not necessarily exhaustive. 

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