Tactical Supply in Albany, OR are always on the lookout for cutting-edge professional equipment and gear. Of course, there are less expensive smoke grenades that you have to ignite by lighting a fuse, which is more than a little bothersome, and they don’t put out a lot of smoke. Military-grade smoke grenades are very expensive and extremely hard to come by, especially for civilians.
Then, Applegate would fade into the background. The grenades would fall to the ground, and no one knew where they came from. One such covert technique was to have either tear gas or smoke grenades in the front pockets of baggy trousers, and he would walk through a crowd of rioters and release these grenades through a hole in his pocket. Without giving away any secrets, at least not too many, Applegate worked as a sale rep for Remington Firearms in Mexico, and he also trained the Mexican military in riot control techniques. When they saw smoke, they would run and disperse! Applegate also served as a general in the Mexican Army shortly after WW2 in this role, he was one of the original 12 staff of instructors at the OSS– the forerunner to today’s CIA. Most rioters didn’t know the difference between the two at the onset. One piece of kit that was always used was tear gas grenades as well as smoke grenades.
I happen to know a little bit about riot control, as I served in the Illinois National Guard in Chicago, IL in the early 1970s, and we had more than our share of call-outs for riots. Many big city police departments would do themselves a favor if they purchased the book, with all the riots that recently took place after Donald Trump won the presidential election. His book Riot Control Methods And Materials is still in print. One thing many people didn’t know about Applegate was that he was an expert in riot control methods. In particular, he taught me point shooting, and Paladin Press sells my DVD entitled Tactical Point Shooting, which has rock solid information in it. I worked for the good colonel for three years, and during that time he taught me all manner of military and law enforcement techniques, as well as handgun firing. However, there was no question or debating when someone tripped a smoke grenade booby trap the high volume of smoke told the story.Īs many long-time readers will recall, I served an apprenticeship with the late Col. They were very expensive back then, and they still are. When conducting SWAT training, I would often booby trap a house/building or an area where the team would be entering using various types of traps, including smoke grenades, military-grade smoke grenades. Still, the basic material is strong and one can build a SWAT team using the basics. The book, published by Paladin Press, is in need of a serious re-write, as there was some material added in the manuscript after I approved the galley copy. Many years ago, I used to teach SWAT to police and security agencies, and I even co-authored a book SWAT Battle Tactics with my late friend, American Kenpo Karate Grand Master John McSweeney.