Gary security cadets visit ALERRT Center

On a windy Friday morning last week, Gary Job Corps Center security cadets Alfonso S. Martinez and Agustin Diaz Espinoza stood at the ready in the shooting range at The ALERRT Center at Texas State University. At their instructor’s signal, the two cadets came forward to watch CTT Security Instructor Captain Sean Schultz’s demonstration before they hit the firing range. 

Aiming a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver ahead of him, Schultz lectured the cadets on how to hold their weapon properly when firing. “For this one, your grip is a little bit different. With your Glocks, you hold them with your thumbs pointing out. For these you have to change it to more of an underhanded grip,” Schultz said.  

The cadets were at the range that day as part of a special firearms training offered through Gary Job Corps Center’s PFC Kristian Menchaca Training Academy. The training is just part of the curriculum provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety for their Level IV Security Officer certification test. 

Once their instructors issue the certification, the cadets can submit it to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which reviews their results and, upon approval,  issues the license. Certification for Level IV would mean that security cadets, like Martinez and Diaz Espinoza, could get employment as bodyguards or personal protection officers (PPO) after graduation. 

In order to complete the Level IV training, cadets have to pass specific state requirements. 

“For Level IV it is more accuracy oriented. They have to be able to shoot a score of no less than 243 for the program,” Schultz said. 

In addition to shooting accurately, “they have to be able to pick up 70 pounds and be able to move that 70 pounds over 30 yards. They also have to score and qualify for their Level III test,” Schultz said. 

Cadet Alfonso S. Martinez reloads his Smith & Wesson .357 before the next round of shooting begins.

During the firearm portion of the six-month-long training program, the cadets learned how to shoot various weapons from Smith & Wesson revolvers to AR-15 rifle platforms and fix malfunctions. “It’s been fun. I’ve never shot any weapons before and the instructors have been really good at showing me what to do,” Diaz Espinoza said. 

Both cadets are hopeful that their performance will be good enough to pass the firearm portion of the test. “I’m hoping I qualify and we just get back home safely,” Martinez said. 

Diaz Espinoza had other concerns. “I’m just hoping I leave with the same amount of holes I came in with,” he said.

For Schultz, this training session is a way to expose cadets to what life will actually be like if they do become bodyguards.

“They think of a bodyguard and they think of some of the movies that have come out. They think of “John Wick” or “The Equalizer,’” Schultz said. 

If they qualify, Schultz wants his cadets to understand that they will take on more than just a job. “What I want them to take away from this is how serious this actually is and how important their job and what they are doing really is for people,” Schultz said.