Fighting In, Around, and Through Vehicles

Patrol vehicles are often the first piece of cover officers have when violence erupts. FBI Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) data continues to show that officers are routinely assaulted and killed during vehicle-related encounters, ambushes, and rapidly evolving roadside incidents. This course is designed around that reality—focusing on movement, positioning, communication, and fighting effectively in and around vehicles when time and distance no longer exist.

The Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Course is designed to prepare officers to operate decisively in and around vehicles during rapidly evolving encounters. Vehicles create confined spaces, obstructed sightlines, limited mobility, and unpredictable angles that can quickly place officers at a tactical disadvantage if movement and coordination are not understood and practiced. This course focuses on practical, field-driven tactics for fighting around vehicles while operating with a partner or small team. Participants will learn how to move efficiently between positions of cover, communicate during movement, manage angles around vehicles, and maintain operational control while under stress. Emphasis is placed on realistic movement rather than static range concepts, reinforcing the understanding that surviving vehicle-based engagements often depends on timing, positioning, and coordination.

Training includes movement to and from vehicles, bounding techniques with partners, dismounted engagement concepts, use of vehicles as cover and concealment, casualty movement considerations, and threat engagement from compromised positions. Students will work through scenario-based problems requiring communication, adaptability, and decisive action in close and restricted environments. The Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Course is designed for patrol officers, proactive units, and tactical personnel seeking realistic and immediately applicable tactics for vehicle-based encounters and close-range engagements.

Course Details
Audience: Patrol Officer / Tactical Officer

Student Requirements:

• Duty Pistol w/ 3 magazines
• Duty Rifle w/ 3 magazines
• 300 rounds pistol ammunition
• 200 rounds rifle ammunition
• Patrol or Tactical gear
• Wrap around eye and hearing protection
• Clothing appropriate for weather conditions
• Food and water

Instructor Bio:

Jesse Noriega is a Master Peace Officer with the San Antonio Police Department and has served in law enforcement for 26 years. He has been assigned to the department’s Special Operations Unit, SWAT, for more than 14 years.  Throughout his career, Jesse has served in multiple patrol capacities, including as a patrol rifleman and Field Training Officer. Prior to his assignment to SWAT, he served as a tactics instructor at the San Antonio Police Department Training Academy. He is also a certified TCOLE Firearms Instructor.
While assigned as an operator with the San Antonio Police Department SWAT Team, Jesse has responded to a wide spectrum of tactical operations, including high-risk warrants, barricaded subjects, hostage situations, and numerous other critical incidents requiring a coordinated tactical response.
Before becoming a Texas Peace Officer, Jesse served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps, where he worked as an explosive detection K-9 handler. During his Marine Corps service, he also instructed Close Quarters Battle and less-lethal tactics. As a Marine Corps Reservist, Jesse deployed as an Infantry Platoon Sergeant in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and later as an Infantry Platoon Commander in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Jesse has been teaching law enforcement personnel for over 15 years, with instruction focused not only on line-level response skills such as firearms, weapons handling, Close Quarters Battle, and tactical movement, but also on the broader law enforcement response to critical incidents. His experience includes the development, instruction, and application of critical incident response concepts, including how these events evolve, how officers and teams must adapt during rapidly changing conditions, and how tactical decision-making must support the overall mission.
Jesse brings a unique combination of experience from military service, combat deployments, patrol operations, firearms instruction, police academy training, and SWAT operations. He is a subject matter expert in critical incident response and the evolution of law enforcement response during high-risk events. His instruction is grounded in real-world experience and focused on providing officers with practical skills designed not only to help them survive violent encounters, but to win them.