There is a big challenge: finding places to run these high-intensity drills. Many departments have struggled to find suitable venues for realistic training.
Using existing structures
Utilizing a building scheduled for demolition is great – you can break things and not worry – but those opportunities are rare and often unpredictable. Using public facilities like schools or offices after hours is possible, but it comes with concerns about safety and damage (nobody wants to accidentally repaint a school hallway with Simunition rounds). Officers have to put up protective coverings and meticulously clean up after training. There’s also the issue of security: a big training exercise can attract attention, and an empty building full of police actors could be mistaken for a real incident or even be a target for someone with ill intent.
Dedicated training facilities
Because of these issues, purpose-built training environments are a godsend. Some agencies have access to dedicated tactical training centers – ranges that include shoot houses or even mock “tactical villages” (like the FBI’s famous Hogan’s Alley, a small artificial town built in Quantico for training). These facilities allow SWAT teams to train in a controlled setting designed for scenarios. When those aren’t available, mobile training solutions and modular training structures are the answer – which brings us to the next section on modular structures.
One thing scenario training ensures is that SWAT officers practice making decisions, not just executing orders. In a live scenario, things won’t go perfectly. Perhaps a team enters the wrong room first, or a suspect flees, or a civilian gets in the way unexpectedly. Trainers will throw curveballs like these deliberately. This forces officers to adapt on the fly – exactly what they’ll need to do in a real operation. Book knowledge and drills lay the foundation, but scenario-based training builds the adaptive mindset and quick decision-making that separates a well-prepared SWAT unit from an average one.
(Plus, let’s be honest, scenario training is where a lot of the fun happens. Ask any SWAT officer their favorite training memory, and it’s often a scenario where everything went haywire and they had to scramble. It’s challenging and stressful, but also incredibly rewarding when they solve the “puzzle” of the scenario.)
Modular Training Structures: Building Realistic Environments
One of the biggest advancements in SWAT preparation has been the advent of modular training structures. These are essentially life-size building blocks that can be assembled into mock buildings, rooms, or even entire mini-streets for training purposes. Think of giant Lego for tactical training: walls, door frames, and corners that you can pick up, move, and rearrange to create different floor plans. Modular shoot houses and similar systems have revolutionized how agencies conduct urban warfare exercises in training.
Why modular structures?
Safe Training
They solve many of the problems we just discussed about finding training venues. Instead of waiting for the perfect abandoned building (and praying it’s safe enough to use), agencies can set up a modular shoot house in a warehouse, on a parking lot, or on their own training grounds. These structures are designed to be safe and reusable. They often use materials that can absorb paint rounds or marking cartridges without breaking apart. Unlike real drywall that shatters or gets full of holes after one day of training, modular panels can endure repeated hits. For example, Action Target’s TAC House (a popular modular shoot house product) creates a safe, non-ballistic training environment where teams can use simulated ammunition and engage in force-on-force and room-clearing drills without damaging the facility. This means officers can train with their actual gear and weapons (converted for sims) in a true-to-life environment, rather than having to tiptoe around a borrowed building.
Adaptability
Another huge benefit is adaptability. Modular structures are by nature reconfigurable. Trainers are no longer stuck with a single floor plan. After a team runs an exercise, the instructors can literally unscrew a few wall panels and change the layout for the next scenario. One day you’re training on a narrow apartment layout; the next, it’s an open office floor or a convenience store. Endless configurations mean SWAT teams can’t just memorize a “course” – they have to truly apply tactics to whatever environment they face. This keeps training dynamic and challenging. It’s much like how in real operations, no two houses are the same; with modular setups, no two training runs have to be the same either.
Realistic Training
Modular shoot houses also allow insertion of various realistic elements. Need to practice vehicle takedowns or roadside ambushes? Combine wall modules with a portable faux street setup and throw in a vehicle prop. Want to simulate a fortified building? Add heavy door modules or barricades. Trainers can populate these structures with furniture, mannequins, shoot/no-shoot targets, and other props to resemble a home, an office, or any location. The result is an immersive environment. When officers stack up outside a modular door, signal “breach,” toss in a flashbang (stun grenade) simulator, and make entry to clear rooms, it feels real. The walls might be modular, but the stress and adrenaline are genuine.
Let’s highlight some key advantages of modular training structures for SWAT:
Customizable Layouts
Every aspect – hallways, door placement, room size – can be customized. This flexibility ensures training scenarios can mimic anything from a cramped apartment to a warehouse or an urban street corner. One recent insight noted how modular infrastructure can be tailored to focus on different skills, whether it’s tactical entry, CQB, or team communication, by simply adjusting the layout.
Quick Reconfiguration
Instructors can change the “battlefield” on the fly. This prevents trainees from getting complacent. It’s the difference between knowing a building and knowing how to clear any building. Quick changes also allow multiple scenario runs in a single day without needing multiple locations.
Safety and Durability
Modular walls are built to take abuse – kicking doors, impacts, sim rounds – all without injuring the trainees or falling apart. Many are made of materials that prevent ricochets and splinters. This is a controlled environment, so it’s safer than using an actual derelict building which might have unforeseen hazards (open pits, asbestos, you name it).
Cost-Effective Training
Although there is an upfront cost to modular systems, they save money long-term. Agencies can train on-site instead of sending teams to specialized facilities far away (saving travel costs). Also, one set of modular panels can serve endless scenarios, whereas arranging role-play at different real locations each time is labor-intensive and sometimes costly. It’s an investment that pays off by enabling more frequent and varied training.
Portability
Many modular kits can be assembled and disassembled relatively easily. The best example would be Trango’s modular structures: a three-room shoot house may be assembled by 2-3 people in a matter of minutes (up to 10 mintues). This means a department can pack up and move the structure if needed (for example, shared between multiple agencies or moved from an outdoor to indoor location seasonally). If you’ve ever built Ikea furniture, you can handle a modular shoot house – except these are designed to be assembled over and over again without wearing out.
Realism with Control
Perhaps the biggest benefit: you get realistic law enforcement scenarios but under controlled conditions. Trainers can observe from catwalks or cameras, intervene if something unsafe happens, and reset the scene quickly. It’s the best of both worlds – high realism without sacrificing safety or supervision.
Agencies across the U.S. are increasingly adopting modular training structures. From big federal training centers to local police departments, the consensus is that realistic, scenario-driven training produces better outcomes in the field. As one blog on SWAT unit training summarized, the effectiveness of SWAT units heavily relies on training that closely mimics real-world urban environments and scenarios. Modular infrastructure is a powerful tool to create those scenarios. By building an urban operations playground on demand, SWAT instructors can ensure their teams have truly “been there, done that” for just about any situation – at least in practice.
(One trainer joked that with enough modular panels, they could recreate the Death Star from Star Wars to practice clearing – minus the Darth Vader costume. In seriousness, the creativity these structures allow keeps training fresh and even fun, which motivates teams to train harder.)
For an in-depth look at using modular structures specifically for SWAT training, check out Trango Systems’ guide on How to Effectively Use Modular Structures for SWAT Training, which explores dynamic scenario creation and realism in detail. (This resource dives into setting up layouts, incorporating barricades and targets, and maximizing the benefit of a modular approach.)
