In the past six years, retired U. S. Marine Gunner Chief Warrant Officer 5 Vince Kyzer has written, directed and produced more scenes than Edward Albee, Woody Allen, Truman Capote and Neil Simon combined.
All of his creations — whose singular theme is survival — have played out in a “theater” in the basement of the Newport Beach Police Department.
Kyzer’s actors really aren’t performers; they’re the city’s sworn officers who every other month undergo stringent survival scenario and shooting training designed by Kyzer to greatly enhance the chances that all the cops go home at night should they encounter life-threatening dramas in real life.
In Newport, that could include confrontations in foggy conditions; or low- light encounters, plus equipment malfunction in any number of potential situations. Kyzer studies real life police action reports from around the nation to make sure he covers the training bases.
If there’s laughter to be had in any of his productions, it’s mostly due to relief at finishing Kyzer’s oft-stressful, real-life-based rehearsals in the department firing range.
“Realistic training produces realistic results,” the department’s Range Master emphasized. He brought that mantra to the NBPD in 2018 after retiring from a 30-year military career; he finished as one of only five CWO-5s in the 175,000-member Corps — an almost impossible rank to achieve. That comes with years of lauded and dedicated service, and training in everything from marching basics “as a dumb grunt” to advanced leadership training courses for both peace and war; and, of course, lessons in the use, care and deployment of “advanced infantry weapons.”
Like so many kids upon graduation from high school, 18-year-old Kyzer had no idea what he wanted to do. A buddy of his dad’s, who had served in the Marines and who lived down the street in Medford, Oregon, told Kyzer “You’ll never make it as a Marine.”
“That was all l needed,” recalled Kyzer.
For the first 16 years, Kyzer served in the Infantry, the ground-fighting element of that service, advancing ultimately to the rank of Gunner — of which there are only 100 within the Corps at any one time.
As Gunner, “You’d be the eyes of the fighting unit commander, because simply they just couldn’t be everywhere,” he explained. “A Gunner’s observations increased the survivability on the battlefield.” Gunner Kyzer provided that field expertise in several Middle Eastern conflicts.
During peacetime, CWO5 Kyzer would be the “‘advance guy’ during training exercises to lay out the groundwork to make sure no round, bullet or grenade would land in someone’s backyard. As proof of his successes in both peace and war, Kyzer proudly proclaimed, “I never got my boss fired.”
While many ex-military men sit back on the porch to reminisce and spin yarns, Kyzer had no such intention when retirement approached: “I wanted to continue to train men and women in something. That opportunity came about when a friend told me about the Range Master position at Newport. My application took longer to vet because of my complex Marine history,” Kyzer recounted.
It wasn’t just military service that qualified Kyzer for the position, it was his academic achievements, as well: a BA in Forensics and an MA in Criminal Justice from American Military University. Besides his work at NBPD, Kyzer is an adjunct professor of Forensics and Criminal Justice at Park University, an online institution focused on the law enforcement profession.
“As range master, safety-based training is my primary responsibility,” Kyzer said. “In my six years here, no officer has seen the same scenario twice. I always try to bring a live, immersive and ever-changing environment to training. My goal is for them to make a mistake with me, and not out on patrol.”
The real world dictates some of the curriculum. Kyzer and or his team members train in “a couple of things first: first aid and CPR. Another is defensive tactics (control and arrest), followed by training on all the tools they wear around the belt.”
A fully loaded duty belt can weigh between 20 and 25-pounds, certainly not welcome during a foot chase but appreciated come apprehension. That’s a heavy reason why Newport officers are such a well-conditioned bunch.
A typical duty belt includes firearm and holster, spare ammo magazines, handcuffs and case, radio and holster, flashlight and holster, Taser and holder, pepper spray (OC) and holster. Of course, that doesn’t include additional “tools” in uniform pockets, from personal phones to pocketknives to vitamin-packed energy bars.
In addition to training and management of the range facility, Kyzer is responsible for the “function, serviceability and maintenance of every weapon platform that the city owns,” plus the annual audit to make sure all weapons are accounted for.
The duty belt is light compared to the heavy responsibility every cop carries with them. According to Kyzer, police officers operate according to what is called the priority of life: Victims, innocent bystanders, other responders (fire and ambulance), themselves and lastly a dangerous suspect.
Obviously, being a Newport cop (or any cop) is a profession requiring inordinate training, conditioning, and the ability to make split-second decisions that hold up under legal and political scrutiny.
In fact, said Kyzer, California is second only to New York in terms of restrictions placed on law enforcement.
Kyzer obviously takes immense pride in having served the country as a U. S. Marine.
But he also takes great pride in helping to train Newport’s police officers in those skills necessary for both their personal safety, and the well-being of the community.
