The smell of burnt rubber and hot brakes quickly filled the air after a fleet of 10 vehicles was delivered this week to the driving pad at the U.S. Secret Service’s James J. Rowley Training Center (RTC) in Laurel, Maryland.
The vehicles arrived on Wednesday courtesy of an agreement with General Motors, which supplies some of the Secret Service’s most visible protective vehicles. This includes presidential parade limousines and other armored SUVs often spotted in motorcades.
“One of the reasons RTC is so successful in our training mission is because of the relationships we have cultivated with other law enforcement entities and private-sector partners,” said Scott Simons, the Special Agent in Charge of RTC. “This opportunity with GM will be another tool we can use to innovate and advance our dynamic training.”
The delivery included three large SUVs, four high-powered luxury sedans, two sports cars, and a pickup truck. Constantine Gerukos, who has worked as an RTC driving instructor for the past 13 years, was among the Secret Service staff eager to “push these vehicles to their limit.”
Specifically, the vehicles unloaded included two Cadillac CT4 sedans, two Cadillac CT5 sedans, two Corvettes, a Cadillac Escalade SUV, a Chevrolet Colorado pickup, a Chevrolet Tahoe with a police package, and a Chevrolet Suburban SUV.
Gerukos said the instructors in the Protective Transportation Section have been asked to provide feedback on the technology integrated into the vehicles. These modern improvements could prove helpful for Secret Service special agents and uniformed division officers behind the wheel.
“I think it is cool to try out all these different platforms to figure out what is going to fit, and what we can use,” Gerukos said. “The times are changing, and so is the rest of the world. So, we have to do the same thing.”
He added that advanced driving is a perishable skill, and having a variety of vehicles on the campus keeps the students and instructors fresh. This is particularly important for Secret Service agents who are sent all over the world and require proficiency in a range of driving skills and vehicle types.
Mark Armstrong has been an RTC driving instructor for 10 years and said two of the GM sedans have manual transmissions. It’s unlikely that such a vehicle would ever be used for uniformed division officers on patrol. Special agents assigned to foreign field offices or on protective visits, however, could be required to drive a vehicle with this type of transmission.
“Not everyone is able to operate a manual shift,” Armstrong said. “Having that platform here will enable us to give instruction on how to drive manual vehicles for overseas trips.”
Brandon Bohonek, a driving instructor at RTC for seven years, said students are put through various scenarios at RTC. The suspect vehicles in these scenarios often are the same ones used for training, equipped with overhead light bars, eliminating the element of surprise.
“The students wouldn’t be expecting it,” Bohonek said of the vehicles new to RTC. “We won’t have these vehicles in view. So, they won’t know it is out there. They may be expecting a (police) SUV, and all of a sudden, one of these vehicles rolls up. We try to make it as realistic as possible out here, which is not always easy to do.”
The large SUVs delivered Wednesday are particularly interesting to the instructors. Gerukos said these vehicles are the most likely to be used by the uniformed division officers and special agents in the field.
“Most companies aren’t making four-door sedans anymore that are police-capable,” said Gerukos, adding that large vehicles can carry more gear and have additional ground clearance for snow or other rough terrain.
Following the delivery, the mood at RTC was particularly upbeat. Simons was among those on the driving pad that day.
“Experience with different types of vehicles can help instructors teach students how to adapt their driving techniques based on the vehicle they are operating,” Simons said. “Because each vehicle handles differently in any given situation, exposure to new cars will challenge instructors and give them an opportunity to develop more realistic training scenarios.”
