Public Services Level 3 Year 2
Unit 13 – Command and Control in the Uniformed Public Services
P4 - Explain how an individual can exercise command and control.
Introduction
In this task, I am going to explain how individuals can exercise command and control through the
involvement of activities and experience. I will be explaining how a college student studying Public
Services can exercise command and control before going in to the Police Service.
Activities that Require Command and Control
There are many activities that require the use of command and control, most of which are team working
activities. These activities range from paintballing to orienteering. The idea of exercising command and
control is that students at college can get a good grasp on how the public services operate and what key
skills and aspects are involved in the success of these services.
Paintballing: is a team working activity where two teams will go against each other in order to achieve
a goal such as ‘Capture the Flag’ or ‘Last Man Standing’. This team activity somewhat simulates combat,
so there are many aspects of command and control included, such as;
Receiving and giving orders is a big part of the military and paintballing is no different. There will usually
be an assigned leader of each group and they will give orders to the other players, they will also plan a
range of techniques that can be used against the other team. This accurately represents command and
control because the leader is using the resources, which in this case is the players to overcome a certain
situation. This relates to the Metropolitan Police where Specialist Firearms Command members will plan
and execute an operation on a building where armed criminals are currently hiding out in.
Communication is also a big part of paintball and also
directly represents command and control within the
public services; orders can’t be given and received
without effective communication. Bad command and
control is often the outcome when there is a lack of
communication as mistakes can easily be made when
members of the team are unaware of what the other
members of the team are working towards.
Team work is another very important part of paintballing and command and control. For an individual to
exercise command and control, team working will undoubtedly be a massive part of it. Working around
and with other people will benefit the team as a whole as you are all pushing towards the same end goal
which relates accurately to many scenarios within the public services. For example, fire fighters will all
be working towards the same goal when attending a fire, they may even be split in to smaller teams in
order to work more effectively with the gear they have; a breathing apparatus team is made up of two
Unit 13 – Command and Control in the Uniformed Public Services
P4 - Explain how an individual can exercise command and control.
Introduction
In this task, I am going to explain how individuals can exercise command and control through the
involvement of activities and experience. I will be explaining how a college student studying Public
Services can exercise command and control before going in to the Police Service.
Activities that Require Command and Control
There are many activities that require the use of command and control, most of which are team working
activities. These activities range from paintballing to orienteering. The idea of exercising command and
control is that students at college can get a good grasp on how the public services operate and what key
skills and aspects are involved in the success of these services.
Paintballing: is a team working activity where two teams will go against each other in order to achieve
a goal such as ‘Capture the Flag’ or ‘Last Man Standing’. This team activity somewhat simulates combat,
so there are many aspects of command and control included, such as;
Receiving and giving orders is a big part of the military and paintballing is no different. There will usually
be an assigned leader of each group and they will give orders to the other players, they will also plan a
range of techniques that can be used against the other team. This accurately represents command and
control because the leader is using the resources, which in this case is the players to overcome a certain
situation. This relates to the Metropolitan Police where Specialist Firearms Command members will plan
and execute an operation on a building where armed criminals are currently hiding out in.
Communication is also a big part of paintball and also
directly represents command and control within the
public services; orders can’t be given and received
without effective communication. Bad command and
control is often the outcome when there is a lack of
communication as mistakes can easily be made when
members of the team are unaware of what the other
members of the team are working towards.
Team work is another very important part of paintballing and command and control. For an individual to
exercise command and control, team working will undoubtedly be a massive part of it. Working around
and with other people will benefit the team as a whole as you are all pushing towards the same end goal
which relates accurately to many scenarios within the public services. For example, fire fighters will all
be working towards the same goal when attending a fire, they may even be split in to smaller teams in
order to work more effectively with the gear they have; a breathing apparatus team is made up of two
