The Original SWAT World Challenge (OSWC) in its third year was held at the Arkansas Army National Guard’s Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. Camp Robinson is a world class Army training facility. The Challenge has grown to become the world’s premier SWAT competition. The World SWAT Challenge brings together the world’s top SWAT teams where they train, exchange ideas and test their skills against each other in an atmosphere of professional camaraderie.

The Original SWAT World Challenge receives world wide publicity and is the only SWAT competition with continuous television coverage. In 2004 and 2005 the aired as an hour program on the ESPN network and in 2006 it was on OLN. Press coverage has included TV and journal articles, many of which were cover articles from around the world including: Sweden (TV), Germany (TV and journal), France (TV), Italy (journal), Spain (journal), Hong Kong (journal), Taiwan (journal), Korea (journal), Japan (journal) and multiple TV airings in the United States.

The Original SWAT Challenge World competitive events test the fitness, organization, skills and teamwork of SWAT teams through a series of stressful scenarios. The field is limited to invited law enforcement teams and all competitors must be sworn police officers with powers of arrest in their home jurisdictions. No all-star or composite teams are permitted and all competitors must be from the same team and jurisdiction. The courses of fire selected for the OSWC incorporate common SWAT skills. It is a grueling competition not for the weak or faint of heart.

Four characteristics make the OSWC different from other SWAT competitions: all are performed in full tactical gear, all events are live fire, teams compete on head-to-head courses and officers are given only one round for each target. Teams are required to perform against the clock and other teams in situations producing both physical and mental stress. The OSWC consists of eight events conducted four per day over two days. Teams are scored objectively based on time and hits. Each target missed is assessed a time penalty that is added to the team’s run time. In some situations time bonuses can be earned which subtract time. For each event teams are ranked based on total team time with event points awarded based on team placement. The first place team earns one point, the second place team two, etc. At the end of the competition the team with the lowest cumulative point total is the winner and crowned champion.


The 2004 competition was held in April at Blackwater, a law enforcement and military training facility in Moyock, NC. The events for 2004 were: Zodiac Rescue, Leupold Sniper Surprise, The Scott Masked Entry, The High Risk Warrant Service, Glock Pistol Shoot-off, The Bushmaster High Angle Hell, The Stress Course and the Range Run. The field consisted of 12 teams with San Antonio, Texas winning the championship followed by Dallas and Orange County, FL.


In 2005 Original SWAT Footwear became the title sponsor and the name was modified to the Original SWAT World Challenge. The competition in 2005 was held at Front Sight Training Center outside Las Vegas, NV in early April. The 2005 events included: The Scott Tunnel Torture, the Zodiac Attack, the Three-Gun Challenge, The Warrant Service, The Pistol Shoot-off, the Tactical Traverse and the Range Run. The field grew to 18 teams that included international teams from Jordan, Germany and Canada. Team GSG-9, the Federal Border Police of Germany, swept the competition and won all seven events. San Antonio, Dallas, Los Angeles and Bruce Power from Canada rounded out the top five.

The current Original SWAT World Challenge was held in late March of 2006 at Camp Robinson, a National Guard training base outside Little Rock, AR. International teams included GSG-9, Bruce Power of Canada and a team from Taiwan, Republic of China. The eight events included: The Zodiac Attack, The Sniper Challenge, The three Gun Challenge, The Pistol Shoot-Off, the LEOPARD Live Fire, The Car Assault, The Masked Entry and the Range Run. The competition was intense and the closest yet with GSG-9 defending its championship by five points over San Antonio. Lexington, KY SWAT was third followed by Dallas and the Department of Energy’s Emergency Reaction Team. The 2006 event was not only the biggest and best OSWC event yet, but garnered increased interest from law enforcement communities around the globe.

As the Original SWAT World Challenge continues to grow the major objectives are to enhance the training opportunities for world class SWAT teams, expand the international field and increase attendance to thousands of participants and spectators.

The Original SWAT World Challenge, its trademarks and associated properties are exclusively owned by On Target Challenge (OTC), a Burtonsville, Maryland event management and television production company. Other OTC properties include: the Firefighter Combat Challenge, The LEOPARD Challenge, Firefighter Relay and The Marine Corps Super Squad Challenge.