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Lessons from London
Claire and Jon have discussed what those of us on the west side of pond should or should not say to the Brits about the efficacy (or lack thereof) of a culture of victimhood when it comes to battling Islamic terrorism. I thought I’d offer a few pointers that might be of use in preventing such a situation from happening to readers of Ricochet.
Police officer and Marine Corps combat veteran Chris Hernandez talks about the history and effectiveness of such attacks, and Greg Ellifritz (one of the smartest guys out there right now in the gun training world) has some great info on what you and I can do right now to lessen our chances of being a victim.
The bottom line is, pay attention to what you’re paying attention to. Where is cover (stuff that can stop a bullet)? Where is concealment (stuff that hides you from the bad guy)? Where are the exits? What is out of place in the your surroundings, and why is it out of place? Firearms trainers have talked about the Cooper Color Code for decades, which lays out the model for being aware of what’s going on around you:
- White: Unaware and unprepared. Head down in your phone, music playing loudly in your ears.
- Yellow: Relaxed alert. This should be your default setting the moment you walk out the door.
- Orange: Specific alert… “Huh. What was that?”
- Red: There is a danger, and it’s headed your way. Time to quickly get ready to deal with it.
- Black: You’re in the fight, and you’re in it until it’s over.*
What’s lacking from that system are tips on how to stay aware of your surroundings. For me, if I’m walking down the street or out in public, a situation that Col. Cooper describes as “Condition Yellow,” I use the 80/20 Rule: 80 percent of my attention and concentration is on the day-to-day problems of life, but 20 percent is held back, reserved for watching (and listening) to what is going on around me. When I’m relaxing at home, late at night, in Condition White, I’m spending much less time being on the lookout for what might hurt me, and when I hear the screech of brakes followed by a car crash, any thought of my day-to-day routine goes out the window.
Is situational awareness a perfect defensive shield that will allow you to opt out of any tragedy headed your way? Of course not**. It will, however, give you more options than just being another statistic, and having more options is what freedom is all about.
* Yes, I know the original Color Code only had four colors. However, after listening to Massad Ayoob talk about the color code, his idea that there should be an additional step in there that allows for the rational brain to wrest some measure of control away from our reptilian brain stem makes a lot of sense to me, so I’m going with that.
** You know I’m not a lawyer, right? Leave the legal stuff to them, not me.
Published in Islamist Terrorism
Correct – it was likely a 32kg which is 2 times the 16 kg
Absolutely, positively. And, too, while you’re maintaining SA, look around and ID anything that could be a field-expedient weapon, and spend about 3 seconds thinking “how would I use it?” “How would I have to move to be able to use it?”
This takes your geospatial awareness and melds it with your kinesthetic awareness. Makes you ready-er.
I’ve never been good at color codes and condition levels. I do agree, though, that “Condition Black” means you’ve short-circuited and are now combat ineffective.
Stay in the now. The best way to do that is, after identifying cover, concealment, routes of ingress/egress, field expedient cover/concealment, field expedient weapons, how to use your mother-in-law as field expedient cover (sorry, I was droning on and that was funny and I’d never do that. Probably.) is just sit there and think, “who’s my biggest threat right now?”
Well, no one, Boss. You’re at the nursing home visiting Gram-Gram.
Okay. But out of the people right here, right now, how would I prioritize them as threats? That thin fella with the Korean War Vet hat on, sitting in the wheelchair? He probably killed people with an e-tool at Chosin, and the wheelchair may well be a deception op. That chunky nurse moving a wheeled IV tree from point A to point B? She looks like a 70’s era East German shot-putter, so she’s got some muscle, and that IV tree could be wielded in all kinds of nefarious ways.
If you’re leaning back against the wall in the lobby, playing this game and worrying your toothpick because wifey-poo wants you off Copenhagen as wifey-poo wheels Gram-Gram back to her room after lunch, and the long-haired, wild-eyed bearded guy carrying his coat in his hand walks into the lobby and his coat looks oddly…stiff, well then, you’re ready for the starter’s pistol when it goes off, aren’t you?*
*May well be the most egregious run-on sentence I’ve written in my life. But, works for me.
Be polite, be professional, but – well, you know the rest.