Thought for the day(2): From Mike Pannone.
Talking about getting into and out of in-extremis position like shooting under a vehicle. If you have to shoot under a vehicle as I say in class “get in position, get it done and get up. Fighting from the ground gives up mobility and too much situational awareness. Stay there too long and that’s where they find your body.”
Thought for the day (3): Travel and training.
Having to travel for the past couple of weeks and still have a week or so to go, I have been thrown off my routine and make do with what I can find on the training venue, hotel gyms (hate them), and shooting ranges. I ran across this comment several weeks ago and for those that have to travel a lot for work, some good , simple suggestions.
Whether at home or on road make time to workout. Exercise should be functional and support your day to day activities. Core work should be an essential part of the program, we spend a lot of time getting in and out of cars, chairs, and moving through crowds a strong core will make that easier. I rely heavily on body weight exercises, kettlebells, some yoga, sandbags, walking, and occasional rucking.
I like to keep my workouts to an hour in time this also helps when traveling and on a tight schedule. It keeps me from getting bored and into that old this sucks mindset. I do 30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical to start then move to sets of pushups, pull-ups, burpees, crunches, back extensions, kettlebell swings, get ups, air squats, flutter kicks, and other exercises. Time between sets is 30 seconds max. If time is a real issue I’ll make 15 minutes for myself and do push-ups, air squats, squat thrusts, and crunches. That’s my minimum.
Living in a rural town in a western state, responded to my first real, “shittin’ and gettin’” call as an EMT. Individual had been shot with a small caliber weapon or stabbed (didn’t get to see the wound as there was about a double handful of meat and fat that had prolapsed from the wound). It was a heavy morning. Was very lucky in that our responding police officer is a good, serious individual who rather than wait for back up (we were ~30 minutes out of town) he took his rifle, cleared the house, and then watched our backs since whoever attacked the gal disappeared. I personally think that if he hadn’t cleared the scene for us (we have to wait until they do in situations like that) that she would have flat lined in the bus and I would have witnessed my first death. We kept her alive to the hospital, but she had a punctured lung and kept trying to slide unconscious, and as I was managing head/airway, I was yelling and pinching to keep her awake and I remember thinking, “Shit, if she goes under, she’s dead and the last thing she’s going to see is me. Fuck.”
It’s one of those things where it’s like, “I know this shit happens. But it’ll never happen here or to me.” (Cliche as it gets, eh?) I guess that this rings more true today than I had really thought possible, and it’s pretty coincidental that it was this morning that made it true, for me.
Thank you for your post, good thought and you were placed in a bad situation and came through. I have thought many times that Paramedics, EMT’s, battle field medics, etc. have it worse than anyone, because you have to respond to a violent situation, apply aid, transport, and then go to the next call, with basically, no sense of closure. By the end of the shift, you still will have to process what you have seen on the drive home.
I firmly believe that there is simply “no safe place” anymore. From NYC to a rural town in South Dakota, anything can go down. Social Media reaches all now, so the possibility for instant fame is always present. (school shooting yesterday in Indiana from an 8TH GRADER.) Good post, brother.
Thought for the day: Memorial day
I am leaving and will not have access for a few days. Tomorrow is Memorial Day. A day for reflection for those that gave all and a day that always reminds you of the ones you lost. Being in the states for two weeks, it appears to me, to be nothing more than than a commercial enterprise, with deals on everything from cars to lawn mowers.
For the past 5 years, many of us have completed the “Murph”. I will not be able to do this until later this week, but, it will be done. If you are a veteran, have a veteran in your family or pledge your honor to America, take a silent moment and give a solid thanks for the freedoms you enjoy today, paid for by the blood of those who gave everything.
_A woman kneels beside a grave in Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day in 1924. _
Memorial Day began as Decoration Day after the Civil War; it wasn’t until 1971 that Congress made it into the national holiday celebrated on the last Monday of May. The Washington, DC-area cemetery has been central to observing Memorial Day since the 1860s
Motivational Monday:
What are you fighting for ? For me, it’s simple. You are either predator or prey in this world. I fight for my country, brothers and sisters, and I try very hard to follow a warrior code of ethics, since, I have many many faults, this is not always easy to do.
What are you “fighting” for? I would really like to know.
Had to help instruct several CQB classes last week, good men and women. Helped out on the civilian side and was dismayed at the level of “willingness”. I sincerely hope the men and women on this site and this thread, realize that, brother, if the shit hits the fan in the very day world, you are going to be on your own.
Thought for the day:
A shooting is different than a shootout. A shooting is an exchange of bullets between two individuals. Whether in extreme close quarters or at distance, this event ends after one party has been eliminated or fled the scene. Although still extremely dangerous, this is different than a shootout. A shootout relates to complex attacks such as ambushes in which there are multiple attackers shooting from multiple positions. These types of events are less spur of the moment and can be the result of weeks of prior coordination.
Thought for the day: My profound respect:
“God almighty, in a few short hours we will be in battle with the enemy. We do not join battle afraid. We do not ask favors or indulgence but ask that, if You will, use us as Your instrument for the right and an aid in returning peace to the world.” — Lt. Col Robert L. Wolverton
Had an odd question pop into my head over the weekend. We were away in a sort of fancy strip mall place and I went to the restroom. Turns out it was set back a ways in little building, through one set of doors, then down a little hallway, and then finally into the actual men’s room.
Halfway down the hall, I thought “Wow, so, this would be a great-terrible place to get mugged.” Standing at the urinal mid-stream, I was keeping an extra-paranoid eye on the door. (I ended up being the only one in there and no one else came in the whole time).
Got me thinking, does anyone have a plan for what’s probably one of the most vulnerable situations a guy could be in - standing there with pants undone, dork in your hand, with the only entrance/exit almost-always out of your line of sight?
Is the easier answer to just never use urinals and always use a stall, to at least have a door between you and others? Or just keep an eye on the entryway no matter how many guys think you’re checking them out?
Good question @Chris_Colucci. I haven’t given that specific scenario much thought before.
If someone’s going to jump or mug you in a bathroom I’m not sure how much difference it will make if you’re using a stall or not, especially if there’s only one way out. I wouldn’t count on anyone giving you more or less warning in either scenario. I suppose if you’re in the stall they might go after the guy using the urinal instead, or maybe they’ve already selected you for whatever reason, or maybe they are waiting to target the last one out. Who knows?
If I have to fight and my dick is out, I’m fighting with my dick out. Simple as that.
Speaking more broadly, I listen to my gut now. I got robbed at gunpoint by venturing down an unfamiliar alley that turned out to be a dead-end. Part of my barely-developed 20 year-old brain definitely had an impulse not to do it, but I ignored it and went anyway. The only way out was past the guy with a gun. Shoulda coulda woulda.
Better to hold it and get out of there if something doesn’t smell right. Nothing lost except a bit of bladder relief. Listen to your gut, especially when there is no cost whatsoever to doing it.
I’ve learned to give zero shits if anyone thinks I look or act strange to them by making eye contact or observing their behavior. If something seems strange I’m going to pay attention. I don’t feel bad if the person happens to be black, Muslim, white, Amish, Hawaiian or whatever and doesn’t like me checking them out. If someone looks, sounds or acts like they might be trouble, they have my attention.
Besides, most people never notice because they walk around with a glowing rectangle in front of their face.
Great question, Chris and a good response from 2JS.
Taking a bathroom break is one of the most venerable states you can be in, especially in an isolated location like you were in. If at all possible, I always use a stall, since I can stand sideways and urinate. Since, I do a lot of international travel, I have found this to be better, since their stalls are larger than the ones in the US. If standing side ways and someone tries to enter (happened in Qatar), I can use my right leg to throw a low side kick and slam the door back in their face, buying me some time.
If carrying a back back or small carry on, I will use it to block the door. If at all possible, don’t use the urinals in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. The cleaning women will come right into the men’s bathroom and mop the floor right in front of you. This is most embarrassing to me and I never got used to this, same way at Charles-De-Gaulle.
If you have to take a crap and carrying a handgun in a hip holster, don’t take the gun and hang it on the little hook on the stall door. A co-worker did this and a cleaning guy, hit the door with a broom and the weapon fell on the bath room floor and slide out under the door, while his pants were down. Not good.
If I walk into a crowded bathroom, I leave, especially during international travel where all Americans are targets. I can always find another place. Usually, the bathrooms near the first class lounges are the ones less used, since they are away from the main terminal.
Some of the worst situations in the states are bathrooms at stadiums. Crowded conditions and drunk NFL or MLB fans are a witch’s brew for fights. The best advice is to be situationally aware, as 2JS stated.
If in a location where you are not carrying any type of weapon, look around and check what is available. I know the cleaning people in international airports area little sloppy about locking their cleaning closets or actually leave the brooms and mops in the corners. Their handles are better than nothing and in the states, it’s the same way. Most males wear a belt with a buckle, especially those from south of the border, rip it off and use it as a modified mace, always carry a well-made ink pen, always good for close range stabs. Desperate measures, but, better than nothing.
Good question, Chris and I would like others to offer some suggestions. Honestly, I have always considered bathrooms to be extremely hazardous.
Thought for the day: Pattern Recognition.
Yesterday some scenarios were set up where the entry team had to make quick shoot /no shoot decisions. Targets were hostile, non-hostile, and hostage. These were commercial grade targets, so, everyone was familiar with them and had no problem knowing what to do. I then took an old “BOB” dummy and using some liberal duck tape, taped real handguns and knives on an “arm” and placed him in a dark corner of a room. Recognition time went almost double, even thou, the weapons were familiar to everyone.
For those of you with a least a year training in martial arts, having got familiar with you fellow students sparring styles, did you look for “pattern recognition” in your opponent? A less experienced student comes in the class, you spar with him/her and all of a sudden you don’t know what to do? It takes you a few rounds to adjust? Same with lethal force situations. Learn to recognize the weapons you are facing on the street, practice “force on force” training ( sparring, airsoft ,or paintball) anything to test yourself against a moving target.
Another author’s view:
if we look at drawing and shooting it takes on average. 1.78sec. this is very slow from a level one holster, which is what most folks will use for concealed carry. From my own practice, using a level three duty holster, I can reliably draw and fire within 1.25sec without too much effort. My best is 1.18 sec. Now I’m not saying this to brag, only to show that with some practice you can easily drop .5 sec from your draw, which in a life and death scenario is an eternity.
Realistically, we should be able to reduce our decision making time from .4 sec to roughly .2 sec with pattern recognition practice. Our weapons manipulation time should also come down to about 1.3 sec. Overall with practice, we should be able to recognize a deadly threat, and put first rounds on target within 1.5 sec; where as the best in the world would be able to do this around .8 sec. It might not be easy to achieve this level of expertise, but nothing worthwhile ever is.
We use insulated Carhartt coveralls for the actors in our force on force training. The running joke is that if anyone ever rolls up on a scene and some guy is working in coveralls and a dust mask, he’s in in for a shooting or an ass kicking.
On the bathroom thing, in a public men’s room that is empty or mostly empty, I usually go for the corner urinal. My thinking is if more than one attacker comes in, I am creating the closest thing to a choke point I can. Not ideal, but I’d rather be able to keep eyes on as many attackers as possible, rather than allowing one to possibly circle behind me.
I usually go for a urinal that is at the end or beginning of the row because I figure a normal person who comes in after me will choose a urinal as far from me as possible whereas a weirdo will choose one next to me. On a side note, I tend to park my car and truck the same way. With the car it’s also to avoid getting dents and with my truck it’s just because it’s big.
I avoid the stalls if a bathroom is empty, unless I really need the stall, since you can’t see who might have come in while you’re in there.
Something else that I started to think about while reading these bathroom posts is how there are latrines in the military that have toilets without stalls meaning if you have to do number two, you have to do it in front of people.
Only ran into that once or twice. Boot camp barracks head had stalls with no doors, at least the old ones when I went through didn’t. In the last 15 or so years they’ve completely rebuilt RTC Great Lakes, so I have no clue what they look like now. Probably have soft, cushy seats and multi-ply toilet paper to make Ricky as comfy as possible.
Motivational Monday: Always be ready, have a plan for everything you do, nothing complicated, just an awareness of what you would do if the wolf shows its fangs. Self-defense is a human right. Learn to live a more "martial ’ life. Take small steps. If a martial life is foreign to you, just start walking and pay attention to your environment, your neighborhood, your workplace. Start a simple exercise program, a better diet, cut back on the alcohol, etc. Get harder.
Another opinion:
We have willfully given the government the monopoly on the right to use violence. Like little Sheep that cannot take care of our own and need a Sheepdog to keep us from harm by the Wolves. Which is true in most cases, unfortunately. Just walk down any busy street in any city and take a look around you. Lots of Sheep.
We have been stripped from all effective self defense weapons by gun laws. Like the criminals and terrorists adhere to these laws.
If you ask any citizen what use of violence is still ‘self defense’ and what is considered ‘assault’ by the law, you will only get blank faces. Or what they would do in case of an assault. Or are witness to an assault in progress. People do not know. Never thought about it. Like it’s ‘somebody else’s problem’.
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to turn these Sheep into somewhat more Sheepdogs? Wouldn’t that increase Safety and Security overall? Just by delivering less soft targets to the bad guys? Letting Wolves know we will not be messed with? As a force multiplier?
Have you fully outsourced your safety? Are other peoples re-actions your Plan A?
Or are they Plan B, because you can take care of your own?
Thought for the day: When the wolf comes and the government has disarmed you:
Another opinion:
I learned a few things in Cambodia a few years ago, from the source. In this pic I’m standing next to our terp (interpreter) Nhean, at one of the killing field memorials called the Tower of Skulls. Nhean told me a lot of stories of what exactly happened when the Khmer Rouge, a communist group, seized power over the country in 1975 where the dictator Pol Pot wanted to create a pure utopian agriculture communist state.
First, they had to kill a few million people to get things going. They started by disarming the population. Once the populace was now “soft” they started to incrementally install their ideology, through force. Nhean was brought to the fields to farm, like everyone else. **Nhean said,”Anyone wearing eye glasses was shot. Anyone with books, shot. Teachers, doctors and anyone suspected of having an education, killed as well.**
One day a man, who I knew a little from before, had been a successful rice farmer. He approached the Khmer guards because the system of moving water they were using was not that efficient. He had a better system that yielded a better return at harvest, so he began explaining it to them. I saw them walk the man over a berm and they shot him in the head.
They shot him for having an idea. No one thought any of this was possible before it happened.” Let that shit sink in…Mass killings of civilians by military dictatorships in the 1900s were commonly preceded by the confiscation of firearms, a task made easier by laws requiring the registration and/or licensing of privately-owned weapons. It’s a lot fucking harder to subjugate and enslave people when they fight you with effective weapons and knowledge. I’m not disarming, ever.
#killingfields #polpot #khmerrouge #2A #neverdisarm #neverquit
Good feedback on the bathroom situation, thanks. It was just a weird a-ha moment walking into the place. Like, it clicked and I realized I’ve, unconsciously, been dropping a level of alertness in that situation instead of being in “code yellow” everywhere.
Rest stops at night are probably the worst.
