The Tactical Life

Thought for the day(2).

For those who have spent time in foreign places, you know you live a lot “in your head”. I am not a very social person and only have about two “true” friends, a host of former associates and that’s about it. I spend a lot of time thinking about different topics, usually as way to excise my brain. I believe in training the brain as much as the body. Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about “the morality of life”, looking back and wondering about past personal decisions. I am not a religious man, something that has been burned out of me from the “war on terror”. Now, I don’t know whether my decisions actually have any undertone of morality. I know that I am not a predator who preys on the weak, but, the goal now seems only to hunt predators. Really don’t why I am doing it any more, for the common good or for me? HA, what a start to this day.

Anyone here struggle with “morality” during their time here on this Earth?

“Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.”–GEN George S. Patton

“Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.”–Aristotle

“The true test of courage is not found on the field of battle…but rather in mundane offices where difficult, ethical decisions of command are made each day, which challenge the very fiber of our principles.”–GEN Matthew B. Ridgway.

“A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all morality.”–John F. Kennedy

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Indenting tabs messed stuff up. No worries.

I guess I don’t really struggle with the morality of my profession, but then I haven’t fired shots in anger in over 10 years, and I’ll further caveat that I don’t have confirmation hat I killed anyone - I can see where that would most likely change my line of thinking. I am here to do a job; if someone puts himself in my optics then so be it.

I do, however, question why I do it sometimes. Between mil and contract, I’ve been on the road for 15 years, missing all the birthdays and holidays that entails. I started the process of going back to school so I could do something else (PA school was the goal), but once I actually started that process (science prereqs, a bunch of classes not included in my BA) I started questioning whether that was something I wanted to do. For clarification, I had no issues with the kids in my classes, the ones I spoke to were all very friendly and politics never came up (something I was expecting after hearing the horror stories of others). I did question if 3+ years of school was something I wanted to do, and I also questioned if that was a job I wanted to do - purposely put myself in a female dominated profession with 20+ years of sarcasm and dark/inappropriate humor and see how long I lasted before being let go due to ‘sexual harassment’ or some such nonsense (as almost happened to a PA friend of mine).

The biggest part of that questioning was something that has been stuck in my head ever since I read it years ago (can’t remember where) -

“Every man fears the day he is no longer dangerous”

Not that putting on sneakers and a white coat would make me a pussy, just the thought of no longer wearing a gun as part of the everyday uniform after 15+ years and everything that comes with that. At the same time, I am ready to be home (most) nights, so I too am looking to get into law enforcement (fed).

Not to take this thread down a depressing path, just agreeing with you in my own way.

And if anyone is interested, the US Marshals Service will be having a hiring sometime this year.

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Damn straight. Well said and I appreciate your thoughts.

Well, me neither. I carry a fed badge, but, I am a “specialty idiot”, If it doesn’t have any connection to LE/Military/ Diplomatic Protection, I don’t know crap. I can barely scramble eggs.

That is so true and something that drives me every day, however, I am at least smart enough to know that you either age with a driving anger to stay relevant or you take the easy way out and eat a gun.

I appreciate your insights and I don’t find anything you and ryno76 wrote depressing. I asked for feedback and value the comments. Surely, we are not the only three on this forum who is or has gone through these issues. I hope both of you find some peace with your job decisions.

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Thought for the day: Sentoguy

This is a little different. Does anyone on the forum have any connection with Sento? He was a long time poster and his last post was in August 2018. I have long considered him to be one of the most knowledgeable martial artists on this forum. His depth of historical and current martial arts techniques was vast. I know that he is a reality martial arts instructor in the Northeast. I miss his insight and knowledge. This is simply a wellness check. If someone knows him or has contact information, just let me know if he alive and well. Thanks.

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Thought for the day:

lincoln%202

I just saw this joint report on First Responders’ PTSD. I thought many here would find it a good read. there is mention of a treatment centre for those affected, I wonder if this type of centre is ubiquitus, or demand could be made for more of them:

Thank you, a good read.

The Sunday Comics:

I am going to start something different today, called the Sunday Comics. I used to work with a contractor in southern Iraq, who always carried the Sunday comics in his day pack. When waiting on some junior diplomat to finish his tea, we would wait in our assigned area or vehicle. Usually these tea parties lasted about two hours and when things we clear, he would pull out his comics and read them, several times a week. “Bro, don’t you have that, memorized by now? “Yeah, but, it’s the only truth being written out there”

He was killed three days ago by a drunk driver. A good man, someone who you would go through a door with. Since life is a constant gamble, I am going to post (what I think) are funny stuff from the net. Now, I generally don’t like comics or movie comedies, but, sarcastic crap is fine by me.

So, wherever you are out there in internet land, if you cross something you think is funny during the week, save if for “your Sunday “ and start posting. I am going to try and keep mine tactical related, but, post anything you want to. Several years ago, I had a small E-book published that I wrote about some humorous crap I had been a part of doing street work. I may post a couple of stories later on. Just join in and let’s make the Sunday Comics a “world wide web” experience.

I am going to start with these three:

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In case anyone didn’t immediately find the other parts, here goes.

Motivational Monday:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit: Aristotle

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Thought for the day: Situational Awareness: Don’t leave home without it.

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Hey so… if an office worker decided to keep this exact spray ^ at their desk (working reception/front desk, first office suite located nearest the building’s main entrance and lobby area, single entry into the office with no fire exit/escape route, no security guards anywhere on building premises)… would we say this is a solid, basic instructional video in the use of pepper spray:

Mainly interested his tactic of spraying in an “S” pattern instead of aiming for the face. Sounds like it would make sense.

Any other info/tips on sprays as self-defense? I’ve read mixed reviews about being able to actually discharge them once or twice in training, that it may or may not lose its spraying power rendering it useless when/if it’s deployed in time of need.

It says “up to 20 bursts” but I’m not sure if it’s, like, test twice in February no prob, need it in December and it just fizzles.

Not bad. I like he talked about creating space and using bursts. However his demo was poor on the S pattern. He came off the spray too much and was off target. Pretty typical training is successive 1 second bursts of spray (not counting crowd dispersal). I’ve seen a “cross” pattern trained (belt to brow then across the face) as well.

MACE brand is reputable. If the package insert says it’s good for 20 (likely 1/2 to 1 second) bursts; I’d believe them. A few test shots won’t hurt. I’d suggest an inert trainer to practice. Keep an eye on expiration dates and rotate in a new canister for duty. The old one can then be used for training. My department rotates at expiration date and I don’t recall any of them not being able to deploy spray.

A few things missing from the video…wind/ventilation effect on the spray. Air flow can push the spray off target or back at you. Even an HVAC system or entrance air curtain can mess up your plans. Also one needs to realize people can fight through the affects even with perfect deployment. A common drill in LE OC training is to get sprayed then have to fight and/or cuff a partner.

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Chris,
Mixicus is dead on with his comments. Mace is a very old and reputable brand and I have never had it fail to discharge within the expiration date. I also agree with not really following what this guy is doing with an “S” pattern. Wind outdoors or even ventilation on the inside like mixicus stated is tough to deal with. Like anything else in defense of self, many factors come into play when something works. Personally, I don’t like spray since it has a nasty habit on biting you on the butt, but, if that is what you are limited to, is is better than nothing.

I would strongly advise buying two cans. One to use on yourself to see what the effects are and learn if you can still fight. Now, there are some factors to consider for yourself and family (don’t care about the perp). Do you have severe asthma? if using pepper spray, are you allergic to the effects? symptoms are similar to anaphylatic shock. Small children are also very susceptible, if hit by residue, they will have trouble breathing because their throats will swell shut quicker.

If you decide to use it on yourself, have an adult standing by with a water hose to wash out your eyes. keep children and asthma adults away at a safe distance.

If you have a relationship with any firefighter or know someone at your local station, if is best go there and ask permission to try it out in their parking area. You have the best situation at a fire station, plenty of water and trained medics if you have a reaction.

If you walk, jog or run occasionally, pepper spray will also deter dog attacks.

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Thought for the day: " Don’t be a Gucci-range queen, get out there and get dirty"

“The thing is, all the gear in the world means nothing if you don’t know how to use it. Using your gear in ideal settings is great, but Murphy is always standing right behind you, waiting to throw a wrench at you. And as we all know, when it’s time to get to work, nothing is ever ideal. Sitting in a stationary shooting lane practicing your accuracy every week is great, but realistically all you’re doing is setting yourself up for failure; especially since you’re building unearned confidence with your skills that simply won’t cut it when the shells start flying”

Definitely agree with this, huge difference between a square range and pretty much everything else. Problem is, most civilian ranges are extremely risk-averse and will flip shit if shooters start moving around, regardless of their background and what they are doing - and understandably so, since in most cases they have no idea who/what you are.

That being said, do you have any drills to recommend for people in that situation? One thing I love about deploying is the range time. 2 man rule, after that it’s big boy rules.

Much appreciated, guys, as always. It’s a less-than-ideal situation, but it’s the best we can figure for the location. We’ll look into some training.

Chris,
I don’t know your state laws or facility policies but you may look into the civilian TASER products. It’s not a 100% guaranteed solution but if you get good hits with both darts, it works NOW and for 30 seconds. They’ve linked it to a cell phone app so if it’s discharged, LE gets notified. There are limits and failures but it’s a good less lethal force option in addition to OC spray.