the things worth believing in

Post Resurrection.

There is a distinct difference between a “combative mindset” and a “defensive mindset” and its rarely discussed. In a “defensive situation” your goal is to escape without harm, using deadly force only when all other options have been exhausted. In a “combative situation” you are attacking; locating, closing with and destroying the threat. In the “real word” you may have to cross back and forth between these mindsets several times in one situation. You may be trying to diffuse a situation, deescalating, retreating, defending then suddenly the only option is offensive action. Or you may find yourself the only armed person in an active shooter situation. To save lives you may have to engage and defeat the shooter. It comes down to defining what “victory” is. Escaping from a threat unharmed is a “defensive victory”. If retreat is not an option or no longer possible then it is time to go on the offensive. A military truism is that victory cannot be achieved through defense.  I know..I know..some arts claim to be “purely defensive”…turning the opponents energy against them…and all that. But if you are facilitating that “turning” then it is just a “passive” form of “offense” as I read it. In my opinion, the serious student has to train for bolth worlds. Sometimes “the only way out is through”.

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The double fisherman’s knot is a bend, or a knot used to join two lengths of rope.

A very important knot to learn, the double fisherman knot is used often in climbing and high-angle work to form loops of cord for establishing anchors, belay stations and protection systems. Another common use is the backing up of a critical knot, like a harness tie-in or rappel rigs. The running end is tied around the standing end of the rope, so that it cannot slip back through the knot.

Before I became a Cop I used to watch the television show “Cops” and wonder why so many police officers were out of shape. I mean that guy who they were chasing jumped that fence like it wasn’t there and that cop could hardly make it over.

Well a few months after getting out of FTO my partner and I located a stolen car parked in a local housing complex and the chase was on! After sprinting 100 yds and  jumping two 6′ chainlinks I was bleeding all over and my legs were like rubber. After we caught these two guys I learned a few things.

The tops of most chainlink fences have sharp pieces of fence sticking up over the top-bar. I slashed both palms pretty good (no gloves) and sliced the back of a leg when going over. Left scars you will find on a lot of cops.

Second… running in boots, vest and duty gear is entirely different from “jogging”. The energy systems in your body that are tapped for sprinting and running with weight on you are different from the one that lets you run a 5K. I highly recommend training systems like Crossfit that emphasize stamina, power and sustained work output. By the time I caught up with my guy I was simply jogging and keeping him in sight. Fortunately my “wind” was better than his and he couldn’t keep up the pace. Luckily he decided not to fight because I pretty much just fell on the guy and got cuffs on him. My fitness goals changed immediately.

I have taken to reading Michael Yon’s blog.Michael Yon is a former Green Beret, native of Winter Haven, Fl. who has been reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan since December 2004.

Here is a recent example of his work:

Gates of Fire.

Mosul, Iraq

Combat comes unexpectedly, even in war.

On Monday, while conducting operations in west Mosul, a voice came over the radio saying troops from our brother unit, the 3-21, were fighting with the enemy in east Mosul on the opposite side of the Tigris River. Moments later, SSG Will Shockley relayed word to us that an American soldier was dead. We began searching for the shooters near one of the bridges on our side of the Tigris, but they got away. Jose L. Ruiz was killed in action.

Although the situation in Mosul is better, our troops still fight here every day. This may not be the war some folks had in mind a few years ago. But once the shooting starts, a plan is just a guess in a party dress.

The only mission I’ve seen unfold close to what was planned was a B Company raid a few months back. It actually went so close to perfect that we could hardly believe it. The sole glitch occurred when a Stryker hit an IED, but since nobody was hurt, we just continued the mission. In retrospect, it’s hard to imagine why I didn’t write about it. But times are busy, and, apart from it going nearly perfectly according to plan, it just seemed like any other old raid.

Go read the rest.

Surprise! Surprise! One of the tactical “must-haves” is surprise.

Surprise is one of the tools you use to crack into your opponents OODA loop. At one time or another all of us have been caught off guard, startled, and experienced that split second of FREEZE where your brain is resetting to it’s surroundings. That is the ideal “surprise” you would like to give an opponent, it gives you the proverbial “drop” on the bad guy.

There are different ways you can accomplish this, there are tools and equipment like lights and NFDD’s (explained below) that can be employed, but sometimes simply doing something unexpected will work just as well. You can approach from unexpected routes, you can yell, you can make a sudden and unexpected move or attack…the possibilities are limited only by the imagination.

One of the godsends in tactical development was the Noise Flash Diversionary Device, or NFDD. The NFDD, commonly referred to as a “Flash Bang”, is a grenade that generates a bright flash and a loud concussion. Deployed in tactical operations it can be used to distract a bad guy long enough to pass the fatal funnel.

For illustration purposes, I am showing a 2 man entry here. Most tactical units have a special purpose breaching team that will orchestrate breaching and introducing a diversionary device.

Many times,  a barricaded gunman “knows” that the SWAT guys are going to come eventually. He thinks “When they come in, Im shooting the first guy who comes through that door.” When the door opens and the bang comes in and detonates the guy goes “what the…”, and before he can re-Orient on the door the entry team is in and shooting. They broke into the BG’s OODA  at the second “O”.

One of the interesting things about NFDD’s and OODA is that when you are the one throwing them you can oftentimes “Eat the Bang”. This means that since they know whats coming, tactical operators can enter in almost exactly as the NFDD detonates. You may only get a split second startle out of the bad guy so the best thing is to make the most of it.

Conversely, even though most bad guys (who watch TV and movies like the rest of us) KNOW that a Flash Bang will probably be coming, it still will shock the crap out of them. This is because the moment it will go off is unknown and most BG’s have never been exposed to a NFDD before. If you have a hard core bad guy who has been through a SWAT stand-off and been exposed to NFDD’s before, you may want to take that into account.

Some great diversionary tools available today include “bang poles”. These are long poles that allow attachment of NFDD’s to one end. They can be held up to second story windows, held over walls and fences or rammed straight through a window to detonate in the middle of a room vs on the floor; where it’s possible the device could roll under furniture and lessen it’s effect.

The concept of causing a diversion on one side or level of a structure while entering another can be translated to routine patrol functions in many ways. I have tricked warrant suspects who are known to run by placing officers in adjacent rear yards of the target house. When the officers approach the front door and knock…”Mr. DA (dumb-ass) Knucklehead” runs out the back, jumps the fence and SURPRISE!

The real skill with this tactical stuff is to recognize the “essence” vs. the particular technique. Don’t look at this lesson as a class on NFDD’s. Consider the principles in play.

Musashi said:

These things cannot be explained in detail. From one thing, know ten thousand things. When you attain the Way of strategy there will not be one thing you cannot see. You must study hard.

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Another vital knot to learn is the Water Knot. Typically used to join two ends of webbing together, it is a vital knot to learn for making webbing loops for anchors, makeshift harnesses and rescue loops. The Water Knot is strong, but when tied correctly is also easy to untie. You will find yourself using this one quite often if you deal with webbing.

Be sure that you leave enough of a “tail” on either side of the knot to prevent an end from slipping through the knot as weight is set on it. I typically tie the tails down to the loop with a simple overhand knot for added insurance.

An additional tip for knot tying. I recommend that you practice tying your knots while gloved every once and a while, especially if you plan on mountaineering or ice climbing.

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The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.

- Vincent van Gogh

When you are getting your ass kicked sometimes you just have to do something totally unexpected.