THE HUMAN FACTOR IN CONCEALED CARRY

Understanding the Situational Awareness Watch Outs

Carrying a concealed weapon for self protection is a decision that I feel is every law abiding citizen’s responsibility. Taking control over your ability to protect yourself and family from a lethal threat should be a priority for every adult in the United States.

Along with the responsibility of carrying a concealed firearm is the requirement to maintain your awareness. Maintaining your situational awareness is at times difficult, yet it is an absolute necessity if you are going to make a time sensitive life or death decision. Situational Awareness, (SA) is the first step in making a quick educated decision on your course of action. Actions in a lethal threat situation must take place in seconds therefore you must be aware of your situation at all times.

The SA Watch Outs have been developed to alert an individual or team to when they may be on the verge of losing situational awareness.

THE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS WATCH OUTS:

·         You are extremely fatigued. Fatigue can be a leading factor in eroding your SA. Fatigue is cumulative and only undisturbed sleep can replace fatigue. Many high risk organizations have adopted fatigue SOP’s to make sure that fatigue is limited during operations. The work /rest cycle of many high risk organizations is based on a 2 to 1 work/rest ratio. If you work 16 hours you need a minimum of 8 hours of rest to recuperate. Fatigue can be caused by a sick child who has kept you up all night or travel across time zones or date lines. Whatever the cause fatigue will reduce your SA and the ability to make time sensitive decisions...

·         You are in unfamiliar location. If you have no reference in your memory, unfamiliar locations can alter your perception of what is happening around you. An unfamiliar environment puts you in a position with no reference. A strange city, unfamiliar neighborhood or a foreign country will impact your SA. This impact will require you to take much longer to make a decision since your perception of the situation may not be accurate and this could cause hesitation. Hesitation is the enemy of decision making. If you are use to a small town in Georgia your SA in Downtown New York City on New Years Eve will have no reference so you must spend much more time in gaining a perception of reality which will impact the ability to make a critical decision.

·         Darkness or other environmental factors have decreased your vision, altered your senses or changed your SOP’s. Your awareness can be drastically reduced by darkness, fog, rain, snow, heat or bright sun. This situation can also alter your perception of reality causing hesitation or non action. The environment may cause you to wear clothing you do not normally train in such as snow gloves or heavy jackets. This will impact your time to action and your performance. How much practice do you do while wearing winter clothing? Or for that matter shorts and a Hawaiian Shirt? If you have a standard procedure of carrying in a right side holster and you find yourself trying to draw out of a fanny pack, your time into action will be greatly impacted.

·         You are traveling alone. There is safety in numbers. The SA of a team will always be greater than of an individual. I work with highly trained professionals who know the advantage of maintaining SA. On assignments we always travel, eat and spend most of our free time together. Chances are with a group, that a potential threat or problem may be recognized way before an individual may recognize it. Early recognition allows more time to be spent on making a decision or taking a course of action. When you are alone maintaining SA is much more difficult.

·         You do not have your normal tools. If you carry a firearm on a daily basis and you depend on it as a primary tool for self defense then you must adjust your behavior when you have been deprived of that essential tool. Under extreme stress we all will go back to what we know and how we were train with our normal tools. If you are not able to carry your normal tools then adjust your behavior and keep in a higher state of awareness then you normally would.  

·         You are experiencing extreme emotions. When your emotions become a factor situational awareness takes a back seat.  I have seen and know personally the impact of extreme emotion on SA. SA in any high risk activity will decrease when emotion is involved even when it is overwhelming happiness. Extreme emotion of any kind impacts your perception of the situation and therefore your decision making opportunities. Extreme emotion has no place in critical decision making.

·         Your senses are altered. Anything that can alter your mental state or your behavior will change your perception of the world and will impact your SA. Do not drink or take medications and carry firearms. A common cold can impact your ability to make day to day decisions. When your senses have been altered your ability to perceive reality takes more time and may not even be possible.

·         You are responsible for another individual. The impact that active children have on SA is great. Children require your attention and many times your hands and arms. This also applies to older people who need help just getting around. Anytime you have the responsibility for people your SA will suffer along with your normal plan of avoiding or confronting a lethal threat. How many times have you trained to draw and shoot your firearm while holding a child or helping an older individual getting in or out a vehicle?

·         You are with individuals that have hazardous attitudes. At time you may be with a group of people you do not know very well. It is not unusual for individuals in any group to have a hazardous attitude. Your SA and the ability for you to avoid conflicts or a conflict situation can be impacted by these types of individuals. Hazardous attitudes include, confrontational, macho, sexist, racist, loud and annoying to the general public and outgoing contempt for law enforcement. In this situation you are in a compromising position and you must remove yourself as soon as possible so that you are not impacted by the action of others.  

Anytime you enter into a situation where more than one Watch Out is in play you are in an uncertain situation and must look at modifying your behavior and spend what ever time is needed to regain and maintain your awareness. Maintaining situational awareness does not happen by accident, we must continue to analyze our SA, filter out the unnecessary information and keep our senses active. We must try and keep an accurate perception on what reality really is. Situational awareness is difficult to maintain when everything is in your favor, anything that changes your perception works against you in making critical and time sensitive decisions.

Keep an eye on these SA Watch Outs, if you see them showing up, stop and reassess the situation. If you let them build up and do not have a plan to reevaluate, think again, they will make the difference between life and death.

 About the Author:

The Ultimate Decision
Part 5- Understanding Fear, Be Aware and Be Prepared

Since the day we were born we have been exposed to risk, hazards and the dangers of everyday life.  These risks, hazards and dangers have created FEARS in all of us. Many of these fears are do to our values, upbringing and experiences. As concealed weapon carriers we must be prepared to make the Ultimate Decision at any time but Be Aware, the FEARS we have may interfere with being Prepared to make that decision.

BE AWARE

We all make decisions on an everyday basis that have a measure of risk and hazards. When we get out of bed in the morning we are taking a risk. When we eat we are taking a risk. When we get in a vehicle we are taking a risk at a very high level. Each decision we make exposes us to hazards. If you are driving you may encounter debris in the road or a drunk driver. When you take the risk of getting up in the morning you take the risk of falling in the shower or the risk of burning yourself with a cup of coffee. These are all acceptable risks and most of the time the hazards are recognized and avoided. When you strap on your pistol you are taking a risk that you may have to use it. The risks of carrying a concealed weapon far out way the hazards of being in a crime ridden area. The risk will always be there but many of the hazards we might encounter can be mitigated therefore eliminating some fear. Being aware of our fears will give us a better understanding of what risks we are willing to take and what hazards we can mitigate.

FEAR

Fear is broken down into two categories:

·         Irrational Fear is a fear that does not have a factual background. The fear of snakes is such a fear. There are few snakes that are dangerous but many people are frightened by any snake. The fear of guns is another irrational fear. In most societies guns are feared and the people with guns are feared. The gun control organizations in the United States have tried to instill the fear of guns into everyone. These fears are instilled by describing risks and hazards that do not really exist.

·         Rational Fear is a fear that is instantly recognized as a risk to your safety or to your life. A Cobra curled up around your feet when you wake in the morning would be a rational fear. A 357 revolver pointed at your face would be a rational fear. Both examples involve snakes and guns but only a rational fear can be described as a threat.

As a person who carries a concealed weapon how do you prepare for these risks, hazards and Fears? Training and education is the answer. The education of a new gun owner is a great example. Most new shooters start with an irrational fear of guns. Guns are viewed as risky, dangerous. The media has done an excellent job of describing the hazards of guns; accidental shootings, kids gaining access, death squads in foreign countries and the hazards of the dreaded assault rifle. This onslaught of misinformation has created irrational fears, a fear with no facts to back it up. Education is the cure for irrational fears. A week working with snakes in a zoo would educate most anyone on the risks of snakes and the hazards in handling snakes. A 4 hour gun safety class can pretty much describe the risks of gun ownership and what hazards to look out for and can go a long way to eliminating the fear.

PREPARE

Education can eliminate irrational fears and training can help prepare someone to deal with a rational fear. Once you understand what the dangers are you will understand what roll fear has. Fear can be mitigated by training at a high level of stress. If one of your rational fears is being assaulted in your neighborhood by multiple gang members you should educate yourself on that hazard to avoid such an encounter yet prepare by training at an extremely high level of stress for that exact encounter. Preparation in equipment and tactics are important but mental preparation is essential if you are going to be successful during the Fog of Conflict.

The risks and hazards of life will never go away but they can be mitigated to an acceptable level. Irrational fears will always exist but education can eliminate most of them. Rational Fears are a factor in our violent society but training can prepare you to act in a decisive manner with an attitude to prevail at all cost.

It is up to you.  BE AWARE and BE PREPARED!

Carryconcealed.net

THE ULTIMATE DECISION

Part 4 - Sun Tzu Factors in Concealed Carry

Sun Tzu was a Chinese Philosopher of war. Over 3000 years ago he wrote the Art of War which laid out what it takes to win wars.

So what does this old dead guy have to do with concealed carry and having to make that Ultimate Decision?

Sun Tzu determined that even with the strongest warriors, best logistics, weapons and tactics the outcome of any conflict depended on the individual human mind. In any high risk confrontation certain factors, Sun Tzu Factors, will make the difference in the outcome. Sun Tzu demanded that each warrior understand himself. This self understanding would lead to understanding the adversary and would create an advantage which would be difficult if not impossible to overcome.

• EVERYONE HAS STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES.

• THERE ARE THINGS YOU CAN AND CANNOT CONTROL.

• THERE IS DANGER AND OPPORTUNITY IN EVERY DECISION WE MAKE.

• THERE ARE KNOWNS AND UNKNOWNS.

The human mind will be the deciding factor in making a life or death decision. Taking the Sun Tzu Factors into consideration we must strive to understand ourselves and train to the extent that we can feel the stress time after time. The more stress under training the less stress under fire. Train as we fight, search out the unknowns, use our strengths, work on our weaknesses. Understand the dangers and the opportunities of each action we take and take charge of what we can control. When we reach out to understand each of these factors we will understand our selves a little more and will be able to see a little deeper into that Fog of Conflict during a lethal confrontation. This very well may be the difference between life and death.

About the Author:

Any comments or questions can be directed to the author at DAN@carryconcealed.net Dan Battreall International Training and Consulting specializes in training US and international high-risk organizations in the art of leadership, human factors and decision making. Dan has also been on the training staff at Mission Centered Solutions, Franktown Co. since 2000. MCS works with high-risk organizations in creating Operational Synergy by developing skills in leadership, decision making under stress and rapid teambuilding. Dan lives with his wife of 36 years in a remote area of the Sierra Nevada in California.

THE ULTIMATE DECISION

Part 3 - Communicating Under Stress

Communications is the foundation of all human factors involved in making the ultimate decision. Communications can build trust or result in the primal reaction of fight or flight. A lethal conflict cannot be considered a normal communication situation. All communications require a sender and a receiver. During a potential lethal conflict you must be the sender and the adversary the receiver. Sending a decisive message is taking personal control of the situation. You must show the threat that you are not pray but a confident fighter. Communication is not all verbal. Studies have shown that 60 to 80% of all communications is non verbal. Your verbal and non verbal messages must match. If you are giving hard loud commands but your posture does not match those commands you will not be taken as a fighter.

Direct Communications

During high risk conflicts there are certain communication skills that will help you clear that Fog of Conflict yet add uncertainty, friction and the feeling of danger to your adversary. The most effective skill you can acquire is direct communications.

• Take an aggressive defensive posture, a fighting posture.
• Look directly at the threat, try and make eye contact but continue to scan for additional threats.
• Use a direct statement, take control.

1. Use an "I" command for an opening statement, this shows ownership of the situation.
2. Describe the threat or the person who is threatening you.
3. Use the appropriate emotion.
4. State the situation.
5. State the outcome if the threat continues.
6. Restate and summarize if you have time.

Example:

1. "Stop!"
2. "Scumbag!" You do not have to be politically correct; you are not a police officer.
3. Use a firm and loud voice, demonstrate command of the situation so that others may hear and help or call for help.
4. "I don’t want you near me, go away!" Using I takes ownership of the situation.
5. "If you continue I will protect myself!" This states the outcome.
6. "Stop or I will shoot!" This restates the command and states the outcome.

During this direct statement you must also match your verbal commands with posture and action.

1. Stop, arm extended palm out.
2. 3, 4 Hand to firearm, draw, rotate.

5. State the outcome, ready position.
6. Restatement, ready position to extending to fire.

The impact of direct communication in a potential lethal conflict is the ability to instill fear. Fear will create a perception of Danger, Uncertainty and Friction. This will influence behavior and may defuse the situation. The objective is to create a situation that is not worth the risk for anyone to continue down this path.

A direct statement is a tool to use when you are forced into a conflict. After you have done everything to avoid a confrontation do not hesitate to take command of the situation. Any potentially lethal conflict will benefit from a simple and clear plan. Direct communication should be part of that plan along with firearm safety fundamentals, tactical training and knowing how you will perform under stress. Keep it simple and straight forward and practice all aspects of your plan until it is instilled into your memory.

Carrying a lethal weapon is an awesome responsibility and may require you to make that Ultimate Decision. Do not take this lightly, understand the dangers and prepare yourself. It is your responsibility as an armed citizen to act when necessary. If you are not totally prepared to accept the responsibility, then don’t carry a lethal weapon.

About the Author:

The Ultimate Decision

Carryconcealed.net

 Part 2 The Fog of Conflict

“Every time you step in a river it is a different river.” Chinese proverb.

Every potentially lethal conflict is different. Many factors are the same but many of the factors will be different. Some things are certain the lethal conflict will be fast, chaotic, bloody, violent and stressful. This is described as THE FOG OF CONFLICT.

The Fog of Conflict has 3 elements, danger, uncertainty and friction.

Dan Battreall Training and Consulting/MCS

Danger

There are hazards in everything we do but a lethal firearm conflict is a dangerous situation. There are additional dangers in a gunfight than there is a knife fight or a fist fight. A gunfight may endanger not just the primary people in the conflict but may endanger bystanders and property.

There is also the danger of the unknown. No one knows how they will behave during a lethal conflict. The overwhelming stress will take you into your subconscious, where you have never been.  Many people fear the worst and are prepared to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Others may be in denial, “That it will never happen to me.” Then others will maintain the confidence in themselves, training and experience. Danger will always exist but we can not let it consume us. When confronted with danger, hit it head on and never give up.

Uncertainty

In the Fog of Conflict you will find that uncertainty is certain and the abnormal is normal.

Uncertainty will enter into every facet of concealed carry, and this uncertainty will impact your ability to function in the Fog of Conflict.

You could be:

·        Uncertain of your firearm

·        Uncertain of your ammunition

·        Uncertain of your skills

·        Uncertain of your situational awareness

·        Uncertain if you are making the right decision

This uncertainty will lead to hesitation and hesitation will lead you deep into the Fog of Conflict. A simple, rehearsed and overwhelmingly aggressive plan can help mitigate these uncertainties.

Friction

Friction is the third element in the Fog of Conflict. Friction will come in the form of:

·        Conflicting personal values

·        Conflicting religious values

·        Cultural conflicts

·        Conflict on how you were trained and how you will perform

Coming to terms with Friction can be very difficult. Friction like Uncertainty can lead to hesitation which will lead you into the fog. Uncertainty has no place in a potentially lethal conflict.

Seeing in the fog

So how do we improve our vision in the Fog of Conflict? We improve by reducing the impacts of Danger, Uncertainty and Friction. Can these elements be eliminated? NO, but we can mitigate each one by understanding the reasons they occur.

First of all, clear intent of why we carry is absolutely essential. Only one answer to the question of why we carry will reduce the Fog of Conflict: To be able to immediately stop a lethal threat.

This is the bottom line. This must be the intent on why we carry, the only intent.

Second, we must eliminate some of the unknowns which will reduce uncertainty and friction which in return will reduce the danger.

To eliminate the unknowns we must try and increase our knowledge of the following:

·        Know yourself, your values, your strengths and your weaknesses.

·        Know your equipment, how to use it, know the capabilities and the limitations.

·        Know your surroundings

·        Know when to seek help

·        Know your escape routes at all times

·        Know what not to do

·        Know where not to go

Once we come to terms with ourselves and conduct our lives to try and mitigate any threat, we will then begin to prepare to enter the fog.

Remember that the FOG OF CONFLICT will always be there but emotionally driven training and experience can create those memory slides which will build confidence. Confidence will let you see your strengths and weaknesses. Your training and experience will determine how deep you can see into the FOG OF CONFLICT and this will make the difference between life and death.

Carryconcealed.net

The Ultimate Decision

This is the second article in the series and part 1 of Decision Making. In this first part "Matching Awareness to Reality" will be covered.

So you have completed your application, you have taken your 4 or 6 hour class; you have bought a gun and a holster. You are now cool; you can carry a firearm anywhere you go. The question to ask is WHY. You have already accomplished the WHAT, now we will look into the HOW and WHY and the consequences of that decision.

Why did you get a CCW? To provide protection for yourself? Your family? How about, because you can. These are all valid reasons but this decision has just changed your life forever. You now have the ability to take a human life in a split second. Are you prepared to do just that?

Understanding that the ultimate decision may cost you your house, wealth, family security and maybe your freedom. The ultimate decision is not like any other decision you will ever make. It is not a decision like "What will I to wear to work?" or "Where shall I go to lunch?" A normal cognitive decision can take several minutes, an hour, maybe longer to make. The Ultimate Decision will take less than 2 seconds, will come from your subconscious, will be violent, bloody, chaotic, stressful and will have lasting impacts if you survive.

Decision making

Each individual makes decisions differently. Decisions are based on your perception of reality (awareness), experience and training. To become prepared, it is your responsibility to increase your skills to build awareness and to add skills through experience and training.

Building awareness is complex but experience has demonstrated to us that skills can be developed to increase your ability to build situational awareness. Situational awareness is based on your ability to gather information and recognize the impact that this information may have.

Under stress people react differently than normal and your ability to gather information may shut down, start to filter incoming info or dwell on a certain part of the information. Tunnel vision, denial and not listening are examples of shutting down information gathering ability.

Your amount of experience, described as memory slides, is very important. To develop memory slides emotion must be present. This is why vivid memories are available of events like 911, combat, personal tragedies, weddings, birth of a child or maybe your first car. When emotion is involved memories stick in the subconscious to be used when you are stressed and having to make a critical decision. This is called Recognition Primed Decision Making.

What does this have to do with concealed carry?

To prepare yourself for making this ultimate decision without hesitation you should strive to build up your availability of memory slides. Since most of us don't have to make these types of decision on a regular basis the only other way to build these slides is through training.

More memory slides in your slide tray increases your ability to match your awareness to reality. The closer your awareness matches reality the more accurate decision you will be able to make when under stress.

The decision making cycle is the same for everything you do. You make thousands of decisions a day. Normally all of your day to day decisions are conscious decisions.

The decision cycle is:

• You perceive a situation. You try and understand it by gathering information. This is situational awareness, your ability to try and match reality.
• You will search your memory for an experience or training that matches your perception of what is happening. This is where a more experienced or a person with more training has the edge.
• Your experience and training will determine your options. There may be several or there may be none.
• During a critical situation time will be the determining factor to the outcome. The action you take or don't take will influence the outcome of the situation but the decision making cycle will continue as new or different information is gathered and your situational awareness changes.
•  

The difference in making a day to day decision or the decision to use lethal force is that the lethal force decision is time sensitive. The critical decision comes from your subconscious and must take place in seconds or your ability to prevail will rapidly decrease.

Mission Centered Solutions, Franktown Co

Remember, emotion is the glue that makes memory stick!

To build memory slides through training emotion must be present.

Trigger time is important to build your fundamental skills but advance training skills must have a purpose and must include emotion. All of the popular advanced pistol training courses available include emotion. This is usually through the stress imposed during drills. Also most people provide their own stress through fear! Fear of the unknown, fear of making a mistake, fear of asking a stupid question or the fear of dropping your weapon.

As you deal with these fears you will free yourself up to experience the real reason for emotion based training:

TO BUILD MEMORY SLIDES SO THAT YOU CAN INCREASE YOUR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS WHICH WILL ALLOW YOU TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT WILL BE ACCURATE, APPROPRIATE AND IN TIME TO MEET THE THREAT.

About the Author:

Training, equipment and overall preparedness are important factors in carrying a concealed weapon. History and studies have shown us that no matter how much you practice, how good your equipment is the determining factor during a potential lethal conflict is the human mind.

The subconscious mind is not used on a regular day to day basis and is not very well organized. Sometimes, you may have noticed, the subconscious is activated by a smell, noise or maybe a song. Why? Memories are brought up from the subconscious if a stimulus activates that particular thought. This happens by stimulating an emotion. Emotion is what makes memories stick. During a stressful lethal conflict you will be functioning in the subconscious. You will function as your subconscious directs you.

The Human Factor

Human Factors are what drives success or failure during a high risk situation. During a potential lethal conflict everyone drops into the subconscious for decision making. Your experience, type of training, your personal values and attitude will determine weather you can maintain situational awareness and be successful during a lethal conflict.

Developing these human factors to the extent that you can function in the subconscious and be able to utilize your training, experience, understand your personal values and attitudes is the goal for anyone involved in having to make quick critical decisions.

How do we develop the Human Factor?

Gain experience. If you carry concealed, carry everywhere and all the time. Talk to others that carry concealed. Read about the ins and outs of concealed carry.

• Train as you fight. Train to meet concealed carry goals. Practice under stress. Shooting targets for score, shooting from a rest at 25 yards is fun but of what value for concealed carry? Once you have mastered handgun fundamentals work on moving and shooting, speed and smoothness in presentation, low light conditions and other real life scenarios. Stress develops emotion and emotion makes training stick.
• Know yourself. Look deep into yourself. Why do you carry? Can I really take another life? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Are you overweight or are you a tri athlete. These questions will determine what you need to work on to make progress. You must come to terms with yourself before you can understand why you behave the way you do.

Stress is not fear but fear can cause stress.

Knowing your stress reactions are a key component to understanding yourself. Everyone reacts to extreme stress differently but primary stress reactions are:

Physical

Heart rate increases

2. Respiration rate increases
3. Profuse sweating
4. Muscle tremors or twitches
5. Nausea
6. Failure of body functions

1. Disordered/confused thinking
2. Loss of orientation to time and place
3. Harder to access memories
4. Changing beliefs to match your actions
5. Transformation of detail or expectation error (seeing what you expect or want to see, instead of what is actually happening)
6. Tunnel vision (decreased awareness)

1. Irritability or emotional outburst
2. Nervousness or erratic movements
3. Change in usual communication patterns (excessive use of humor, excessive talking or becoming non-communicative)
4. Regression or action tunneling (reverting to simple tasks or freezing up)
5. Panic (losing control of all normal behavior)

Attitudes

Understanding attitudes is another area of the Human Factor that can impact your decision making under stress.

Healthy attitudes include strong work ethic, respect for your fellow man, integrity, character and a never say die philosophy.

Hazardous attitudes include anti-authority, macho façade, complacency, sexist, racist, and impulsiveness.

Healthy attitudes will increase your ability to function under stress. Unhealthy attitudes will become daily barriers and will decrease your ability to make clear decisive decisions under stress.

To develop experience, training and yourself, you must move these factors into the subconscious. This can only be done by creating emotion. Emotion makes these memories stick. This may be difficult but it is essential, in creating subconscious memories that you can use when you are stressed and must act to save your life.