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SHARPEN YOUR SKILLS
Tactics—
the art of planning ahead
[ BY GEORGE HARRIS ]
Most of us who carry concealed do so in preparation for
that dreaded event in which we have to actually use our
brain and our skills to get out of harm’s way.
The road to being fully prepared
is endless in that there are an infinite
number of scenarios that
we could possibly face. Even though
the task of preparation for every conceivable
event seems insurmountable,
perfecting the basics of handling and
marksmanship will take us a long way
toward achieving success when the time
comes to perform.
Along the trail of learning foundational
skills, we should be thinking of
tactics and how we would integrate the
two to better achieve our goal of survival
in a potentially lethal confrontation. It is
true that the objective of shooting is hitting
the intended target, but in a potentially
lethal confrontation there is a high
likelihood that bullets will be incoming
as well as outgoing. This added dimension
will change the objective to surviving
the confrontation intact while dominating
your adversary to the point of no
longer being a threat to you or anybody
that you may be responsible for. This
will allow you to escape danger and let
the local authorities do their job with
a lesser likelihood of endangerment as
well.
In the world of the soldier, police officer
or other armed professional, the
word “tactics” or “tactical” takes on a
meaning of some super secret information
that only a select few can know.
Betrayal of that knowledge to others on
“the outside” may result in being thrown
out of the organization and or ostracized
for sharing the information with
unauthorized members of society.
For as long as I can remember, “tactical
training” had the connotation of
being for law enforcement and military
only, civilians need not apply. Today, in
some circles it is still that way. But, if you
think about it, by definition (Webster’s
Collegiate: the art or skill of employing
available means to accomplish an end),
tactics and tactical training employ similar
techniques no matter what your position
in the gun carrying world might
be, armed professional or responsible
citizen.
Before I give the wrong impression,
I do want to clarify that there is a need
for training exclusive to the armed professionals
of the world, in that in some
cases the tools they use are exclusive to
them (explosives as an example). And
too, the disposition of the contact with
the adversary is almost always to contain,
control, eliminate, and/or pass off
to the next level of authority. As a responsible
citizen with no legal authority
to do the above, there is little reason to
train for something that you would in
all likelihood never use, and if you did,
would allow the courts and lawyers to
have a field day.
The focus for the responsible citizen
is to use whatever means they have
available to them to get out of the mess
that they are in, without being hurt or
injured, and leave it up to the professionals
to handle the disposition of the
situation.
What are we preparing for?
As I see it, tactical training should be
directly applicable to a perceived goal
as it applies directly to the individual.
We must first start by thinking tactically.
One of the first thoughts that we might
have is, what specifically are we preparing
for? If we can nail it down to one or
two concerns, that narrows down the
training focus considerably, and allows
the train-up time to transition to practice
and sustainment fairly quickly. If,
on the other hand, we want to prepare
ourselves for any and all possibilities,
we have a broader scope to cover and
will have to prioritize what we are learning
in the order of likelihoods of actual
incidents taking place.
The first part of effective tactics is
thinking. Avoiding a confrontation is a
battle won the easy way.
Using your knowledge of the area that
you inhabit to stay out of known trouble
spots is a good example. If you live in one
of those trouble spots or have to travel
in, or through one of those areas, think
about the best time to make your move.
More often than not, when there is the
greatest amount of light and inhabitants
available, the more inconspicuous
you can be, therefore the less likely to
be singled out for attack. As you travel,
look for danger signs and be prepared
to take a detour should you find yourself
approaching an unsavory situation.
Always have plan “B” and “C” ready to
implement should the need arise.
Places to think about
Another consideration is where we
spend on average one third or more of
our lives. It’s a four letter word called
“work.” We see on the news almost every
day where a disgruntled employee “goes
off” and starts shooting or destroying
the place. If that happened where you
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USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n MAY/JUNE 2011