Situational awareness

itdirectorpaul

New member
Can anyone recommend ways to practice situational awareness? Any good reads out there? Any exercises that you do?
 
Look around you when you're out and about and ask yourself how would you go about robbing/attacking/assaulting you? What avenues of approach, places to hide would you use? ........ now ask yourself how can I avoid being attacked in just such a manner?

When you look at a person pay attention to how the carry themselves, where are they looking, how are they dressed, can you see their hands?

Hopefully this will get you started. Forget the forest, look at the trees.
25fhzlv_th.jpg
 
Situational awareness is standing on a set of railroad tracks, seeing a train coming toward you on the tracks, realizing the train will not stop and will hit you if you do not move, and then stepping off the tracks to avoid being hit. I've got some articles in work on this subject, but you can look at a page on my site, defconccw.com, called "Defensive Intelligence" for more input. Not trying to sell anything on that site. My articles will be posted here on USA Carry.

James Barnhart
 
Walk into a room and quickly survey. Then walk back out and write down all the details you can recall.

Have someone change things up, add an out-of-place object, etc. After all, point of having good SA is to notice when things are abnormal and potentially dangerous.
 
Go to a check cashing place, and just people watch, good place to see people in motion is around money, but let the clerk know what your doing there!!
 
One of the best things you can do is just slow down your pace so you can observe more on your periphery.

Begin to take the time to look around for potential areas where a "threat" could come from.

Keep you head on a swivel, keep checking to the sides & on your "6".
(Hopefully, Just like you do when you get behind the wheel, you're just taking it to a MUCH higher level.)

You also need to take the time to "THINK"!


Most people go through life on autopilot & don't think about the places they go, routes they take & time they will spend be doing something. They go through life in tunnel vision mode looking only at the task ahead.

BGs know this & spend a LOT of time observing people who go through life blissfully unaware that a BG may be watching and just biding his time for the right opportunity.

Don't get me wrong, it's not just bad-guys (BGs) to which we need to be aware. It's other people who are going though life in tunnel vision mode; blissfully unaware of what's happening around them.


  • We've all seen those people with a cellphone stuck to their ear are texting away like madmen totally oblivious to anything else at all.
  • What about these same people OR, "some" older drivers who get behind the wheel endangering EVERYONE around them?
  • What about all those people in a helluva hurry to get NO WHERE? (How dangerous are they?)


ALL of these people can get us into trouble in a thousand ways; "IF" we don't have our own SA up to par!

These are also the types of people bad-guys look for when choosing victims. This means you can find yourself in a BAD situation; EVEN if you aren't the intended target.

The mere fact that you are in close proximity to these people can be dangerous if a BG picks one of them to be their next victim.


Like I said; "Just slow down your pace and start to look around a little more."


Keep in mind:

People with good SA seem to go though life at a slower and more deliberate pace. They also tend to be more methodical in their actions as well as their speech.


-
 
Situational awareness is more than watching for approaching threats of physical violence; it should include doing things to preserve your life by other means as well. Overweight? Smoke? Get speeding tickets? If so, you lack crucial aspects of situational awareness. You can practice all the time.
 
Situational awareness is more than watching for approaching threats of physical violence; it should include doing things to preserve your life by other means as well. Overweight? Smoke? Get speeding tickets? If so, you lack crucial aspects of situational awareness. You can practice all the time.

Well, does my glock make my butt look fat?

Seriously tho, SA is another way of saying that you are (properly) in condition yellow.
 
Before you go into that room/office/store/shop look through the windows(w/o being obvious). At the door be observant of what is going on inside-don't walk into trouble. While inside watch the doors and if something does not look right put cover between you. Try to maintain a 100' perimeter of observation around you-and farther according to your position. Certainly do not let anyone suspicious with in your "circle" without going to high alert. Had my carry out and hammered back on an old college bud last fall in a parking lot. He "eyeballed" me and started walking directly toward my truck. Had to apologize for being at the ready with him but did not recognize him. He laughed and showed me that he was carrying also. We chuckled about it and said how sad it is that we have to be on "alert" constantly today.
 
Front Sight has some excellent material. They teach a color coded situational awareness protocol.

Romans 8:37
 
When I was involved in teaching Women's Self Defense classes (among others) I stressed the value of playing the "What if?" game. What if I were coming out of the supermarket with my hands full of groceries & was attacked. What would I do? OK, What if I were looking ahead not at the glass doors (one of my pet peeves) but through them to the surrounding areas-could I avoid the situation? Instead of carrying bags in my strong hand, what if I kept that hand free to defend myself. Better yet, how about using a cart even though I have just a few items. That would leave both hands free & give me on object I could interpose between myself & the Bad Guys. I would lead the class through a number of scenarios like ATMs, the bank (inside), parking lots and structures, elevators, etc. Once I got the class thinking along those lines specific to their individual lives I gave the assignment to challenge themselves to play this "game" throughout the following week everywhere they went as well as at home, and even while driving. We tend to spend a lot of time in our cars so why not recognize that as an area that needs special attention.

All of this would be coupled with fighting techniques that could be easily modified for varied situations.

Many of my students remarked that although they recognized certain high risk activities, like leaving work late and alone at night they hadn't thought it through to applying the same awareness to their other activities. Being out and about with children is an entire side discussion-in terms of protecting them from themselves & their own ignorance while limiting your own defensive moves. This presents a whole new set of "what if"s.

Finally, we would discuss what it takes to establish a new habit; about 30 days.

Incidentally, I found myself changing some of my own habits as a result of teaching this course!
 
Last edited:
I run a website dedicated to situational awareness, mostly for firefighters but it also contains valuable information for police officers and others who find themselves in high-stress, high-consequence situations. I conduct a program called Mental Management of Emergencies, dedicated completely to understanding situational awareness. The articles on the website are based on the content in the program (and they're free!). I hope this is helpful to you.

Dr. Richard B. Gasaway
Situational Awareness Matters!
Situational Awareness Matters!
 
Jeff Cooper introduced the Color Codes.
This is a good start.

Combat Mindset - The Cooper Color Code
The most important means of surviving a lethal confrontation is, according to Cooper, neither the weapon nor the martial skills. The primary tool is the combat mindset, set forth in Principles of Personal Defense.
• White - Unaware and unprepared. If attacked in Condition White, the only thing that may save you is the inadequacy or ineptitude of your attacker. When confronted by something nasty, your reaction will probably be "Oh my God! This can't be happening to me."
• Yellow - Relaxed alert. No specific threat situation. Your mindset is that "today could be the day I may have to defend myself." You are simply aware that the world is an unfriendly place and that you are prepared to do something, if necessary. You use your eyes and ears, and realize that "I may have to SHOOT today." You don't have to be armed in this state but if you are armed you should be in Condition Yellow. You should always be in Yellow whenever you are in unfamiliar surroundings or among people you don't know. You can remain in Yellow for long periods, as long as you are able to "Watch your six". In Yellow, you are "taking in" surrounding information in a relaxed but alert manner, like a continuous 360 degree radar sweep.
• Orange - Specific alert. Something is not quite right and has gotten your attention. Your radar has picked up a specific alert. You shift your primary focus to determine if there is a threat (but you do not drop your six). Your mindset shifts to "I may have to shoot HIM today." In Condition Orange, you set a mental trigger: "If that goblin does "x", I will need to stop him." Your pistol usually remains holstered in this state. Staying in Orange can be a bit of a mental strain, but you can stay in it for as long as you need to. If the threat proves to be nothing, you shift back to Condition Yellow.
• Red - Condition Red is fight. Your mental trigger has been "tripped" (established back in Condition Orange). You take appropriate action.
Also note that the Color Code was never meant to be a warning system. Rather, the Color Code was designed to be a mental crutch. It was designed to allow someone to "get over" the resistance that a normal person has in pointing a pistol at the center of someone's chest and pulling the trigger.
In short, the Color Code helps you "think" in a fight. As the level of danger increases, your resistance to shoot decreases. If you ever do go to Condition Red, the decision to use lethal force has already been made (your "mental trigger" has been tripped).
 
Common sense will get you a lot farther than most things--just watch where you are, what others are doing, and THINK what would I do if this or that happens. A failure to plan is a plan to fail---and to fail may mean your life/limb. There is a saying floating around: Be curteous but have a plan to kill everyone around you. I do not practice that-not to that degree. Getting older and like a stress less enviorment as much as possible. At night when I get out of a vehicle at home my carry is in my hand. Someone mentioned carrying groceries-by bud's wife had to drop her bags to draw--it saved her because she was ready.
 
Common sense will get you a lot farther than most things--just watch where you are, what others are doing, and THINK what would I do if this or that happens. A failure to plan is a plan to fail---and to fail may mean your life/limb. There is a saying floating around: Be curteous but have a plan to kill everyone around you. I do not practice that-not to that degree. Getting older and like a stress less enviorment as much as possible. At night when I get out of a vehicle at home my carry is in my hand. Someone mentioned carrying groceries-by bud's wife had to drop her bags to draw--it saved her because she was ready.
Glad to see that common sense is still alive and well. I am not saying that the replies to date are incorrect or offer bad advice, but, in summary---who, what, where when, how---they all have answers for SA effectiveness--just think about them, apply them when you are out and about and even when in your house. Simple common sense.
 
SA is when you are practicing it - the lack of SA is when you forget to practice it.
I always survey the situation walking in and out to my vehicle in a parking lot. But the other day as I was putting the last sack of groceries in the vehicle, a guy came up behind me that I didn't see - the empty shopping cart was between us. I was real happy he smiled and asked if he could have the cart. But it sure woke me up to the fact that I was not alert - better lesson than all the reading about SA that I could do.
 
Common Sense Is Not Common

Please bear with me as I'm thinking this through as I go.

Yes, common sense is THE answer. The only problem is that common sense is not necessarily common. I think it comes down to how one was trained to deal with life in general, whether that training came from parents, peer groups, society in general, or special interest groups. What is common sense among Police is different from that common to Librarians, for example. That of city-dwellers different from rural. Something is sensible, i.e., logical, only if one understands it rather completely, and something is common only through shared experience. Thus, we end up with disparate ideas of common sense. What my grandfather thought sensible would likely be quite different from what one finds common today. This extends to differences in nations and cultures as well. How my parents lived their lives influenced my impressions and values and as a consequence my common sense wasn't completed until I was much older and had my own life experiences. Actually, I doubt that one's body of understanding is ever really complete.

Combat is an area of life that most never experience or expect to experience. Therefore, little thought is given to it and the common person has no logical frame of reference with which to judge his actions. This of course is where training comes in. To the well-trained, an up close and personal event of an attacker swinging a ball bat toward his head, it is only "common sense" to move in closer. Without that training however, common sense would tell you to get away.

It comes down to the question, "What is truly common in life?" Then there is this: Humans tend to view their own experiences as being common and average, with maybe some excursions into the unique. Therefore we tend to expect others to think as we do and are amazed, confused, irritated, and angered when they don't.

So, as I've often thought before, the single most important element leading to success in life, from personal to Global must surely be education.

I'm sure this could have been said more elegantly (and succinctly).
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
49,523
Messages
610,665
Members
74,995
Latest member
tripguru365
Back
Top