Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. With the world covered in ¾ water it would be absurd to not know how to swim. A world that has major conflict on every continent, where the state is losing power to decentralizing ideals, and when chaos reigns in the face of cheapened human life, it is even more absurd to not know how to fight. The opponent who can end the fight the fastest is typically the winner, and the fastest way to win a fight is to not get into one at all. Col. John Boyd’s OODA Loop has revolutionized aerial combat. This mode of combat came from an idea of getting a pilots face out of his instruments and looking at his target while getting it into his gunsight. OODA broken down goes as follows:
Observe: watching and being aware of the changing situation, looking for threats and moments of opportunity. This is where most of the general public loses to what Nixon called “the thugs and hoodlums that have always plagued the good people.” That is why they are often referred to as sheep. They constantly remain unaware of the wolves in any given society. When a threat has made itself known, you can move onto the next step.
Orient: The sooner you can observe a threat, the more time you have to orient yourself to face said threat. With the average time of a violent encounter lasting only 3-5 seconds, this could be dearly missed. It’s better to catch a pop-fly with a baseball glove, no matter how your body is contorted, than it is to catch it with your head. If you do manage to catch it with your head though the batter is still out. If you have missed the observe, thus minimalizing, if not eliminating the orient, you still have a chance to win a conflict. It will just be much more and needlessly painful. What will determine whether you live or die can be found in the decision.
Decide: the decision can range from taking a longer route to avoid a perceived danger, to deciding where you want to get stabbed because you have control of an assailant’s hand. You could choose to walk an extra half block to avoid going down an ally, because you have observed the shadows, and you oriented yourself to continue walking. You could also be so involved in the text conversation of your phone that you willy-nilly-ed your way down the ally, and oriented your back to the meth addict crawling out of a box as you walked by. At this point it’s infinitely preferable to be stabbed in the lower abdomen than to have a shank driven up between your ribs into your heart or lungs. To truly excel at decision making it is necessary to acquire training. There are many schools popping up around the country that train people for tactical decision making founded by former LEOs, veterans, and contractors. Training can be expensive, but it can save yours and other people’s lives. The expense also acts as a weeding out tool to find who truly wants to better themselves, and therefore the community. Do your research, save your money, attend multiple schools. The next step is even more greatly enhanced with training.
Act: in a dogfight, when you have an enemy plane in your gunsight, you shoot him down. It is exceptionally rare that the act will ever be this simple. Imagine yourself as a Highway Patrol trooper of your state. You notice a man walking along the interstate and you pull over to offer him to get him to the next exit and advise him to take the highway which has less traffic. As you pull up behind him, he turns to see you and shouts “I’m not going back to prison!” pulls out a 9mm, and starts shooting your cruiser. You hesitate though. Even after he has fired half a dozen rounds at you, there is still one thought that is restraining you: you don’t want to be the cop that “executed” a homeless black man on the side of the road. Again, training is of the upmost importance.
I’m writing this article because a man was recently murdered very near to where I live. A 30 year old man was assaulted by a hoodlum in his mid-twenties while the other assailant videoed the conflict. They then posted it to social media. The man died from the encounter at hospital. The investigation is ongoing as of today (06/29/17), and I don’t have any more details than the local news. I live in a very peaceful part of the country, and any news like this in my community is appalling. Knowing simply that he was ambushed, he failed the OO of the OODA Loop. I put myself into his situation. I found myself suddenly dazed because of a blow from behind. Face down in the gravel of an ally, while the second blow came, I would have drawn my CCW, rolled over, and fired into the attacker. I may have or haven’t seen his accomplice with the phone, but if I had, I would have seen something in his hand and fired on him. After a reload, and collecting my senses as I got to my feet, I would be planning to get away from the area. Only after I felt safe I would call the police and prep myself to be arrested.
I don’t say these things out spite or hate of the accused. They may have disrupted the calm of the community in one of the most painful and horrific ways. They may have harmed a family I don’t know. I still hold no contempt form them in the words I say. I can say I know what I’d do because I have been in that exact situation in training. Whether words were exchanged and the perpetrators decided to act beyond an argument, or this was another case of the “Knock-Out Game” does not matter one bit.
Get trained, get a correct mindset, and begin making your community a better place.
Recommended reading: Principles of Personal Defense by Jeff Cooper, Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram, Patriot Fire Team Manual by Paul Markel, The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli, and The Four Generations of Modern War by William S. Lind.
