Already this year police officer deaths are up 42%. Worse yet, this deplorable trend
appears to be continuing and possibly will increase. There are many societal reasons why this is happening, yet every
law enforcement officer, both on and off duty needs an edge to protect themselves and the communities they swore to protect.
We are our Nation’s first line of defense.
Be it an active shooter, terrorist, militia
member, mentally ill person, disgruntled employee, person negatively impacted by the economy or some “wack job”
that just hates police or sees the police officer as the representation of the government. having a strategy that includes
better
observation and critical thinking skills
are the edge you need .
Jet fighter pilots have to make decisions
in hundredths of a second running sorties. They train and hone their observation skills to instantaneously adjust to
rapidly evolving dynamic and complex situations to instantly make critical decisions.
John
Boyd was such a fighter pilot and developed what the OODA Loop
(OBSERVE, ORIENT, DECIDE, ACT). By getting inside an adversaries' OODA Loop you can outpace him . These are
the same type of circumstances that LEOs can find themselves faced with in today’s environment and they can occur at
any moment without notice. Technology,
bigger guns and more procedures are not the answer...Developing your skills are what you need to survive and be victorious.
Look
at the diagram below of John Boyd’s OODA Loop and see where your prior training has been. As you will notice
most LE Training has been on the left side (decide - act) of the loop. To be effective you need to develop your skills on
the right side (observe - orient).
"The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is
more important than the shield and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental."
--John Steinbeck |