By Hammerhead

The world is becoming louder and “noisier” than ever before. This year seems like one of the noisiest ever simply because it is an election year, and that by default means you are going to have a whole lot of people talking but a majority of them not really saying anything worth remembering. That not only goes for the current Presidential campaigns but also the recent Terror Attack in Brussels. I have never heard so many people talking out of their ASS as I have the last couple of days, seriously. In a nutshell, a Whole lot of Talking but Not a Whole lot of thinking.

The main thing the Civilian Operator needs to remember during these times is not to get DISTRACTED from your Priorities. Now I cannot verbatim lay out what your particular PRIORITIES are as the MAN of your Household, but I can say that as a general rule they most likely include ENSURING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY OR LOVED ONES EMOTIONAL & PHYSICAL SECURITY.

We are living in very uncertain and dangerous times folks, no doubt about it. We face more threats from a larger variety of sources than ever before in History. Terrorist, Drug Violence, Home Invasions, Cyber-Threats, Economic Collapse….the list could go on. The point I want to make to you is that irregardless of the NUMBER and TYPE of THREATS out there in the WORLD, the bottom line is all that matters is the SAFETY of your FAMILY and LOVED ONES.

In times like these it is easy to become overwhelmed if you are not careful to what you are allowing to enter your mind. If you are letting the NOISE of the world effect you, it is time to COMPARTMENTALIZE and REFOCUS!

Tune out the Noise..right now. Turn off the Talking Heads on the TV, Turn off Your Phone and the Laptop, Forget The Facebook and Twitter Feed (if you do social media) for a few minutes and go find a quiet place. For me, all I have to do to accomplish that is to walk about 100 yards in any direction and I am ALONE in the woods. Now, once you are alone, consider what is most important to you as a human being. I am not talking about GOALS here, Or THINGS, I am talking about WHAT YOU INHERENTLY VALUE AS A PERSON. For most folks this is going to be their spouse and kids or their girlfriend/boyfriend, nephews and nieces…whatever. Point being, it is somebody you Love and care about deeply and cannot imagine life without them.

OK, once you have that framed in your minds eye, imagine somebody, several people, coming to hurt them, to kill them, to blow them up, to rape them. Not a pleasant thought, I know, but stick with me. Now once you have that disturbing mental image, hold it there. At this point I want you to ask yourself a very simple, pointed question;

ARE YOU CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITIES AS A MAN, RIGHT NOW, TO PHYSICALLY PROTECT THEM FROM THIS THREAT YOU ARE IMAGINING?

If you are HONEST with yourself, and are REALISTIC about the kind of threats that are out there, you will hesitate in your answer, and that is OK, for even the best trained, most deadly professional operators out there know that their is no such thing as being truly “100% prepared” for a threat, there are only DEGREES of READINESS.

Having a consistent, realistic and CHALLENGING combat training routine is the only way to ensure your readiness to PROTECT what you value and hold dear stays tip-top.

I got into the habit a while back of Constantly examining my combat drills and training to make sure it was both REALISTIC and that it lined up with the most viable THREATS currently out there.

We have a habit as human beings to fall into “ruts” and “patterns” when it comes to combat and firearms training…we like to do the things we are good at and avoid the things we are not. This can lead to a stale and eventually an UNREALISTIC routine.

One of the ways to Push yourself into finding areas you need improvement is to practice “Situational” Drills, or drills that SIMULATE a certain scenario. Car Jacking, Home Invasion, Attempted Kidnapping, Active Shooter, Knife Attack, etc. All Of these are REAL WORLD situations that armed citizens find themselves in everyday.

By using these types of  Situational Drills along with Force-on-Force training with Airsoft or Simmunitions, we can escape the “Square Range” mentality that plagues most shooters and actually see for ourselves where we need improvement. I will tell you up front it is often a humbling experience, but remember, this is NOT about petting your ego, it is about YOU becoming a better Civilian Operator so you can defend Yourself and Your Family when the time arises.

After all, isn’t that why you are doing all of this in the first place?

Stay Alert, Stay Armed, Keep Your Priorities Straight and Stay Dangerous!