When police dogs bite onto a jacket sleeve and find no resistance, or when they encounter a limb that goes limp, they are trained to bite elsewhere. For this reason, a trainee must, in effect, feed an arm to the attacking dog -- otherwise, he will be bitten elsewhere. This calls for courage, requiring a trainee to directly face the attacking animal, and to resist the impulse to turn and run.
Photo by Gavin de Becker & Associates
Trainees learn to keep moving the arm or leg the dog is biting; this keeps the dog from attacking elsewhere, but also keeps the dog agitated. Just when a trainee gets used to one dog, a new dog is introduced.
Our goal is to continue escalating the situation, adding ever more stress and uncertainty. The trainee is next placed in the back of a van, and then the dog is sent into the vehicle to attack in that claustrophobic environment.
Photo by Gavin de Becker & Associates
Next, the trainee is placed in a very small, pitch black building. The animal enters the building through a long tunnel, and then attacks the trainee from behind. The trainee has to exit the building with an attacking dog on his leg, arm, torso -- wherever the dog has clamped on.
Photo by Gavin de Becker & Associates
Graduates of this training are sworn to secrecy about the dogs so that upcoming academy students will not be aware of what's coming. We were concerned that the effectiveness would be reduced by advance knowledge -- but we've decided to include the information in this book because of its possible benefit to other protectors and organizations. We've learned that no matter what one might know in advance, people facing an angry and motivated attack dog will reliably react just as Nature has prepared them to: with fear and stress. Students overcome the natural impulse to run or retreat, and they learn to actually advance toward the danger ("feeding" an arm to the dog). To whatever degree they are stressed, so to that same degree will they be relieved and encouraged (literally inspired with courage) after prevailing through the exercise. Said one, "After you've fought with a few of those animals, grappling with a man is tame by comparison."
You Are the Predator
One of the most important truths you can bring with you into attack situations is the knowledge that you are the predator, not the prey. At the moment of attack, particularly a handgun attack, the attacker is not attacking you. In fact, from the Moment of Recognition onward, the reverse is true: The protector is the predator of the attacker. Why does this distinction matter so much? Because the way the body assigns its resources when you are predator is completely different from how the body responds when you perceive yourself as prey.
Bruce Siddle, author of Sharpening the Warrior's Edge and Warrior Science, tells us that "Comprehending the Predator vs. Prey mindsets is the key to successful 'operator' performance, and can be the secret to making the assassin miss."
If you perceive yourself as prey, your body is likely to throw you into debilitating stress reactions associated with an imminent threat to survival. Siddle explains: "In early man, these reactions played an important role when survival was threatened by a large predator: The body tuned out peripheral information, focused on the immediate threat, and increased blood flow to muscle groups that support gross motor skills (running, jumping, etc). Essentially, the stress reaction enhanced man's ability to become fast, quick, and strong when necessary -- but not without a cost to high level analytical processing and the ability to execute fine, complex, and precision motor tasks."
It's valuable to perceive yourself as predator at all times during a protective assignment, not just during an attack, and there's a particular challenge at the moment of attack: the inclination to say it isn't happening, which slows down a protector's arrival at the Moment of Recognition. Through training, protectors can learn to surrender to the reality of what is occurring. This doesn't mean surrender to the attacker -- but rather surrender to the situation, which is a strategy in itself. Surrendering to the situation lands you in the situation, as opposed to thinking about the situation. Landing in the present moment gets us out of our heads, where we tend to resist the present moment (e.g., I wish this weren't happening, this isn't fair, this is wrong, why did this happen, etc).
Attack simulation training is critically important so that protectors facing an actual attack have the memory of attack in their minds and cells. We want protectors to say, in effect, "I recognize this, I've seen this before." Otherwise, an attack is apprised as a new thing, and like all new things the mind would want to get involved to assess, evaluate, measure, judge, categorize.
Surrendering to the reality of what is happening means we accept the present moment, and that is where our resources and solutions and brilliance are waiting for us: in the present moment. Until this surrender happens you really aren't there at all, yet once the surrender occurs and you land in the present moment, you can be propelled far ahead of unworthy adversaries. Odds are that a well-trained protector will know this territory far better than the attacker -- after all, the well-trained protector has done this before, has been here before. It's here in the present moment that protectors get tactical inspirations, and see options they might not otherwise see. As with athletes in what might appear to be impossible situations, these options do not come from thinking; they come from being. Indeed, the so-called "tactical mindset" is useless once things go awry, because any mindset is itself out of the moment.
It's true that initially, a committed attacker is likely to be more present in the moment than the protector. That's because the protector might first deny, or think, or get angry, or judge the attacker and the situation as bad, when in fact, we could thank the bastard for waking us up out of thought, out of our plans and ideas -- and bringing us back to the moment where we can resume our role as predator.
Even just to observe, "Ah, an attack," is to stop planning, wanting, wishing, and all the other ing's that are so inferior to be-ing.
Wanting -- the attacker wants the successful assassination, the protector wants to prevail -- the wanting itself actually prevents the outcomes we want. The surrender, the acceptance, that's where the action is, and where the options are revealed, where we get to be part of what's happening.
If you always retain the posture of predator, then as you move toward an attacker, you'll know you are not the one at risk. He is. He is the prey, you are the predator. An attack might produce stress for the protector, of course, however to the degree you perceive yourself as predator rather than prey, you'll get physiological benefits without the release of stress hormones that cause deterioration of combat skills. A big difference, as Siddle explains: "The predator, unlike the prey, is smart, precise, and deliberate."
Among the various predators in Nature, the best analogy for protective work is offered by Dave Grossman in On Combat, when he describes the sheepdog and the sheep. The sheepdog is a predator dedicated to protecting his flock from any other predators. Grossman explains that nothing but a predator can hunt a predator: "Sending a sheep after a predator is merely home delivery," he says.
The predator role best matches the outcome you want -- and best summons the resources you'll need to reach that outcome.
Do It Now
Well-trained protectors bring Zen to the art of protection when they see suspects through direct intuitive insight, unmediated by the Mind. Thus, ZAP is not a state of mind, it is a state of no mind.
As learned from the TAD exercise discussed in Chapter 2, a protector's nearness to someone who intends to attack is a key element in determining outcome. You want to be close. This means you don't wait for anything more than your intuition; your suspicion about someone is enough to compel action. If you can move closer to a suspect now, do it now. Move forward, fast forward into the Now. Reassessing is not an action.
In the Now, you can be in position (and in time) to act on pre-incident indicators, rather than merely waiting for an attacker's Moment of Commitment. What, after all, makes someone an attacker? An attack. But if you wait for an attack, you will likely have w
aited too long. Though many people think the mission is to wait for an attack and then respond, the job is not called "Waiter" -- it is called "Protector." The job is to proactively Protect all the time, literally to protect all the time that you'd need in order to respond. You do this by keeping the distances between yourself and your emergency destinations as short as possible, and by having no separation between yourself and the Now.
Your attitude, your approach, the sense of confidence and purpose you bring to your activity is what people observe when they say you are good at it.
Samurai Master Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), "A Book of Five Rings"
Appearances Matter
When you are fully present in body and mind, attentive but not anxious, and well grounded, everyone who observes you will sense your readiness, including the most important observer of all: the one who came here intending to attack. There will be a current that can actually be felt by people in your environment, and you will be current -- in the most basic meaning of the word: belonging to the present time.
Currency shows in a great protective team, and that true readiness is the ultimate deterrent. There is a vitality in the present moment that other moments just don't have -- and an attacker can sense when you are fully in the moment. Let him feel that you are not only present with him, but pre-sent ahead of him.
Effective protectors radiate confidence, and people who consider attack can sense that confidence. They can also sense attentiveness, displayed by how a protector's eyes move (or don't move), by body language, and by positioning. They can even read the rate of a protector's respiration. How you look -- literally how you look at people -- can enhance deterrence.
When you combine readiness with ideal positioning, then you are actively protecting, not just waiting -- and if that man you've just moved closer to has attack on his mind, you can change his mind using your attitude alone.
Remember, he is already full of reasons to hesitate. Give him one more reason: Your readiness. Make him think, for thinking stalls acting and throws him out of the Now. Or make him rush, for rushing impedes accuracy, and throws him off balance.
Protector attributes that display currency and readiness:
Appears interested, involved, engaged
Doesn't have unnecessary talk with anyone, including other protectors
Not fussing with clothes, wires, earphone, or other equipment
Hands are free and at the ready
Coat is unbuttoned for easy access to equipment
Makes eye contact with anyone and everyone in the protectee's immediate environment
Shows suspiciousness: Let suspects feel you are "on to them" even if you are not
Enforces the rules, immediately intercepts anyone entering spaces that are established as off limits, even when there's no apparent danger
Physically fit and exuding an air of confidence
Assumes a strong position and a balanced stance
Throughout his diary, Arthur Bremer+, who shot Presidential candidate George Wallace, teaches us the value of appearances. He relates that one crew of protectors is less effective than another because they have "no suspicions" (sic), and he describes some protectors as "bored gargoyles." He also writes about protectors whose appearances and positioning did impress him (and deter him), referring to a "smart agent" whose effective actions he called "a nice trick." Ultimately, he blames "beefed up security" for his failure to kill his target.
The Compendium cases show all too clearly that having protectors near attackers does not automatically deter or prevent attacks. Among many others, there's Israeli Prime Minister Rabin (#251), Mexican Presidential Candidate Colosio (#229), Rajiv Gandhi, (#177), all fatally wounded while protectors were directly next to the assailants, and in at least one case, actually touching the assailant at the instant of the attack (President William McKinley #1394).
Thankfully, there are many more cases (perhaps thousands) where attacks were deterred by the conspicuous currency of protectors -- by the appearances that matter. And currency can do more than just deter attacks; it can actually prevent an attack -- in the truest definition of the word prevent: depriving the person of the "power or hope of succeeding."
An Alternative Universe
Some sects of Tibetan Buddhists believe that merely by being intently focused on the Now, and not doing anything physical, they can influence and even change future events. The idea that intention alone can change the physical world might at first seem farfetched, yet you see it happen in protective work all the time: If someone considering an attack senses that you are fully present (pre-sent), even if you do nothing more, your currency can influence and change his actions.
When you think of all the ways that attacks could resolve themselves, you can see that many outcomes do exist in a sort of alternative universe. That phrase strikes many people as fantasy or science fiction, yet there's a more grounded way of looking at it: The alternative universe is merely the infinite range of possibilities and potentialities arising out of this present moment. And this moment right now is our last opportunity to influence what happens next.
For example, in this moment you can choose to walk right or left, and that seemingly small decision changes everything: What you'll see, whom you'll encounter, what thoughts will arise, what options you'll have, what options you'll forfeit. Figuratively and literally, a universe of possible outcomes emerges, and the only time in which we can influence events is the current moment.
Talking about such things as a "tactical mindset" might be more welcome to the Western mind than considering an alternate universe, however, during an actual emergency, any mindset is itself out of the moment. There's no benefit to anything being set, least of all the mind.
When not present in the Now, you become aware of events and options after they occur, after they are no longer possibilities or opportunities -- and for our purposes as protectors, that's too late.
When we really land in the present moment, that is where options are revealed; that is when we're propelled far ahead of unworthy adversaries. And sometimes, there, we get a tactical inspiration that doesn't come from thinking. It comes from really being in the event as it is still occurring. In effect, the Now is a door to the universe of possible outcomes -- and we are truly protectors only when that door is kept open.
* * *
[?] Stress inoculation is a complex topic which we are only briefly touching on here. Readers will benefit from the far more thorough exploration available in two excellent books: Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's book On Combat, and Bruce Siddle's Sharpening the Warriors Edge.
+ Consider reading An Assasin's Diary, Arthur Bremer, 1972; it contains many observations useful to protectors.
"I am, at the very most, 35 feet from my target. In the 5th row. Too far to risk. Need a sure shot. Can't kill Nixy-boy if you ain't close to him."
Arthur Bremer, shooter of presidential candidate George Wallace
Space Chapter 4
Essential Lessons of this Chapter:
Every location contains inherent advantages and disadvantages; whatever hand you are dealt can be improved by advance work, set-up, and positioning.
For most types of attack, 25-feet of space between attacker and target just about assures the protectee's survival.
In team sports, the game is primarily about moving objects through space. Similarly, most attacks on protected persons are about moving objects through space -- but the objects are usually bullets.
In football, baseball, hockey, basketball, rugby, and soccer, the whole team seeks to prevent an individual from reaching a goal. Even though many team members might be involved in the overall effort, there are times in every game when it comes down to one person charging through or around a whole group of opponents. Those competing might be gifted and capable athletes, the teams might have trained together for years, they might be supported by a variety of advisors and coaches and technologies -- and yet still they cannot reliably prevent that one person from pr
evailing. Even though everyone knows the opposing team's precise intent, and everyone knows roughly what strategies they'll apply, and everyone sees it happening -- they still can't reliably stop it from happening. Take the task of interfering with a player carrying or lobbing an obvious object like a basketball, and compare it to the task of interfering with a bullet discharged from a small, concealable device. One quickly grasps just how challenging a job protectors have signed on for.
The Rules of Public Figure Attack
The analogy of team sports and protection weakens when it comes to rules. In sports, the rules are agreed upon and then honored equally by all competitors. Not so in attacks on protected persons. Favorably, however, and perhaps surprisingly, it is protectors and not attackers who have the most influence on the rules of public figure attack.
Just as in sports, there's a court or field, a definable space that will be the setting for the protector/attacker contest. Ideally, protectors will determine the line from which an attacker must start. This is done by modifying environments with cordons, rope-lines, barricades, tables, and through manned enforcement of these boundaries. Protectors can usually decide where people will be located within these boundaries, where they will wait, line up, sit, and stand -- and these decisions become the rules. Those who deviate from these rules call attention to themselves. We want that call for attention to occur at the earliest possible moment, which usually means from the farthest possible distance.
As we've seen in earlier chapters, nearly everything in protection is indivisibly linked to the always-present factor of time. Space too derives most of its significance from the time it takes to traverse it. But space is also relevant to our mission in several important ways that are independent of time:
Just two seconds Page 8