Situational Awareness, the be all end all?

[cedartop]

https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/06/25/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-i/
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/20...nd-positioning-part-ii-the-tueller-principle/
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/10/16/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-iii/
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/10/18/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-iv/

 

[Cameramonkey]

tagging for later

 

[cedartop]

Become Situationally Aware

 

[Mgderf]

Cliff notes?
I don't click on unknown links.

 

[cosermann]

Cliff notes (my interpretation)...

Werner:
1. Awareness is important. I.e. pay attention to what's going on.
2. However, tactical/strategic positioning (proactive when possible) is also important, to the extent (Werner believes) that awareness likely won't "make up for" an indefensible position.
3. In other words, situational awareness can only go so far to makeup for a position of disadvantage. In terms of the thread title - situational awareness is not the be all end all.

Haley:
1. "Search and assess" or threat scanning during our training/practice can become a B.S. checkbox. Actually look/see/pay attention. Don't just swing your head from side to side. Think. (Rest of the video was demo of some drills.)

FWIW - The first 3 links are to Claude Werner's blog (worth reading in their entirety - lots more in there), and the last one is to a YouTube with Travis Haley. If you hover over the URLs they go to the same place as the text shows. So, low risk.

Interesting corollary - being aware/one's awareness is something that's projected (unless you make a conscious effort not to). That is, people can tell whether you're paying attention or not. As such, one's awareness can itself be a passive deterrent. See article below.

Projecting Situational Awareness as Passive Self-Defense | Vinjatek

A natural or subtly theatrical show of your situational awareness can act as an incidental preventative form of passive self-defense. “The ultimate objective of self-defense is not to win or overcome, it is to prevent.” -John Cain Years ago in preparation for an op, I had to learn the...

vinjatek.com

 

[Ingomike]

Teach your family situational awareness…



Serious post, scariest day of my life. I got a text saying “HELP” from my fiancée at 1:37 while she was in an Uber to her bridal shower. We live in UWS and the party is in Chelsea. It’s a straight shot south. She realized the Uber is taking her to East Harlem. I check location she’s at 108th and Madison. I call her. No pickup. I call again. No pickup. I call NYPD at 1:41 to tell them the situation. I’m freaking out. The destination is a literal straight shot south - You just don’t go to East Harlem to get to Chelsea from upper west side. You don’t do it. I’m scared af something terrible is happening At 1:47, my fiancée calls me. She opened the car door while the guy was driving. He stopped the car in confusion. She jumped out and he sped away. She checks Uber app and he never clicked in that he picked her up. When she asked which route he was going, he was silent and sped up. He was taking her into East Harlem to do who knows what. She gets somewhere safe and calls a *new* Uber to get to bridal shower. She calls me. We stay on phone the whole time.

 

[Twangbanger]

Teach your family situational awareness…



Serious post, scariest day of my life. I got a text saying “HELP” from my fiancée at 1:37 while she was in an Uber to her bridal shower. We live in UWS and the party is in Chelsea. It’s a straight shot south. She realized the Uber is taking her to East Harlem. I check location she’s at 108th and Madison. I call her. No pickup. I call again. No pickup. I call NYPD at 1:41 to tell them the situation. I’m freaking out. The destination is a literal straight shot south - You just don’t go to East Harlem to get to Chelsea from upper west side. You don’t do it. I’m scared af something terrible is happening At 1:47, my fiancée calls me. She opened the car door while the guy was driving. He stopped the car in confusion. She jumped out and he sped away. She checks Uber app and he never clicked in that he picked her up. When she asked which route he was going, he was silent and sped up. He was taking her into East Harlem to do who knows what. She gets somewhere safe and calls a *new* Uber to get to bridal shower. She calls me. We stay on phone the whole time.

Get a damn car maybe?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Get a damn car maybe?

Its NYC.

 

[Ingomike]

Get a damn car maybe?

Not all of our families live in podunkville…

 

[Jackson]

He could have summarized all four articles together with: "Situational awareness is not just about seeing what’s going on; it’s also about interpreting that information and what to do about it."

I guess I thought this was fairly obvious. "Situational awareness" is just a fancy term for looking around and taking notice of what's around you. Who's around? How are they acting? Where am I? Where can I go? How can I move? Where are the exits? What kind of behaviors should I expect from people in this environment? Etc, etc, etc.

You look around and gather the information, but if you don't do anything about the information you take in, then what was the point?

Sometimes I think we over-analyze these things. He points to some interesting studies about specific social distances and relates them to interesting predator-prey response distances in the wild. I don't want to say that information isn't valuable, but it's also something most people should recognize if they've ever been in a tense social interaction or done any significant FoF training. You become more sensitive to distance when someone might be on top of you soon. I guess I think learning this by experience is more valuable than reading conceptual articles about it.

The articles briefly mentioned some ideas on how to move or where to position yourself to improve outcomes, but it didn't elaborate. It also didn't really elaborate on how interpret the behavior of others. Another key bit of info in decision making. This is the kind of information that would make for good discussion. The idea that you should use information taken in during your "situational awareness" to improve position is probably not lost on people. How to do that effectively... And training or practicing to actually do it, that's something I think most people don't have.

 

[Jackson]

My girlfriend and I were in Dallas in December. One evening we decided to walk from our hotel to Reunion Tower. It was maybe 6 or 8 blocks. It wasn't late, but it was Winter, so it was dark. I didn't know the area well or which streets were safe, and which weren't. On our way we passed by an animated homeless man. I saw him a couple blocks away yelling at someone, dancing around. We crossed the street and tried to avoid him.

As we went passed, he crossed the street and decided to follow us. We sped up hoping he would lose interest. He was a couple blocks behind us. He starts talking, maybe to himself, maybe to us. I'm not sure. Either way, he follows us for about five blocks. Not knowing the area, I walked myself into a bad position and I couldn't avoid him. I told her to keep going and I turned around to confront him. Thankfully, he stopped after I started walking toward him.

This was a failure in positioning like he talks about in the article. It was also a failure of awareness. If I'd looked into the area up front, I probably could have learned to avoid the area I was walking through. (A local I talked to later said that area was known for this sort of thing.) I could have known I was walking into a dead-end street and changed course earlier if I'd known the streets. But I didn't know any of that. My situational awareness in the moment and trying to avoid this guy didn't do me any good because I didn't know where to go, or to avoid his area altogether. Situational awareness can start well ahead of being in the situation.

 

[cosermann]

He could have summarized all four articles together with: "Situational awareness is not just about seeing what’s going on; it’s also about interpreting that information and what to do about it." ...

Yep, remember a class with Glen Stilson and Cecil Burch a few years ago.

During an excellent module on MUC, one of them said something to the effect of, "Awareness alone is insufficient without a plan to execute when a contact is identified." (from my notes, probably not a direct quote)

So, while awareness is vitally important, even necessary, awareness alone is not enough.

 

[Indyhd]

Yep, remember a class with Glen Stilson and Cecil Burch a few years ago.


So, while awareness is vitally important, even necessary, awareness alone is not enough.

Well it would seem that SA is the basis of everything needed, as nothing else will help you if you are confronted totally unaware.

 

[24Carat]

Spend 3 years as an armored truck driver and messenger. SA becomes second nature !

 

[Amishman44]

Teach your family situational awareness…



Serious post, scariest day of my life. I got a text saying “HELP” from my fiancée at 1:37 while she was in an Uber to her bridal shower. We live in UWS and the party is in Chelsea. It’s a straight shot south. She realized the Uber is taking her to East Harlem. I check location she’s at 108th and Madison. I call her. No pickup. I call again. No pickup. I call NYPD at 1:41 to tell them the situation. I’m freaking out. The destination is a literal straight shot south - You just don’t go to East Harlem to get to Chelsea from upper west side. You don’t do it. I’m scared af something terrible is happening At 1:47, my fiancée calls me. She opened the car door while the guy was driving. He stopped the car in confusion. She jumped out and he sped away. She checks Uber app and he never clicked in that he picked her up. When she asked which route he was going, he was silent and sped up. He was taking her into East Harlem to do who knows what. She gets somewhere safe and calls a *new* Uber to get to bridal shower. She calls me. We stay on phone the whole time.

Another reason why I never use UBER...one never knows into whose private vehicle one is climbing into and how safe or well-cared for the vehicle (and driver) are?

Situational Awareness (SA) is about not just looking, but seeing what is going on around you, in your safety bubble and beyond, identifying potential and actual threats, and knowing and being able to
a) egress the area (avoid the conflict in the first place),
b) seek / find appropriate shelter, or
c) fight / defend oneself!

The best self-defense fight you'll ever win in the one you're never in!

 

[Expat]

Actually paying attention seems to be hard for some people. But that shifting your head around side to side looks really tactikewl.

 

[gassprint1]

Actually paying attention seems to be hard for some people. But that shifting your head around side to side looks really tactikewl.

Most have to have their face buried in the cell phones like they're guna miss something. I complain all the time to my daughter about the college kids at ancilla college. They walk from the dorms across the road, into the parking lots to the main buildings without looking up. It's amazing nobody has been hit by a car yet.

 

[Twangbanger]

Another reason why I never use UBER...one never knows into whose private vehicle one is climbing into and how safe or well-cared for the vehicle (and driver) are?

Situational Awareness (SA) is about not just looking, but seeing what is going on around you, in your safety bubble and beyond, identifying potential and actual threats, and knowing and being able to
a) egress the area (avoid the conflict in the first place),
b) seek / find appropriate shelter, or
c) fight / defend oneself!

The best self-defense fight you'll ever win in the one you're never in!

This was the essence of my comment about "getting a damn car," above. You would never tell a daughter to get into a car with a stranger. The fact that "I really need to get somewhere," and "ride hailing" has replaced taxicabs, changes this not one bit. When you get into an Uber, you give up a lot of control over your situation. Carpool, rent a car, anything but taking an Uber.

If Uber seems like your only option...you're not examining your options completely enough. Not having a car, not figuring out a carpool option, not renting a car, all comes down to the same thing: I don't want to spend the money.

Well...what is your life worth?

There is always another way. If there isn't...your planning sucks.

 

[Amishman44]

This was the essence of my comment about "getting a damn car," above. You would never tell a daughter to get into a car with a stranger. The fact that "I really need to get somewhere," and "ride hailing" has replaced taxicabs, changes this not one bit. When you get into an Uber, you give up a lot of control over your situation. Carpool, rent a car, anything but taking an Uber.
If Uber seems like your only option...you're not examining your options completely enough. Not having a car, not figuring out a carpool option, not renting a car, all comes down to the same thing: I don't want to spend the money.
Well...what is your life worth?
There is always another way. If there isn't...your planning sucks.

Absolutely... The company I work for has suggested using an Uber for a couple of miscellaneous shuttle moves around town and I refused, instead calling a nephew to come pick me up and transport me around! On the flip side, there have been many Uber drivers attacked or robbed by the people they transport, which is dangerous as well!
Me, I teach my kids never to get into a stranger's car and never to let a stranger into their vehicle!

 

[turnandshoot4]

https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/06/25/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-i/
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/20...nd-positioning-part-ii-the-tueller-principle/
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/10/16/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-iii/
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/10/18/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-iv/

When he referred to Dr. Aprill in the present, I had to go look up the date.