Awareness and tactical situations????

[Neil Hawkins]

Ok, we started this in the knife fighting thread and as Gregory pointed out we were getting way off topic. I don't think we actually resolved anything though, so I'd like to explore the subject a little more.

I have to admit that my background is primarily military, and whilst I was operational I was never in what you would call combat. However there were very real dangers on many of the patrols we did, especially those against drug plantations. So whilst my experience may be little compared to the average LEO on the street, I have had the opportunity to train with and observe some of the worlds best special forces troops in my environment and I can say that they all had the quality that I termed zanshin, but we should perhaps call awareness.

Some had more than others, but all had it. Kit mentioned hypervigilance, which is slightly different in my opinion. To me hypervigilance is something that you switch on or off as the threat level increases and decreases. As the assault team enters the room it goes on so that they are supremely aware of what is infront of them. Now as Kit pointed out this can be dangerous, like looking through a rifle scope your perception is narrowed. The best troops know when to switch off this hypervigilance and return to a wider perception.

The awareness that I am talking about is not something that you have to put any effort into, your senses are hightened but not forced, you are not looking for something, you are just processing sensory data more efficiently. Now I can't really explain it better than that, I have experienced it and I have seen it in others, its not something you do, its just there.

I always considered that it was an instinctive thing that we all have from our days as hunter gatherers passed down and only tapped into when we need it.

Dave Lowry defined zanshin in one of his books and said that the person that loses his car keys, or bumped his head on a low shelf didn't have zanshin. It has to be there all the time, but if you have to work at it there's something wrong.

I will be the first to admit that it is very difficult to remain alert and vigilant for long periods (years doing recon/surveillance reinforced that) but I firmly believe that you can be aware all the time. It only becames hard when you concentrate and then you are starting to get into that hypervigilant tunnel vision syndrome that is dangerous.

Comments?

Does zanshin have a place in tactical situations?

If so how does it manifest?

Regards

Neil

[Kit LeBlanc]

Neil,

Probably a good idea to move this to a new thread. Of course, we should probably cut and paste all our "knife fighting" posts over here, then :).

We seem to have different definitions of hypervigilance. Hypervigilance as I am familiar with it is not at all desirable. I have been under the impression that hypervigilance is a negative (to use the IHS term mal-adaptive) response to combative stressors. It is the kind of thing that you get when you are suffering from PTSD. EVERYTHING is reacted to, started at, seen as a potential threat etc. That is NOT a good thing and is a huge waste of energy. You seem to be referring it to it more as a concentration of focus depending on individual circumstances (i.e. enter the room, clear my first corner then encounter a suspect in the room....)

Zanshin, situational/tactical awareness, an open and receiving mind both taking in and dominating the situation around you etc. certainly has a place in tactical operations, self defense, everyday life. I don't think anyone can argue that. The better you get at it the more you hone and learn to trust what you have in zanshin.

What I take issue with is the idea that one can and will maintain perfect zanshin at all times in every situation one encounters. Particularly emergent violent and potentially violent situations. It's nice in theory and conversations over beers (in safe, friends-only environments :)) but in the real world it doesn't happen. Martial training, I don't care if it comes from a "battlefield tradition" or from modern CQC does NOT give us extra-normal abilities in any area of combative endeavor; the minute we think it does we are setting ourselves up for a fall.

Certainly we can be aware all the time, but I would say that such awareness includes acknowledging that there may be things going on that we are not aware of, and that we are not impervious to being ambushed or set up because we were concentrating on another threat at the same time.

Second guessing other people who have taken hits, been hurt, etc. and saying that they did not have situational awareness is a valuable process, we can learn a great deal from it. But we have to take great care in assuming that our own training and even field experience makes us immune to the same sort of thing happening to us. Once we accept the latter, for whatever reason, we are shutting off the idea that we have weaknesses and vulnerabilities. This may even be a subconscious process and can be suicidal for someone "at the sharp end" on a regular basis.

De-briefing operations is S.O.P in the tactical community and at least on my team it is a difficult process. By that I mean everyone is expected to admit their mistakes and screw-ups honestly, and if it is not done the other team members will do it for you (well, they do anyone even when you recognize your own mistakes). Why? It makes the individual operator better and the team as a whole better.

It is also a tacit recognition that we can always improve our skills and tactical awareness, and yes, even the guys that think they are hotshots miss things and make mistakes. You can guess what people think of the guys that don't think they ever lose their zanshin or make mistakes.

Kit

[Neil Hawkins]

Sorry, got busy at work.

I'd like to hear more from Military personnel as I have a theory that this type of awareness is more prevelent when you are in jeopardy 24/7. I think that it is harder for many LEO's because they have the opportunity to relax nearly everyday (when they go home from shift).

Which is not to say that they are not capable of being aware, just that it is harder to sustain.

Any grunts out there that know what I'm getting at?

Anyway, yes you will get caught at times, but the awareness is such that rather than be shocked or startled by something you can react and respond more quickly. But it is amazing how often you can percieve a danger before you see it. I heard this so many times from military friends and read it in accounts of combat so often that I am sure it is a widespread phenomenon.

Nearly every instance I have heard of (in military accounts) where people have been caught is at the end of a patrol when they were thinking about other things. The fact is that their concentration blinded them to their senses and they missed the indicators. Fear and adrenaline can also mask the effects of this awareness.

I think this is another reason why Police have it harder, you are constantly worrying about innocent bystanders, media attention, following procedures and so on. All of these things hamper your ability to act instinctively and tap into your senses.

The only way to get it to work is to relax and 'centre' yourself. This is difficult and it only comes from good training, especially in teams. If you don't trust your team members, then you worry about what they are doing and lose that relaxed state.

Most of the time you have a long range radar, but as the threat increases the range of your senses decreases, you need to tighten everything up. So there may be things beyond your range that you are ignorant of (this is why snipers are such an effective tool) but your ability to respond to an immediate threat is good.

In all the situations that we spoke about so far the threat has been close and immediate. I still believe that these could have been averted. But without being there you're right it's all academic.

Regards

Neil

[Kevin73]

I don't know if this is what you were getting at or not, but after Ueshiba (founder of aikido) returned from the war. His students have related several examples of this.

They said that he challenged them to try and catch him unaware and no matter what even if he was sleeping he would wake up when they came into the room.

I have also read books on people who were special forces in vietnam and alot of them would talk about a combat sense that would warn them right before something happened.

I don't know if these are the things you are referring to or not, just thought I would toss those out there.

[William]

As an infantryman, we are taught as privates, and I now teach my privates, that the most dangerous phase of an operation is during the reconsolidation and reorganization, which is immediately after we have seized an objective or finished a movement to contact or something similiar. Notice I said "finished", which is really an error in thinking, and what makes that phase the most dangerous. Newer soldiers tend to forget that the enemy doesn't give a crap about your timeline. But there is a tendency to "let down" immediately after a successful mission - awareness and vigilance decreases and the adrenaline level drops and new guys, (and not-so-new guys who don't know what the hell they're doing), can even get chatty and jokey. That's the time you have to really put a boot in their ass to get them back doing the things they should be - pulling security, redistributing ammo, etc.

William Johnson