Black_Belt_-_October-November_2019

Ph

oto

by

Pe

ter

Lu

ed

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behaviors. In other words, pay atten-

tion to what experts say it looks like

when a terrorist or criminal is conduct-

ing preoperational surveillance. Pay

attention to what they say a “probe”

(a non-intrusive test undertaken to

gauge the awareness, alertness and

potential responses of victims) looks

like. Pay attention to what they say bad

guys do just before they strike.

In this way, you will be able to prevent

many attacks from even starting.

This was excerpted from Kelly

McCann’s Combatives for Street Sur-

vival. Order your copy of this best-sell-

ing book at blackbeltmag.com/store.

Go to madrills.com for information

about his streaming-video courses.

physically occupy space before they

attack. They have to see their victims,

so they’re usually in the victims’ line

of sight. They’re just not noticed by

the victims, who are preoccupied,

disinterested or disinclined to believe

any violent crime could possibly hap-

pen to them.

IN THE MONTHS FOLLOWING 9/11,

Tom Ridge, the newly appointed

director of Homeland Security, fre-

quently said, “Americans have to be

vigilant and stay watchful.” But he

never said what to be watchful for or

what specifically there was to be vigi-

lant about.

What he meant was Americans have

to be increasingly aware of targeting

C

RIMINALS ARE APPREHEN-

SIVE. They don’t want to be

seen by eyewitnesses or be

caught. These things mani-

fest in demeanor and movement that

can be identified once you know what

to look for and once you develop

sound situational awareness.

It’s even true in the case of an

RPG. On the battlefield, a situ-

ationally aware soldier looks for

anomalous movements at or around

tactically sound firing positions. He

scans for furtive actions made by

people who know they’re going to be

shot dead if they’re seen shoulder-

ing and aiming an RPG. That kind

of apprehension and fear results in

erratic movement. Soldiers are more

watchful at choke points where it

would make sense for any weapon to

be deployed against them.

Situational awareness doesn’t

negate the possibility of attack,

but it does lessen the potential for

being surprised.

THE APPLICATION of situational

awareness is universal. Whether

it’s in a hostile, war-torn country or

here in the United States, you should

look for the same kinds of behavior

around the choke points that exist

wherever you are. For example, in a

permissive environment, an ATM

continually presents targets of

opportunity — people with cash — for

criminals. You should have a height-

ened sense of situational awareness

around ATMs because, in effect,

they’re choke points and criminals

will exhibit similar behaviors due to

their apprehension.

An insurgent is going to seek

a tactically sound firing position

for the deployment of his RPG. A

criminal is going to seek a tacti-

cally sound position from which to

rob you at an ATM. A soldier scans

for furtive movement in Baghdad,

and you scan for furtive move-

ments in Baton Rouge. Both of you

have a heightened sense of situ-

ational awareness around the types

of choke points common in your

respective environments.

Victims often say things like, “I

didn’t see him before he hit me.”

Actually, it would be more accurate to

say, “I didn’t notice him.” Criminals

Americans have to be increasingly aware of

targeting behaviors. In other words, pay attention

to what experts say it looks like when a terrorist or

criminal is conducting preoperational surveillance.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 ƒ BLACKBELTMAG.COM 31