I have been remiss in writing my blog. For that, to my friends, I sincerely am sorry. Sometimes I just don't have anything worth sharing. And I've started another one, and couldn't get my thoughts straight, and never finished it, but it posted.
That being said, when I first started thinking of this post, it was more geared towards my Law Enforcement and military friends. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought of how much it applies to everybody.
I was watching the Military Channel last night, and they had a program about the most dangerous sniper missions. And one of the segments discussed a sniper mission in Iraq, where the sniper and his spotter were engaging targets (don't you love euphamisms?) KILLING BAD GUYS, for four days in one location. And this car full of bad guys approached... Long story just a bit shorter, the sniper shot the driver of the vehicle, and the front seat passenger, who was "laden down with magazines and guns and an RPG" from 500 yards away. The sniper said something that to me, was very telling. "I just remember saying 'I trained better than you did. Next time, train better.'"
Next time, train better. What else can be said? For my Law Enforcement/Military friends, you know that annoying training that makes you say, "If I have to sit through this crap ONE MORE TIME..."? That training may save not only your life, but the lives of the people that you are trying to protect. The most important thing that we have is the brain in our heads. You can have the best equipment, most modern weapons, optics, fast cars, bright lights, etc, etc, etc, but if you can't use it properly and safely, then what good does it do for you or for your partners?
And for those of us that have been doing this, day in and day out, for YEARS, and "I don't really need to learn this crap again", have you ever watched COPS or any of those other 'reality' shows, and thought, "What the heck is that guy thinking? He's going to get himself killed."
I have. I have thought it, and I have done stuff that I have looked at later and said, "Next time I do something SO STUPID, somebody headslap me." You can learn something new every day. If its something that you read in a police magazine, online on any of the police sites, or something that you learn from your partners, you CAN and SHOULD learn something new every day. When is the last time that you read court decisions from SCOTUS or SCOPA? (Or whatever State you may work in?) Besides updates, that is?
The bad guys are learning new stuff every day. They are researching us, our tactics, our rules and regulations, our habits and even specific officers. They are carrying weapons when they are out there, doing the nefarious deeds that we are trying to catch them doing. Cops have been ambushed while off duty, at home, with their families. What are you doing to make sure that you aren't helpless if a bad guy comes through your door on Christmas Eve, like what happened to a national police trainer? Do you carry off duty? Do you vary your patterns? Do you train for what you and your family should do if an 'unforseen event' occurs?
I can't say this enough: TRAIN! Play those mind games, the 'when/then' games that you were taught in the academy. Train every time you can. Take training that is interesting to you. Your department is NOT responsible to make sure that you get home at the end of your shift. You are. Train, train again, then train some more. Someone much more intelligent than I once said "The more you sweat in training, the less you will bleed in combat."
To my non-LE and non-military friends, this applies to you as well. What new equipment do you use at your job? How proficient are you with it? What new rules have come into effect for you? What can you do to make sure that you do the best job that you can? Training is a continuous, fluid, thing.
To all of my friends, be safe, and remember to have fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment