Combat Mindset

“...without a doubt, one of the most overlooked areas of training, that probably comes with the greatest amount of limitations, is that of the development of the winning mindset.’ – Police trainer Wes Doss 2003

Man fights with his mind. His hands and his weapons are simply extensions of his will, and one of the fallacies of our era is the notion that equipment is the equivalent of force.

So what then, is the “combat mind-set?”

Combat mindset is a state of mind which ensures survival during a critical incident. It is composed of situational awareness, anticipation, concentration, maintenance of dexterity and level headiness. Above all, its essence is self-control; self-control of your emotions and self-control of your body.

True combat mind-set is a balancing act of apparent paradoxes – one must have caution but also courage, view realism but have a capacity for delusion, have willingness to over train but have a beginners mind. People with a solid combat mind-set do not ignore the very real threat of dying; but they do not let it hinder their actions. They fix their determination on the achievement of the goal, but have presence of mind to change their direction quickly when the situation changes.

Why do we need Combat Mindset

The need for a proper mindset is clear; it is essential for personal safety in a profession that is characterised by dangerous, dynamic, unpredictable and ambiguous encounters. Proper training and combat mindset can help you overcome the paralysis caused by surprise. The stress of dealing with a critical incident will always have a psychological and physical impact on your ability to function effectively. You should always attempt to reduce stress. You can reduce the negative effects of stress by developing a proper combat mindset.

Stress

Any situation or action that inflicts physical or psychological demands on the human mind or body can cause stress. If a person is unprepared or untrained in dealing with a stressful situation they may panic, become confused, or make poor decisions when responding to a threat. Your tolerance for stress determines how effectively you will respond in that stressful situation.

For example, if a person is under great stress, their muscles can tense until they freeze or they cannot actively respond to a threat. Specifically, they can lose dexterity in their fingers and knees, which adversely affects their ability to move.

To reduce the effects of stress, you must be prepared to react confidently in a critical incident. If a person is confident in their ability to perform during the critical incident, they can continuously evaluate their surroundings and rapidly determine the appropriate decisions needed to survive the situation.

Five factors essential to combat mind-set

Awareness – Become attuned to your work environment and have a pre-determined mind-set; if this was to occur, I would do this,

Preparation – Attend scenario based training and reflect on the outcomes. Also consider ‘What if’ questions to yourself whilst you are at work,

Toughness – Mental and physical toughness means achieving your goal through whatever you face,

Immediate Response – You must respond immediately with the appropriate level of force, and

Focus – Stay focussed and single minded on the achievement of your goal.

Training for Combat Mindset

Physical and mental preparation is key to preparing yourself to be effective when confronted with a critical incident. When preparing for a critical incident, you must use situational awareness and be aware of your surroundings, especially environmental features that a perpetrator may use as cover and concealment. If you believe yourself to be in a ‘danger’ zone, then your mental alertness must increase and concentrate on moving through the danger zone effectively and efficiently.

How do we do this? Well, you must be physically and mentally prepared for the fight and you must always maintain proper control over you mind and body. To do this, we must train, then train again, and then train some more.

Once all the skills based training and knowledge based training has been completed; then scenario based training should be conducted with the scenarios gaining in momentum and complexity as the skill level of the operator increases. The scenarios must create a challenge to the operator and make them think and act decisively under pressure. Some key components when developing scenarios to create the combat mindset are:

• Experience level of the operator

• Use differing environments

• Use role players that the operator does not know

• Use video to capture the scenario for feedback, analysis and reflection

• Scenarios should be built on real-life encounters

• Have a list of small activities that can be thrown into the scenario at anytime; so each scenario is slightly different

• Scenarios should trigger the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)

• Each scenario should have a critical decision that needs to be made by the operator built into it

• Do team scenarios

Example of Combat Mindset:

From the book ‘The Sheriff of Ramadi’, by Dick Couch

“SEALs train incessantly for this kind of confrontation/up-close shooting, engaging multiple targets, and shifting from their primary weapon, a rifle or submachine gun, to their secondary weapon, a pistol sidearm. They drill in these shooting situations in different scenarios and situations, shifting from their primary to their secondary and back, over and over. Few ever have to put these skills, or the muscle memory developed in these drills, to use in extremis. On this day Senior Chief Dale needed all of that and more.

The three insurgents focused their attention and guns on Matt Dale. One of their initial bursts took off part of this thumb and knocked away his rifle. As he had done so often in simulation, Chief Dale reached for the pistol on his hip, a Sig Saur 9mm, and brought the weapon level. Then he began to shoot: sight picture and squeeze, sight picture and squeeze, sight picture and squeeze. While Dale was shooting them, they were shooting him. The Senior Chief was hit an astonishing twenty-seven times. Eleven of those rounds were stopped by his body armour. Sixteen of those rounds went through him. “It was easier to say where I wasn’t hit than where I was hit”. But when it was over, three insurgents lay dead and Matt Dale was still standing.

“I didn’t have time to think about it,” Chief Dale told me, “My primary (weapon) was gone before I got a round off. The rest was instinct and training. I knew I had to get my pistol and there it was, in my hand and I was shooting.” I asked him what he was thinking- was feeling. “Pure anger,” he said. ”I don’t remember much other than I was incredibly pissed off - that they had shot away my rifle and that they were shooting at me. I guess I was able to focus all my anger on the insurgents and stay in the fight. I didn’t stop shooting until the slide locked and they were all down.”

It’s impossible to be ready for every possible threat, but by getting knowledge, skills and experience you will improve your chances of survival during a critical incident. The key to survival in any critical situation is preparation. Any hesitation, doubt, confusion, or uncertainty can be life threatening. Proper mental conditioning is a critical factor in your ability to survive.

In my opinion, surviving any assault is 70% Mindset, 20% Skill, and 10% Luck.

By

Shane Cassidy

Chief Instructor - Military Combatives Self Defence

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