It’s Like Combat, Man

HOW POLISHED ARE YOUR SELF-DEFENSE SKILLS?

by One Pissed-off Vietnam Vet

(Dec. 4, 2011) — You know what? Being in combat is like nothing you’ve ever imagined nor experienced before. You can train until the cows come home, but when it really goes down, it’s a whole new world. The first thing that dawns on one rather quickly is that you’ve absolutely no place to go. It’s not like “Okay, everybody, I’m going to take a ‘Time-Out’, if you don’t mind. I’ll see you all later.”  Well, they do mind and you may not see anyone later, or they you. You can’t, like, “Call in,” or “I’m sick. I need to go to sick bay.”  The “I’m not feeling any too well” ploy doesn’t cut it: there’s no such animal as an antonym for “in combat,” like “out combat,” or “combat out.” Combat is a condition where you are or aren’t, and there are no half-measures.  A short fire fight gets the adrenalin pumping at full speed as a three-day affair.

But training does count, and it counts a whole lot, and the reason is that after you’ve trained and trained so much that you can do it with your eyes closed or when sleeping, THAT’S the pay-off. It’s like this: when the proverbial hits the fan, when everything is crazy in real-quick time, to have to take the time out to think what you’re doing may deprive you of the time you need to think ahead to plan “B” and not get tunnel vision and lock-on plan “A.” Training keeps you focused on the “what’s next,” because the here and now has become automatic, because you’ve trained to “keep your powder dry” and your “weapon clean.”

Of course we all have weapons; I mean, most of the people reading this are Patriots, believers in the Constitution and the Second Amendment. Oh, if you don’t fit in the above category, consider yourself a target. Okay, now, you Patriots, I want to tell you to handle your weapons every evening. Maybe a good cleaning on Sunday. On Monday practice loading. On Tuesday take inventory of the shells. The point is, don’t let a day go by without handling one of your weapons. Just do it. And after a while you’ll be loading or cleaning without even thinking about it.

As far as target practice goes, most of us don’t have a shooting range off the back porch like I do. But I’ve lived in other places where I didn’t even have a yard, so how do you practice marksmanship then? Well, if you live in an apartment, you can practice shooting without any bullets. Just get set up as you would at the shooting range and control your breathing and SQUEEZE the trigger. Go through the motions EXACTLY as if you were shooting at a target with live ammo. A pellet or BB gun is another trick for practicing while indoors. And always, but ALWAYS, practice good sound weapon safety:

1. Treat every weapon as if loaded

2. Keep trigger finger OFF the trigger

3. Only point the weapon at viable targets

4. Keep weapon on SAFE until you use it

And number 5. Never jerk the trigger; always squeeze. That’s why when you go to the shooting range, you really want to do your best with each and every shot.

And then, you know what? After a while, it’ll all become second nature, like brushing your teeth. And that’s what you want:  to be able to handle your weapon without thinking about it.

It’s exactly like combat: we’ve no place to go, and we wouldn’t anyway, because this is OUR country, and we’re not going to give it up to any Socialist/Communist/Fascist/Totalitarian-loving Muslim, no way, no how. They want our guns. I don’t think so. I’m telling each and every one of you, start your training with your weapons, and start NOW. We’re going to have to rely on one another, and we’re going to watch each other’s backs. We not only can do it, WE WILL DO IT.

OPOVV@yahoo..com