Justifiable Homicide: Reflections On Killing In The Line Of Duty,
http://members.aol.com/deawatch/fwhite/deafw-1.htm
Mindset And Multiple Shot Bob Pilgrim
What follows is part of a correspondence between two former federal
agents, two
veteran gunfighters.
DEAR BOB: It was interesting your mentioning that many shooters, when they
know
they will fire two or three shots, their time for the first shot is
slower. You
had the answer many years ago when you would emphasize that the most
im****tant
shot an officer will fire is the round presently in the chamber. Thus, no
need
to worry about ru****ng or being preoccupied with follow up shots.
The 33 bullets that I put into bad guys, I think I normally fired in slow
sequence. I never concerned myself with thinking about the next shot
because I
never knew if I had to shoot another one until that shot was gone. Also,
if it
became necessary to shoot the guy's partner, I got to him but never
worried
about the second assailant until the time came to shoot him. I sort of
came to
the mindset that the most critical aspect of shooting a bad guy was being
WILLING to put a bullet into him without hesitation. The way I judged
speed was
as soon as the subconscious said "shoot him," I shot him. I saw others in
gunfights just stand frozen, unable to shoot, not knowing what to do.
"I thought being WILLING to shoot your attacker and secondly, being very
accurate in putting the bullet into the part of his body that I saw, were
the
keys to living or dying. The few times that I missed my subconscious
forced me
to energetically focus on the front sight and the follow-up shot went
true."
"The last three people I shot were all head shots. I concluded from my
previous
shootings, putting bullets into vital body areas was problematic, so I
programmed my subconscious to go for the head. For me in my shootings, I
could
always see the head more easily than the body and the head-shot
immediately
stopped the attack. That attitude and shot placement kept my men and me
alive."
The majority of Frank White's confrontations were not action versus
reaction,
draw and shoot, surprise encounters. My former boss had time to ready
himself
for the strong possibility of gunplay and had the fastest draw of all,
that is:
gun in hand.
"While our tactical intent is to apprehend the predator without incident,
we
must still prepare our subconscious for that sudden attack by an assailant
who
has psychologically prepared himself, no matter what, to violently resist.
Trust
your instincts; when my subconscious flagged danger, the pistol was in my
hand
nanoseconds before the gunfight. F.E.W."
As a result, he did not point shoot and placed his shots where they would
be the
most effective, shutting down the threat quickly and decisively. The
distances
were typical handgun ranges from arm's length to approximately 15 feet.
His
longest shot was 20 yards across a backyard and the shot that missed was
in
defense of a SWAT officer who was in a firefight with a hired killer.
However, beyond pre-programming his mechanics through frequent training,
the
most im****tant thing he did to assist in his survival was to develop the
proper
mindset well in advance of any fight. Everyone who carries a firearm
professionally in harm's way must engage in mental rehearsals and thorough
soul
searching. The criminals do it, and through predisposition or cold
calculating
reason, have made the decision to "cap you" the moment you are in range. I
believe that there must be a conditioning process as there is in the
military
combat arms, to facilitate the use of deadly force by police should it
become
necessary. This is because we are civilized and taught to value life,
whereas
the criminal despises everyone else's right to live, except his own.
Furthermore, through New Age influence, the natural combativeness and
competitiveness of many of our youth has been stifled and candidates
arriving
for police training have never been in a physical fight. Peaceful
resolution has
its place in society, but in the age of the Taliban and al Qaeda, there is
no
second place.
http://members.aol.com/deawatch/fwhite/deafw-1.htm
-- Otis Willie (Ret.)
Military News and Information Editor (http://www.13105320634.com)
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