Understanding Combat Realities
Regardless of the place, time, or nature of the event, deadly force encounters have some distinct and universal laws. We’re diving into these combat realities to better understand their effect on your ability to successfully handle your firearm in any situation.
THE REACTIONARY GAP:
There will always be a period of time between the start of an attack against you and your initial response to that threat. This gap in response is called the “Reactionary Gap.” It exists in sports, car wrecks, and combat. You will never eliminate it in a defensive situation.
SURVIVAL STRESS:
Under the effects of survival stress, humans experience several predictable physiological and psychological effects. Among these effects are:
- Reduction in cognitive reasoning ability
- Deterioration of fine and complex motor skills
- Reduction in the ability to operate complex machinery or perform complex bio-mechanical skills
- Reduction in Visual and Auditory skills
MURPHY’S LAW:
“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
Generally, any failure – whether it is failure of the firearm to operate or making the wrong tactical decision – is caused by the operator (you). Survival Stress will amplify this tremendously.
HICK’S LAW:
When given too many choices, you will waste more time in making your decision/selection than it would take to complete the actual process.
We give very few alternatives for manipulating the firearm, primarily because you will take too long to make a decision on what to do, or worse, under stress ,you will make the wrong decision and waste even more time correcting it.
THE O.O.D.A. LOOP
O.O.D.A. is Yoda’s twin brother. It’s a mental process that is integrated into a physical response, a process that is continuously looping on itself until the event is over. By being observant, you can intersect an assailant in the middle of their O.O.D.A. and gain the initiative.
O.O.D.A. stands for: OBSERVE. ORIENT. DECIDE. ACT.
When we designed the programs at Top Gun, we considered each and every aspect of the preceding issues and integrated them into the Combat Triad. When carefully applied, this doctrine places the mechanical operation of the weapon, the bio-mechanical operation of your body, AND the mental operation of your O.O.D.A. into one integrated action process.