tactical preschool 7

When you are approaching an area where there is a distinct possibility that you could get yourself killed, you should be paying attention about exactly HOW you are approaching that area.

To begin with, if you are arriving via a vehicle, pulling right up in front of the house is a bad idea. Park down the street and walk your lazy ass a few extra yards. As you are approaching, be aware of what types of cover and concealment are available. You should know by now that “cover” is something that is likely to stop bullets and “concealment” is something that just conceals you from view. While “cover” is always better, don’t poo-poo the value of concealment. If you are not being actively engaged, getting behind available concealment between areas of cover is better than exposing yourself for a long period as you move from cover to cover.

If you are approaching a structure on a “routine call”, I’m not suggesting that you make a “fire team rush” from cover to cover while the citizenry are rolling their shopping carts out of the store, but you should be walking with the intent of passing close to areas of cover and concealment that your “Terminator Vision” is selecting as you walk along.

Speaking of “fire team rushes”..if at some point you do need to maneuver under fire, the rule of thumb is that you should be selecting an area to move to that is only 3-5 seconds away. That is the average time it takes for an opponent to see you “pop-up”…raise his weapon and get you in his sights…and fire. This of course is dependent on the range that is between you. The closer you are, the shorter your exposure time should be. I was taught to tell myself “I’M UP!”…”I’M MOVING!”…”HE SEES ME!…”I’M DOWN!” as I was moving from position to position. However that does not mean that you plop your can down in an open parking lot just because your “time was up”. These are just rules of thumb here…keep your common sense device engaged at all times.