Emerson Escape the Wolf

A SEAL Operative's Guide to Situational Awareness, Threat Identification, a
1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5445-2996-7
Verlag: Lioncrest Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet/DL/kein Kopierschutz

E-Book, Englisch, 332 Seiten

Escape the Wolf raises the safety IQ of today's global travelers. Using Escape the Wolf's exclusive, holistic Total Awareness System, international travelers are empowered to identify, minimize, or avoid all types of wolves or threats-from common crime, health issues, and natural disasters to kidnapping and even terrorism. The author shares his years of hands-on experience in dealing with high-risk situations.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Emerson, Clint

Leseproben

1 The Total Awareness System it’s 2010, and i’m in the middle east. i had just left the embassy in that country (can’t get more specific than that, sorry), having picked up my usual gear from them—a local cell phone, an initial wad of cash, an embassy ID, and a gun. In this case, all I got was this tiny handgun. I get in my car, drive a little bit, hang a right—and damn. Without warning, I’m surrounded by a thousand really angry people. And once they get a look at me and realize it’s a white person in this car? Things get real scary real fast. I grab for the phone the embassy gave me, and get this—it’s not charged, and it doesn’t even have a sim card yet. Useless. I eye my embassy ID, but I’m not sure that it’ll help. It would absolutely identify me as an American, and these protesters aren’t exactly pro-America. That badge would likely only make things worse. Not that things can get much worse. The crowd is pressing in and shaking the car so violently my passenger and driver wheels are coming off the ground. I consider just flooring it and plowing through, but moving from a stop will mean that as soon as I run over about five people, the car will give up and my wheels will just be spinning—and then I’ll have really pissed them off. I’ve got a Sig 228 with two full mags, sixteen rounds per. If I pull that, I’m dead. Even if I manage to make every single shot count, there’s way more than thirty-two people out there. I’m stuck. People are yelling and screaming right at my face in the window, trying to get in. Eventually, they’ll break the glass, and they’ll pull me out of my car and rip me apart. Practical Example—What Would YOU Do? At this point, most people would panic. This is one of the scariest situations I’ve ever been in. Jumping out of an airplane? That’s easy. Being caught unprepared in a situation you didn’t anticipate? That’s terrifying. But there’s a break in the crowd, a little place of calm, like a buoy in a sea of people. It’s some sort of soldier or a member of local enforcement. He’s holding an AK-47, but he doesn’t look particularly angry. We make eye contact, and his eyes are sympathetic. And there it is—my way out. I raise my hand and quickly put up the international gesture for money, rubbing my thumb and forefinger together. I point at him, and rub my fingers again. The message is clear: “Wanna help me? I’ll pay.” He unslings his weapon and makes his way to my passenger door. He turns to face the crowd, and points his AK-47 at them. They all spread, creating enough of a bubble that he can open the door. I unlock the car and he climbs in. We don’t share a language, but we understand each other. I point at my windshield, and he aims the gun out the front. It’s as if he’s parting the sea, as everyone immediately runs to get out of the line of fire. I floor it. Once I get up to twenty or thirty miles per hour, I calm down—because now, if anyone jumps in front of my car, I’ll just roll over them. I want to get perpendicular to the protest, so I make a left as soon as I can and drive several blocks away from the protest. We end up at a gas station. I give the guy a healthy chunk of cash, and he goes on his merry way. I take a moment to gather myself. I mean, I just arrived in the country—I guess this is going to be quite a trip. I can hear birds chirping, and people going about their business at the gas pumps. It’s completely calm, with absolutely no indication that several blocks away it’s utter chaos. It doesn’t matter where you are on this planet. You can take a right-hand turn and all of a sudden you’re in a holy mess. Think this scenario could only be found in a movie? Think again. This happened to me. Global travelers face many dangers. Recognizing and preparing for them makes all the difference. Since that day, I’ve obviously always made sure my goddamn phone is charged and actually functional. But I survived thanks to extensive preparation and keeping calm. I made the right decision in the moment without having to go through lengthy and potentially dangerous deliberations. In the following chapters, we’ll explore Escape the Wolf’s Total Awareness® System. This proven approach prepares travelers for the unexpected, whether it’s random crimes like pickpocketing and carjacking, or more serious issues like kidnapping. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” —Marcel Proust Building the Skill of Awareness One survival threat we seldom consider: modernity. Our basic human survival skills are being lost, replaced by technology and obscured by the busyness of everyday life. In general, people do not pay attention to their surroundings. When crisis strikes, they mentally stall and fall victim to preventable demise. People don’t pull their heads out of their phones or laptops long enough to notice the clues that signal danger. We are losing our ability to be aware. Some equate awareness to a sixth sense. Men call it instinct. Women call it intuition. Either way, it is one important way that we detect threats. It’s powered by emotion and the subconscious, and is only rarely interpreted by the brain. That said, some people seem to have unusually good “spidey senses,” better than most people. So as part of the research for this book, I conducted a brief survey of individuals in different occupations where awareness is instrumental to successful outcomes. The survey included fighter pilots, law enforcement SWAT officers, FBI agents, CIA clandestine operatives, special operation military operators, surgeons, and others. I asked, “Do you believe some people are born with a heightened sense of awareness?” The overwhelming answer was yes. The next question in the survey was “Do you believe awareness can be taught?” Again, the overwhelming answer was yes. These experienced, educated professionals agreed that some people are born with a heightened sense of awareness, but that awareness can be taught. And that’s what we’re doing right now—working to help you become more aware. The thing is, though, awareness is contextual. That surgeon I talked to is amazing at monitoring a patient’s vital signs and interpreting clues to figure out how to help them. But he’s probably not so good at paying attention to his surroundings—and interpreting situations correctly—when he’s just trying to relax on vacation. Even if you have great instincts, how good are those instincts going to be in an unfamiliar environment? When traveling, our instincts are often either turned off, or they’re hypercharged, firing off false alarms. Remember that Halloween when you dressed as your favorite superhero and waited in line for the haunted house? You stood listening to the screams and let your anticipation build. When you finally got in, you were watching at every corner, listening to every sound, and trying so hard to spot the jump scare before it happened. But it never worked. Every time you thought something would happen—nothing. But the next moment, a mummy was scaring you out of your skin. Stepping foot into another country can be the same. Your instincts tell you one thing, but the results are entirely different. Eventually all those false alarms tell your brain to just relax and desensitize your instincts—which is when you become vulnerable to surprise or attack. The Total Awareness System will keep your guard up when your natural defense systems are down. One of those surveyed made an interesting point. He agreed that awareness skills could be taught, but questioned whether anyone could make the right decisions, under stress, after potentially dangerous clues are recognized. Interesting point. Connecting the dots and reacting in an effective manner takes education, experience, and practice. Instinct isn’t enough—you have to interpret that instinct and make a smart decision, and you have to do it fast. To constantly be aware of surroundings and make effective decisions based on clues and cues requires a change of lifestyle. The Total Awareness approach is a lifestyle. Like any skill, it takes practice. You need to do it all the time to be good at it. If it is not a lifestyle, failure increases exponentially, especially in dangerous environments. Awareness is a weapon. If used properly, it can conceal your movements, ward off potential threats, prevent attacks, and ultimately save your life and the lives of others. Awareness is free. It never runs out and is issued to each and every person who walks the earth. Harnessing the power of awareness can be difficult and tiring, but with practice Total Awareness can become as natural as walking. The Total Awareness™ System The Total Awareness (TA) System is a risk-assessment tool that manages and reduces threat vulnerabilities. The structured Total Awareness approach can be used by anyone at any time, but is designed specifically for the professional traveler—the diplomat, government employee, journalist, or businessperson. Components of the Total Awareness System The Total Awareness System can be broken down into a set of components that, taken together, create a complete awareness profile. These components include: Situational Awareness (SA), a conscious and constant focus on the environment that seeks to detect, validate, and confirm threats. Your ability to detect...