Navy SEAL: Lessons Learned From Aurora Colorado

As I continue to read about the terrible tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, I can’t help but think there’s some lessons from my time as a Navy SEAL that I can pass on to the average citizen. I want to make sure that the victims of the Aurora do not suffer or die in vain. As a country, we need to learn from this tragedy, raise awareness, and save lives in the future. So here goes…
Don’t Make Yourself an Easy Target

When at sporting events, concerts, and the movies, choose seats that give you a tactical advantage always.  What do I mean? Choose seats that allow good and east vantage points and a hasty exit point.  Always stack the odds in your favor. It’s the reason I still combat park (back in to a space) and sit with my back to the wall when I’m eating.

Active Shooter Scenario Advice

Take cover and not concealment.  Concealment hides, cover hides AND protects.  It’s the difference between hiding behind a movie seat or a concrete wall.

Don’t lie there with your eyes closed and get shot. Think and move.  In these situations you have to take charge and get in the mindset of self-rescue. You cannot wait for first-responders – it takes too long. A good decision executed quickly is better than a great one never executed. Violence of action, as we call it in the Spec Ops community, will often change the odds in your favor.

For close quarter combat drills we’d draw a gun with someone over 20 feet away running at us.  In most cases you can be on someone before they can draw and take a shot.  I’m not advocating running straight at someone but if you have the tactical advantage (jam, re-loading, distraction or the shooter isn’t paying attention) then take the shooter down or get the hell out of there. 

Remember that a moving target is extremely hard to hit, even for the well-trained shooter. Deal with the situation with your eyes wide open.

In Aurora, the shooter was severely weighted down with armor and his helmet would have also limited his vision. You can use all this to your advantage.

Flashlight anyone? I have one for daily carry and take it everywhere with me.  It’s become another extension of me and has defused at least two potentially violent confrontations in a non-lethal way. I recommend the Surefire P2X Fury Dual Output LED.
How to use it in this situation?

I would have pulled my high lumens pocket flashlight and blinded this guy. The high powered beam would have taken away his vision for 3-4 seconds, which is an eternity and enough time to flight or fight. There’s also no shame in surviving and getting you and your loved ones out of harm – especially little ones.

Be a Hero to your kids and family for surviving, nobody can expect more of you than that. Like we say in Survival Escape Evasion Resistance (SERE) school, “Survive with Honor.

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SC: 89-year-old woman scares away burglars with pistol:  "When burglars invaded the home of Ruby Hodge, 89, they got a lot more than they bargained for.  Hodge was in her bedroom just after 8 a.m. Monday morning, when she heard a knock at her back door.   Before she could get to the door, the burglars had forced their way inside.  The great-grandmother came face to face with two men dressed in black down her hallway.  "I reached and I got my pistol and I met them right outside of my bedroom. Right inside of my bedroom door two black men passed and they were two medium black men and they were dressed in black and when they saw me standing in there with my pistol , they left and run."   Hodge says this is the second time in a few months, she's had a break-in at her home. She's a little nervous, but not afraid to use her gun, if necessary. She has it close-by at all times.  "I sleep with my pistol," said Hodge.  Marlboro County deputies arrested Nelson Hawkins, 42, and Ronnie Stevenson, 31, later Monday afternoon. They are both charged with Burglary in the First Degree and Damage to Property"


MO: Self-defense asserted in Sunday slaying in KC:  "The man who allegedly shot and killed James R. Jackson on Sunday said he fired in self-defense, according to Kansas City police.  Police found a gun near the body of Jackson, 55, when the found his body in the street about 9:15 p.m. Sunday near 39th Street and Oakley Avenue.   A 23-year-old man said Jackson had confronted him prior to the shooting. Police arrested the man but later released him, pending further investigation.  Police plan to send their investigative file to prosecutors, who will decide whether to file charges."


OH: Father not guilty of killing son’s girlfriend:  "A Licking County man and his lawyers contended he was acting in self-defense when he exchanged gunshots with his son as their cars rolled along a rural road in southern Knox County last year.   Yesterday, a jury pronounced itself satisfied that Michael T. Collins had proved his self-defense claim, finding him not guilty in the shooting death of Lilly Dawn Pressley-Claggett, the girlfriend of Collins’ son.  The jurors did, however, convict Collins, 55, of Fallsburg, of tampering with evidence and illegal possession of a firearm after about eight hours of deliberations over two days.  Collins’ lawyers argued that he acted in self-defense when he fired shots in response to gunshots fired from a car driven by Pressley-Claggett and carrying his son, Jesse B. Collins, 31, on Rt. 586 on July 1, 2011.  Authorities charged that the men got into a fight that grew into a chase and shootout as the elder Collins pursued his son along Rt. 586. The younger Collins suffered gunshot wounds and later recovered."