On today's episode of survival Dispatch News we're discussing urban survival Today's video is brought to you by bike Tricks check out their amazing e-bikes At the link below And we're back today we're joined by uh Three former military members who have Experience in urban survival I'll let Each of you all introduce each other First why don't we start with you Mike I'm Mike Sterling from issi I'm a master EOD technician uh 23 years in the Army several several Tours in Iraq Afghanistan other places That not a lot of people find on maps Appreciate your service Mike Don Yeah I'm retired Navy I serve Seal Team One Seal Team two and Seal Team Six and Have been doing contract work with the Government ever since I retired and Enjoying every bit of it yeah we Appreciate your service too Don uh Eric Why don't you give us a Quick rundown of your background and Then I know you've got some immediate Thoughts on how we can deal with urban Survival in the context of riots All right you bet so my name is Eric Christianson I'm the CEO of a company Called nutrient survival I'm also former Military uh was in the service for 11 Years total between school and uh and And serving this great nation Um yeah I mean
I I think when it comes to the subject Of of civil unrest The thing to keep in mind is this too Shall pass The mob Will Roll by you and it's a Question of whether or not you want to Get involved and escalate the situation With your personal involvement or not And you know I think probably the best Policy is get inside uh remove yourself From risk they're looking for an easy Target now certainly you have the right To defend yourself to defend your Property defend your your personal Well-being to offend your family from Harm or from a life-threatening you know Situation But They're looking for an easy target and And they're you know if you present Yourself and you you know brandish a Weapon or you pull it that's typically Not going to be a good situation to get Into it's it's going to go the other way Especially if you're outnumbered uh you Know don't forget if you're inside and Somebody breaks in you know that home Better than anybody You know where all the corners are uh You know where the light switches are Right it is your advantage it's just Like a defensive position in the Military you know when you when you Attack a defensive position you have to
Have pretty I'm sorry defense position You have to have pretty overwhelming Odds to have a good shot of overrunning That defensive position we all know that Same situation with your home okay that Is your that is your Dominion uh it's Unfortunate if you look around you know We we had escalating riots just recently With BLM riots and seems more and more Every day somebody's in the streets Doing something and many of these Um have the potential to go wrong you Know so if you if you've got a bunch of Kids walking around whether on on drugs Or or not and they knock over your Mailbox or they they hit your you know Your your fence or your personal Property chances are they're just trying To make a scene and they've got other Business to to attend to okay and it's Probably best again just let it happen And and let them pass now that's that's Me I don't want to get involved I don't Want to pull out uh and escalate the Situation we've seen firsthand you know With the BLM riots in St Louis what Happens when uh Mark and Patricia McCloskey if you recall uh they had BLM Writers Charging through their their residential Area they came out on the on the lawn With a AR-15 and another pistol wasn't Even functional pistol and they were the Ones that were charged with with the
Crimes and there were no BLM rides Charged in the crimes that I'm aware of But they actually ended up having to Plead guilty after being raked through The coals by you know the liberal Political system the liberal prosecutor That gave more the benefit of the doubt To the Riders than to the homeowner so Where's Justice in that but that's the Situation that you're facing so it's a Really serious deal if you start to you Know pull out rifles and and pistols and The like Y'all want to add to what Eric's points Are Eric I I agree with that 100 you know um You do have to de-escalate a situation We could be well armed we're all well Armed but you know I live out here in The mountains I'm not going to have to Worry about it but if I live near a city Or an urban area and a mass of people Started to gather for one I should know What's going on because I pay attention To the news and social media and things Like that if it's accredited and you can Trust it you can you can a lot of this Stuff you can see what's going on with Just the news reports if a gang of People starts Gathering like with the BLM riots or any of these riots and They're going to come more and more Frequently I think it is our safest Position to take is de-escalate when
Possible and get in the house and when You're in the house to have a plan your Family and you have to have a plan What's going to happen if x occurs if There's a mob outside yeah standing Outside with two weapons one Non-functioning uh pistol is not a good Idea they were just trying to stay on The ground but they weren't trained they Weren't trained what would have been Better for them and kept them out of Trouble they were just good Americans to Be inside and while they're inside know Where the little safe area in the house Could be where they have a cell phone And the weapons and a flashlight and What I teach my family and friends is if Someone's going to come in my door and I Hear somebody in the middle of the night I have this corner for my cover and Concealment or at least concealment and I have my weapon pointed at that door And I know where my exit is Um the whole family has to have a plan What to do if if if it comes into the House but go inside stay inside to like Eric says the problem leaves and try not To go outside if you do have to go Outside go out in the daylight or go out With somebody but have a plan I was uh almost attacked a few weeks ago I was at a gas station And um this tall guy comes up next to me He looked high as you could be
And uh he said hey man you got some Money and I had a weapon not on me but Right in my truck and I have the engine Block between me and him knowing that's Cover I have cover I had a plan And I knew I could grab my weapon any Moment I put the vehicle between me and Him I said no I don't have any money I Use credit cards and he looked at me Like I felt like he wanted to to start Something up I'm an older guy who's a Young big tall guy and he walked a step Closer to me At that point Thanks to John uh uh Colonel Cooper Where he got to go through his training The color codes came into play Condition white as I'm totally unaware Of my surroundings I could care less What's going on I'm paying attention to My phone I've got earpods in I'm Watching a video totally unaware of my Surroundings I was not in condition White condition yellow condition yellow There could be a threat around here I'm Not too concerned I'm slightly aware of My surroundings but when that guy came Up to me I had to go to condition Orange I had to go from the thought he could Attack me I looked at him to see if he Could have a weapon I think he could Have had a weapon and his butt Packer And those pants that were halfway down His hips he could have had a weapon
And but what I was ready to do is go to Condition red fight a flight and I was Ready to fight if I had to but I De-escalated the situation went to my Side of the vehicle I looked at him like I didn't want to fight but if I was Going to he would have lost and I would Have won I know that And um I think it's important De-escalate and use those color codes so You don't go from white to Red where all The sudden all your adrenaline all your Adrenaline is used up and you're not Thinking clearly to use the color codes Thinking okay the civil unrest going on There are people Outdoors let me get my Family inside let's brief what we're Gonna do let's stay inside let's have a Place that's a safe area and bring the Escalation up and up and up when you Need to and then to fight a flight if That if those people are going to come In my house I'm not gonna die I'm gonna Fight it out and then that's when you Fight And that's what I'd like to say on that Yeah I think you and I have actually Discussed the gas stations previously Done if you're going to get accosted It's a high probability it'll be at a Gas station that's somewhere you Definitely have to be situationally Aware Um Mike what are your thoughts on you
Know we've got a riot occurring and you Live in the area that it's occurring So of course You know the key to all of this is is Preparation well in advance I spent a Lot of time with Special Forces teams And you know the the GBS All it is with them is is plan prepare Plan prepare plan prepare it's just a Constant loop with those guys and Um And we had we put together a couple of Plans and the like in uh it with our With some of our friends in Atlanta so So that you know we had plans in place And uh for example we had one of our we Had one of our our folks who did not Live in a great neighborhood and one of The riots were actually coming into There during the time that Atlanta PD Was phoning it in Uh so that was a weird time in Atlanta And uh He had a uh he had a wife that was like 11 months pregnant you know the poor Girl I felt bad for her uh he had a Couple of kids and he also had uh he Also had a uh his mother-in-law was Disabled So He didn't have a whole lot of help And he had he had his kids so he did Exactly what Eric talked about he stayed Inside he you know maintained a very low
Profile you know camouflage doesn't just Mean blending in with the leaves You know if you can if you can just Maintain a low profile you know do not Escalate it stay there that was fine Well At a certain point it started escalating Not due to any any you know choice of His but he starts getting rocks thrown Through the Windows and everything like That he just went ahead he made the call And he called us and we already had a Qrf put together a quick reaction for us So uh we had a six-person qrf show up to His house because he he made the call And he said listen he says I need you Know I've hit my tripwire Point here That I need to evacuate I need to Displace this this this house Um You know the security situation has Gotten to the point where we can't stay Here if we if we get into this It's going to go bad for everybody Involved just like Eric talked about so Instead of going to fight he said listen I can't fight with a family full of of You know non-combatants at my back he Says that's it is that it's just not Smart so we pushed a six-man qrf up to The front of his house and helped him Load his family into there while being Able to provide security for the Situation and believe me the the people
That were the rioters as soon as we Showed up and started giving the heart Eye to everybody Not brandishing weapons or anything like That now granted we had plenty of them Inside the truck Uh and a couple of people sitting on Those in case they were needed but All that it all that it was necessary Was a show of force We loaded him and his family up into There we got them out of the Neighborhood and actually his house was Left alone other than a couple of broken Windows it turned out to be not a real Big deal I think I think everybody kind Of got the message so Prior planning is a huge thing and if You need help get that help but getting Your neighborhood together and having Having this defense in depth and and Actually you know working together for a A combined defensive plan That is far better than just going it Alone as a single individual or as a Single family you can only stay awake And alert for maybe up to 48 hours Uh I mean you're you're your alert level Is going to really start declining after 24 hours so Um you know if if you don't have to do It alone and as a matter of fact you Can't really do it alone so yeah having Help either from from internal sources
Or external sources So that's really interesting Mike you Know we're running some polls uh you Know asking for what people would like To see covered uh as it relates to urban Survival one of the comments was would Love to see something on how to get Like-minded people around you to band Together get a multi-family multi-nabor Type plan put together Yeah and that's I think that's one of The problems with our society uh is that The the vast majority of us we don't Even know our own neighbors you know go Go meet with your neighbors at least at The bare minimum you're going to be able To find out which ones are going to be Contributors and which ones are going to Be just anchors at the bare minimum you Find that out congratulations now you Know something that you didn't know Before Um find out which ones are going to Require defending and which ones are Going to be there to help or which ones Are going to be an outright you know They're they're going to wind up join The mob okay that but you know that That's your intelligence prep and if You're not doing your intelligence prep For your area What are you doing Right it's it's it's not what's going on In Turkey it's not what's going on in
Central Africa it's not what's going on In Taiwan or Ukraine it's what is Happening five miles from you the threat Around the in the next block over is the Threat that's going to kill you that you Can actually do something about and in The Intel world that's the 60 30 10 rule Um and if you if you happen to listen to The the guys from Ford Observer Um Mike pushes that big time they're They're a great uh great intelligence Network but you spend 60 percent of your Time of your intelligence time worrying About threats in your immediate area of Operations be that your county or your Neighborhood or whatever because that's A threat that's going to wind up coming After you you know that's the one that's Going to show up and that's the one if You don't know about a threat that's Right down the road there's a huge shock When that threat presents itself So for forewarned is forearmed On that My thoughts I'd like to add something to that and And I I feel as a domestic terrorist you Know because I'm a law-abiding patriot Who believes in protecting your home and Family and I believe in uh our rights so We're labeled domestic terrorists when I Talk to folks who aren't like-minded Like all the four of us are And I mentioned protecting your home
Protecting your family just be aware be Aware of your surroundings they think I'm paranoid they really think I'm Paranoid even my own family at times They think oh yeah quit you you read you You you you think the whole world is uh Going to be attacked at any time And then I you know sometimes you think You're talking to a wall and I have Eight neighbors here in this mountain I Live on and I had to take out a shotgun And shoot at a barrier two nights ago There was a bear at my house and the Bears have been doing a lot of damage And I wrote a text to everybody I said Hey if you heard some shotgun blast that Was me at my house and they two of them Super liberals wrote back and said I Can't believe you would have a gun in Your house how terrible you would shoot Your gun like that so you know I always Go back to the wolf is out there there Is a bad guy out there he might be a Terrorist he might be a criminal he Might be some punk on drugs trying to Get money for his fentanyl or or his Heroin but most of us are not bad guys But we all we don't have to be paranoid But we have to be aware the bad guy can Be anywhere and we have to be ready to Defend our families in our homes and Ourselves and um and so I believe in the shape the sheep dogs And the Wolf Theory you know we're all
Good people you need sheep dogs every Now and then like the four of us well we Can go and protect people maybe our Neighbors who need it because the wolf Is out there we don't have to be Paranoid about that wolf but we do have A plan and we do know how to react that Wolf does appear This is great so I live in a community And we've got a offense right so there's 15 homes in there and I'm absolutely the Youngest guy around and I just got Elected to be uh on the board of Directors for the HOA okay so we have a Little local one and um So I have older folks around me and they They kind of see me a little bit as the As the young blood and they know what I Do but it's just the basic things Relative to what you can do for your uh You know to your in your community like Mike said the 60 who is within your Immediate community and do you have Do you have a group chat set up how are You going to maintain communication be Something as simple as that now you I'm Sure you all remember Neighborhood Watch Right neighborhood watch that is a Pretty Uh well-accepted program that doesn't Have teeth to it necessarily in terms of Wow you're you're crazy you're out there I mean something like hey yeah I can get On with that I I think that's a good
Idea so it might be if others within That Community not everybody's gonna Have the same belief system But they can probably agree to something As simple as a neighborhood watch hey Let's let's do this let's get this Together this will be in our best Interest let's put up some signs you Know deterrence uh it's it's like Don Said you know there are wolves And what do wolves look for I have a Wolf here this is we're a good wolf but What do wolves look for they look for The weak prey they look for the weakest Animal in that pack I'm sorry in that Herd that they can single out that they Can separate and that they can take down And have for dinner the same thing with Us right with with us if we if we're an Easy target We're just inviting you know them to to To to go for us and so if you can Present as an individual or as a Community Deterrence and that you're not an easy Target you've got lighting you've got Cameras they can be hooked up or not and You know just even from a deterrent Standpoint you have to go all the way But it just creates this this appearance That I am a strong Uh protected And will defend myself Person home community
Uh and so go someplace else go someplace Else because we we got this place Covered Yeah I'm a big proponent of Target Hardening so you know our house has Thorny bushes around all the windows We've got fencing we've got security Cameras we've got motion detection Devices not just for light but like an Early warning system so you know if our Place looks hard to break into you're Right they're going to go to the Neighbors but when we're talking in the Context of riots and you know a couple People have already brought up the Prospect of mind altering drugs being Used and at that point in time Everything all bets are off right like You could be the hardest Target of them All but some lunatic you know if he's Focused on you or your family or your Property Um bad things well it you know I think The 48 hour a piece the comment was made Around you need to sleep at some point You need to sleep I don't know what that Limit is if you're on drugs but at some Point the riot the crowd has to has to Die down it's not going to be continuous Now if you're talking about Haiti and The gang's running crazy and taking Shifts then that's a different situation I don't think we've seen continuous Rioting here in the in the states
Um you know so uh you know if if that's The case I think that's an entirely Different conversation relative to you Know what what Mike was saying um or I'm Sorry Don was saying around having a Plan and who's going to take the the day Shift the night shift right uh and that That could be even more of a community Um uh plan as well so that you have Support right for for the neighborhood So why don't we explore that a little Bit because the first thing that came to My mind was the situation in Portland Where you had this the Chas Zone you Know with the antifa and granted they Weren't organized you know say at a Police or military level they were Pretty organized and basically took over That section of that that City and I Know somebody who is living there at the Time very conservative person and when The dust cleared they left Oregon and Came back here to the South because they Refused to be subjected to that but it Let's just say something like that Happens again let's say the ENT for Somebody else comes in you know Stakes a Claim to you know a geographical area in A urban center what do you do you know Mike is this a situation where you just Get out or Dodge as fast as you can or Yeah I you know Like we talked about in in in my Previous thing you know what's what's
The what's the best way to avoid the Problem well don't be there when it when It happens and that's you know that's That's where your your continuous rigid Intelligence cycle comes in if if you're Not if you're not paying attention to What's happening around you if you're Not you know turn on the scanner I mean Let's face it a Bearcat scanner is not That expensive and if you could be Listening to what's going on and there's Also a couple of really good uh Web-based uh intelligence tools out There as well uh that you know you just Watch what's going on and you know let's Face it the mainstream media is not Going to be real good about it but the Local media usually you can get some Some decent Intel but between that and Listening to the scanners for you know What local law enforcement is doing you Might be able to you might be able to Work that up but if you don't know What's coming again you don't know how To re how to you know be reacting to it But if you're in if you're in a Situation where you're getting ready to Get surrounded you're going to get Locked in Um You know this is this is kind of the Same situation that that uh the Jewish Communities ran into in Eastern Europe With the uh with the ghettos and
Everything hey you know they had an Opportunity to get out they should have Gotten out in this case yeah uh I'm Gonna displace I'm I'm not gonna this is A tripwire point for me you know in our Plans we establish a series of tripwire Points you know if this event happens we Gotta go Um I'm not gonna stay there my my uh my Stepson Actually lives in the Chas Zone in Seattle or what used to be a child Zone In Seattle and he said virtually nobody That lives there was an original member Everybody moved out of that area after After that event happened like 80 Something like that so Um yeah this is a tripwire point for me I'm I'm leaving uh if because again You're you're choosing to stay there and Be surrounded you no longer have defense In depth and you've got to have defense In depth just just like Eric was uh Eric And Donald were talking about if you Don't have defense in depth if you don't Have distance between you and them And now they're all around you You're in a Siege situation they they Can I can turn you into a prisoner inside Your own home they may not need to take You out You know so at a certain point you're Gonna need to leave
Again is good so what happens if you Have these people who are not Situationally aware and they end up Under siege before they realize what's Going on you know how do they contend With that what are their what are their Options at that point in time Well if you're gonna stay if you're Going to call the calvary right exactly Yeah if you've got a qrf available now Would be the time to call them uh yeah You're you are in a world of hurt if You're not paying attention to what's Going on around you that's how you wind Up in those kind of situations and and That is bad news you as far as I mean Yes Don Don's going to tell you at a Certain point you know this is an e and E scenario you need to go you need to go Fast and and you may wind up having to Buy your way out you may wind up having To you know you you may wind up walking Out of there with nothing but your skin But if you can get your family out You know don't don't get too attached to Stuff It's it's the people in your life that You that you need and and of course you Know the planning and preparation Planning and preparation planning and Preparation in advance avoids these Things as being problems but if you Haven't if you haven't done any of that I'm gonna be in a gonna be in a a real
World of hurt and you know I mean that's That's how that's how you want to know What a lot of people you know winding up You know getting stuck in countries Uh and you know you wind up with you Know Don's guys or a marine Trap Team or Somebody like that coming up coming Having a rescue them out of there Because State Department one of the Slowest organizations on the planet has Already evacuated everybody you know 72 Hours prior and you just didn't pay Attention and now you're stuck Um so unless there's a YouTube video and You're in Libya or something like that Right right yeah sorry not trying to Make light of that situation but I think That brings out a really good point Mike And then you know we we all are talking About our homes and and it is nice to Have a safe place for our homes we know Where we could have cover and Concealment we should have a go bag Ready I keep one in my car at all times In my truck and I have one here if I am Stuck in here for a long time so be it I'm okay I'm okay I've got food water Ammo weapons comms radios I have Security cameras motion sensor cameras Lights I am ready I have an exit out of Here but I think we have to think the Same way if you're with family or Friends at a restaurant or a movie Theater or at a school or something
And and guys like us think like this we We keep our backs you know to the wall So we can see 300 you know 360 Degrees We know it's safe we know where the Exits are we know if x hits the fan if Something hits the fan and we got to get Out of here there's my exit right here And you you you're aware you're looking At your people suspicious people you Sometimes might look at their eyes Sometimes you might look at the hands But you're aware you're not paranoid You're just being aware because if Something happens if a bomb goes off and Salters come in a mob comes in We're going to leave through this exit And you already have a plan we'll go in The vehicle the vehicle I have a gold Bag in there it's got medical supplies Too by the way And um I and we all tend to think like That and it's surprising when we talk to Civilians that They've never been taught there and and I I feel like almost a responsibility To my family my friends and my neighbors And a non-pushy way to say hey guys I Just got these blank cameras you might Want to check that and I do that with The neighborhood watch system we have Here you should try out these blink Cameras they're so inexpensive five Cameras around my house I can see any Activity at any time
And um and in a non-forceable way I try To educate things I've learned over the Decades and try to educate just try to Keep everybody safe because if our Neighborhood and Community is safer All the better right it's all the better For us all Um So I I and people say okay yeah you need Your back against the wall we know right So I just enjoy seeing what's going on Who wants to have the back to the people In the doors and the potential action we Don't think like that and I think it's Helpful to help those who've never been Taught that to learn that's a it's a Better way to live not paranoid just Safer They're situationally aware it's I just Had this discussion with uh Dr Jason Dean yesterday on how you know when You're in public especially gas stations People are glued to these things and They're not paying attention to anything That's going on around them at all and You know It's these phones and social media and Stuff I think have caused tremendous Problems for society in general but I Don't recall like when if you go back Into the 80s and 70s and stuff people Weren't so distracted as they are now In my opinion you know I think the when We talk about those around us especially
In a scenario that maybe isn't in your In your home how to uh you know shake Somebody that's in your care You know whether it's verbally or Physically let them know that there is Imminent danger without elevating you Know the situation and and causing maybe More more attention right it's it's a Super important thing that you have to Have to talk through I've got a couple Kids uh one that's 14 still and we were In San Francisco attending uh attending Stranger things because she's all into Stranger things there's an exhibit and There were guys following me there were Four young guys that were following me And I had my 14 year old with me and I'm In you know the Streets of San Francisco And I let her know with a very Stern Voice you know it's it's this is not a Drill you know follow me and we're Turning right here and don't ask Questions just pay attention and do what I do and do what I say and you need to Have you know I don't know if it's if It's a safe word or a code or something Just to say look this is not fun and Games Um and especially if if you know we're We are more attentive and we're more Aware of this of this situation and Probably a little bit more paranoid too You know uh we've got to compensate for Those that aren't and those that we love
That's our duty that's our Responsibility and You can't shake a 14 year old kid from Wanting to listen to you know Taylor Swift on her headphones right it's just It's not going to happen but there have To there has to be times and there has To be a situation where she she knows That you're you know you're serious so Anyway that's probably another thing That everyone should think about Especially if they've got others around Them that they care about and that They're that they're charged to care for How do you keep them safe Um you know I'm not a former action guy Like like Don and Mike uh so and and Many listeners may not be so but there Are ways to do that right You know Eric but we would teach um the Government uh folks one of the Government agencies who who get followed Quite a bit from the bad guy the wolf It's following quite a bit If um and I think it can translate to What we're talking about here but if we Are say you're in San Francisco and you Are walking with your family or even in A vehicle and you think you're being Followed because you're paying attention To all three mirrors okay I'm going to Take a right here I think I think this Guy might be following me now I'm Shifting from you know code yellow to
Code Orange I'm going to take a left Here see what happens yep I'm being Followed Um I at that time one one little tip Could be is go someplace where this Camera is you know Banks or hospitals Some place where at least you can get it Recorded in a camera and um and do that Um I think that that's a good thing in Your situation that is very scary being With a young teenager who's who's most Like any of all of them probably they're All totally unaware and you talk great Steps and uh and observing what was Going on and staying out of danger I think what you did was just perfect And uh so many families gonna experience That more and more and more all the time Which I think it's safe to get to a Place where there are cameras and where There are people and then uh you know Not to step it up too many levels but If I think like for instance the guy who Came to me at the gas station the other Day I think it's important for us to always Look around where's the cover and Where's the concealment I know it seems A little extra paranoid but I I can't Help to think that if something happens This little wall here that's only that That protects me from being seen that's All that is that's some concealment Which is nice to have but if bullets
Start flying if something explodes I Need something that's going to protect Me From being hurt and it's nice exercise I Do it with my little nephews and my Grandson whiz cover where's concealment They love that exercise that they love That exercise you know the engine blocks There's engines there's cars everywhere There's wheel life lessons just keep the Bullets on the other side of that engine Block and you're going to be safe little Little tips like that and I make it fun For the young kids to look for the Difference find the difference is this Cover a concealment And uh just go to places where this Camera is if you can if you're being Followed So we've discussed riots got some great Insight on those we've discussed having A home defense plan so I mentioned that We actually have a home defense uh guide On Survival dispatch.com it's a free Download it provides Food For Thought For people because everybody's situation Is going to be a little bit different But a few other things that were brought Up when we pulled the audience and so I've got three of them let's just start With the first one if you're at a gas Station and somebody's robbing the gas Station What do you do
My thought would be stay out of it stay Out of it don't be the hero don't go Blasting in with a weapon Um you know kind of like Eric said uh De-escalate the situation if you're not Involved with it just back off get on Your phone call 9-1-1 But you know Who wants not nothing more than to stop The bad guy from robbing somebody now if If it if it comes to protecting a life That's a different story you know we're Going to jump in I'm gonna jump in I can Say that for sure I think Besides having a weapon besides being Trained on weapons besides knowing Self-defense I think the thing that Comes on top of everything that should Take priority and something we can help Others with is developing that combat Mindset and having a mindset and and Make it strong like I can defend myself I can defend my family and this is how I'm going to do it but the mindset has To be everything and to stay calm to be Super relaxed okay actually I Um yeah I was in a situation not too Long ago and um it looked like there was Going to be a big big problem and I stay In very very calm okay this is what I'm Going to do if this happens and because When you're calm you can think and make Rational decisions but if you panic and You're in a gas station and it is being
Robbed or in a store being robbed and You panic You're Gonna Go slip into the White or go right into color black where You're just gonna freeze and not make The right decisions so you have to stay Calm have a good mindset and have a plan If this happens I'm going to do this But de-escalate if you can Because not many people have the skills To the to do more than de-escalate so be Truthful yeah can I speak to that real Quick Don Um I absolutely agree 100 And the uh from a from a training and Psychological perspective on that whole Thing the the Cornerstone of uh the Special Operations training model is is This thing called stress inoculation and Um and that's one thing that we we push So what we do is we we we put you into a Stressful situation we keep you in that Stressful situation and we periodically Ramp that up ramp it up ramp it up ramp It up and I know you Eric you definitely Saw that at Ranger school so you know I Mean that's that's all Ranger school is It's just nothing but suffering and Stress so But uh just just stress stress stress Stress stress stress stress and we still Push that in a lot of our training is I'm pushing you into stressful Situations so that all of a sudden now You know things go things are going bad
You know the world's coming apart around You and you're the one standing there Smoking a cigarette going yeah all right You know at least this isn't as bad as My training was Because psychologically speaking we do Not rise to the occasion the human being The human mind will never rise to the Occasion it falls to the level of its Training and stays there so if if you've Right if you've built that response in Advance so that you're going to be able To stay at Orange Where as opposed to you know what your Brain is saying no no we gotta we gotta Either fight or flight oh no we do we're Gonna sit here and we're gonna make Rational decisions And you stick with that and you get that Fight between the left side and right Side of your brain So yeah Don is absolutely 100 correct And you see a lot of people going out There doing soft training You can't do soft training if you if You're gonna if you're gonna do this You've got to get your brain trained and That is stress inoculation That's an interesting concept Mike uh so There's still two other situations that Were brought up um what happens if if Somebody you know acostu is mugging you Uh how do you how do you deal with that What are your choices at least
Well you have to one-up them you have to One-up them if you can't de-escalate You're gonna have to fight it out and if You can't Um if you can do anything but fight it Out fine but if you have to fight it out That's where the plan is here And you have to put the threat down the Threat has to go away I would agree with that I mean I I think The first thing to recognize Um again is you know don't put yourself In those situations but if you're in That situation and you find yourself in A you know dark alley and with somebody Up uh somebody upon you you know what Are they looking for they are looking For something of value and they you know I'm not sure that your average mugger Wants to Walk away from a dead body So if they're looking for a watch or A 20 or whatever it happens to be My advice would be give it up give it up It's not worth losing your life over you Know if it comes to an escalation you Have to defend your life and and protect You know those around you that that uh You know those situations are they Happen right it's not like you have nice Muggers but typically they're looking Again for an easy payout so you know It's there's an old Chinese strategy Says give up the give up the
Um What is it give up the Lotus tree to Save the peach tree okay so just hand it Over and uh and then walk you know be be Able to walk away alive and have your Family alive uh if that's not the Situation then and you know if you're Lucky enough to be caring okay that's That's one thing but when I was in California I'm not carrying okay so That's not an option uh so my options Were you know again how do you avoid how Do you move to a situation that's more Secure more people more lit Etc and not put yourself in you know In Harm's Way So I mean all of everything that y'all Have brought up kind of relates to the Next question the scenario I should say Is what if you're uh you know fixing to Be a victim of a carjacking and you have Your family in the car with you Now now what are your options Let's say it's a let's say it's an armed Carjacking and you your wife is with you In the passenger seat and you have Children in the back seat What are the choices and or and or Recommendations how do you deal with That That's a tough one that's a really tough One because a lot of carjackings uh Pretty much going back to what Eric was Just saying which I agree with totally
If somebody wants your watch or your Wallet give it to him and it's not put The threat down at that point is put the Threat down if they come after you your Life is in Jeopardy or your family Um the same with the car the car so what Give them the car but I would make sure The family is safe and out before you Hand over the car and it doesn't mean That they're going to rob you and not Want to take your life as well that's Got to be kept in my own yeah I'm going To give him this I'm going to give my Car my wallet my watch whatever But they still might want to take my Life and keep that in mind thinking this Might not be all they want he saw me I Saw them he he he can he can identify Me Maybe I don't want that person living Anymore that's got to be kept in mind But I would make sure the family's out Yes yes you can have the car I'm gonna Get out here my hands uh wife kids get Out I'm gonna get out slowly the kids And wife is safe my main concern is Safety Walk out the keys are right here Bye hopefully that'll be it if if Something beyond that happens that That's a different story but yeah Exactly what Eric said handed over Sorry so Mike you know uh your point on Stress inoculation and you know always You know falling down to whatever your
Level of training is Is there any training out there for this Sort of stuff for civilians you know I'm Because I'm not familiar with any so I'm Just curious So it's a The stress inoculation is part of like Uh like like if you take it to ECC Medical course right it's an underlying Channel Under under a large quantity of Different trainings right so if I'm Going to train somebody on you know Basic defensive defensive handgun one There's going to be virtually no stress Involved with it because you know we're All handling live Firearms now if you're Now trained up in how to use that Firearm and we move on to say defense Epistle 2 or carbine two or something Like that now I'm going to start putting A bunch of stress on you while we're Doing that so it's an it's an additional Point that goes into other training so If you're doing a if you're doing a Basic first aid class okay fine no Stress involved but if you go over to Tecc teacher will see stop the bleed Anything like that I'm gonna start I'm Gonna start twisting on you I'm gonna Throw all kinds of bad stuff into you I Am going to take an airsoft pistol and Keep on shooting you in the ankle with It stuff like that you know I'm not I'm
Gonna I'm gonna do everything that I can To upset your brain process so that you Start getting used to your your ooda Loop being disrupted And the more that you get used to me Trying to disrupt your ooda Loop the More resilient you're going to wind up Being for that so uh and I know I know Don and and Erica probably you know seen This as well but it's it's just you've Got to just have you've got to have good Training but the training also needs to Include stress at a certain point so Um yeah well what's an ooda Loop for People who aren't familiar with the term So the way the human brain operates Um Uh you're you're in a loop a continuous Loop uh Where You observe then you Orient Then you decide on what your action is Going to be And then you act upon that and it's a Continuous cycle continuous cycle all The time and the the key is to get into Your enemies ooda Loop if you have the Initiative get into the enemy zooda Loop And and and circumvent their ooda Loop Keep breaking that Loop so if it if it Gets all the way around a d And you break it he's got to go all the Way back to the original o and start all Over again so if it if if you're out in Front of his ooda Loop
That's that's where where you are are Better but the mental resiliency of that Is to get ahead of them have your ooda Loop moving faster than their ooda Loop And then they can't they can't disrupt Your ooda Loop Just psychologically speaking Yeah you Know what Mike says is so that's how we Train in the SEAL Teams as well uh Stress inoculation and when you used to Train on the pistols the rifle range a Shotgun range or something you'd shoot At a paper Target that's not really Doing much stress but when you have a Moving Target and you're moving and They're shooting back you're building up Stress inoculation and the more and more Advanced the training gets more creative It gets the more stress you're under so When it comes to real and you have to React and fight back it's so it's second Nature it's already in your subconscious So you're gonna react how you've been Training and also I'm a t Triple C Instructor the same thing works when We're teaching uh tactical combat Casualty care courses to the government Troops because if we just stand up there And talk about a b c d e or you know Scab situation circulation everybody Breathing it does nothing but when we do Realistic scenarios and they come around Room where they see a car tipped over With all these moulash bloodied up
People and there's noises and sirens and Gunfire explosions going on that's Stress inoculation so when it comes time For them to go treat somebody it's Usually less than the conditions we put In training And we have this saying in the SEAL Teams I love it we have a frogman statue And Buds and he's got a saying around His chest the more Sweat and Tears we Put into training the less Bloodshed and Wartime So the more we can put into the training The more realistic and the more stress We put into training when it comes for Doing something for real like protecting Your home or your family or your vehicle Or your neighbors Um the easier that's going to be because Your mind's been filled over and over And over again David Grossman I know you know he he Puts together such he's put together so Many great great books but unfortunately What's happening with our kids and why There's so many shootings in our schools One of the reasons is because this Stress inoculation happens to our kids Playing all those video games They shoot somebody in a video game good I just uh got some points my girlfriend Just gave me a kiss good good job you Just killed somebody you kill a bunch of People you're doing really really well
So what that has done it's wiped out a Little bit of forebrain resistance so When they go and they get this wacky Idea they're going to take a gun to School and start shooting people they've Been stress inoculated through these Video games and that for brain Resistance has been broken down a bit so For them to go out shooting Uh does you know people who go out and Do these shootings in schools they've Gone through it many many times through Video games Um So that that's happening in Reverse for Our law enforcement and for our military We use this Advanced Training video Games and things like that to break that For brain resistance so when it comes to Defending or going on an offense they've Been there before because they've seen It before But unfortunately it's hurting us on the Other hand because of the kids whose for Brain resistance is being broken with The video games it's a kind of a Two-edged sword that helps us in the law Enforcement and military communities and Training our folks for sure Yeah but makes makes uh people numb Right that's right numb to that type of Situation uh somebody he's bleeding on The ground it doesn't bother me yeah So you know I retired from professional
Powerlifting about 10 years ago and at My age now mid 50s I have less than zero Desire to be the biggest strongest guy In the room anymore the more interested In extending my you know lifespan as Much as I can by being healthy but also Recognizing the fact I think it was Eric First mentioned it is that it's our job To protect our family you know all this Bull crap might say otherwise but at the End of the day that's our job you know As the head of a family sort of thing so Um we got this product sent to us uh by Mantis so laser training systems and not Just like simple ones that go on a Pistol but with a magazine uh that is a Battery essentially and then a Replacement for the bolt carrier group And the charging handle and so I started Thinking well you know I want to be in As good a shape as I possibly can be so In addition to doing things like cycling And whatnot I four times a week I Started doing this thing that I call run And Gun and so I've got a bunch of Targets set up in backyard of course It's Florida so it's extremely hot and Humid and what I do is I do like five Rounds on say upper body day where I shoot a Target I run a course I come Back and then I do a bunch of upper body Exercises with zero break and then I Pick the gun up and go again and my Scores when I started that were
Absolutely pathetic Um I wonder I don't know if you guys can See this when I put it up but that Particular one shot number three I Scored 39 And so it's not the stress that y'all Are discussing but it's kind of physical Stress where I'm gassed you know I'm not A world-class aerobic athlete never was Sort of thing Um it's amazing how hard it is without Being shot back at just how hard it is When you're under physical stress to Stay on target so one of the things that This this app does just because it's Germane to our conversation is that it Shows you The path of your muzzle So I can hit the play button And that what a crazy pattern that was So that was a Target that was Approximately 50 feet away with a you Know Daniel Defense 300 PDW sort of Thing uh when I started recording the Stuff and looking at it and I thought I Was pretty decent with a gun I was like Holy crap I suck this is terrible you Know and my heart rate's at 125 130 Beats per minute and uh again I'm not at The level of stress you're describing Mike from that stuff but physically Under stress so that's four days a week I do that now Just to try and develop that muscle
Memory because you know I'm not very Tall five eight uh I wasn't tall enough To be a linebacker in high school Football so I played Rush n so I always Played the short side of the field and I Had three roles contained the play own a Gap or you know Blitz the quarterback That was it sort of thing but when You've seen the same play a thousand Times you no longer have to stop and Think the guy who has to stop and think Is a half step behind and football is a Game of speed it's not how big and Brawny you are it's how fast you can get To the play to be in the play and so you Know this is relatively recent you know In the past few months that I started Doing this type of training and I'm glad I did because where I started you know I Still suck but I sucked even more when I Started doing this stuff so when I Translate that into a situation like Don Eric all of you said if you can De-escalate that's the best thing to do But if you can't de-escalate can you Perform and you know I'm not sure that That my skills are at a level where I Could confidently answer that as yes you Know so I'm hoping that if I do more Work you're getting better every time And that's how it is it's a personal Skill it goes away and you're doing the Right thing to get yourself better Trained
So your body used to going under the Stress and shooting yeah no and I agreed On I'm just it's a I'm just I try to co-relate it to Something at a higher level like y'all Are talking about and I can't even you Know perform at a level that makes me Happy without all that stuff but Mike You mentioned Airsoft which is really Ironic because as I started getting into This you know I call Run and Gun upper Body one day running gun lower body the Next day I started thinking to myself well Instead of just having you know one Target when I'm doing the aerobic part I Should have multiple targets and I Should have multiple weapons at my Disposal so an AR pistol combined with a Sidearm pistol so I actually bought an Airsoft just for that reason of course You have to be close proximity when it's A pistol because the you know the rounds Are so light they go flying all over the Place what I didn't think of and that I'm going to introduce at your Suggestion Mike is have somebody like my Wife or Denny one of our you know uh Influencers to shoot me with these name Things while I'm doing it take it to a Whole new level of sucking bugs you man My Harley bugs you it really does yeah And it's it's a wonderful force on Force Training tool I I work with uh uh I work
With American milsim and I'll tell you What it's it is a great training tool if You can get everybody actually on the Same sheet of music and and trying to You know actually Yeah you know not play BB gun wars Um but yeah if you can but and the big Thing the big thing is you know it's It's a great team training tool that's The benefit right there because not only Do you need to train you know yourself But you've got to train as a team to be Able to work together as a team and be Able to move as a team and if you look At if you look at all you know you look At Crews like like Don's old crew those Guys would do a hit and not a word would Be set amongst any of those guys and I'll tell you what Don watching your Guys work is a thing of beauty to watch Those guys roll Um because communication was unnecessary Because they'd been training to do these Things so much so long that it's just You know it's touches nudges stuff like That not a word set and it was a Beautiful thing to watch and how do you Do that repetition repetition repetition Repetition not only individually but as A team well and that that's something That we you know mentioned frequently to The survival dispatch audiences that a Lot of people go buy it you know a gun And they may or may not get training
They may or may not go to the range and Even if they do go to the range they'll Buy some you know cheap Full Metal Jacket ammo that doesn't behave anything Like what their you know EDC ammo is Myself we're friends with the guys on Pilgrim ammo and they give us all kinds Of ammo to shoot that I won't shoot Anything but out of my nine millimeters For example because I want to be Practicing with the same thing that if If God forbid if it's Ever Needed Everything's going to behave the same Way reputation reputation repetition Right so Not on that level is anybody else you All have anything you want to share uh Before we wrap up this episode I'd like To add one thing about the repetition Repetition repetition which goes into Your subconscious so you don't have to Consciously think about what you're Doing You you're gonna react and the way You've changed you're going to react uh What we'd like to really really stress When we're training folks is it's not Practice makes perfect it's a perfect Practice that makes perfect so when You're out there on the Range and you're Out there training Even though it seems fake for instance If you're Drawing Your Weapon make every Move perfect every move perfect as best
You can and so when you have to act Because something's happening you're TR The moves you're gonna do are going to Be instilled in your head at the Subconscious level at a perfect way Which means they're going to be the most Efficient the safest and the quickest Way but if you you know I know a lot of Shooters have been shooting yeah I've Been shooting 20 30 40 years and they're Not very good because when they practice They don't practice perfect practice and Of course it can't always be perfect Especially when there's time limits on It but try to practice that perfect Practice get those 3 000 repetitions What a lot of people say you need to Make it go into your subconscious so When you have to react you're gonna React perfectly without even thinking About it And build that neurological memory yep Exactly yeah that's what the great great Thing about what you were talking about With the Mantis and there's other Training AIDS out there as well I mean You're not expending any ammunition at All right but you're going through the Motions you're working on you know your Your uh your skills under stress and You're getting better and you're working It every single day same thing when you Were when you're playing the you know That little end over there right you you
Know your job you knew what a play Looked like you know you're doing one of Three things and what makes football Players great is that they have got a Nose for it and what that knows is is Experience it's experience it's Recognizing patterns it's seen uh Certain signs and signals that let them Know from a defense standpoint Um Where the ball is going and what the Play is going to look like right the Same thing uh we're talking about it Talk is talk is cheap but get out and do Something about it uh I would just like To add one final thing related to Training there is a course I know of Taught by Carl Erickson he's he goes by The Tactical Rifleman he's a former Master Sergeant Green Beret and he's out Of Kentucky but he has something that's Called high risk travel and it was Originally intended to be designed uh And taught to Executives going overseas But he's evolved the the class so that It really puts you in the mindset around How to protect yourself your family when You're not at home when you're in any Situation uh everything from escapology To defensive driving so you know I think It has a lot of application to folks That are serious about taking this up to The next level and applying um you know Like like Mike said some stress to it
Some real life stress That's awesome Eric that's kind of what I was getting at earlier because I Wasn't aware of anything like that so We'll be sure to share that with our Audience anybody else get anything they Want to chime in for wrap up You know I'd like to uh thank you Chris For doing what you do because by putting Folks together like we we're doing here What you do and getting the word out I Think it's very very helpful for for Everybody who listens to you and I think It's a great thing and I appreciate what You do uh thanks Donna that's very kind Of you Um appreciate all y'all service to our Country appreciate your time today uh Look forward to having you on Survival Dispatch news again hope you all have a Great day Thank you Mike thanks Eric be safe out There hey guys today's video is brought To you by bike tricks Oh yeah All right guys I got another awesome E-bike here this is the from the bike Tricks Juggernaut Series this is the Ultra Duo three and this is a cream of The crop e-bike as you can see I was Having a great time on it capable of Over 30 miles an hour this is the Extended range bike so the original Batteries in here here's an extended
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