Tim Kennedy
Are you a defenseless little Lamb? A helpless Lamb that relies for 100% on government-appointed Sheepdogs for Safety and Security against the Wolves? Or are you a Sheepdog yourself? What is your plan when The Sh*t Hits The Fan?
A thought hit me when flying from Schiphol Airport (The Netherlands) recently. The security check. You know what i’m talking about. The place where grumpy people treat you as a terrorist until proven innocent. Thankfully all went well. I did not want to upset the security staff even more ?
No prohibited items with me: Pocket knife in check-in luggage. Check. No lighter, matches, sharp objects etc. Check.
Not more than 10.000 Euro with me. Check (that’s an easy one).
Not intoxicated. Don’t make stupid, half-funny remarks about terrorist. Check.
Empty pockets (no paper as well), belt off, shoes off, jacket off, fluids less than 50ml in transparent bags, laptop out (separate tray of course), camera out, battery out of camera, spare lens for camera out, chargers out. Check.
Stand in line.
Be scanned.
Pack your shit up and proceed.
While re-collecting my stuff and re-dressing, is when it happened. I overheard 2 members of the security staff make remarks to each other. In Arabic.
What…… the……. F*ck?
It got me thinking. I know nothing about these people. I do not know how they were screened for this job. I don’t know how they were trained. What their motivations are for doing this job. Who they hang around with. I know nothing.
These people have to contribute to my safety. And other people have selected them. And other people have trained them. Apparently I trust them all. Although I know nothing about them.
Immediately I started looking at the Military Police Unit at the Airport differently. Same here. Sure they have automatic weapons, but are they good shots? How have they been trained? Are they physically fit? Were they out drinking last night? How will they handle under stress?
2 Weeks ago, while at Barcelona Airport, I saw a female Customs employee using her side arm as a convenient hook to hang her Mango Shopping bag on while walking around. I sh*t you not!
Same with the police in general. What are their response times? How will they act? Will they be able to deliver a headshot at 10 meters when encountered with a hostage situation?
What is your Plan A?
Don’t get me wrong. I am very happy to have help when the Sh*t Hits The Fan. But it should not have to be my Plan A.
We have willfully given the government the monopoly on the right to use violence. Like little Sheep that cannot take care of our own and need a Sheepdog to keep us from harm by the Wolves. Which is true in most cases, unfortunately. Just walk down any busy street in any city and take a look around you. Lots of Sheep.
We have been stripped from all effective self defense weapons by gun laws. Like the criminals and terrorists adhere to these laws.
If you ask any citizen what use of violence is still ‘self defense’ and what is considered ‘assault’ by the law, you will only get blank faces. Or what they would do in case of an assault. Or are witness to an assault in progress. People do not know. Never thought about it. Like it’s ‘somebody else’s problem’.
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to turn these Sheep into somewhat more Sheepdogs? Wouldn’t that increase Safety and Security overall? Just by delivering less soft targets to the bad guys? Letting Wolves know we will not be messed with? As a force multiplier?
Have you fully outsourced your safety? Are other peoples re-actions your Plan A?
Or are they Plan B, because you can take care of your own?
For more on this subject, check out this article.
Written by Robin C, Former Dutch SF officer, Operator, 12 years into adapting to civilian life
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