Post Traumatic Growth 160304

The Will to KILL.

You are the weapon; everything else is just a tool. As a peacekeeper, your job is not to kill, it is to serve and protect. To do that, you may have to kill.

First you want to deter and then stop the threat. The most effective way to stop someone is to destroy his or her central nervous system. Your job is to stop the deadly threat and the most effective way to do that is to make the threat die. Whether you are a warrior hunting terrorists in a distant land or a peacekeeper in some crap-hole, there are rules of engagement in which deadly force can be used. When you do it right, as you have been trained, the threat may die, a possibility you must accept as a warrior.

You Must Accept the Fact That You Might Have to Kill.

If you carry a gun for your job, you do not want to be thinking “Oh God! I might have to kill someone!” The correct response is this: “I think I’m going to have to kill this person. I knew it might come to this some day.” By completely accepting the possibility, you maintain control of yourself and are better able to deter your opponent. Deterrence is something that warriors do over and over in the mean streets of the world. Warriors daunt and deter. Their very presence can save lives and stop killing.

Now, if you chose to take a life when you should not, or if you fail to take a human life when you should have, a world of hurt will come down on you. The time to decide whether you can kill another human being is not in the middle of combat. The time to decide, to the utmost of your ability, is right now. Understand that no one can ever be 100 percent certain. We all exist in a state of uncertainty, even those who have been there before do not know for sure whether they can do a good job the next time. But to the utmost of your ability, you must resolve now, in your heart and mind, that you can kill.

So, who decides the amount of force the warrior has to use? Who ultimately makes the decision that deadly force is needed? The enemy does. The threat does. He fights, you fight. When he uses deadly force, you use deadly force. He makes that decision for you. That is the great paradox of combat: If you are truly prepared to kill someone, you are less likely to have to do it.
The Skill to Kill.

Champions aren’t made in the gym. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them–a desire, a dream, and a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, and they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill (Muhammed Ali).

There are three Things you need to survive in armed combat. The proper weapon, the skill, and will to kill.

Without quality training, your weapon will not do you any good. Actually you are likely to be a significant risk to the people you are supposed to protect. It is one thing pressing a trigger when you are several feet away from a threat, but it is much more personal to beat the life out of someone with your feet and hands. What if a bad guy disarmed you and you have to fight him hand-to-hands?
In the popular book Far Beyond Defensive Tactics (Christensen, L.W.), the author writes this about making the decision to kill:

You have to look into yourself to decide what you must do to bring out that politically incorrect term killer instinct. When defending your life, you cannot fight with limitations, you cannot hold back for reasons of etiquette, a sense of humanity, personal religious reasons, or fear of legal actions. If you are absolutely convinced that you are fighting for your life, you owe it yourself, and your fellow warriors to use whatever personal psychological ploy to help get the job done. If that means you have to view the suspect as a rabid, junkyard dog, so be it. When the badguy attacks you with viciousness, you must fight back with greater viciousness. Why would you do anything less? Do not doubt that the killer instinct is there… It is a cold entity, but it is also energy producing. It will make you stronger, faster, and resistant to pain. And it will help you get home at the end of your tour!

Making the Decision to Kill.

“I killed someone. But someone lived.”

Someone who was not going to live one second longer is instead alive because I did KILL. Every single man on my team has kids, too. It was my responsibility to make sure when sugar turns to shit they all went home, and they did. They went home to their families, and no matter what else happens, I can’t help but be proud of that fact (Russ Clagett).

Think about that………

SF DKD