When is it OK to use deadly force in protecting yourself and your family from a home invasion?

There's a lot of discussion today in Minnesota around how to protect yourself during a home invasion. 

The four pillars governing the authority to use deadly force in MN are:
1. Must be in reasonable fear of great bodily harm or death.
2. Must be a reluctant participant.

3. Must have no reasonable means of retreat.
4. No lesser force would suffice. Deadly force was required

In a home invasion, you may not have to retreat, but all three of the other elements must be present in order for you to use deadly force. Other states have slightly different positions on this, so check out your state guidelines for the use of deadly force in your home.

Observation Test III

This is our third and final test on observation.  By now, hopefully you are learning to look for what lies beyond the surface. 

We're talking about an action strategy developed by USAF Colonel John Boyd.   

Observe ---->  Orient ---->  Decide ----> Act

Observation Test II

This is our second post on observation.  We're talking about an action strategy developed by USAF Colonel John Boyd.   

Observe ---->  Orient ---->  Decide ----> Act

How many red cards can you count?

Observe (The first phase of the OODA Loop).

We're talking about an action strategy developed by USAF Colonel John Boyd.  
Observe ---->  Orient ---->  Decide ----> Act

You bring into any situation your history, which serves as a filter for how you observe an evolving situation.  Observation is something that you can practice daily, like a mental game.  Fine tuning this skill of focusing your mind on details around you can help you in the event of a real emergency by quickly processing through the observe part of the OODA loop.  By observing, Boyd was talking simply about your ability to scan the environment and gather information from it.

In an emergency, decisions are made split second.  Human reaction time is defined as the time elapsing between the onset of a stimulus and the onset of a response to that stimulus.  We process approximately 80% of the information we receive with our sense of sight,  but we can and do make observations with our other senses also.

 In the recent box office hit movie Taken II, Liam Neeson's character was blindfolded by his abductors and taken on a car ride.  During that scene in the movie, he processed an incredible amount of information by observing distance (in seconds by listening to clicks of his watch) and sounds (such as the clucking of birds) that he later used to orient himself.  While they took huge theatrical license with this scene, it's the impression of observation that we can bring back to the OODA loop.

We'll link to one source for how to sharpen your observation skills here.
Their ideas include :
1.  Meditation - to learn how to clear your mind and focus
2.  Practicing Logic - using puzzles and other tools to increase your logical reasoning
3.  Practicing Memory Recollection
4.  New Experiences
and
5.  Trial and error of your observations and memory

The point for this opening step of the OODA loop is to make a conscious effort to improve your powers of observation.  The faster you can observe details, the quicker you will move beyond the observe step to the orient step of an emergency situation.  

Here's a cool 42 second awareness test to get you started on your path towards greater situational awareness.

Next up we will be talking about orienting what you have observed.   

Observe ---->  Orient ---->  Decide ----> Act

Moments choose you... but you choose how you respond in that moment.

Over the next several days, I will blogging about a strategy developed by U.S. Air Force Colonel John Boyd called the OODA Loop.

OODA stands for :

• Observe
• Orient
• Decide
• Act

We will consider the OODA strategy from the vantage point of an intended victim in an emergency situation such as the tragedy that unfolded in a movie theater in July 2012 in Aurora, Colorado.  However, the same reoccurring cycle of observe-orient-decide-act is applicable to most emergencies.  Your ability to process through this cycle intentionally, and more rapidly than someone that might intend to do you harm may assist you in successfully navigating yourself or others out of harms way.  Boyd developed the concept to explain how to direct one's energies to defeat an adversary and survive.

If you can consciously process through this cycle quickly, observing and reacting to unfolding events more rapidly than an opponent you can thereby "get inside" and disrupt the opponent's decision cycle.  If you are acting while the opponent is still observing, you can gain a strategic advantage.

The observations I will make based on my study of the OODA loop are my opinions, intended to help you create an intentional thought process with the aim of emergency survival.  Whether you agree with my interpretations or not is not vital, but hopefully will spark you doing independent research and creating a proactive mindset of a survivor.

Look for posts here every few days as I blog through the OODA loop.  I welcome your personal comments and observations to my email account dave (at ) vigilantpps.com.

Be Vigilant!

Dave Happe
Founder
VigilantPPS.com

Living To Tell About It

Starting Tuesday 11/13/12, David Happe (president of Vigilant Personal Protection Systems) will be blogging a series over several days on how to react in an emergency situation. This free information will give you tools to Observe, Orient, Decide, and React in the event of a life threatening emergency with emphasis on violent assaults. Links will be posted for each update in the series at Vigilant's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/VigilantePPS) and right here on this blog.  

DETROIT (AP) - Detroit police say they're searching for a 9-year-old boy who left home to go trick-or-treating on Halloween and didn't return.

http://www.wlns.com/story/19972946/detroit-police-search-for-missing-trick-or-treater