See What You Are Looking At (Threat Scans)

[BarryinIN]

Just a few comments after watching two guys practicing their tactical coolness last week.

In the last ten years or so, it has become fashionable to do threat scans after engaging "threat" targets. You bang away, then look around to check for any partners of the bad guy and break any tunnel vision effects. The basic idea is good, but it's my opinion that most people are doing it wrong. And when doing it wrong, you might be better off not doing it at all.

Louis Awerbuck pointed this out in a class. He said to watch how people do this. After watching, I'd say at least nine out of ten people fire their shots, then snap their head left and right spending about a quarter second doing it.

And they don't see a thing.

Louis will ask them: How many fingers was I holding up when you scanned? They don't know. He will even forewarn them that he will ask them that at some point after a scan in the next two hours, and they still won't know. I've seen him open his folding knife and hold it up in the air by his face during their scan, then ask them if they saw anything unusual- they never do.

Try it sometime in not so familiar surroundings. The next time you fill up with gas, do one of these lightning fast scans while you wait on the pump to fill. Be honest, and do it like you see people do, or maybe like you do it yourself. After the scan, ask yourself what you saw. Can you tell yourself the color of every single car within your scan range? If you can't name the color and location every one of those huge chunks of metal, or have to think about it, how will you spot a gun held alongside someone's leg?

If you can't really see anything useful, all you have done with a supersonic scan is take your attention away from a known threat- someone who was trying to kill you three seconds before. If they were a deadly threat a few seconds ago, there is no guarantee the danger is gone just because you put three or four bullets in them, even if you saw them crumple. A lot good guys have been killed by "dead" people. Once the body goes horizontal, blood pressure can rise again and they could miraculously heal...at least enough to pull a trigger. Don't count them out.

I'm not saying I have the answers, but I am reluctant to take my eyes off my potential killer to spin my head around not seeing anything. I DO think you should check around. If you shot someone, you just made some enemies. But make your check worthwhile and don't forget the original danger.

I'll look a few degrees right or left as I step in the opposite direction, then snap right back to the target representing the downed threat. Then I'll look a few degrees the other direction while moving back, and again snap back to the threat. Then I might expand my search. Of course, the actual situation might dictate you looking somewhere else right away, but without a reason to do otherwise, I'm going to start searching the area close to the known threat. Then I can expand my scan zone outward from there, looking farther and more carefully.

Another minor point against the head spin over-the-shoulder check is how it looks. I saw a video of a guy doing it recently, and the first thought I had was that he looked like he was looking to see if anyone saw him. That quick head spin to look over his shoulder in both directions looked just like a little kid seeing if he could get away with something. To the little old lady peeking out between the shades, her impression would be "He's checking for witnesses" so she marks him as a bad guy and her view is then tainted. Everything she sees from that point on will be from the standpoint of finding things wrong with the survivor, not the downed guy. They won't even notice if they had a gun. This is not the kind of witness that will help you.

On the other hand, if her first view is you carefully watching the downed person and moving to see behind and around him, then looking around (slower than the head-spinners) it should look like what it is. The witness will be looking where you are, and see the gun or knife on the ground or maybe other things that help solidify in their mind who the good guy and who the bad guy is.

I wouldn't change my procedure based only on what some old lady might think, but I do think it makes a good secondary reason.

[wwillson]

Barry,

Very well said, in fact so well that there really isn't much to add.

Wayne

[BarryinIN]

Thanks. I just get the feeling it has become one of those things that doesn't get enough thought. People might ask why it's done, and since the given reason makes sense, that's as far as the questioning goes.

Sure, it makes sense to look around for accomplices or enemies you might have just made. But with a known threat right in front, make that scan count if you are going to do it.

Some things that are accepted as The Way could deserve a moment spent asking if they should be. A few techniques started out as little items that were taught because they might be handy in some cases, but then become the accepted way things are done. The Tactical Reload might be one of the better examples. It was originally taught as a handy thing to know for certain situations (and for keeping mags out of the sand during a week-long class) but has now become the way things are done. If someone does a Speed Reload, the assumption is they let the gun run dry or simply don't know any better. But if there is any chance the fight is not over, I think the gun should be reloaded by the fastest method (if at all). If you need more ammo in the gun, you probably need it now, and time and concentration spent on swapping magazines and pocketing one of them could be put to better use.

I read a comment from an instructor once that "the Tac Reload is what you do for the trip home, not something you fiddle with when the problem might remain unsolved". I wish I could remember who that was.

But it has become the preferred method, while the Speed Reload is looked at as a last resort. I don't think that should be, and am not sure it was ever intended.

[dnewton3]

At our SO, we are taught to lower weapon slightly, and do a "scan" with head, keeping weapon at former target. We are also taught a slow head turn; been this way for years. We probably spend a total of 2 seconds per action.

Check left, Check center, Check right, Bact to center, all in a sweeping motion rather than head jerking.

That gives us enough time to not only notice a threat, but actually analyze what we see. Been taught this since my days at our academy.

[BarryinIN]

See, that works. You are actually doing something.

I see people shoot, then snap their head from side to side like they're shaking off a fly. What can they possibly see?

[Shannow]

I can't really comment on the premise, as such training doesn't do squat in Oz...other than say it makes sense.

But seeing and looking, just like hearing and listening are two different processes.

In times of stress, it's easy to either miss something that's glaringly obvious, or see something that isn't there, and potentially react to it.

Some days my peripheral vision will spot a 4 leaf clover at 10 feet, others I'll approach the wrong car in the carpark.