Train More Panic Less: Part One

I have the pleasure of introducing a new series of articles that we’ll be providing for you.  They will cover how training reduces panic.  The idea comes from, of all places, my mother.  She left a comment on Facebook about our “Sweat More Bleed Less” shirts that said, “train more panic less.”  Her comment triggered my thoughts, lots of discussions, and now, articles.  So, in this series, I will start off by talking about my experience as a soldier and how the training I received increased my abilities, confidence, and reduced the stress and fear of complex combat situations.  We’ll also hear in this series from others in the LTAC team about how training has helped them in stressful situations.  I look forward to reading the articles the others are going to write and learning from their perspectives.

The US Army, in general, does a respectable job of taking a civilian off the street and giving them enough training that they’re not going to hurt themselves or, hopefully, anyone else.  This is exactly what they mean by “Basic Training.”  It’s a foundation to build on.  They use time-tested and proven techniques of stress inoculation.  This equips the mind and body with the ability to deal with stress, but it does not equip the individual soldier with the ability to reduce stress.  Constantly getting in trouble and having someone yell at you does a lot to make you callous towards stress.  What I want to focus on in this article is reducing the stress through training. 

Let’s discuss the contrast of basic training and advanced training.  When I think of an advanced course, one thing in particular stands out.  They’re all referred to as “Gentlemen’s Courses.”  What this translates to is that the subject matter of the course is already stressful enough, there is no need for yelling, screaming, flash bangs in the middle of the night, etc.  The instructors make significant efforts to reduce stress as much as possible so that the students can focus on the training itself.  My best example of this would be Military Free Fall.  When I attended Free Fall in Yuma, Arizona, based off of the instructors there, you would think that you were at the beach.  The instructors stayed relaxed and calm therefore making the atmosphere as calm as possible.  The purpose of their behavior was that we were able to focus on the complex tasks that we needed to for Military Free Fall operations and learn the skills without being so overwhelmed from the stress of it. 

This is definitely a training philosophy that I like to adopt.  When you’re learning a new skill, reduce all the variables for stress.  That way you can have perfect practice and therefore, you can have perfect performance.  You’ll notice that when we do a test drill, we often call it a stress test or stress shoot.  That is letting you know that this is a test, something to help you evaluate your progress.  That is the difference between testing and training. 

That was a lot of philosophizing, now to my personal experiences in how training has helped me keep my cool in stressful situations.  My first deployment was with the 82nd Airborne during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  There were A LOT of stressful situations.  Situations, that when I look back at now, it’s hard for me to realize how that seemed like such a stressful situation.  The difference being 17 years of training and exposure make those ginormous mountains appear as the small little molehills they were.  I cannot stress enough the importance of preparing yourself physically and mentally.  Comparing my first deployment with my last deployment, which was my 9th combat deployment, the years of training and preparation gave me the tools to deal with a diverse problem set without overwhelming me to the point of failure.  I’m not saying that there weren’t stressful times, but I felt like I was prepared and could think clearly and perform without adrenaline affecting my abilities.

To close, recently, we had a situation at our home where our next-door neighbor, one Saturday afternoon, came over in a panic because there was a strange, creepy man walking through our backyards.  He decided he liked our backyard and was going through a trash pile that I had from recent home improvements.  He picked up a brick and stared at me through our patio doors.  At which point we decided we should call the police rather than possibly escalate the situation by confronting him.  I was of course, armed, but because I have trained and practiced and my family has trained and practiced, everyone was calm, to include our children’s friends who were at our house.  We knew that if he threw the brick and broke our glass doors, we were all still safe.  We knew that if he attempted to make entry, we could handle the situation appropriately.  Throughout this entire incident and afterwards dealing with the local law enforcement, my heart rate never raised (my watch is also a heart rate monitor).  Because of training, this was not a stressful situation.  Because I knew my abilities and the abilities of my family, I did not have to wave a gun around. 

Get Trained.  And if you have training, get more.

Chris