DOC Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life by Patrick Van Horne; Jason A. Riley in History

Review

144 of 147 people found the following review helpful. This book is an excellent guide to decision making in any time-critical profession where ...By John M. KohlerThis book is an excellent guide to decision making in any time-critical profession where safety and lives are on the line. It presents several strategic formulas for making decisions under pressure; which will instantly challenge you to improve the depth of your daily level of observation and awareness.These invaluable lessons from the Marine Combat Hunter Program will teach you how to read your environment and respond to it faster than those around you. By learning how to read baseline body language; and immediately detect anomalies; you can begin to know what people are going to do before they do it. More importantly; with these skills you can recognize when someone is trying to pull you into a bad situation; and know the proper countermove. The Israeli system of "characterization" - correlating objective suspicion indicators with known or plausible environmentally specific M.O.'s - is extremely effective for stopping criminal activities and terrorist surveillance dry runs or attacks. This book complements that standardized system very well; by revealing microbehaviors in baseline activity that help us to form a faster understanding of both an individual's and a group's intentions - before they act.This is a book that is extremely useful for training others in time critical decisionmaking - not just in a law enforcement or military environment; but in natural disasters as well. This book will teach you how to steal time when you need it most; by interpreting events and outthinking situations before they harm you.I highly recommend this book to anyone in a profession that involves time-critical decision making : airline pilots; doctors; nurses; paramedics; police officers; and soldiers will all find something helpful in this book to ramp up their powers of observation and daily decision making; to protect and care for the people they are responsible for. This book is for those who embrace the responsibility of being the one person who by their training can make a difference and win the day. Be that person. Buy this book. Every time you read it; you'll discover yet another nuance that puts things into a whole new light.123 of 127 people found the following review helpful. Left of Bang is a fantastic book. A book every cop and security officer ...By FredLeft of Bang is a fantastic book. A book every cop and security officer should read. Anyone concerned for their safety looking to avoid dangerous situations through recognizing the signs and signals of crime and danger should read this book.Left of Bang is a metaphor for preventing the attack; the first shot; the explosion etc. The authors advise “to think about an attack on a timeline; bang is in the middle. Bang is the act. Bang is the IED explosion; the sniper taking a shot; or the beginning of an ambush. Bang is what we want to prevent. Being left of bang means that a person has observed one of the pre-event indicators; one of the warning signs that must occur; earlier on the timeline for the bang to happen. Being on the other end of the timeline is referred to as being right of bang. Most of the training that military operators and law enforcement personnel receive is reactive. They learn skills and techniques that rely on someone else taking the initiative; which means waiting for the enemy or criminal to act first. Unfortunately; whoever strikes first possesses a powerful tactical advantage. When a person is right of bang; they are reacting to the action that took place.”These lessons from Left of Bang will teach you how to read your environment and respond to it faster than those around you. By learning how to read baseline body language; and immediately detect anomalies; you can begin to know what people are going to do before they do it. More importantly; with these skills you can recognize the signs and signals when someone is trying to lure you into a bad situation. Through pattern recognition in baseline activity that help us to form a faster understanding of both an individual's and a group's intentions before they act.Left of Bang is book that develops your ability to read human behavior through what the authors label the Six Domains. These domains range from autonomic to deliberate and personal to social. They are:• Kinesics: Conscious and subconscious body language.• Biometric Cues: Biological autonomic responses.• Proxemics: Interpersonal spatial interaction.• Geographics: Patterns of behavior within and environment.• Iconography: Expression through symbols.• Atmospherics: Collective attitudes that create distinct moods within an environment.Getting Left of Bang is based on understanding these domains intuitively.Intuition is a powerful force; however; it is poorly understood. Intuition is not black magic or some inexplicable force of nature. Intuition is nothing more than a person’s sense about a situation influenced by experience and knowledge. Intuition is the way the mind picks up on patterns and uses experiential and learned knowledge to guide a person during a given situation. However; intuition is often driven by the subconscious. It’s rightly called a “gut feeling;” since people can literally have a physical response when their intuition tries to make them aware of something they do not consciously know.Crime and violence do not just happen. There are signs and signals presented long before the crime is committed or the assault take place. Seeing a man approach you pointing a gun at you; is an obvious sign of danger. A man getting out of a vehicle after being stopped for speeding and angrily demanding to know why you stopped him is a clear sign of high anxiety. When he continues to shout and closes distance with you after repeated commands to get back; is a clear sign of impending attack. After an assault by this man he disengages; goes to his vehicle and retrieves a firearm! The answer to what’s about to take place; based on the context of the situation is obvious. This is a worst case scenario of a person about to inflict deadly force and your orientation; decision and action should be clear.Obvious signs and signals of crime and danger can be clearly seen to the trained law enforcement and security professional. Yet they all too often go unseen or are seen too late. The most common danger signs experienced; however are subtle feelings; a hunch; you intuitively know something is wrong. The alert observer that listens to his intuition based on facts and circumstances presented at the time can seek advantage and prevent crime and dangerous circumstances from unfolding. The ability to observe these subtle signs and signals and orient to what they are telling you; can give you the clear advantage in dealing with conflict.I highly recommend you go and read the book.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. InformativeBy Aaron M.Personally; I love increasing my awareness and this book gives you tools with an added awareness. I haven't been in dangerous situations yet but I've noticed that it has helped me identify folks that are up to no good. As a result; I can now keep my family safe by giving a wider berth to those potentially up to no good.