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Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Cooper’s Color Code | You’re Doing it Wrong
Col. Cooper’s Color Code (the “Cooper Color Code”) — you’re very likely doing it wrong. There’s a possibility this article will slaughter a few sacred cows. It is certain to cause some ass pain. That’s okay, though. What we want to do, more than anything else is to get engaged professionals talking whether they agree with the author’s contention or not. Know why? Because discussion, disagreement, and civil discourse are where learning occurs.
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Interesting take on it, and much closer to the original concept, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI understood it as situational awareness. I'm just a gun owning guy who read the Colonel's columns back in the day. I have no authority in the matter and I will be glad to be shown the truth.
ReplyDeleteRecognizing the threat Vs mental preparedness to initiate possibly severe response to the threat.
DeleteI make no claim as expert. However, in my experiences, I have had opportunity to witness peculiar patterns of behavior in people in stressful events. Colonel Cooper's advice is to construct a means by which we may measure our readiness.
Actual Scenario:
A crowd of people witness an auto accident.
Some stand gawking. It hasn't registered that they should respond in any manner. They remain in that condition. It is not a paralyzing fear, it is that they are utterly unprepared.
Others determine they should respond. But they are unsure of what is proper response.
Then there are the few who have determined a response, decided on that response, initiate the response. Their response takes into consider the inaction or improper response of others, that the ithers may be utilized or will be obstructions. These are the ones who are mentally prepared. They moved from yellow to red.
This same mental dynamic plays whatever the initiating event.
Recently there was a video of a cop at a vehicle stop. An unknown 3rd party arrives in a vehicle, exits the vehicle to attack the cop with an axe. The cop did not hesitate for a nanosecond before he ventilated the attacker.
Compare that to a cop who hesitated thereby suffered life threatening wounds.
There are factors which add complexity including taking time to consider if our perceptions are acccurate. Those complicating factors are mental excuses purposed to buy time to get mentally prepared.
I have been in that same situation in response to an auto accident (with bodies ejected with severe wounds), a high speed boat collision at the dock (multiple injuries including children), and stopping three men from raping a girl. Each scenario involved a crowd of people standing near. The crowd behaved the same as the three subgroups listed above.
For pistol guidance I avidly read articles by Ross Seyfried, Bill Wilson, Jan Libourel, Ken Hackathorn. And of course, Jeff Cooper. These men inspired my appreciation for the 1911.
ReplyDeleteCol. Cooper archives here:
https://www.molonlabe.net/Commentaries/
None of them who ever spent a moment in combat.
ReplyDeleteUm, Col. Jeff Cooper?
DeleteYup. List his combat assignments. Riding out the war on a boat is not storming the beaches of Iwo Jima.
DeleteSo? What of it? His lack of combat experience negates anything else he says or does? Same logic applies to the “I’m not a woman so I can’t comment on abortion” argument.
DeleteMy FIL was in combat with the 1st Cav in the early days of Vietnam. He’s no where near an expert on the usage of any firearm or situational awareness like Cooper talks of.
Thanks for playing, though.
WiscoDave
Right. All those dead sailors and marines just rode the war out in the Pacific sitting on their boats. Who knew?
DeleteDon't panic.
ReplyDeleteChutes Magoo
Cooper's code is taught as progressive levels of situational awareness, which is incorrect. Situational awareness gets you to the code.
ReplyDeleteThe code is intended as psychological preparation for violence, ranging from white=better keep an eye on this to orange=looks bad, better draw my pistol to red=kill him now. You can go from white to red over an extended period of time or in an instant.