Jane had been looking forward to spending this Saturday as a full day of shopping at the new mall. She'd been so busy that she'd not been able to visit the mall since its Grand Opening some four weeks ago. It was only three weeks 'til Christmas, and she'd not bought one single gift. So...this was shaping up to be an extremely busy, but exciting day.

All the way to the mall she'd been turning her gift list over in her mind. There were those closest family members that she'd shop for first. Of course, her husband, and two children would take the most care, finding just that right gift.

As she pulled into the mall parking lot, she was surprised that she was able to find a parking place close to the front door of the sporting goods store where she intended to begin her task. As she pulled in between the yellow lines, her mind began to move back and forth between the items her husband and teen-aged son had listed. Her mind moved from one possible gift to another, and she was excited about browsing the various items that would be displayed, inviting her to buy.

She stepped out of her car, locking the door behind her, and moved quickly across the short distance to the mall, and then through the automatic doors leading into the sporting goods store. She strolled through the various sections of the store. The fishing area yielded nothing that caught her eye. Her son had shown some interest in fishing last summer, but it was short lived. He was heavy into skate boarding, but now wanted to try his hand at snow-boarding. As for her husband, hunting was his gig, and he was in the market for some new hunting clothes.

As she made her way to the hunting section, she was slightly surprised to hear a loud "pop," just off to her left. She really thought nothing about it, as there was surely a logical explanation. She had vaguely noticed a rather suspicious looking character standing just inside the door of the store. He seemed to be holding what looked like one of those paint ball guns. Another pop, louder and closer this time. She would later recall seeing a young man standing a few feet in front of her suddenly grab the side of his face, and slowly sink to the floor, something red quickly covering his hand. She remembers thinking that someone must have shot him with one of those paintball guns. That was it! She knew they sold paintball guns here. Her son had gotten one for his last birthday. More pops! Now screaming from all directions. She was sure that none of this was happening as she seemed to be seeing it. It must be staged...some sort of advertisement for the upcoming deer season. But no! Another person, this time an elderly lady, had dropped to the floor...hard...and right in front of her. It seemed that the entire side of her face had disappeared. Suddenly, every part of her being began to scream in terror. She began to run blinding in no particular direction. She ran into display cases, into other screaming people, and finally into the wall. In total disbelief in the entire event, she sank to the floor, her mind locked out, having gone numb. She doesn't know how long she lay there. Suddenly, there was standing over her a person in blue clothes. He was a medic, asking her if she had been shot. Shot! What does he mean...shot? That can't be! Everything went blank again.

Jane was living life where most of us spend a lot of time. In Threat Awareness training we call this the WHITE ZONE. What does that mean? It means we are mentally dwelling in an area of awareness that places us either in the past, or projects us into the future. Jane was focusing on past conversations with her family concerning their desires for Christmas gifts. As she entered the store, her thoughts switched to her possible future choices, based on what she was seeing directly in front of her. Either mode removed her from awareness of events as they unfolded around her.

This WHITE ZONE is discribed as day dreaming, being distracted or unaware. The problem with this mental position is that a professional predator is experienced at reading the body language that goes along with this state of awareness. Those who have not acquired this ability are generally in jail, not free and still plying their trade. The person in this state is easy to spot, evey by the casual observer. Next time you're at the mall, notice people as they pass by you. Many will be walking with their head down, sort of watching their feet. If a person stops in front of them, looking perhaps in a store window, they may walk right into them. They may exhibit surprise at the presence of another human being. This is the person who, in the right conditions, will become a victim. If a person is that "out of touch" while around other people in the mall, what will be their state of mind when jogging in the park? It's highly possible that their awareness of the world around them will be the same. That is their learned state of mind.

There are four additional levels of awareness that brings a trained person to full alert, ready to either flee or fight. This person will most likely never be a victim. You see, even as the predator can read the body language of the person who is totally unaware of the world around them, they can also read the body language of the person who radiates to the world that they cannot be taken easily.

In this short article, I will only focus on the next level up from WHITE, called the YELLOW ZONE. This is the only level of alertness that we can learn to live at without becoming paranoid. It would be unhealthy to live in a mental state where we saw "demons behind each doornob." But there is a state we can learn to live in that will keep us constantly alert to all activity that moves within our "zone of defense."

Condition Yellow is described as a general state of alertness, with no particular focal point. You're scanning the area around you, aware of movement and any encroachment into your general area of awareness. As I have stated above, this is the only state of alertness that one can learn to live in without becoming paranoid. You can't afford to see a "bugger behind every tree," but you must be aware that one may be lurking there. In this mode, if a "bugger" does moves into your area, you'll be instantly alert, ready to react accordingly.

One example I read somewhere defines this state of awareness in a way I thought was good. It went something like this! You're on duty at a radar center somewhere in the Middle East. You're not actually at war where you are, even though there's some threat in your area. So you have your radar up and running 24 hours a day, making a continuous 360 degree sweep of the area. Suddenly, there's a blip on your radar screen. You can't tell by just looking at the small, greenish-yellow dot on the screen whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, so you ask a fighter plane to intercept the blip and check it out. If it's a commercial airliner a hundred miles off course, the fighter pilot will wave at it, and return to base. If it's an enemy MIG headed toward your site, he'll shoot it down. He won't wave or shoot until he first determines whether the blip is friend or foe.

This is very similar to how you should operate your life at all times. For our purposes here, this is becoming more relevant anytime we're in public, or even involved in almost any activity where there may be a hint of danger should certain situations develop. When you leave your home to go to work, to the mall, to the park to jog, or whatever, you turn on your radar, and it continually sweeps the area around you for potential hazards. When something catches your attention, you assess it. If it's not a threat, you dismiss it. If it is a threat, you move toward dealing with it. This may be avoidance of the area, a redirecting of your focus, escape, or even resist by using some defensive tactic or tool. Point is, you redirect your attention to deal with the situation at hand. But if you're in the "white zone," as we've mentioned, you may not even notice the impending problem until it's too late to do anything about it. Anything in your "zone of defense" that's unusual, out of place, or out of context, is viewed as potentially dangerous, until you have had a chance to assess it. When your mental radar picks up a blip, you immediately escalate one level up the scale. This is a learned level you move to when you are sure there is an immediate threat to your sefety. Allow me to close this article with these important words.

You will most likely go through life without ever being attacked. So why should you be concerned with training such as we are alluding to here? Consider this! You leave your home to drive to the mall. What's the "probability" that you'll be involved in an accident? If we were to assign a percentage to that probability, the number would vary based on your route, driving experience, dependability of your automobile, volumn of traffic, etc. But most likely, that number would be rather small. However, what is the "possibility?" You may not have considered this, but that "possibility" number is 100%. There is a 100% possibility that you'll be involved in an accident at any time. What about this? When you go into a store (remember Jane), what is the "probability" that some nut will open fire with an automatic weapon while you are in the store? Again, very small! But the "possibility" is 100%. So, in answer to the question above! If we expect to give ourselves the best shot at living to a ripe old age, we owe it to ourselves (and those around us) to be as prepared as possible when the very small "probability" moves into the very high realm of "possibility," which then becomes an actual event. Could you spot the threat in time to avoid an attack, and possibly warn others around you?

Thomas R. Turner, Ph.D.

By: Wolfhunter