After Action Assessment/Are You Looking?

[Jon Payne]

What are you looking for? Are you really getting visual input or just going through the motions?

I have worked more than my share of crashes involving passenger cars (be it cars or trucks) and motor cycles. What do you think are the first words I hear when talking to the driver of the passenger cars? I'm sure you guessed, "I didn't see them"!

My opinion isn't that they didn't see them, but instead they weren't looking for a motor cycle. They were looking for a car or truck and when they didn't see what they were looking for they proceeded with the action that caused the crash. Even though they may have seen the motor cycle, it didn't register because they weren't looking for it. So how does this apply to gunfighting?

Every course I teach for Suarez International involves discussing the need for an After Action Assessment (AAA). Not only do we discuss the need, but it is added to our drills and exercises. Every one of our students has heard me repeat did it work, is he down, does he have any friends? Check left, check right etc...

It would be foolish to stand behind the line with any gun pointed in the direction of our students. After all, I ask every student to get into their Combat Mindset. There are different exercises we do to ensure during your scan you really are looking for visual input. An AAA has several goals that need to be met. One of those goals is to find any additional threats. Bad guys aren't always lone operators. Another is to break the effect of tunnel vision. There are more of course; but I'll let you discuss them and their importance.

 

[Handgun World]

I have seen instructors hold weird things in their hands like orange colored training guns, cans of spray paint, knives and various objects, within 3-4 yards of a student performing a 360 degree after action assessment. When asked what the student saw, the typical response was "nothing."

 

[BCGlocker]

Very good point, John and Bob. Often students will simulate the "tac-cool" motion of snapping the head right then left for the "quick scan" but never really "seeing" for the potential threat. A case of "looking" but not "seeing".

 

[StevenC.]

Right on.

I was reminded of days past when youtube trolls would attempt to bust on someone for not doing a scan, but when you watched their videos they were snapping their heads so fast left n right they were more likely to see stars than see a threat.