Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Condition Black
My Old Man sent me a link to a blogger who actually attended Gunsite. He has a very pithy, but not overly long post on being there.
This got me to thinking about the awareness levels that Gunsite employs. If I remember correctly: white, you are an unthinking jackass; yellow, you are aware of your surroundings; orange, you suspect or notice a potential threat; and red, you are tuned into a specific threat/target.
My instructor added another one that was dropped from the list a long time ago: Condition Black.
From what I understood, this means your shit is fucked. There is slender hope of surviving the situation and the human response is much like a Berserker. Interesting to think that this was dropped, as a lot of situations might end up like this.
Anyway, add it to your vocabulary, because it describes a real and somewhat probable scenario that most people are not mentally prepared for.
This got me to thinking about the awareness levels that Gunsite employs. If I remember correctly: white, you are an unthinking jackass; yellow, you are aware of your surroundings; orange, you suspect or notice a potential threat; and red, you are tuned into a specific threat/target.
My instructor added another one that was dropped from the list a long time ago: Condition Black.
From what I understood, this means your shit is fucked. There is slender hope of surviving the situation and the human response is much like a Berserker. Interesting to think that this was dropped, as a lot of situations might end up like this.
Anyway, add it to your vocabulary, because it describes a real and somewhat probable scenario that most people are not mentally prepared for.
Comments:
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First, thanks for the link.
Second, We addressed condition black, condition clear, and condition taupe during the mindset lecture at Gunsite.
The Conditions are levels of alertness, and are a funtion of your internal mindset. The Condition black you describe is a description of the external situation. In the ladder established at Gunsite, Condition Red means you are ready to shoot, or are shooting: You are in the state of mind where you are acting to eliminate or evade a known, identified threat. Note that the important part is what's happening in your head, not what is happening in the environment.
Does that make sense?
Second, We addressed condition black, condition clear, and condition taupe during the mindset lecture at Gunsite.
The Conditions are levels of alertness, and are a funtion of your internal mindset. The Condition black you describe is a description of the external situation. In the ladder established at Gunsite, Condition Red means you are ready to shoot, or are shooting: You are in the state of mind where you are acting to eliminate or evade a known, identified threat. Note that the important part is what's happening in your head, not what is happening in the environment.
Does that make sense?
Owen,
You are spot on in your correction. What my instructor was talking about was the environmental warnings used in WWII. Cooper adopted the ladder and adressed it to mental preparation.
How condition black is illustrated in modern times, or what its useful value is as far as the Cooper "mindset", I don't know.
The ladder is useful as a learning tool, but, like many, if it is clinged to, it prevents one from further thought.
Good blog. Best regards. And don't take offense.
Benjamin
You are spot on in your correction. What my instructor was talking about was the environmental warnings used in WWII. Cooper adopted the ladder and adressed it to mental preparation.
How condition black is illustrated in modern times, or what its useful value is as far as the Cooper "mindset", I don't know.
The ladder is useful as a learning tool, but, like many, if it is clinged to, it prevents one from further thought.
Good blog. Best regards. And don't take offense.
Benjamin
Additionally, I rereading my post, I deliberately referred to a reactive mental/alert condition, i.e. "berserker."
The more I review this post, the more convinced I am that I addressed the mental aspect and not the environmental. If anyone misunderstood, my apologies.
If you want to argue minutia, have at it.
Condition Black is the mindset where you are an ultra-alert, wacked out, the end is in sight, "internal mindset."
Benny
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The more I review this post, the more convinced I am that I addressed the mental aspect and not the environmental. If anyone misunderstood, my apologies.
If you want to argue minutia, have at it.
Condition Black is the mindset where you are an ultra-alert, wacked out, the end is in sight, "internal mindset."
Benny
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