Shoot
One of the biggest myths in shooting is that you need to have a lot of money/funding to get good at it. But did you know that some of the best shooters in the world have openly stated that 80-90% of their training was….dry firing?
Read about guys like Brian Enos and Jerry Miculek (or meet them in person) and you’ll discover that the secret to their expertise doesn’t necessarily lie in spending excessive amounts of time at the range just because they are paid to be there.
Become educated on the right way to train versus training more.
Move
What do you know about kinesiology? If you started to answer that question with, “what does kinesiology mean,” then start by Googling it and go from there.
When it comes to moving multiple people in concert, that’s where we start getting more detailed. (See below under strategy.)
Communicate
This category is often only discussed in the context of technology, e.g. radios or other communication devices, but rarely do we devote much time to the fundamentals of communication itself. How much do you know about classical rhetoric, verbal judo, and cognitive biases that directly relate to communication with other human beings?
Grasping the fundamental aspects of each of these puts you way ahead of your peers.
Strategy
This is a very big and broad topic, so it seems like too much for this article. But it is worth addressing how one would get started so that they aren’t completely lost when all those war college graduates start spewing nonsense offering rational plans that will totally work.
So where to begin? The obvious choice everyone points to is The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I’m not going to tell you not to read it, but I am also going to tell you that it’s just a starting point and you need to go further.
In our information-heavy age, there are so many resources available for learning about this topic that it’s hard to know where to start. Try YouTubing “military strategy” or “great generals”; listen to podcasts like Hardcore History with Dan Carlin; learn to play the game of Bridge (Eisenhower’s favorite) instead of Texas Hold ‘em; dig into the topic of leadership at a deeper level than just reading the biography of a famous military figure (e.g. Google “the science of leadership”).
All of these enhance your understanding of strategy using methods other than just pouring over textbooks. Nothing wrong with the latter if you’re adept at it, but don’t be chained to the idea that it’s the only way to learn this stuff.
The best part of all of this? As stated earlier, most of it is incredibly inexpensive, especially in comparison to formal schooling. With time, effort, and an internet connection, you can become highly educated in every one of these areas.
To be continued.
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Greg Drobny is a former Airborne Infantryman, PSYOP Team Chief, political consultant, professional mil blogger, and is Code Platoon’s Student Outreach Coordinator. He holds a BA in history, a Masters of Science in organizational psychology, and is currently pursuing an MA in history. He is married with four children who keep him more than slightly busy and is passionate about helping veterans find their paths in life and develop the skills needed to pursue their goals.
This article first appeared in The Havok Journal on August 30, 2018.
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