Just how hard is it to make that shot under duress?

[Guest EB31]

I'm the same as a few others here. I'm very calm & focused leading up to and during any sort of stressfup situation. It's the adrenaline "dump" that hits hard afterwards. Doesn't last long, but still don't like it.

[Guest chaplain tom]

I was involved in a fatal self defense shooting. I knew for about 10-15 seconds before I fired the only shot that somebody was probably going to get shot in the next few seconds. My wife was with me in our truck and she was getting pretty shook up as this unfolded. Surprisingly though, I was staying pretty calm. I have combat experience and I do believe that it had an impact on this whole thing. I didn't really get very nervous until AFTER the shooting. But I was more nervous about how the cops and the DA were going to handle this than I was about actually shooting someone. I did eventually go through a period of remorse for a few days afterward but it wasn't all that bad. I looked at it like this. I was glad that my wife was unharmed and after all, I didn't initiate this thing, HE DID.

As this was going down, it was kinda like déjà vu. It was like when in combat and there were others there that depended on me to do my job. I was more concerned for my wife's safety than anything else and I was determined to defend her, just like a soldier is determined to defend his buddies. Does any of this make sense?

Edited September 1, 2010 by chaplain tom

[Dolomite_supafly]

I can say you will get more comfortable, if that is the right word, with stressful situations when you experience more and more of them. I have been thru a few and the first few times were a bit rough on me but now I think I handle it a lot better. My dump rarely occurs until after everything is over and done with. After the dump though I just want to sleep for a week but other than that I am fine.

No one really knows how they will react until they are faced with that particular situation and there are other outside factors that can change how you react. Sickness, stressors, fear of the unknown all contribute to how you will react. I have seen people who would normally be the picture of calm under stress loose it. I have also seen the opposite where people who normally over react stay relatively calm. Maturity, as in life experiences and not age, also help out a lot. Some of our 18 or 19 year old soldiers are more mature than people 2 or 3 times their age because of what they have experienced.

I try to run scenarios thru my head constantly and try to always have a plan and then a backup plan. I think this helps me keep the stress of the situation down. Also, I am very aware of my surroundings and even my friends comment by saying I am a very cautious person. I keep my head on a swivel at all times to try to anticipate problems so I don't get surprized. I never want to fight but I will if I feel that lives are in danger, given the opportunity I will avoid conflict every time if I can do it safely. I will not go anywhere without being armed, not even the mailbox. Mostly because I have had a relative leave his house twice now with intentions of killing my family and I. The most recent in October of last year. He has recently stepped up his threats as he has become more erratic because of his illegal drug use.

Dolomite

[Daniel]

I can say you will get more comfortable, if that is the right word, with stressful situations when you experience more and more of them. I have been thru a few and the first few times were a bit rough on me but now I think I handle it a lot better. My dump rarely occurs until after everything is over and done with. After the dump though I just want to sleep for a week but other than that I am fine.

No one really knows how they will react until they are faced with that particular situation and there are other outside factors that can change how you react. Sickness, stressors, fear of the unknown all contribute to how you will react. I have seen people who would normally be the picture of calm under stress loose it. I have also seen the opposite where people who normally over react stay relatively calm. Maturity, as in life experiences and not age, also help out a lot. Some of our 18 or 19 year old soldiers are more mature than people 2 or 3 times their age because of what they have experienced.

I try to run scenarios thru my head constantly and try to always have a plan and then a backup plan. I think this helps me keep the stress of the situation down. Also, I am very aware of my surroundings and even my friends comment by saying I am a very cautious person. I keep my head on a swivel at all times to try to anticipate problems so I don't get surprized. I never want to fight but I will if I feel that lives are in danger, given the opportunity I will avoid conflict every time if I can do it safely. I will not go anywhere without being armed, not even the mailbox. Mostly because I have had a relative leave his house twice now with intentions of killing my family and I. The most recent in October of last year. He has recently stepped up his threats as he has become more erratic because of his illegal drug use.

Dolomite

A guy in my platoon that was normally pretty flaky got hit while we were in Fallujah and he just kind of calmly stated that he had in fact been hit and just kind of took cover until he could be treated. I just spoke with him a few days ago on Facebook in fact. The guy standing next to him that received a relatively minor wound as well was flipping the hell out. That was to be expected with him though.