Case studies
These case studies are included to illustrate points in the essay (see Parts 1 and 2)but are a limited sample and not all inclusive. They are shortened from any broader tactical lessons to just cover the points relevant to this presentation
Raid in Iraq: A mentally and physically prepared defender expecting attack is defeated by surprise and panic among non-combatants.
A mid-level leader in an Al-Quaeda affiliated group had escaped and evaded three previous raids to capture him. He was a former officer in the Republican Guard, seeing combat against Iran and the Kurds. He had lead recent home invasions against his fellow Arabs to raise money for his group and in another case killed the 10 year old child of a suspect informant. In short, he was used to interpersonal violence. He had loaded assault rifles, a sub-machinegun, and pistol, stashing them about the building so a weapon would always be in arm’s reach. He was a good example of a prepared defender. The attackers came on foot in a small group, rather than in vehicles in large groups as in earlier raids. Using collapsible assault ladders to cross irrigation canals at night, they were unobserved by the local terror network’s cell phone early warning network. They ignored dogs barking for over a minute before the attackers entered the door. He recovered from the shock quickly but was restrained from getting to a loaded weapon in arm’s reach by his panicking wife. The same small group captured other members of the terror group even though they were outnumbered by fighters in the village before reinforcements arrived by vehicle. Speed and surprise under the cover of darkness kept other terrorist defenders in confusion about the actions and small size of attackers. The armed defender, after a short stint in U.S. custody was extra-legally executed by a faction of the Iraq security forces that believed he was involved in crimes against humanity in the Kurdish genocide and helping in the car bombings that had killed over a hundred civilians in the previous month.
A series of Law Enforcement and Military raids: Keeping up speed and violence of action
First, a law enforcement raid against a drug house with several armed drug dealers by a local drug enforcement team. After achieving surprise, the entry man encounters an armed suspect and kills him with a single shotgun blast. The shotgun then jams with several armed suspects still in the building. The attacker drops the shotgun, draws a side arm and continues after a couple second delay, and keeps up speed to secure the building without further killing. The second is a military raid in Iraq. The entry man is shot with a shotgun (a rarity in the middle east) in the chest. The body armor absorbs the blast and the attacker gets over the shock in 2 seconds and kills the shot gun armed defender with a pair of 5.56 rounds. He and the rest of the team clear the building without delay. The flip side of these examples is in several instances in training and real raids the attackers freeze after gunfire (sometimes their own) and have to be pushed along by team members to keep up the speed of the attack. To counter this, the unit used a few seconds before entry to prepare for the adrenaline rush and shock of violence that may follow. This pregnant pause of mental preparation allows speed to be kept up in the attack.
Home Invasion by Gang: When surprise is given away
An active duty military member with experience in recent conflicts is at home on a summer afternoon when his dog, also in inside the house, starts barking. Hearing heavy pounding at the front door, he looks through a peep hole to see a single young male and a vehicle with several people in it. He decides not to answer the door and after several minutes the pounding ends. Feeling something was wrong and already armed with a carry pistol, he went to get shoes on. Before he can get them on a large bang is heard at his back door. Dropping the shoes, he draws his weapon and assumes an ambush position using the corner of a door frame and furiture for cover and concealment. A second bang, and his back door is kicked open. Two men enter on one side of his living room with him on the other, and after a quick demand to them to halt he shoots the first one in the head, killing him. The second turns and runs with the dog running after him. The defender calls police and waits for them to show up and deal with legal matters. It turns out he confronted four (2 were in the car) members of a criminal gang with experience in robbing both unoccupied and occupied homes in the area. In occupied homes they had violently assaulted any residents they had found. But in this case they gave away surprise, which alerted the defender to mentally prepare for an attack. He formed one plan to get fully dressed for action. As soon as he heard entry, he formed a new plan of waiting in ambush for the attackers behind cover and partial concealment with his weapon ready for action. The simple plan worked. Also, the dog acting aggressively toward the attackers was perhaps aided by the aggressive attitude of his master.
Law enforcement raid gone wrong: Outnumbered ten to one, a cool and ruthless defender flips all the attackers advantages.
The attackers are ten members of a joint narcotics task force that executes over 150 high risk search warrants each year. They are after a grow house with under two dozen plants. They do not know if the house is occupied or used only for a grow, due to minimal pre-raid reconnaissance (which included days before knocking on the door and no one answering). The defender is an ex- army paratrooper. Those that served with him thought little of him. He was a communications technician and due to attitude, alcohol abuse, and trouble with the law, both civilian and military, never got beyond the rank of specialist (E-4). He never saw combat. For the raid, the element of surprise may have been lost by the attackers setting up only a block away and in sight of one of the windows of the house.
As entry is made, the attackers split into 2 groups to go after the basement and ground floor level at the same time. The ground floor team in a lighted room is hit by fire from the defender in a darken bedroom. The defender, armed with a full sized 9mm service pistol and two reloads (over 45 rounds), initially fires, wounds several attackers, and kills one. Only half of the attackers are wearing body armor and 3 of them are without reloads for their weapons and they fall back, unable to see a good target because of light difference. Panic sets in, with attackers with empty guns hiding behind attackers still in the fight, disrupting the fight even more. The defender reloads and advances on the attackers, shooting through a refrigerator they are hiding behind. The group from the basement comes upstairs, but mixed in with the panic of the first group of attackers, flees the house with them. The defender shoots the wounded left behind as he follows the attackers outside, firing into attackers treating wounded outside in a lit area. An attacker with an empty pistol retrieves a shotgun, but is unable to disengage the safety and is shot by the defender. The defender only retreats back into the house after several patrol cars arrive and local law enforcement fire on him. The defender then escapes out a window, later to be arrested. The attackers, one killed, five others wounded seriously, fired over 90 rounds. The defender is only hit four times, none seriously and fired 38 rounds. He soon dies of an apparent suicide while in jail.
While not thinking the defender’s action heroic at all in murdering one law enforcement agent and wounding five others (including one paralyzed), it is a stunning example of a defender using the elements of surprise, speed and violence of action to beat back a forced entry into a building. After the surprise, he used an initial round of rapid fire and also used lighting to his advantage. He then used speed and violence of action, attacking into to the defenders to create shock. He then ruthlessly kept up the pressure until the shock and panic spread to the unengaged section of the attackers who then retreated. Wounded attackers with empty weapons became de facto non-combatants who disrupted the rest of the team, grabbing them and trying to use them as shields. If the defender had been equipped with a modern carbine and body armor, this flipping of advantages could have been even more effective.
Conclusion:
The goal of this essay was to briefly cover the mental aspects of a fight. Speed, surprise, and violence of action producing some fear, terror and shock are in most fights. The compression of time and space in and around buildings amplifies these effects. Any serious study and training for the close in fight needs to incorporate them. For more study, look in to the OODA loop (Observe, Orientate, Decide, Act) and action vs. reaction. Also read about the psychology of a fight in the excellent research and works of Dr. Dave Grossman, LTC U.S. Army (Ret).