On Sheep, Sheepdogs and Wolves
Excerpt from
On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict, In War and In Peace
- By Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and Loren W. Christensen
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to Lt.
Col. Grossman: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are
kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by
accident." This is true. Consider that the murder rate is six per
100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per
year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not
inclined to hurt one another.
Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent
crimes every year. While this is a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an
all-time record rate of violent crime, we must keep in mind that there
are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a
victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in one hundred in
any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by
repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably
less than two million.
Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation:
We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is
still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent
people who are not capable of hurting each other except by accident or
under extreme provocation.
Let us call them sheep.
Now, we mean nothing negative by calling them this. Think of a pretty
blue robin's egg. It is soft and gooey inside, but someday it will grow
into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard
blue shell. Police officers, soldiers and other warriors are like that
shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into
something wonderful. For now though, civilization needs warriors to
protect them from the predators.
"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves
feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out
there who feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There
are evil men in this world who are capable of evil deeds. The moment you
forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no
safety in denial.
"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive
citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy
for your fellow citizens, you are an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But
what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your
fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who walks
the hero's path. You are able to walk into the heart of darkness, into
the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
One career police officer wrote the following to Lt. Col. Grossman
after attending one of his "Bulletproof Mind" training sessions:
"I want to say thank you for finally shedding some light on why it is
that I can do what I do. I always knew why I did it. I love my
[citizens], even the bad ones, and I had a talent that I could return to
my community. I just couldn't put my finger on why I could wade through
the chaos, the gore, the sadness, if given a chance try to make it all
better, and walk right out the other side."
Let us expand on the old soldier's excellent model of the sheep,
wolves and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial; that is
what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in
the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why
they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire
exits throughout their kids' schools. But many of them are outraged at
the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kids' school. Our
children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously
injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to
the possibility of violence is to deny that it could happen. The idea of
someone coming to kill or harm their children is just too hard for them
to fathom.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the
wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference,
though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the
sheep. Any sheepdog that intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb
will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at
least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that
there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell
them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in
our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would
much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray-paint himself
white, and go, "Baa."
That is, until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.
The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough
high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not
have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids;
they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack,
however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the
officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of
them. This is how the lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is
at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the
wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever
before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and
military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a
sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a
sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the
perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the
night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs
yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and
wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along
with the young ones.
Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep
pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day.
After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is,
most citizens in America, said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those
planes." But the sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I
could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a
difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have
truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want
to be able to make a difference.
While there is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, he does
have one real advantage. Only one. He is able to survive and thrive in
an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.
There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals
convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious,
predatory acts of violence: assaults, murders and killing law
enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically
targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and
lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa,
when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect
itself.
However, when there were cues given by potential victims that
indicated they would not go easily, the cons said that they would walk
away. If the cons sensed that the target was a counter-predator, that
is, a sheepdog, they would leave him alone unless there was no other
choice but to engage.
One police officer told me that he rode a commuter train to work each
day. One day, as was his usual, he was standing in the crowded car,
dressed in blue jeans, T-shirt and jacket, holding onto a pole and
reading a paperback. At one of the stops, two street toughs boarded,
shouting and cursing and doing every obnoxious thing possible to
intimidate the other riders. The officer continued to read his book,
though he kept a watchful eye on the two punks as they strolled along
the aisle making comments to female passengers, and banging shoulders
with men as they passed.
As they approached the officer, he lowered his novel and made eye
contact with them. "You got a problem, man?" one of the IQ-challenged
punks asked. "You think you're tough, or somethin'?" the other asked,
obviously offended that this one was not shirking away from them.
The officer held them in his steady gaze for a moment, and then said calmly, "As a matter of fact, I am tough."
The two looked at him questioningly, blinked a couple of times, and
then without saying a word, turned and moved back down the aisle to
continue their taunting of the other passengers, the sheep.
Some people might be destined to be sheep and others might be
genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But most people can choose
which they want to be, and more and more Americans are choosing to
become sheepdogs.
Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was
honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall,
was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone
to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he
learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as
weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll,"
which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to
confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred
among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents-from sheep
to sheepdogs, and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an
unknown number of lives on the ground.
Here is the point Lt. Col Grossman likes to emphasize, especially to
the thousands of police officers and soldiers he speaks to each year. In
nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born
that way, as are wolves. They did not have a choice. But you are not a
critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a
conscious, moral decision.
If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay,
but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and
your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to
protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs
are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust
or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path,
then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate,
equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment
when the wolf comes knocking at the door.
For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are
well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt
holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some
form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police
officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there
is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears
to massacre you and your loved ones.
Lt. Col. Grossman was training a group of police officers in Texas
when during a break an officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon
in church. The other officer replied, "I will never be caught without
my gun in church."
Lt. Col. Grossman asked him why he felt so strongly about this and the
officer told him about another police officer he knew who was at a
church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a
mentally deranged individual charged in and opened fire, gunning down 14
people. He said that that officer believed he could have saved every
life that day if only he had been carrying his gun. His own son was
shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait
to die.
The officer telling the story looked Lt. Col. Grossman in the eyes,
and asked, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with
yourself after that?"
Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer
was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and scorn
him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for
"heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were
defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their
kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and
traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against
them. However, their only response to the wolf is denial, and all too
often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the
sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have any idea how hard it would
be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed,
and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for
that day?"
It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically
destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is
counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and
horror when the wolf shows up.
Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth
when you are not physically prepared: You didn't bring your gun; you
didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a
strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do
physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by fear,
helplessness, horror and shame at your moment of truth.
In Fear Less, Gavin de Becker's superb post-9/11 book, which should be
required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current
world situation, he says:
"...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For
all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the
fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling.
Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in
small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on
some level.
And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.
If you are a warrior legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step
outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that
the bad man will not come today. No one can be on 24/7 for a lifetime.
Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon,
and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this
to yourself, "Baa."
This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes-no
dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter
of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand
sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist
completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in
between. Since 9/11 almost everyone in America took a step up that
continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting
and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their
job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away
from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved
ones will survive physically and psychologically at your moment of
truth.
Loren W. Christensen's police career began in
1967 when he served as a military policeman stateside and in Saigon,
Vietnam. When he got out, he joined the Portland (Oregon) Police Bureau
where he served for 25 years in a wide range of jobs, to include street
patrol, gang intelligence, dignitary protection, and defensive tactics
instructor.
Loren began training in the martial arts in 1965 and has earned a
total of 10 black belts in three arts: 7th degree karate, 2nd degree
jujitsu, and 1st degree arnis. His slant is, and always has been, the
street.
As a free-lance writer, Loren has authored 32 books, dozens of
magazine articles, and edited a newspaper for nearly eight years. He has
starred in six martial arts training DVDs and videos.
Retired from police work, Loren now writes full time and teaches martial arts.
To contact Loren, visit his website LWC Books at www.lwcbooks.com.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is a West Point
psychology professor, Professor of Military Science, an Army Ranger, and
author of On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War
and Society and On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly
Conflict, In War and In Peace, with Loren W. Christensen.
As the director of Killology Research Group, Lt. Col. Grossman is on
the road nearly 300 days a year, training elite military and law
enforcement organizations worldwide on the reality of combat.
To contact Col. Grossman, visit his website Killology at www.killology.com.
