Tactical Pause in Life
During a reconnaissance patrol, teams often come across dangerous areas. This area is known to be highly exposed and increases our chances of being seen by the enemy. The standard operating produce we use is security halts. These brief periods offer the team a chance to regroup before entering their positions as the team crosses into the danger area. The point man does his best to avoid dangerous areas when conducting route planning and navigation. But with the nature of these missions, they can be found unexpectedly.
Moving as a team through a dangerous area is a beautiful thing to be a part of. Especially during the night, minimizing the noise level as a team means limited to no transmission through the radios. Each patrol member has the skills to communicate. Using hand-arm signals, IR signaling that sync everyone up like a beautiful symphony. That security halt allowed the team to get their wits about them as they moved into the next task.
As of late, I have been diving back into these memories. I am taking my time and looking at how those skills learned and used in my patrols can carry over to my day-to-day. I have started to treat each day like it is a patrol. We had the skills and tools to handle potentially hostile environments, such as security halts or tactical pauses, to reorientate the team for dangerous areas such as the battlefields in Afghanistan.
Tactical pauses and security halts in my everyday life today are quick 5-10 minute check-ins with my inner-reality as I transition through from my day-to-day task. I am finding that task completions are not what I solely desire. No, it’s much different. I crave the effort that goes into mission after mission, patrol after patrol.
The sense of awareness moving through these dangerous areas was not always extreme. But, it was enough to remain vigilant and manage my survival instincts. And I am not implying that every task ahead is a dangerous area. But, I found that using this tactical pause in my everyday life translates into this — I am no longer conducting reconnaissance on the battlefield. I am currently conducting reconnaissance on my internal self.
