The Most Important Skill the CIA Taught Me

I spent six years with the CIA and had a great time while I was there. I was fortunate enough to get training in almost every self-defense skill you can think of, ranging from shooting to evasive driving. And as important as these skills are, there was something else that was far more important that I learned.

It’s a skill I use every day and it’s why the other day when I was running at 6 am and came across a large black bag in the middle of the sidewalk, I quickly crossed the street to get away from the bag. The skill I’m referring to is “situational awareness.” (Regarding the black bag, it could have been a suspect package, so yes, I’m still a little paranoid.)

You see, these days almost nobody pays attention to their surroundings. If you walk down the street 99% of people will have their heads buried in their iPads or iPhones or whatever the ‘hot’ gadget of the month is. The good news for you is, if you do the exact opposite of these people and walk around with your head up and your hands empty, being aware of your surroundings, then you will greatly lessen the chance of becoming a victim.

For instance…

Criminals are often interviewed in prison and shown pictures of people on the streets and asked who they’d target. It’s no surprise the people they often choose have their heads down, are talking on a cell phone, or look less-confident than the average person. So like I just mentioned, if you are concentrating on walking down the street, while everyone else around you has a phone to their ear, who do you think the criminal is going to target? Probably not you.

In fact, I make it a habit to never talk on my phone when I’m walking down the street or any other location, away from home, and thankfully my fiancée now does the same. You see, right now she goes to school in Baltimore City. And quite frankly, the city is a dump.

The murder rate in Baltimore is one of the highest in the nation and since I spend a lot of time there I’m always on “high alert.” Just the other day, my fiancée and I were walking to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. As we were walking, I noticed a man cross the street several times in front of me acting very suspicious, and he finally ended up crossing the street and standing next to me as we were waiting for the light to change.

Once the light changed…

He began to walk stride for stride with me. For those of you familiar with Jeff Cooper’s color code, I immediately went into condition “orange.” (Criminals who are about to attack you on the street will either make prolonged eye contact with you or walk with you stride for stride.)

Well, after a few steps, I immediately stopped walking, turned to the guy and asked him what time it was. I gave him the “stare” and watched his hands the entire time as he looked at his wrist and told me the time. (He then proceeded to cross the street and walk away from me.)

So why did I ask him the time? Well, when it comes to situational awareness you have to trust your instinct. And I know without a doubt that he was getting ready to do something. So I turned to him, raised my hands so I could strike if I needed to, and watched his hands to make sure he didn’t go for anything. I let him know that I was onto him and I put him on the “defensive” by making him react to me.

Of course, this situation could have been handled a thousand different ways, but the important thing to remember is to trust your instinct and not simply think “it’ll never happen to me, I’m probably just overreacting.”

Whether you ask someone what time it is, like I did, or run the other way, or any number of things, just do something, because you never know when not listening to your gut or not paying attention to your surroundings is going to get you mugged or attacked or worse.

Perhaps best of all, paying attention to your surroundings will help keep you out of situations where you might be forced to use your gun to defend your life, which we know is the last thing any one of us wants to do. So if you’re not doing it already, put away the gadgets and start paying attention.