From Operational To Optimal: 3 Things You Can Do To Perform At Your Best

I sat in the front passenger seat with my rifle slung around my neck and the muzzle down between my knees. I played with the safety selector, flipping it on and off to pass the time. That day was a long and uncomfortable exercise in being Semper paratus.

Sustained by stale bagels, cream cheese in tiny containers, and a single drop of dew we sat stuffed in an SUV for hours on end just waiting for the command to move on the target address. Tac vests, helmets, rifles, and all, we lingered in full kit — piled high and deep like a bunch of Ninja Turtles. We had been told to get ready to move and then to stand down more times than I could count. Twelve hours later the excitement was gone and we had just about enough of Operation Hurry Up And Wait.

Flow And Steady

Finally, the blessing from on high came over the air and we rolled up hot and heavy and hit that apartment like a tactical Louisville Slugger. With the door breached our small element flowed through the apartment with sexy precision. If I didn’t know better I’d think we were filming an Axe Body Spray commercial — minus the random attractive women hurtling toward us like lunch trays in a cafeteria food fight.

We moved through the living room and kitchen in a matter of seconds. I took point and held the short hallway that had opposing bedroom doors to the left and the right. A bathroom terminated the hallway and lay straight ahead. I bumped forward as my teammates cleared the opposing rooms. With the bathroom in front of me I conducted a threshold evaluation and then stepped forward to clear it.

Smooth Operator

I put one foot in front of the other in a heel-to-toe fashion like only a high-speed operator can do. As I crossed the invisible plane of the doorway I heard the distinct noise of a weighted object hitting the linoleum floor. With my next step my back foot slid forward and kicked the object sending it sliding across the floor in front of me. I glanced down and saw my rifle magazine lying there at the base of the toilet looking back at me like an abandoned child. In a tactical instant, beads of sweat formed on my upper lip and my mind’s eye watched as my ego flushed itself down the proverbial toilet.

The bathroom was clear — nothing to see here — so I grabbed my briefly orphaned child and slammed it back into my rifle. I knew what had happened and cursed myself for letting it come to this. This was a bad situation that could have been a whole lot worse.

Ambi-Dangerous

The issue I had known about but did nothing to fix was the ambidextrous magazine release on my new rifle. The team had recently upgraded and the ambidextrous mag release had come standard. It seemed to be a no-brainer to have them since it was an “add-on” and supposedly would make magazine changes easier when shooting off-hand and was an inclusive feature for the south-paws in the group. But it was none of those things. It was a problem.

I’m a right-handed shooter so my rifle hangs with its left side against my body. During the time qualifying on the range my new rifle would dangle and bounce like it always did, but now the ambidextrous magazine release was in the perfect position to be depressed by the forces of gravity and momentum as it jostled against my kit. This would release the magazine just enough to create a failure to feed, though friction held the magazine in place. When I figured out what was happening I didn’t have the fortitude to speak up to the powers that be and “criticize” the new rifles. I figured it was just me and that I’d work around it.

That Guy

When you were in school did you ever have a teacher tell you to ask that question that’s plaguing you because someone else in the class might have the same question? Of course, you never ask it because you don’t want to be “that guy.” Cops are the best at this — and by the best I mean the absolute worst — myself maybe most of all.

It turns out several of my teammates were having the same problem and they tried to work around it and deal with it like I did. Truth be told, I don’t know if any of them had a magazine drop out of their rifle on a live operation, or if I was the only one. The good news is that the problem was eventually addressed and we ended up removing the ambidextrous mag releases because they were more of a liability than an asset. It was a simple fix that I should have handled long before ever taking my rifle live.

I’ve come to realize that new is not always better, more is sometimes less, and being assertive is imperative. I’ve also found that taking responsibility for myself and my gear was the best way to improve my performance. With that in mind here are three things you can do to not just be operational, but optimal:

1. Know Your Gear

Training isn’t just about learning to shoot, move, and communicate. It’s also about getting intimate with your gear, how it is set up, and how each piece interacts with and affects the others. No single piece of gear is an island. Training, or immediately thereafter, is the time to test gear out, move things around, and make changes so that you are the lightest, fastest, and most effective officer you can be — SWAT or not.

Just because it’s been issued, doesn’t mean it’s useful or needs to go exactly there. Prioritize what you carry and where you carry it. Challenge your equipment and yourself for the real world even at the risk of failing a qualification course. That means when it comes time to train, don’t game it. You know exactly what I mean, cheater. It is far better to fail in training than on the street. Don’t let your ego get in the way of critical learning opportunities.

If your pistol, rifle, accessory, or some other piece of kit has a problem, deal with it right away.  Don’t put it off and think that ignoring it will make it cease to exist.  It won’t, trust me.

2. K.I.S.S.I.

I don’t know about you, but I like simple: less gear, less buttons, no batteries, fewer moving parts, less to worry about. Sometimes we can get enamored with the latest and greatest pieces of kit because they’re expensive, look sexy, or make wild promises that are too good to be true. We can become so enamored that we ignore the seemingly minor problems that result or how they over-complicate our lives. The Brass are often the most susceptible to this tendency because they want to look good and are the ones who approve the purchases but never actually use the gear themselves. If we’re not careful, we can go like sheep to the slaughter putting our faith in fancy gadgets that create more problems than they solve.

Eliminate the unnecessary; the simplest solution is usually the best.  All that glitters is not gold. Less is more, so keep it simple, stupid idiot.

3. Modify, Modify, Modify

You are different than your teammates. There is no one size fits all. Just ask the guy at your PD with the gigantic head, he’ll tell you. Your gear will fit you and work for you (or not) in a way that is unique to you. It’s not because you are special, it’s because you are maimed or deformed in some way. Take the time to cut, trim, tape, tweak, add, or subtract the things that will make your equipment work best for you. Bend your kit to your will, not the other way around, like Neo and the spoon.

Just don’t go do something stupid and DIY a hack job in the name of modification, that’s not what I mean. If you’re a lefty and you want your gun to be set up like a lefty, take it to an armorer and have the modifications done right. If your ambidextrous magazine release is constantly a problem because it gets depressed inadvertently and you find yourself leaving a trail of magazines behind you like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs, then get it taken care of the right way.

Get Optimal

Use common sense and get your gear to its simplest, most effective form so that when things get real you can perform at your best without added complexities. This goes for your SWAT kit, your patrol belt, vest carrier, cruiser bag, go bag, first aid kit, glove box, hiking pack, fishing tackle, tool box, or book bag.

New is not always better, more is sometimes less, and being assertive is imperative. Know your gear, keep it simple, modify it to your needs, and revisit it on a regular basis. This little exercise will help take you from being simply operational to optimal.

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• Do you know what gear you carry and why?
• What could be simplified, modified, or eliminated?
• Are you assertive when it comes to addressing problems?
• How can you apply these ideas to your everyday life?

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