How to Develop Situational Awareness

There are other real world applications for this practice.

For instance, if my wife changes her hair... I always notice. This skill alone has saved me from sleeping on the couch, countless times.

It is also a handy if you have teenagers, and liquor in the same house... or teenagers, and car keys. (I know my current odometer reading... do you?)

a reply to: silo13

I've been doing some of this stuff for years, primarily due to an anxiety disorder. For example, if I'm out eating with friends or family, I make sure to know where the exits are and have to sit facing the main entrance. I tell my family it's due to OCD and never been asked again.

a reply to: silo13

Yes my reply was rather vague, wasn't it?

Tbh im still trying to figure it out, and wouldnt want to make any exaggerative claims as im sure ive done in the past.

I suppose regarding the topic at hand, regarding situational awareness, I have a certain knack for it.

In fact just yesterday before your thread I randomly brought up situational awareness to a friend.

Coincidences like this and much less probabilistic coincidences have been ocurring for about a decade for me on a daily basis. Synchronicity, as some may call it.

Methinks it has to do with precognition and perhaps other mind talents.

So I guess that and maybe a little bit more weird stuff is my "weapon" so to speak.

You know what they say, the greatest offense is a great defense...

And to add to the context, a quote from my favorite game:

"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference...in the world."

a reply to: silo13

some of us are regularly throwing good practise of situational awareness to the dogs by commenting , though I'm quite sure
that some we choose to trust are pretty much exactly aware of the actual situation . we might stumble into a real problem one day, because we like to find things out . what hacking tools you I others might have access or vulnerabilities to might count , your level in the field of intelligence or your standpoint in obsverational terms is always critical . anyone really sensible or with any real tangible but secretive agenda however probably wouldnt be commenting . we do it for fun , and to read theintelligent thought s of others, or why do you comment ? it is good to know there are staff in the positions of overseers , or also some knowledge of protocol within the legal frameworks allows us to take advantage of being able to engage in a social way . You could say by using say using faceboook to engage online instead you submit to dump all situatoinal awareness , you just give up the position of being an observer at all .

I'll stick this here it happened recently . The other day I was walking the dog ( whos a proper rl situational awarenessist ) a not to yappy jack , has his balls but a good personality , on a darkish cycle path in the evening and was on a corner which has /sort of/ access to thick woods , and id' noted a light trail going in there so some people use it , but very few.
we were heading away from the corner but id noticed some slight movement behind from the woods , turned and saw huge red dog , head down coming towards us , and my dog turned to face it . it began to stalk round us as they do if they're aggressively checking you out , so I looked to see if we were alone in semi darkness with this animal which my plucky little chap had begun to warn very quietly . still on my byclicle with the dog leashed at my feet , I noticed a man emerge from the shadows who came and firmly stood in between us and the dogs position at about 10ft and closing , he had to dart with his arms out to stop it skirting him as it had decided to come for us , and I had decided to dismount my bike . he could have been too late to stop by seconds but he caught it by the collar, leashed it as he walked away , didnt speak or let me see his face and disappeared quick , and obviously I let him go his way . During this I had told my dog quietly as he warned to ' not be ridiculous ', due to the size of this beast , it was very heavy set indeed . I think perhaps if I hadnt spoken to my dog about the formidableness of the opponent it could have turned very ugly , because it allowed us the space to make this dog and owner realise we were entirely aware of the situation as a combined force . It was just instinctive really , but from situation analysis perspective what worked was staying at code yellow . My dog indicated there was a code red to move to, while what I would have very lightly hinted at was there was a code black if necessary, and that clearly any reslutant situation might demand it . And that my should very obviously stay still and let this thing , of baskerville proportions, jsut piss on him someothing, which would be an only an only alternative, Now I'm remmbering it , I greeted its presence a massive beast with no leash like that a friendly 'hello mate' dispite the circumstances of its approaching us , did put it off some in the first place , putting code yellow context to all concerned , ie we're just out for walkies , arent we ? Meanwhile I quite aware that a dogs bones cant be broken , and if that particular dog turned to fight me instead or as well I could even die in that result , and so I think .
maybe if I hadnt have read books about survival, sf s , history etc and had respect for the speed and power of potential oppenets and allies , or anyone that countenances life maybe life could have turned out differently for me already . Ty 4 op . One of the best lessons I learned was from learning to fight in a dojo , and what you learn is that you really do want to be avoiding all other codes than yellow in life , and if, someone is trained to fight , they are in a whole other league than anyone who might just look 'hard' , the point being , you dont knwo if another person is trained or the level of their skills in fighting . right up to the time you may have to encounter the facts . there is a code black for this dog or extreme predATOR ALERT if it needs LOL it but stay at yellow as advised op

this kia ora is just for me and my dog , it's not for crows

originally posted by: silo13

It’s not just a trait of top secret operatives; it’s a skill known as situational awareness, and you can possess it too.

I think everyone should try and develop situational awareness even if they don't use firearms. The only job I've done, almost as long as Djing, is security, got chucked in the deep end when I was 18 and as a result was in the First Class ever taught Tactical Edge.

I didn't develop situational awareness right away but after a year, everytime I entered a room/building i'd identify the exits while looking round the faces gathered there. I've seen me on nights out, speaking to bouncers because I've got a bad vibe from someone, only a couple of times in 22 years I've been wrong and one time I identified someone who had a machete and a knife in a relatively busy nightclub, luckily it was the club I worked and we'd all had a recent delivery of knife proof leather gloves and a friend of mine, when the machete was pulled out, ran over and hauled the thing out of the punter's hand, blade first, kevlar gloves successfully tested...

Kicking up an old post, I know. But there are military schools that actually work on increasing situational awareness for specific roles, such as sniper schools.

I stumbled upon this source recently which writes about a simple game used in the military to increase situational awareness skills.

To increase their skill in situational awareness and memory, children in scouts and even the US Marine Corps sniper school in Virginia play Kim’s Game. The name itself comes from an old novel called Kim, but the game is quite simple. A tray is covered with various items such as spoons, pencils, bullets and various other pieces of kit that either the snipers or the scouts would be familiar with. A towel is held over the items and people get one minute to view all of the items. The competitors then list the items that they saw, the winner is the one who can list the most.

A different variation is:
- Camouflaged items are hidden in a dense jungle-like area of 5 meters wide and 10 meters deep
- Trainees are given 10 minutes to view the area from one position and look for items
- Trainees are then required to do a physical exercise with an excessive amount of repetitions
- Trainees are then required to recall the items they saw immediately after the exercise

This is actually solid advice. Similar rules apply in the woods; i.e- establish a "baseline" of normal sounds and behaviors. Anything outside of those norms requires further investigation. Simply knowing the alarm sounds and signs of birds and animals can give you an enormous advantage in awareness. There are times where the absence of something like crickets chirping that may tip you off to the presence of others.

An important rule is to vary your vision; look around 360 degrees both near and far and in between. Don't become overly fixated on any one thing and use all of your senses to the fullest. Minimizing your own noise and visibility is the flip side of the coin to always keep in consideration.