I just want you to understand....

We don't think we're "better" than you. The few that tarnish the badge, the uniform, don't represent the thousands of us on the streets, all over the United States, and the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in the rain, in the snow, in the heat....there when you call us....just as soon as we can be.

Yes, there are few that tarnish the uniform or the badge....we despise them. We do NOT stand with them....no matter what mainstream media tells you.

Yes, we do violent things sometimes. Things you do not understand. Things we walk the streets so you do not HAVE to understand.

We wear the badge, the emblem, the uniform, proudly. To paraphrase Lt. Col Dave Grossman, the badge, the shield, the patch, is a direct, intentional reference to the Knights of Old that carried their shield in their left hand to protect their hearts.

We are ready to do violence on your behalf, so you don't have to suffer. Please understand that.

#uniform #badge #knight #understand

There are no words

If this doesn't at least give you goose bumps, let alone bring a tear to your eye, you're dead inside.

Quote of the day

"He was convinced most of the planes would go down and there would be enough wandering Americans in Romania 'to call a general election, vote the Germans out, and make peace with the allies'"

from Ploesti: The Great Ground-Air Battle of 1 August 1943 by James Dugan and Carroll Stewart

Dear God, where do we get such men?

Dear God, where so we get such men?
What loving God has provided,
that each generation, afresh,
there should arise new giants in the land.
Were we to go but a single generation
without such men, we should surely
be both damned and doomed.
-Anonymous military officer
as quoted by
Lt. Dave Grossman, On Combat

The Sheepdog's Prayer

This prayer is dedicated to all the Sheepdogs who make our world a safer place to live.  To all of the law enforcement  / rescue / military personnel and armed citizens: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

By Roger E. Temple - Revised 02/2011

The Knights of Olde were Men of Honor
Who used their Might For Right!
Today they’re known as Sheepdogs,
Those who carry on the fight.

I am a tired old Sheepdog,
The guardian of my flock.
I keep the predators at bay
And stand watch around the clock.

Please stop the Sheep from pulling my teeth.
I’ll need them for the fight,
When the hungry Wolves come calling
Some dark and deadly night.

I pray I'll never need my gun,
But someday if I do,
May my cause be just!
My draw be quick!
And my aim be ever true!

Heaven holds a special place
For those who do the deed,
Defenders of the innocent
In their hour of need.

May the Sheep someday be grateful.
There’s a debt they can not pay
To the Sheepdogs who lay it on the line
Each and every day.

I am proud to be a Sheepdog.
I've done my very best.
I'll stand my watch until my Maker
Calls me home to rest.

But when I meet St. Peter
There's just one request I’ll make,
“Please let me spend Eternity
Standing guard at Heaven's Gate”.

Lord, help us bring this ''Age of Sheep''
To a rapid end.
Then fill this land with Sheepdogs,
Men of Honor, once again.

This prayer is dedicated
To those who bravely face,      
The dangers all around us,
To make our world a safer place.

To the soldiers, cops and warriors-
Sheepdogs through and through.
Thank you for your service
And your sacrifices too.
Amen

The Night's Watch

"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come." ―The Night's Watch oath

Quote of the day

“We’re surrounded. That simplifies the problem.”
- Attributed to Major General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC

Quote of the day

I guess the world needs dreamers. People who could not harm a fly, who always see the best in others, and who see the world for the way it "could be". But realize, that for every ten thousand dreamers, there is another who is different. He or she is manning a post or patrol and they see the world as it actually is; and it is they who are keeping someone else from cutting your head off with a knife and putting it on a stick ... as you dream. ~BKS

from AmericanSnipers.org

Quote of the day, part II

"He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning"
~ Pirate Code agreed by Bartholomew Roberts 
as quoted in Jack and Di Rum Song by Anthony Bjorklund

Quote of the day

From Pushing to the Front -1911 by Orison Sweet Martin

"Over the door of every profession, every occupation, every calling, the world has a standing advertisement: "Wanted - A Man. "
      Wanted, a man who will not lose his individuality in a crowd, a man who has the courage of his convictions, who is not afraid to say "No," though all the world say "Yes."
      Wanted, a man who is larger than his calling, who considers it a low estimate of his occupation to value it merely as a means of getting a living.
      Wanted, a man of courage who is not a coward in any part of his nature.
      Wanted, a man who is symmetrical, and not one-sided in his development, who has not sent all the energies of his being into one narrow specialty and allowed all the other branches of his life to wither and die.
      Wanted, a man who is broad, who does not take half views of things; a man who mixes common sense with his theories, who does not let a college education spoil him for the practical, every-day life; a man who prefers substance to show, and one who regards his good name as a priceless treasure...."

Quote of the day

"Until technology enables me to handcuff you from afar, I will need to arrest you face-to-face, man-to-man. This means that, when we fight, when I call upon those elements of the warrior within, I will be close enough to smell you, to touch you, to strike you, to cut you, to hear you, to plead with you, to wrestle with you, to shoot you, to handcuff you, to bleed on you and you on me, to tend your wounds, to hear your last words. Our meeting may be brief, but I will have had a more intense contact with you, my unwanted adversary, than with most of my loved ones."
Scott Mattison, Chief Deputy, Swift County Sheriff's Dept, Benson, MN. as quoted by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman in "On Combat"

Quote of the day

"His code in peacetime is the same as that in the military: do your duty, protect the weak, protect the community, face the bully,  stand tall, stay aware, think ahead, be ready, be loyal, avoid aggression if possible and, if not, win and win fully."
Justin Smith, as quoted by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman in "On Combat"

Warriors - Are you always prepared?

At the risk of repeating myself...I repeat myself. ‎

"If you are warrior who is 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." ~ Lt. Col Dave Grossman

And the bad man does come felllows...and you never know when and where.

 

Quote of the day

"I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all."

-Maj. General James N. Mattis, Commander USCENTCOM

After the invasion of Iraq - and after sending his tanks and artillery home - Mattis sent this message to the Iraqi leaders in every area his men served in. (wikiquote)

Quote of the Day

"If you carry a gun, you're a predator. If you don't think so, then don't carry a gun, go play video games."

h/t Kyle Defoor

How NOT to get shot by the police

From Warrior Talk News

We discussed this at the Active Shooter Interdiction Class in Virginia and there was a great deal of work done on it in class. The concern is that the good guy CCW, or off duty LEO for that matter, taking out the bad guy might be misidentified by responding police and shot. Police shoot one of their own every 18 months around the nation so it is a very plausible event.

Contributing factors seem to be as follows -

You are more likely to be mistakenly shot by police in areas where the carry of weapons by citizens is not common. Places like New York or Los Angeles immediately come to mind. The notion seems to be that only cops or criminals have guns. This is not the attitude I see nationwide but it is prevalent enough to be aware of it.

Read more...

If you're authorized to carry a weapon, and don't, say "baaaa"

http://www.policeone.com/off-duty/articles/2019751-Off-duty-Calif-cop-fatally-shoots-violent-man/

Through much of my career, I didn't carry a weapon off duty...too much trouble, too heavy, too hard to conceal, etc...but then I watched a video of Col. Dave Grossman giving one of his speeches. I've written here before about sheep and sheep dogs. The thing that Grossman said that has stuck with me since I saw that video was this:

“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?”

I do have an idea. I couldn't live with myself if violence came to one of my loved ones because I was not prepared to confront it. Since that day I can count on one hand that number of times that I've been "unprepared", mostly because carrying a weapon was impossible or illegal, ie: on an airplane, Disneyland (whose weapons policy I'll NEVER understand), at the beach.

Thank God, and kudos to the officer that's the subject of this story, that he was prepared and didn't have to stand there helplessly while some scumbag did violence to his daughter.

Brothers, be prepared and watch your six.

Motivating Poster

I saw this over at Trigger Pull Tactical and had to repost it. It speaks for itself.

Quote of the day

"American law enforcement, and perhaps more importantly the American public, the legal system, and the news media, have got to get it through their heads that such situations [such as the Beslan school seige or the Nord-Ost theater incident] are not pedestrian level criminal episodes committed by the socially misunderstood, where less-than-lethal force should be used and a suspect afforded all his rights. [There will be] attacks on American soil and American citizens by enemy combatants. Rather than the least possible amount of force, the greatest force available must be brought to bear against them if the lives of the innocent are to be saved and deaths of the rescuers are to be prevented."
John Giduck - Terror at Beslan