Tactical Tangents

Cops, military folks, pilots, medical professionals have some things in common. One of the BIG commonalities is a collection of BIG egos. Mike & Jim will walk us through how to navigate those egos to create a tactical advantage in a high performing team.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Di...

Should your sister carry wasp or bear spray if she feels threatened by a human? Should you trust that dude behind the gun counter at your local gun shop because he's got a sweet beard? Mike and Jim explore your options and how to sort good advice from bad advice.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our F...

Most leadership and management training has a top-down approach, but real human interaction involves influence in all directions - especially during a negotiation or confrontation.  Mike and Jim discuss how to recognize when the other party is trying to influence or manipulate you, and how to lead your way through a tense situation. This is the essence of de-escalation and conflict management.

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Mike & Jim explore what the law enforcement use of force continuum is and what it means. They also talk about how to apply lessons from policing toward personal defense and even the military.

Conflict Management, De-Escalation, and Reasonableness are universal.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all...

Mike and Jim discuss how to handle CBRN- Chem, Bio, Rad, Nuke threats and how to set your preparedness to the current threat landscape with synthetic bio-terror weapons on the rise.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group.
Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our websit...

A lot of training exercises and drills can be a waste of time. Mike and Jim explore ways to improve military readiness, disaster preparedness, and school safety by making better training events.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group.
Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticalta...

We take it out to the woods with how to build a fire, 7-step Checklist for Land Navigation, knots, PACE planning, forging resilience and a positive mental attitude, and more in this disaster prep, end-of-the-world, stuck-on-a-deserted-island overview of basic field craft and considerations for packing and planning.

“Help!” “Help!” “Help!” “I don’t want to die. My teacher is dead.” “One of my teachers is still alive but shot.” “Officer!” “Officer!” “Are they [officers] in the building?” “There is a lot of dead bodies.”

These were the words of nine- and ten-year-old children at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, during a call with 911. We try to take a balanced approach between the real challenge...

Car accidents are something that are likely to touch all of us in some way or another, whether we are involved in one or manage them professionally as first responders. Not only are they exceptionally common, sometimes they are also challenging to manage well. We talk about some of the competing priorities and offer some ideas to get the emergency response to a traffic collision off to a good start.

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Back in the 1960s a former Marine took the high ground in one of the first and deadliest school shootings in American history. This watershed event was part of the discussion that brought the idea of a SWAT team to the national stage and arguably brought momentum to what some now consider to be the militarization of the police. We talk about counter-ambush tactics, cover or suppressive fire in law enforcement, tactical medicine, an...

No one should die over a false report. Internet gamers, celebrities and public figures, and maybe even one of your neighbors have been the victim of this sort of prank. These hoax emergency calls that can lead to an exaggerated police response are becoming more common, so we discuss strategies to make sure we tailor our response appropriately and keep everyone safe.

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The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Downs v. United States was a benchmark case for domestic law enforcement that establishes our requirement to attempt negotiations for a peaceful resolution. We define a hostage situation and talk about strategies to manage them in contrast to active killer and barricaded criminals.

Downs v US (6th Circuit Court of Appeals) -  https://l...

Your Recipe for Success looks something like equal parts of three things. Motivation, the spark and desire. Discipline, your habits and structure. And Grit, your capacity to overcome challenges, adjust, and perservere. Mike shares some of the research that’s been done on these topics and ways you can integrate them to get your closer to where ever you want to be.

Links:
Randy Paus...

Over 100 people were killed, more than 2,000 structures destroyed, and over $5 billion in damage were left behind after wind and fire tore through the historic Lahaina district and adjacent areas in Maui, Hawaii. We dive into some of the public safety and disaster planning takeaways from this event including evacuations, notifications, misinformation, planning, and risk.

FEMA After Action Report: https://www.usfa.fema.gov/blog/prel...