The Role of Questions in Personal Protection

Who is around me and what are they doing? – Tom Givens

What are you capable of? – Ken Hackathorn

What’s the object of the exercise? – the Tactical Professor

What is the best use of my time right now? – Alan Lakein

METT-TC is a well developed structure for asking questions when developing plans for Personal Protection.

  • Mission
  • Enemy
  • Terrain and Weather
  • Troops and Support Available
  • Time Available
  • Civil (Legal and moral) Considerations

SALUTE is a good structure for gathering information in the moment.

  • Size
  • Activity
  • Location (proximity)
  • Unit
  • Time
  • Equipment

When we are children, we are constantly asking questions. As adults, we usually get in the habit of providing opinions, experiences, and self-promotion instead of asking question. Information gathering is a vital skill in Personal Protection. Putting ourselves back into the question asking mode requires a shift in our thinking patterns that requires practice.

asking the wrong questions annotated

My thanks to John Correia of Active Self Protection for stimulating my thinking about the topic.

My Patreon page is where I go into more depth on Personal Protection topics. https://www.patreon.com/TacticalProfessor

3 responses

  1. Coming out on top involves having all the answers. The very first ‘question’ is usually WTF? From there the answers range from A) Find new geography. B) Be polite but firm verbally. C) The fight is ON. D) Interaction with ‘authorities’. About five years Minimum is needed to be accomplished in these four areas. It will be expensive and time consuming. Absent the time and the financial resources, a person is reliant upon dumb luck and possible divine intervention. I believe that God helps those who help themselves. So, I make my own luck and my own divine intervention. So far, it seems to be working.

  2. […] Claude Werner, The Tactical Professor, raised the issue of asking the proper questions in personal protection in the midst of interweb hullabaloo concerning revolver reliability. I addressed that fracas in Six For Maybe and Six For Maybe, Part 2. I have asked both Claude and Darryl Bolke to produce materials on keeping the revolver running in a training environment.Speaking of proper questions, trainer and AIWB holster maker Spencer Keepers posed an excellent question via text message, and I will paraphrase it below: […]

  3. […] Role of Questions in Personal Protection […]