Left of Bang

1. Proactive Awareness: Stay "Left of Bang"

Left of Bang offers a crisp lesson in survival in which Van Horne and Riley affirm a compelling truth: It's better to detect sinister intentions early than respond to violent actions late.

Shift perspective. Traditional training often focuses on reacting after an event occurs, known as "right of bang." This book champions a proactive approach, urging individuals to operate "left of bang" by identifying pre-event indicators and warning signs before an attack or incident takes place. This mindset empowers you to seize the initiative, rather than being a victim of circumstance.

Preventative action. Being left of bang means recognizing the subtle cues that precede hostile actions. For instance, an insurgent planning an IED attack must first observe a target, acquire materials, build the bomb, and emplace it. Each step leaves observable traces. By detecting these preparatory behaviors—like someone conducting surveillance or acting unnaturally—you can intervene and prevent the "bang" from ever happening, saving lives and maintaining control of the situation.

Beyond reaction. The goal is to move beyond merely treating symptoms of violence to addressing its root causes. Whether in combat zones, law enforcement, or daily civilian life, waiting for the "bang" means the enemy or threat has already gained a tactical advantage. Cultivating a proactive, hunter-like mindset allows you to anticipate threats, giving you precious seconds or minutes to respond effectively and decisively.

2. Master Your Mindset: The Color Code of Readiness

The normal psychological state of anyone concerned about personal safety must be Condition Yellow.

Cultivate readiness. Retired Marine Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper's Color Code describes four levels of psychological awareness: White (unprepared), Yellow (aware and searching for threats), Orange (focused on a specific threat), and Red (lethal action). The book emphasizes that maintaining Condition Yellow is crucial for personal safety, meaning you are continuously aware of your surroundings and actively looking for potential threats, without being paranoid.

Avoid complacency. Many people operate in Condition White, assuming safety until a threat is undeniable. This leaves them vulnerable and reactive. The Marine Corps adds Condition Black, where extreme stress (heart rate above 175 bpm) leads to cognitive shutdown. The aim is to stay in Condition Yellow, allowing for a smooth transition to Orange and Red if a threat emerges, preventing the debilitating effects of Condition Black.

Constant vigilance. Being in Condition Yellow means every situation is considered potentially dangerous, fostering a readiness to act. This doesn't imply constant anxiety, but rather a heightened state of relaxed alertness. It's about being prepared to use deadly force if necessary, ensuring you are never caught off guard and can respond effectively to protect yourself and others.

3. Human Behavior is Universal: The Foundation of Profiling

Every person in the world possesses universals that allow us to apply the principles of combat profiling consistently anywhere across the globe.

Shared human nature. Combat profiling is built on the premise that, despite cultural differences, fundamental aspects of human nature and behavior are universal. Our limbic system, focused on survival, drives automatic responses like freeze, flight, or fight, which manifest in observable physical actions. This universality allows profiling principles to be applied effectively across diverse populations.

Predictable patterns. Humans are creatures of habit, with movement patterns being 93% predictable. We are also inherently lazy, often choosing the path of least resistance. These tendencies, combined with cognitive limitations (like being poor at multitasking or lying), mean our bodies often "telegraph" our true intentions through subtle, subconscious cues.

Key human universals:

• Creatures of habit: We follow reproducible patterns.
• Lazy: We take the path of least resistance.
• Lousy liars: Cognitive load makes deception difficult to conceal.
• Run, fight, or freeze: Automatic limbic responses to threat.
• Telegraph intentions: Emotions are spontaneous and leak out.
• Predictable: We are not as random as we think.
• Poor multitaskers: Divided attention leads to unnatural behavior.
• Generally clueless: Most lack situational awareness.

Understanding these universals provides a reliable framework for interpreting behavior and identifying anomalies, regardless of cultural context.

4. Observe in Six Domains: The Profiler's Toolkit

Combat profiling focuses on the important details of human behavior, which can be viewed from six basic viewpoints.

Comprehensive observation. To effectively identify threats, combat profiling breaks down human behavior into six interconnected domains. These domains provide a structured way to filter information, focus observations, and rapidly categorize what is seen, enabling quick and accurate decision-making.

The Six Domains are:

• Kinesics: Conscious and subconscious body language (postures, gestures, expressions). Focus on clusters of three or more reinforcing cues, not single gestures, and observe below the shoulders for reliability.
• Biometrics: Uncontrollable, automatic biological responses to stress (e.g., pupil changes, blinking, sweating, shaking, facial flushing/paling).
• Proxemics: How people use space to communicate relationships and intentions (distance between individuals, movement toward/away).
• Geographics: The relationship between people and their environment (natural lines of drift, habitual areas, anchor points, buffer zones).
• Iconography: Symbols used to communicate beliefs and affiliations (graffiti, flags, tattoos, clothing).
• Atmospherics: The collective mood or emotional tone of a situation or place (noise level, activity, order/disorder).

Structured analysis. By systematically observing these domains, you can build a comprehensive picture of an environment and its inhabitants. This structured approach helps to move beyond vague "gut feelings" to concrete, observable data, making your assessments more reliable and communicable to others.

5. Establish Baselines, Hunt Anomalies

Identifying threats means establishing a baseline and looking for anomalies.

Define "normal." A baseline is the established "normal" pattern of behavior for an environment, situation, or individual. This includes typical movements, emotions, interactions, and even noise levels. Without understanding what is normal, it's impossible to identify what is abnormal or out of place.

Spotting the "off." An anomaly is any significant variation from this established baseline. Anomalies can be things that should happen but don't, or things that do happen but shouldn't. For example, a usually bustling market that is suddenly silent, or an individual displaying extreme discomfort in a relaxed setting, are anomalies. These deviations signal that something has changed and warrants further attention.

Context is key. The significance of an anomaly is always judged within its context. Shivering might be normal in a cold environment but an anomaly in a warm one, indicating fear or anxiety. The goal is to identify multiple, mutually reinforcing anomalies (a "cluster") that point to a potential threat, rather than reacting to isolated incidents.

6. Act on Three: The Combat Rule of Decision

The combat profiling threshold is called the Combat Rule of Three: When you observe three anomalies or indicators, you must make a decision.

Decision threshold. To prevent "paralysis by analysis" in high-stakes, time-constrained situations, combat profiling employs the "Combat Rule of Three." This rule dictates that once you observe three distinct anomalies or indicators, you must immediately make a decision and act, without waiting for more information. This ensures proactive response and prevents hesitation.

Prioritized action. For military personnel in combat, the three predetermined decisions are:

• Kill: The most violent option, involving mental and physical preparation to neutralize an immediate threat. This is prioritized to overcome natural human reluctance to kill and ensure readiness.
• Capture: Physically subduing or containing the individual, or preventing their escape, when they pose a significant, but not immediate, lethal threat.
• Contact: Engaging the individual through questioning or focused observation to gather more information, when they are an anomaly but not an obvious threat.

Adaptable framework. While the "Kill, Capture, Contact" hierarchy is specific to combat, the principle of having pre-established decisions based on observed anomalies is universally applicable. For civilians, this might translate to "Run, Hide, Fight" in an active threat scenario, or for security personnel, "Question, Detain, Subdue." The core idea is to have a plan ready to execute when the threshold of three anomalies is met.

7. Identify Key Leaders: The "MADE" Man

Anytime you observe these elements of behavior, you can be reasonably certain you have identified the leader of the group.

Unmasking influence. Identifying true leaders within a group, whether overt or covert, is crucial for effective engagement or targeting. Leaders often conceal their roles, especially in criminal or insurgent contexts. Combat profiling offers the "MADE" acronym to help identify these influential individuals through observable behaviors.

The "MADE" indicators are:

• Mimicry: Subordinates subconsciously copy the leader's gestures, postures, and mannerisms, indicating respect and rapport. The leader often initiates these behaviors.
• Adoration: Displays of admiration and respect, both verbal (e.g., formal titles) and nonverbal (e.g., bowing, deferential postures, looking to the leader for acknowledgment).
• Direction: The leader provides subtle or overt cues that control the actions and behaviors of the group members. This can be a nod, a wink, or a clear command.
• Entourage: The leader is surrounded by one or more individuals (bodyguards, advisors, messengers) who provide a benefit to them, and to whom the leader also provides a benefit (e.g., money, protection).

Strategic advantage. By observing these behavioral clusters, you can confidently pinpoint the decision-makers and power brokers in any group. This knowledge provides a significant tactical advantage, allowing you to influence, neutralize, or gather intelligence more effectively, shifting the balance of power in your favor.

8. Mitigate Insider Threats: Trust, But Verify

As long as Marines and other U.S. military personnel continue to work alongside host-nation security forces, the threat of these types of attacks will remain.

Complex challenge. Insider threats, whether "green-on-blue" (host-nation forces attacking coalition personnel) or "blue-on-blue" (friendly forces attacking each other), pose a unique and devastating challenge. These attacks often stem from cultural tensions, personal grievances, or insurgent infiltration, making them difficult to predict and prevent without eroding trust.

Behavioral precursors. Attacks rarely happen without warning. Combat profiling provides tools to identify pre-event indicators in individuals who might be planning violence:

• Nervous behaviors: Uncomfortable clusters, pacifying gestures, or physiological signs of stress (biometrics) due to the high risk involved.
• Concealing the plan: Secretive behavior, avoidance, or sudden shifts to dominant/aggressive postures when questioned.
• Interest in the target: Unusual observation of routines, schedules, or specific individuals, often involving unnatural proxemic pulls towards the target.
• Planning/Preparation: Acquiring unusual information, accessing unauthorized databases, increased interest in weapons, or testing security measures.

Proactive prevention. A "combat hunter" mindset, maintaining Condition Yellow awareness, and having "guardian angels" (dedicated observers) are crucial. When three behavioral anomalies are observed, immediate action is required, whether it's contacting the individual, reporting to authorities, or intervening. This proactive approach is vital for preventing violence in environments where trust is essential but not absolute.

9. Practice Makes Intuition: Develop Your Profiling Ability

The time that you put in each day to develop this ability will lead to you becoming capable of automating the tasks involved in profiling into your life the same way that you became a better driver.

Automate observation. Becoming an expert profiler requires consistent practice, much like learning to drive. Initially, observing the six domains and identifying anomalies will be a conscious, effortful process. With repeated application, these skills become intuitive and automatic, allowing you to process information subconsciously and react more quickly.

Structured practice. The recommended three-step approach for developing profiling ability is:

1. "What is going on here?": Quickly assess atmospherics, geographic patterns (habitual areas, anchor points, NLDs), and general behavioral patterns to establish a baseline.
2. "What would cause someone to stand out and why?": Focus on specific anomalies using kinesics, biometrics, proxemics, and iconography to identify individuals whose behavior deviates from the baseline.
3. "What would I do about it?": Have pre-established decisions (e.g., Kill, Capture, Contact for military; Run, Hide, Fight for civilians) ready to execute when the "Combat Rule of Three" (three anomalies) is met.

Build your "file folders." Practice in analogous situations (e.g., observing a busy airport checkpoint to understand crowd dynamics) helps build a rich mental database of behavioral patterns. This "thick file folder" of experience allows for faster recognition-primed decision-making, enabling you to quickly adjust assumptions and fill information gaps in new, chaotic environments, ultimately increasing your situational awareness and survivability.

Last updated: July 30, 2025