Posted on Dec 26, 2014
Sgt James Grignon
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My wife and I went to mass on Christmas Eve, as we sat there I leaned over and whispered in her ear. What are you thinking about right now? She replied "how much I love being in the company of so many happy people celebrating the same thing, what are you thinking about?" My response was somewhere along the line of, what I would do and where we would go if an emergency such a crazed shooter were to occur here tonight. The result of a lingering military mentality? Probably... Do you do this in large gatherings as well?

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MSgt Electrical Power Production
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For someone who is typically armed must times, yes it is always running through my mind. But I don't need to be in a crowd for my mind to work overtime running scenarios. Whether one agrees with our perceived paranoia it is the world we live in.
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SSG Human Resources Specialist
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No matter where I go, I am always aware of my environment. If it means I Google floor plans, locations of exits so be it. Each night, I walk my back yard and the sides the house; no not looking for anyone, it's for anything moved out of place. In the front I walk around my vehicles, I know where everything is in my vehicles and they're parked front facing out.

Restaurants are no different, looking for exits, I avoiding sitting directly by windows if I can avoid it. Stores, parking lots, driving around, I still use my 5's and 25's. I people watch, mannerisms, things out of place or out of the norm. I listen and hear what people say. In a confrontation, what goes thru my mind is how can I end it quickly; there's no shame walking away either. I may be old, not stupid.

In my diminished physical state, I still practice on an old wooden wing chun dummy, I still study pressure points, wrist locks, pressure points, nerve strikes, not including things I can do with a knife. And yes I carry concealed, a primary and a BUG.
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SFC Felix Burgos-Figueroa
SFC Felix Burgos-Figueroa
11 y
I'm like that even in my own home. I always have to have my back to the wall. Before I even sit down I start looking for the exits and windows. I start planning the quickest escape route. Then I start thinking how I can take the enemy out in the event I can't escape. I've been like this ever since I was in Iraq. Between the rockets coming on to base and the over 150 convoy logistical patrols I conducted I'm just a freakin mess. I even got hit in the head with body armor while I was out there. I was being evaluated for TBI and PTSD in Germany and they even started the process to get me reassigned to the WTB. When I got to Fort Bragg the TBI clinic dismissed me after one appointment. I suffer a great deal with sleep, paranoia, depression, anxiety and nightmares. It's all good though. I just gotta keep holding on.
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SSG Human Resources Specialist
SSG (Join to see)
11 y
Its all you can do SFC Felix Burgos-Figueroa. If you're not talking to anyone, you got us. But I do hope you are seeing someone getting treatment. May sure everything is documented, start getting keeping your own med history. I wish you well Brother.
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SP5 Michael Rathbun
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Edited 11 y ago
Has anybody discussed fireworks?

I'm sitting in my office in my home at about 21:00 local, and notice I'm feeling more and more uneasy. Eventually it dawns on me: the baseball park about 5 clicks away is doing their fireworks show. Lots of HE. You don't hear it at this distance, but you feel it in the thoracic cavity.

My subconscious is saying: "Frack. Those guys down the road are getting hit again. That means that in about 8 minutes, the siren here will go off, and I will have to roll out, get my gear on, grab my equipment, get my squad together and go out and play Soldier for the rest of the night. Frack."
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SFC Mark Merino
SFC Mark Merino
11 y
SSG Tim Everett The louder and angrier the better!
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SSG Tim Everett
SSG Tim Everett
11 y
SFC Mark Merino my flavour of choice is usually stuff like Norma Jean, Isis, Baroness, Machine Head, Mastodon, Slayer, Behemoth, Dethklok, Kingdom of Sorrow, etc.
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SFC Mark Merino
SFC Mark Merino
11 y
Didn't Dethklok open for Barry Manilow once?...lol
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SFC Mark Merino
SFC Mark Merino
11 y
I ROCKED Baghdad in 2003 with Slayer on convoys.......and Megadeth's "Holy Wars"
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