When in a crowd, do you find yourself planning for what you would do in an emergency such as if a crazed shooter were to occur?

Absolutely. There are too many sheep and not enough sheepdogs. My families safety is always priority.. On top of having a dad that was a police officer and passed his situational awareness down to me.

Habitually, I size up every venue, and every set of circumstances with an eye on formulating a course of action to either engage the enemy (whoever that turns out to be) in decisive action; or to extricate myself, and love ones from the situation. It's the new world normal.

Always! You never know what is going to happen look at the Boston Marathon.

While I was at Fort Sam Houston reclassing from 13B Cannon Crewmember to 68R Veterinary Food Inspection Specialist, I traded my car in for a new one. While I was waiting on the detailing to be done, I walked over to the neighboring mall to kill some time and get some lunch. As I was walking around, I saw a display and was checking it out. The salesman told me a story of his SpecOps friend and how paranoid he was. The reason being that he noticed the same from me. Apparently, as we were talking, he noticed how I couldn't stand still and I was checking every person that walked by.

Everyday, after retiring from the Army, I became a cop so I am now extra paranoid!

After being an MP for 20 years and working in the AT field for the last 5. I never sit with my back to the entrance/exit! I locate all entrance/exit points of the facility in which I am. I always point them out to the wife.

I think its always a good idea to have a "what if" plan. I mean in the military we are always planning for contingencies. So why not in mass gatherings and large occupancy facilities.

Always. It's called situational awareness. Always find the exit. Always know what you are going to do if "X" happens. Know what steps you and your family should take if "X" happens.

Stay alert, stay alive!

I was a Corrections Officer prior to the Army. In that role, I was walking through pods of 24 prisoners, and was always watching, not letting any of them within arm's reach of me, not giving any of them my back, and always recomputing my escape plan.

As a result, I always sit facing the main entrance to wherever I am, looking to see where the exits are, and watching people whose body language and demeanor seem out of the ordinary. I am always computing escape plans and alternate routes if the primary escape route is not possible.

When I am walking around inside of a store, I am always people watching surreptiously. I want to know who I'm going to avoid, and who might be an allie in a crisis.

Self-defense requires you to be vigilant and cognizant, but hyper-awareness will make you miss what's going on around you.

Participate, but have a plan.

Personally, I carry concealed wherever I go.

Yes, even there.

Most defiantly do. Also continually scan the crowd for the possible "perpetrator". So I don't go out much...lol