I.
OF SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS
Of Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs.
II.
III.
By Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Extracted from On Combat, By Lt. Col. Dave Grossman,
with Loren Christensen...Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of
age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and
worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our
time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or
as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending?
What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?
William J. Bennett
In a lecture to the
November 24, 1997
One
This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the
aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the
vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.
Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes
every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of
violent crime. But there are almost 300 million total Americans, which means
that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one
in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are
committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is
considerably less than two million.
Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may
well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably
rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable
of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They
are sheep.
I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty,
blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into
something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell.
Police officers, soldiers and other warriors are like that shell,
and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful.
For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.
"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the
wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves
out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it.
There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment
you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety
in denial.
"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I
live to protect the flock and confront the wolf." Or, as a sign in one
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen:
a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow
citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath--a wolf. But what if
you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens?
Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal
human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
THE GIFT OF AGGRESSION
What goes on around you... compares little with what goes on inside you...Ralph
Waldo Emerson
Everyone has been given a gift in life. Some people have a gift for science and
some have a flair for art. And warriors have been given the gift of aggression.
They would no more misuse this gift than a doctor would misuse his healing
arts, but they yearn for the opportunity to use their gift to help others.
These people, the ones who have been blessed with the gift of aggression and a
love for others, are our sheepdogs. These are our warriors.
One career police officer wrote to me about this after attending one of my
Bulletproof Mind training sessions:
"I want to say thank you for finally shedding some light on why it is that
I can do what I do. I always knew why I did it. I love my [citizens], even the
bad ones, and had a talent that I could return to my community. I just couldn't
put my finger on why I could wade through the chaos, the gore, the sadness, if
given a chance try to make it all better, and walk right out the other
side."
Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and
sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them
sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can
accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers,
fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools. But
many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in
their kid's school. Our children are dozens of times more likely to be killed,
and thousands of times more likely to be seriously injured, by school violence
than by school fires, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of
violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their children
is just too hard, so they choose the path of denial.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He
has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the
sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog that
intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The
world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or
a republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there
are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go,
or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in
camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the
sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries
desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog. As Kipling said in his poem
about "Tommy" the British soldier:
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an'
"Tommy, fall be'ind," But it's "Please
to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind, There's trouble
in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind, O it's "Please to walk
in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.
The
students, the victims, at
Remember how
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is
just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter:
He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking
at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That
is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a
little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed
right along with the young ones.
Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the
wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on
September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in
While there is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, he
does have one real advantage -- only one. He is able to survive and thrive in
an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.
There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of
violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory acts of
violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast
majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped
walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big
cats do in
However, when there were cues given by potential victims that indicated they
would not go easily, the cons said that they would walk away. If the cons
sensed that the target was a "counter-predator," that is, a sheepdog,
they would leave him alone unless there was no other choice but to engage.
One police officer told me that he rode a commuter train to work each day. One
day, as was his usual, he was standing in the crowded car, dressed in blue
jeans, T-shirt and jacket, holding onto a pole and reading a paperback. At one
of the stops, two street toughs boarded, shouting and cursing and doing every
obnoxious thing possible to intimidate the other riders. The officer continued
to read his book, though he kept a watchful eye on the two punks as they
strolled along the aisle making comments to female passengers, and banging
shoulders with men as they passed.
As they approached the officer, he lowered his novel and made eye contact with
them.
"You got a problem, man?" one of the IQ-challenged punks asked.
"You think you're tough, or somethin'?" the
other asked, obviously offended that this one was not shirking away from them.
"As a matter of fact, I am tough," the officer said, calmly and with
a steady gaze.
The two looked at him for a long moment, and then without saying a word, turned
and moved back down the aisle to continue their taunting of the other
passengers, the sheep.
Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed
to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one
they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing
to become sheepdogs.
Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in
his hometown of
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT WOULD
BE TO LIVE WITH YOURSELF AFTER THAT?
There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil
men...Edmund Burke Reflections on the Revolution in
Here is the point I'd like to emphasize, especially to
the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature
the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so
are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human
being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.
If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you
must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones
are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want
to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and
you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a
sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral
decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that
toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.
For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well
concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters
tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious
service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation
is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place
of worship, until the wolf appears to slaughter you and your loved ones.
I was training a group of police officers in
Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was
carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably
scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for
"heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were
defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids'
school did not work.
They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that
there must be safeguards against them. Their only response to the wolf, though,
is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and
disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have any idea how
hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you
were unprepared for that day?"
The warrior must cleanse denial from his thinking. Coach Bob Lindsey, a
renowned law enforcement trainer, says that warriors must practice
"when/then" thinking, not "if/when." Instead of saying,"If it happens then I will take action,"
the warrior says, "When it happens then I will be ready."
It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed
by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and
destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.
Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are
not physically prepared: You didn't bring your gun; you didn't train. Your only
defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second
time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically
shattered by fear, helplessness, horror and shame at your moment of truth.
Chuck Yeager, the famous test pilot and first man to fly faster than the speed
of sound, says that he knew he could die. There was no denial for him. He did
not allow himself the luxury of denial. This acceptance of reality can cause
fear, but it is a healthy, controlled fear that will keep you alive:
"I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my
fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency
equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the
cockpit." ... Brigadier General Chuck Yeager Yeager,
An Autobiography
Gavin de Becker puts it like this in
Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading
for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation:
...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all
the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the fall they
take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling. Denial is a
save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in
the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.
And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life,
and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.
If you are a warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step
outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad
man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7 for a lifetime.
Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you
walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself...
"Baa."
This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is
not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a
continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-grass sheep and on the other
end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the
other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LT. COL. DAVE GROSSMAN,
Director, Killology Research Group
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is an internationally recognized scholar, author,
soldier, and speaker who is one of the world's foremost experts in the field of
human aggression and the roots of violence and violent crime.
Col. Grossman is a West Point psychology professor, Professor of Military
Science, and an Army Ranger who has combined his experiences to become the
founder of a new field of scientific endeavor, which he has termed "killology." In this new field Col. Grossman has made
revolutionary new contributions to our understanding of killing in war, the
psychological costs of war, the root causes of the current "virus" of
violent crime that is raging around the world, and the process of healing the
victims of violence, in war and peace.
He is the author of On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in
War and Society, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and is required
reading in classes at West Point, the U.S. Air Force Academy, police academies
worldwide, and "peace studies" programs in numerous universities and
colleges. Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against
TV, Movie and Video Game Violence, co-authored with Gloria DeGaetano,
has received international acclaim. Col. Grossman's most recent book is On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict
in War and in Peace, the long awaited sequel to On Killing. You can find any
one of Col. Grossman's books in the Calibre Press
catalog at www.calibrepress.com <http://www.calibrepress.com>