Articles with courage

Tactical Training for Individuals and Church Security Teams to Thwart Active Violence Incidents (Part 2)

This is the follow-up post to the first article about how Blue Arrow Consultants trains church security teams in handling Active Violence Incidents (AVI) in their houses of worship.

SemperVerus attended the two-day, more-than-six-hour training session at a Michigan church building with that church’s security team. It consisted of two hours of classroom teaching and four hours of live-action AVI scenario training with inert Glock blue guns and Glock 19X Gen5 Airsoft pistols and protective clothing.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Tactical Training for Individuals and Church Security Teams to Thwart Active Violence Incidents (Part 1) ]

The course instructor was Del Kostanko, police trainer and founder of Blue Arrow Consultants, LLC, who teaches that knowing how to assess and respond to threats can lessen the need for force, reduce the chance of physical harm, and minimize liability.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]

Disruptions during church services and events are generally benign, without violence, and can be solved using de-escalation techniques and skills.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Gentle Response De-Escalation Training for Church Security Teams ]

But, in the rare case of an AVI, church security teams must know how best to work cohesively to appropriately and courageously stop the deadly threat. SemperVerus highly recommends Blue
Arrow Consultants
to expertly train your church safety team in the best practices of SWAT methods to properly prepare for when very bad times happen.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]

The following is merely a small sampling of the excellent lessons Del taught, along with photos of some of the physical execution of those lessons in staged scenarios:

Medals of Honor and Valor

When you live the SemperVerus life, you decide to Stay True to what is right and Stay True to your aim in every decision you make.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Every Small Decision Leads to Winning or Losing in Spiritual Warfare ]

When you wear our SemperVerus Brotherhood/Sisterhood wristband, it’s a helpful constant reminder that you pledge to stay true to what is right (1 Tim. 4:16) by daily choosing to live led by (Rom. 8:14), filled with (Eph. 5:18), walking by (Gal. 5:16), and in step with (Gal. 5:25) the Holy Spirit, exhibiting 13 virtues in your behavior; one of which is acting valorously (with courage).

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The Door of Leadership Swings on the Hinge of Character ]

Conducting yourself with bravery is an element of strong character, and it’s part of the third element of the five SemperVerus components—BE—which emphasizes the importance of prioritizing integrity, honesty, and general uprightness in your life. It reads:

III. Be: developing rich personal leadership character of exemplary moral and ethical quality.

Two shining examples of what it means to act with courage are the US military’s Medal of Honor and the US Department of Justice’s Medal of Valor.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Be Like Ernest Shackleton ]

SemperVerus Named In Top 50 of Feedspot’s List of Tactical Blogs

See Feedspot's Top 50 Tactical BlogsUsing search and social metrics on Google and media platforms, Feedspot has declared SemperVerus number 35 among the Top 50 Tactical Blogs on the internet.

According to Feedspot, the judging criteria include a blog’s

  • Relevancy
  • Freshness (frequency of posting)
  • Domain authority
  • Google reputation and Google search ranking
  • Influence and popularity on social media sites
  • Quality and consistency of posts and
  • The assessment of Feedspot’s editorial team and expert review.

Feedspot’s review of SemperVerus is: “An impressive blog with high quality and useful content.”

SemperVerus (meaning Stay True) is your catalyst to inform, inspire, persuade, impel, and invigorate; sparking you to positive action through 5 main strategic principles—prepare, aware, be, know, do—and 1 tactical element (self-defense). Bookmark this SemperVerus blog homepage and return often to read the latest helpful articles. And enter your email address into the box on this page to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

A Navy SEAL Reveals 8 Secrets To Grit And Resilience

USA Navy Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Training

What can the USA Navy SEALs and research teach us about getting through life’s tough times? James Waters, a former SEAL Platoon Commander, offers the following:

1) Purpose And Meaning
Without a good reason to keep pushing, we’ll quit. Studies of “central governor theory” show our brains always give in long before our body does.

2) Make It A Game
What’s one of the things people who live through disaster scenarios have in common? They make survival a game. The best way to deal with stress is to see problems as challenges, not threats.

3) Be Confident — But Realistic
Lack of confidence isn’t an option but neither is denial. Hope and despair can be self-fulfilling prophecies.

4) Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
Marathons aren’t as hard after a few months of training. But if you had to run one tomorrow you’d probably cry. Who survives catastrophic scenarios? The people who have prepared. Reducing uncertainty reduces fear.