Target Identification

[Charles L. Cotton]

I saw a post this morning on PDO about a father whose 10 year old son made him think there was an intruder in the home. It had a good outcome and it reminded me of something that happen when I was a teenager. This isn’t really a “Never Again� story, but one that shows the importance of identifying your target, even when you are scared stiff. It’s also a good example how some “accidents� often are a chain of events.

My mother died when I was 18. I was still living at home with my Dad while going to the University of Houston. I had been dating a girl that lived the next street over, but her father was transferred to Corpus Christi. I drove to see her every other weekend leaving on Friday evening after I got off work.

On one “exciting� weekend, I drove to Corpus Friday night and my Dad went to our weekend home in Mongtomery County. It took about ½ hour for my girlfriend and I to get into an argument, so I drove back home arriving about 1:30 AM. We had a over-sized two car garage, but one side was used as a shop and my Dad kept his truck in the other side. My car stayed in the driveway. Since Dad was gone, I decided to put my car in the garage.

Dad had heart trouble and during the late evening or early morning hours Saturday he started feeling pretty bad. He decided it would be better to go back to Houston, rather than be alone in the piney woods. When he got home about 2:30 AM, he felt so bad he didn’t put his truck in the garage. He came in the back door (sliding glass door on patio) and the noise woke me up. I jumped out of bed, open a drawer, took out a 1911 and racked the slide. Dad heard this and drew his S&W Model 19 from his belt. For the next 2 or 3 minutes (seemed like hours) he and I stalked each other through the house. We finally met rounding a corner with each of our pistols literally pointing at each other’s noses. Neither of us fired, both of us turned even whiter, and it took over an hour for the adrenalin dump to subside and our knees to stop shaking.

In aviation, it is known that most accidents are not caused by a single failure or event, but a chain of errors or failures. There were no errors made in this story (other than our decision to search the house - more on that later), but there was clearly a chain of events that made it possible. What are the chances that I would get into an argument with my girlfriend on the same day that my Dad got so sick he had to come home? And what about the odds of me deciding to use the garage (something I never did) and Dad not trying to put his prized truck in its normal spot? In Dad’s mind I was 220 miles away in Corpus and there was no Mustang in the driveway to indicate otherwise. In my mind, it couldn’t be Dad because we always announced our arrival when we came in late and he would have known I was home when he tried to put his truck in the garage. None of our decisions were wrong, but they certainly could have had tragic results. As to whether we should have done our own house clearing, this was 1968 and no God-fearing Texan was going to ask for help when we could do it ourselves! Wise? Probably not. Would I do anything different today? Probably not. (At least I’m consistent.)

That night taught me that 1) I can perform responsibly even when scared to death; 2) no matter how convinced I may be that a certain situation exists, I may be wrong; and 3) “target identification� is not merely an esoteric concept to ponder, it is an indispensable step that can prevent a tragedy from which most of us would never fully recover.

I had been taught from a very early age to identify your target before shooting, whether hunting or firing in self-defense. Very few things in life are worse than getting shot, but killing a loved one by mistake is certainly one of those few.

Regards,
Chas.

[TxFire]

Excellent lessoned learned. Thanks for passing it on.

[Kalrog]

Dang. I would have needed new underwear. And my sleeping would have been over for the night... although I probably would have calmed down much faster and stopped the search after the 120lb Rotweiller recognized the other person and stopped barking.

[Paladin]

“target identification� is not merely an esoteric concept to ponder, it is an indispensable step that can prevent a tragedy from which most of us would never fully recover.

Excellent words.

[one eyed fatman]

In aviation, it is known that most accidents are not caused by a single failure or event, but a chain of errors or failures.

Where did this come from? The FAA blames most aviation accidents on pilot error.

[Charles L. Cotton]

In aviation, it is known that most accidents are not caused by a single failure or event, but a chain of errors or failures.

Where did this come from? The FAA blames most aviation accidents on pilot error.

That's true. I can't give a specific source, but it's the theme of several FAA seminars and AOPA Air Safety Foundation safety seminars I've gone to over the years.

I didn't mean necessarily mechanical failures, but failures or errors in judgment, perhaps combined with mechanical problems. One example I can recall was a video recreation of a fatal Bonanza crash. The pilot was on a business trip and was very tired at the end of the day. He had promised his wife he'd be back for their son's birthday party that evening, so he flew home when he was very tired. He took off after dark with sufficient fuel, but far less than full tanks. The weather wasn't as forecast and he found himself in IMC with very few hours of hard IFR in several months. He had insufficient fuel to divert to an airport reporting higher ceilings. His glideslope had suffered from intermittent failures (flags), but he hadn't gotten it repaired, because he didn't intend to fly precision IRF approaches. He crashed on approach to IFR minimums.

No one thing he did wrong would have been fatal, but the combination of factors/errors/mechanical failures proved fatal.

Regards,
Chas.

[mrvmax]

You are a fortunate man Charles. My father took me hunting when I was young (Actually he did all the shooting and my brothers and I walked through the brush to flush out rabbits), but that's about it. I had to learn all of the gun safety on my own. I have learned a lot from internet forums (one main thing I learned is not to believe everythingI read). I have started to take my daughter to PSC and teach her how to safely use a firearm. When she gets 21 I plan on paying for her CHL and a good carry gun. Hopefully I can pass on through her what my dad didn't for me.

[Charles L. Cotton]

I have started to take my daughter to PSC and teach her how to safely use a firearm. When she gets 21 I plan on paying for her CHL and a good carry gun. Hopefully I can pass on through her what my dad didn't for me.

Feel free to bring her to our monthly IDPA matches. We're trying to get more young people into IDPA shooting. If I can find the time, I want to start an IDPA "clinic" for junior shooters, with the obvious motive of getting more of them to our monthly matches.

Regards,
Chas.

[mrvmax]

Feel free to bring her to our monthly IDPA matches. We're trying to get more young people into IDPA shooting. If I can find the time, I want to start an IDPA "clinic" for junior shooters, with the obvious motive of getting more of them to our monthly matches.

Regards,
Chas.

I need to come by and see how things go, I haven't seen any of the IDPA yet.

[flintknapper]

.

We're trying to get more young people into IDPA shooting. If I can find the time, I want to start an IDPA "clinic" for junior shooters, with the obvious motive of getting more of them to our monthly matches.
Regards,
Chas.

A noble endeavor, and an absolute necessity if IDPA (and many other shooting sports) are to survive.

Five years ago when we formed the "Old Stone Fort" IDPA, I was vocal about the need to make our club "youth", "female" and "family" friendly, or it would slowly dwindle away.

We enjoyed rapid growth the first two years, but not enough attention was paid to the youth or women to keep them interested. As predicted, the club lost active members, and now is comprised of about 18-20 middle aged men (me included).

It takes a little extra effort to "cater" to these groups and put your own shooting interests aside for the day. But the effort is well rewarded at the end of meet.

My hat is off to you, for taking the time to make them your focus. The "Women folk" need to be in the shooting sports for the unique perspective they bring to it, and the youth......because they are our future.

Good on ya Charles!

[cxm]

Chas,

Sort of reminds me of the night I came home late back in the 1970s whilst visiting my grandparents. In those days I was in college.

In the 1970s wigs were very popular, and my grandmother who was quite elderly and who had thinning hair sometimes wore a wig.

After midnight I came home from whatever party I had gone to that night and quietly climbed the stairs to the bedroom I was staying in.

I was really tired and decided to hit the sack without delay... got undressed and put my .45 next to the bed on the bed table... started getting in bed when my hand slid under the pillow...and encountered hair!!!! Something large and hairy... Something large and hairy IN MY BED!!!

Naturally, I was disturbed... deciding a rat or worse had somehow gotten into my bed... so of course I grabbed my 1950 S&W .45 revolver and prepared to engage the critter...

With the .45 revolver in one hand, I carefully grabbed the edge of the pillow with the other hand... then jerked the pillow away... and there was the hairy beast... as the hammer on the old 'Smith started to move backward I noticed the hairy monster was not moving... which didn't make a lot of sense... but I allowed the hammer to move back down to it's resting position... I was perplexed.

Upon closer examination, I discovered the hairy monster was my grandmother's wig. It turned out she had become bored with what my grandfather had on TV down stairs and decided to come upstairs and watch something else on TV and had fallen asleep on the bed in the room I was in. While dozing, her wig had come off and wound up under the pillow.

My safari after the "hairy monster" became a subject of some little humor to my grandfather... not sure my grandmother ever thought it was funny...

At least I think my actions were tactically correct...

To this day I'm still careful about getting into bed...

FWIW

Chuck

[Charles L. Cotton]

Chuck:
I bet the pucker factor went off the scale!!

Yeah I know; funny now but not so funny when you thought you had big-foot in bed with you.

Thanks for sharing,
Chas.

[cxm]

Chas,

You bet it went off the scale... about a 12 I'd say... on a scale of 1-10.

It was some time before I saw much humor it it... my grandfather thought it was funny right off the bat...

SURE glad I didn't shoot that wig... and my bed... and the floor... and the kitchen ceiling, and the kitchen floor and with my luck that night I probably would have hit a pipe too....

V/r

Chuc

Chuck:
I bet the pucker factor went off the scale!!

Yeah I know; funny now but not so funny when you thought you had big-foot in bed with you.

Thanks for sharing,
Chas.

[GlockenHammer]

One night I thought I heard the sound our house alarm makes when a door or window opens or closes. I went to the safe and retrieved my glock with attached M3 weapon light and began to look out from my bedroom. I saw what I thought was my 4 year old son standing in the kitchen. I called to him, but he wouldn't answer or move. I removed the light from my pistol and tried calling again. Eventually, I figured out it wasn't my son, but the shadow cast onto the kitchen wall of a plant between me and it.

One lesson I learned is that the lights that go easy-on your pistol can also go easy-off. I've heard people complain about weapon lights because they cause you to cover whatever you want to see with your muzzle. Not exactly true. First, you always have indirect illumination available, then you also can dismount it and use it like a normal flashlight. Regardless of what and how you use it, having a light to identify your target in low light is mandatory unless you're willing to wait and shoot only if it shoots at you first! How many tragic stories contain the phrase "I thought he was a burgler"?

GH

[cxm]

IMHO, you were lucky you didn't have a "hot" entry on your hands... the time you took to deploy your weapon, fit the light etc. could have been critical and could have gotten you or your family hurt.

Not trying to be rude in any way, but some refresher training is always good in low light shooting.

FWIW

Chuck

One night I thought I heard the sound our house alarm makes when a door or window opens or closes. I went to the safe and retrieved my glock with attached M3 weapon light and began to look out from my bedroom. I saw what I thought was my 4 year old son standing in the kitchen. I called to him, but he wouldn't answer or move. I removed the light from my pistol and tried calling again. Eventually, I figured out it wasn't my son, but the shadow cast onto the kitchen wall of a plant between me and it.

One lesson I learned is that the lights that go easy-on your pistol can also go easy-off. I've heard people complain about weapon lights because they cause you to cover whatever you want to see with your muzzle. Not exactly true. First, you always have indirect illumination available, then you also can dismount it and use it like a normal flashlight. Regardless of what and how you use it, having a light to identify your target in low light is mandatory unless you're willing to wait and shoot only if it shoots at you first! How many tragic stories contain the phrase "I thought he was a burgler"?

GH