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also an indispensable skill for those seeking to reduce their chances of
becoming victims. Fortunately, it is an easy skill to develop.
Awareness training is generally the first thing taught in the survival
and security courses given to government agents, military personnel, and
police officers. In the Office of Training of the Drug Enforcement Admin-
istration (DEA) in Quantico, Virginia, new DEA agents receive a special
block of training entitled “Agent Survival” before graduating and embark-
ing on their rewarding albeit dangerous careers. This particular course
deals with how to survive the violent encounters that they will all face.
Much of it is psychological preparation intended to train agents to be pre-
pared to use all necessary means to stay alive by developing a combat
mind-set. The course is very intense, and more than one individual has
decided to resign after sitting through it. But before the psychological
training begins, the first thing the agents are taught is the overwhelming
importance of being aware of their environment. Because threats must be
identified before they can be addressed, awareness is the first lesson in
learning how to survive. You need to develop a little alarm bell inside your
head that starts to jingle before a serious situation develops and to learn
to trust that little bell and act before you become the latest story for CNN.
This level of awareness is common in some civilian populations that
are, tragically, the targets of terrorism. Ilan, one of the coauthors, is an
Israeli national. Apart from his extensive security training and experience,
he learned to be observant at an early age. Israelis have, by necessity,
learned these lessons from seeing their friends and neighbors murdered
before their eyes. If someone leaves a bag unattended on an Israeli city
street for even a second, citizens take the initiative by either calling for
the owner to identify himself or herself or by alerting those around them.
As a rule, Americans don't do that. For a brief period in post-September
11 New York City, people were cognizant of packages that were left unat-
tended. However, people have short memories. The farther we are from
an event like September 11, the more relaxed we become.
For a security officer, effective observational skills are critical. Prior
to a terrorist assault, there is always a period of planning and surveillance.
This is also frequently true of common criminal activities. The September
11 hijackers carefully planned their horrific attack over the course of sev-
eral years. Imagine their patience. They spent years learning how to fly a
commercial airliner and practicing knife fighting and unarmed combat.
They took dozens of airplane trips to study airport security measures and
develop ways to avoid being detected and arrested. They did their homework
