Apr 27, 2011

Courage And Training

John Wayne Said, “Courage Is Being Scared To Death, But Saddling Up Anyway.”

Your diaphragm tightens and it feels like something deep inside has tied itself in a slippery knot, pinching off your breath. Soldiers know it — and reserves know it too. As a cop, you feel it as you make a high-risk car stop or chase your suspect down a dark alley. All folks with badges know it. It’s the courage we muster that gets us through it. And it’s why courage, above all things, is the first quality of a good officer.

Courage is the feeling of one’s own power when summoned to duty. Courage comes not from facing the everyday, but from standing fast against uncertainty. Courage, I think, is not inherited and not a matter of biological chance. Courage is the fatalism to trust we have it, and to know it never comes easy. Because courage is not fearlessness; but rather, as General George Patton put it, “ … courage is fear — holding on a minute longer.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson described it this way: “A hero is no braver than ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” Courage is not dependent on pay. A friend of mine was one of three deputies arresting a fugitive. When confronted in his home, the suspect tried to move rapidly toward his baby’s crib. He was subdued before he got to the 12-gauge shotgun tucked in next to his infant son. After the call, one of the two regular deputies said “Damn hobby-cop, come out here and risk your life for nothing.” My friend responded, “So, is it worth what you’re being paid to risk your life?” The reply was, “You know, I never thought of it that way.”

>> Click Here << To Read More Jan/Feb 2011 Reserves