I have control, I have control, I have control...
-Stand by
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In the seconds before a Direct Action Raid, the final authority to execute falls to the Ground Force Commander (GFC). They are the only person with situational awareness of the entire operation and the authority to give the green light to proceed.
They control the aircraft overhead, the condoning force ready to seal off ingress and egress routes, the snipers peering through their scopes, and the breach team eager to break the nighttime silence with an explosive charge and send the remnants of a front door hurtling into the target structure.
There may be a thousand other things happening in the city block around the target, but the GFC remains focused on the things within the span of their control.
Once all groups are set in position, the voice of the GFC comes through every headset. “I have control, I have control, I have control. Standby…..5…..4…..3…..”
In place of the number 2, sniper shots ring out. In place of the number 1, the breacher initiates the charge with a flash of light and overpressure that hits like a punch in the gut. In seconds, assaulters have entered and cleared the building.
We are each the GFC of our own lives. We decide when the time is right to attack or when it is prudent to pause to let the situation develop.
We can’t control everything that happens around us, but we can control how the things that happen around us impact us. We also choose how we respond.
As my man Epictetus said:
The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…
So, while the coming month may feel like an assault force is poised at your door, remember: you are the GFC. You have control, You have control, You have control.
Until next week, Keep Walking Point.
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Great analogy. If more people adopted this advice we'd have fewer people who see themselves as victims.
"The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control." Epictetus is so right.