Battlefield America: A Citizen’s Guide to Surviving the New World

Maloy CvrBy Brian Maloy
Bean & Binder Publishing (Dec. 2024)
ISBN-13: 979-8991922302
237 pages, softbound, $19.99; eBook $4.99

Last month, I was given a book written by a former Chicago police officer. Brian Maloy’s first book, Battlefield America is a personal and professional exploration into surviving the violence in American cities today. Not surprisingly, some of the pages reflect a decidedly urban-police-centric view. I wondered if we could find common ground.

Our concerns are very parallel, I think; sometimes the way we get there and the way we view the individual involvement is really different, including rights to possess and carry guns. So much of my thinking is influenced by lifelong instructors and their students, that I often struggle with others’ views about the level of preparation armed citizens bring to the problem. Moving beyond that disconnect, I appreciated Maloy’s exploration of the growing dangers in American society, which he identifies as --
• active killer attacks and the related mental health crisis,
• power players' efforts to uproot the foundations of society and create chaos for their own benefit,
• the need for warrior citizens to shoulder the “physical, emotional, and mental effects of lethal engagements,”
• going armed, and the skills and awareness needed for individuals and groups of people to survive targeted attacks.

When I started reading Battlefield America, the New Orleans truck attack had just happened, and it is my opinion that there’s more political and terrorist violence looming on the horizon. I was interested in Maloy’s suggested solutions, likely more than his exploration of why violence is so much more prevalent today than in previous generations. As he observes, when someone has violently intruded into your home or is committing workplace violence, and pointing a gun at you and others with you, does the reason matter much at that moment?

Budget cuts and demoralized police forces make armed citizens “the new front line of defense,” Maloy writes. Even if communities were to stand solidly once again behind law-enforcement, he notes that police work remains, “in some respects…a ‘Band-Aid’ to the hemorrhaging issues that communities endure, but nobody wants to talk about.” Armed citizens and law enforcement need to “thoroughly understand the dynamics of neutralizing and surviving a lethal encounter,” learn and practice armed defense skills, and understand “the physical, emotional, and mental aspects of conflict during and after the event,” he urges.

Maloy believes, “The use of deadly force to preserve life is becoming increasingly accepted and supported by American society. In the past, these opinions were frowned upon, but times are changing, and people are becoming more desperate for action. The rapidly increasing crime rates, the ongoing active killer phenomenon, and the incline in terrorist attacks, domestically, and worldwide, are all affecting the way we live, work, and play.” Calling those willing to take action to stop violent attack “warriors,” he identifies three truths common to all fighters. He explains, “they are all limited by the confines of their mortality (they can die), their training dictates how effectively they respond, and their mindset, either flies the craft or crashes it.”

Extensive training kept current by “religiously practicing a specific motor task which stamps it into our memory,” results in ability “to react or perform on autopilot under stress,” controlling the emotional, physical, and psychological effects of an acutely high stress incident, he continues. After all, Maloy points out, a really panicked person may be entirely unable to even use their mobile phone and that’s a device we all use multiple times per day. “God help the untrained soul who draws on an armed home invader or active killer. The good citizen would be lucky if he managed to pull his weapon out flawlessly and successfully engage his target without proper training,” he adds. Take advantage of the tactical firearms training that is widely available, he urges.

Training is only one concern, Maloy continues, adding that physical health is important to projecting strength, confidence, and ability. Mental and emotional resiliency join with stress training to counteract the effects of extreme stress. He shares with readers his fascination with human physiology and the interplay of preparation with the autonomous physical reactions that accompany risk of being killed. He details tactical breathing to mitigate stress effects, lower heart rate, and avoid being overwhelmed by keeping mental function online. He observes, “Minus a few exceptions, we cannot always control the threat, but we can control how we react to the threat when the time comes.”

He adds, “Stress inoculation and ingrained memory work together as it helps create a flow state and enhances performance during a lethal engagement.” Mastery of the weapon, self-defense tactics and skills, and having practiced performing those skills under stress all contribute. After a stress-laden encounter, the parasympathetic nervous system is in charge of resetting to non-risk mode, and Maloy outlines breath and physical positioning to reduce stress.

Maloy returns to what may be his most valuable contribution to the study of self defense in the final segment of Battlefield America, outlining awareness as “understanding the ‘natural flow’ of your surroundings” to sense “if and when the equilibrium shifts...to understand and process environmental factors in your areas of operation.”

He notes that awareness comes in variable levels, including instinctively reading the environment and sensing there is a threat. Get to cover, identify exits, use breathing exercises, and slow your heart rate while you get your friends and family to safety and “logically figure out your next course of action,” he advises. If you identify a deadly threat, the steps you’ve already taken to avoid panic aid logical decision-making.

Maloy outlines shootings by private citizens that dominated headlines in 2023 that had many of the elements justifying use of deadly force in self defense but lacked immediate threat. Being “scared to death” or angry over strangers coming up your driveway isn’t grounds to kill, he stresses. “I feel it’s imperative for armed civilians to be patient, tolerant, responsible and cautious when deploying deadly force,” he writes. “We all have baggage. Some of us have tough days or emotional challenges due to life circumstances. When you strap a gun to your side, that baggage needs to be put on the shelf.”

Deadly force is allowed when “reasonable and necessary” to save lives or prevent grave injury to oneself or other innocent people. Maloy emphasizes that the allowance is only to stop the threat, and there are no-go elements, like not having provoked the fight. Further, the threat must be imminent, your response must be in proportion to the danger, and reflect the circumstances, for example, defense against an intruder into an occupied home is seen as more needful than stopping a break in at the neighbors when everyone is away.

The final section of Battlefield America correlates studies of mass shooting events and recommends steps organizations like churches, schools and hospitals should implement, as well as urging recognition of warning signs by the family and others close to an individual planning or thinking about an attack. “Most targeted attacks could have been prevented if the communications of the attacker were conveyed to the proper authorities,” Maloy believes. Addressing behavioral factors plus “threat awareness, site security, and survival or response strategies” are vital. Both merit attention, he writes, and balance is needed; one must not eclipse the other.

Maloy recommends “Avoid, Deny or Defend” as the watchwords for defense against a mass shooting, observing that “hiding and hoping is a death sentence. The bad guy will find you and when he does, he will kill you and those huddled next to you.” Any actions taken must be intentional, he continues. Running away makes sense but be smart about it. “Under stress, people tend to frantically leave in the same way they entered,” he warns, “usually in droves, which can be deadly.” Avoid open spaces like cafeterias, and if possible, halls and bathroom stalls, he specifies, giving a nod to knowing where the exits are – all of them.

He gives advice both for individuals as well as organizations that are responsible for facilities that may be the site of a mass killer attack. Leaders need to give their people training and practice drills, Maloy writes. To reduce panic caused by limited preparation, provide training and drills to let people practice the advice he suggests, including identifying improvised weaponry and familiarity with first aid kits, amongst other things.

Maloy warns that in addition to attacks by Americans, foreign enemies pay attention and note our vulnerability when the news reports deaths, losses and ways in which attacks were accomplished. “Targeted violence is spreading across the globe,” he stresses, urging readers to prepare to stop attacks, preemptively through attention to mental health and better child rearing, through preventive strategies and through individual preparation to stop an attacker. In my opinion, this closing is Maloy’s strongest section.

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