Crazy Ivan Mindset

Thirty-nine years ago this coming May, Lt. Commander Albert Schaufelberger was assassinated in San Salvador in the country of El Salvador on May 25, 1983. Schaufelberger saw his role in El Salvador of preventing a communist takeover of the country for all of the people of El Salvador, not just those of means. He realized, however, that he might be a target of the insurgents, given the success of the weapon interdiction efforts. During his last discussion with journalists covering U.S. advised Salvadoran military operations, Schaufelberger told those present that the insurgents "know who I am, and where I live". His house had apparently already received drive-by gunfire on a recent evening prior to the assassination. Schaufelberger had been dating the manager of a cooperative store, Consuelo Escalante Aguilera for several months and developed a routine of picking her up at the same time and place. On May 25 he arrived and sounded the horn of his armored embassy-provided Ford Maverick, his signal to inform his date that he had arrived. Ms. Aguilera exited her office and observed what she believed to be a white Volkswagen microbus pull up and stop near Schaufelberger's car. Reportedly several individuals were involved with the assassination, with at least one firing through the open window of Schaufelberger's car. Schaufelberger was shot four times in the head. Schaufelberger's car leaped forward, impacting a car directly in front of it. The assassins then jumped into their vehicle and escaped. Unfortunately for him, Schaufelberger had removed the bullet-resistant glass over the driver's-side window after the air conditioner in his vehicle was not working. There was speculation that the A/C had been sabotaged. A group under the umbrella of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), the Central American Revolutionary Workers' Party (PRTC), is thought to have carried out the act. Complacency kills. RIP Lieutenant Commander Schaufelberger. Hindsight is always 20/20. But had the Commander thought about where he was going and how he did things, he may have lived to make a bigger difference in Central America. Most of us are not being targeted as Lt. Commander Schaufelberger knew he was. But in your own life you should assess your operations security. Your family should do this too. The words “operation security” are just a fancy way of saying being aware of your habits and trends and changing them. Something as simple as changing where you park, or changing the route you take to or from school or work can make a difference. Most criminals are not very bright. But career criminals may have learned their “craft” better over time. If I wanted to rob someone, or kidnap someone, I would watch them for a while. Once you can see that like most human beings your target is a creature of habit, you can devise a trap or ambush that will be more effective than to just hope for an opportunity. This can take in many aspects of our lives. Breaking habitual movement or routines is not hard, but situational awareness must always be maintained. Becoming complacent can kill. Little things make a difference. Had Commander Schaufelberger just made sure that the armored vehicle he drove was well maintained he may have survived. Look at your daily routines. Look at your families routines. Teach them to always be aware, and to make frequent, un-routine changes in how they do things. During the Cold War period, the confrontation between Soviet and US submarines was played out across the Seven Seas. Soviet strategic missile submarines were pursued by US hunter submarines, just as Soviet submarines hunted US ones. As Igor Kurdin, former captain of the К-241, К-84 and К-40 ballistic missile submarines told Russia Beyond, the main task of a nuclear-armed submarine on combat duty was to outrun its pursuers, since a vital strategic strike couldn’t be carried out if there was an enemy submarine on its trail. Winning in this cat-and-mouse game was complicated by the fact that each submarine had a “dead zone” or “baffles” — an area behind the vessel that sonar couldn’t “hear” due to the noise of the mechanisms and propellers. US hunters hid in this zone and followed Soviet strategic submarines unmarked. There was a special tactical maneuver to detect such submarines called “Verify absence of tracking,” Kurdin said. Still, the Americans invented their own name for it — “Crazy Ivan.” It essentially consisted of the submarine executing sharp and frequent course reversals in an underwater position, including 90 and even 180 degree turns, in order to detect objects in the “dead zone” using sonar. Even the cold war Russians knew that complacency kills. By changing their route abruptly, they could be on better guard and more effective in their job. Establish your own Crazy Ivan mindset. Change your course and other things that have become habit. Some may say this is paranoia. Not being complacent is not being paranoid. It is being prepared and careful. Remember that complacency can kill. Semper Paratus Check 6 Burn