This is war. it is the most important skill in the nation. It is the basis of life and death. It is the philosophy of survival or destruction. You must know it well. Your skill comes from five factors. Study these factors when you plan war. You must insist on knowing your situation.

1. Discuss philosophy. 
2. Discuss climate.
3. Discuss ground.
4. Discuss  leadership.
5. Discuss military methods

This stanza is the first in Sun Tzu’s book The Art of War . The topic is war, but from the law enforcement and security perspective its how conflict and strategic positioning works in helping resolve conventional and unconventional problems of crime, crime problems and violence , “winning” without escalating conflict.  

A critical starting point in understanding tactical response and approaches to calls which starts with your philosophy.  Sun Tzu says; “It starts with your military philosophy. Command your people with a higher shared purpose. You can lead them to death. You can lead them to life.” Is your philosophy centered on understanding people and conflict and the best practices to resolve the competitive environment we find ourselves in through situational awareness, positioning and good decision making. Or is it a hurry up, lets get there and get him mentality based on nothing more than  bravado and the cowboy mentality? To be successful and win with as little conflict as possible our philosophy must be organizationally based, but individually practiced. It must attract support and unify those responding to calls so that “life safety” is the priority and goal of our responses. This ensures we are not mistaking “good luck” for good strategy and tactics.

Sun Tzu’s principles apply to all we do in law enforcement and security. All frontline personnel and leaders in our professions wishing to handle themselves professionally, so they apply the proper strategy and tactics too any given situation, needs to understand these time tested (2500 years old) adaptive theories to enhance survival, resolving conflict, winning on the street .

Before I continue on the purpose “my philosophy”  in  posting information on the topic of the Art of War is to bring and understanding to those in law enforcement and security of how, Sun Tzu’s theories, help us win without escalating conflict. After all our goal is to resolve conflict.  I want to assure readers this is not about another feel good way of handling bad situations, not another back covering set of principles. It is clearly a way of teaching adaptability in competitive situations so “we” seize the initiative and take advantage when opportunities present themselves. Not the other way around! Good Strategy and tactics in an effort to avoid direct confrontation which, Sun Tzu discusses in Chapter seven of the Art of War. “Undertake armed conflict when you have an advantage. Seeking armed conflict for its own sake is dangerous.” 

Some of the greatest military leaders currently and throughout history have practiced Sun Tzu’s strategic principles Napoleon, T.E Lawrence, Powell, and Schwartzkov, to name just a few, have studied Sun Tzu and attribute there success to these principles. COL John Boyd who has been called by some, the greatest military strategist since Sun Tzu was greatly influenced by The Art of War and the concept of winning without fighting.  

Sun Tzu’s theories are for the tactically minded professional wanting to seek every possible advantage. For the professional who wants to understand the mental, moral and physical realms of conflict. WHY? Because that’s how we win on the street.

Next post in this series on Sun Tzu we will Discuss Climate.