Gary Quesenberry is a US Army veteran and a career Federal Air Marshal. As a defensive tactics trainer for Federal and civilian services, he has devoted his life to studying the areas of violence and predatory behavior. Gary serves as the CEO of Quesenberry Personal Defense Training and has developed numerous basic and advanced level training courses focused on mental toughness, marksmanship, and defensive tactics. As a competitive pistol shooter, Gary has been featured on the History Channel’s hit television series Top Shot - Season 3 and Top Shot All-Stars. He has an extensive background in domestic and foreign counter-terror training and has worked in both the private and corporate sectors to help educate others on the importance of situational awareness, and personal safety. Gary resides in Hillsville, Virginia.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

PHASE ONE - Understand the threat

Chapter 1: The basics of predatory behavior

• 1.1 How predators choose their targets - The seven-second PROD
• 1.2 Perception
• 1.3 Risk
• 1.4 Observable value
• 1.5 Defenses
• 1.6 Think Like a Predator
• Situational Awareness in Action: The Foiled Millennium Terror Plot
• Exercise: Target Selection
• Key Points

Chapter 2: Conducting a self-assessment

• 2.1 Who would target you?
• 2.2 What do they want?
• 2.3 When would they strike?
• 2.4 Where would they strike?
• 2.5 Start Thinking Like a Protector
• Situational Awareness in Action: The Attempted Time Square Bombing
• Exercise: Using the Self-Assessment
• Key Points

PHASE TWO - Build your situational awareness

Chapter 3: The basics of awareness

• 3.1 Defining the threat - Perception vs. Reality
• 3.2 The levels of awareness
• 3.3 Understanding the Reactionary Gap
• Situational Awareness in Action: Joey Grundl's Big Delivery
• Exercise: The What-If Game
• Key Points

Chapter 4: The next level of awareness - Comprehend, Identify, and Anticipate

• 4.1 Comprehend the situation
• 4.2 Identify what's important
• 4.3 Anticipate outcomes
• 4.4 The Role of Intuition
• Situational Awareness in Action: Ten-Year-Old Danny DiPietro
• Exercise: Environmental KIMs Games
• Key Points

PHASE THREE - Develop personal defenses

Chapter 5: What comes next

• 5.1 Establishing a basis for action
• 5.2 Avoidance - The safest option
• 5.3 Escape
• 5.4 De-escalation
• 5.5 Confrontation
• Situational Awareness in Action: Lee Parker's Backpack
• Exercise: Route Planning
• Key Points

Chapter 6: Reinforcing your defenses

• 6.1 Improving mindset
• 6.2 Minimizing distractions
• 6.3 Controlling fear
• 6.4 Building Confidence
• Situational Awareness in Action: Julianne Moore Stops a Kidnapper
• Exercise: Counting Drills
• Key Points

Chapter 7: Putting It All Together

• Situational Awareness in Action: Uber Hero Keith Avila
• Exercise: Six Steps to Spotting Trouble
• Key Points

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR