The Zero Percent Loss Standard
- greatlivingstories
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
The Reason for the Core of Calm®
I will not disclose the unit I was with or were I was stationed when this event occurred. I will say I was at a Division and the the Division Commander was my ultimate "boss".
Scenario:
We were deployed on a training exercise revamping our "combat skills", due to other missions preventing the units ability to train on combat missions.
The scenario we were training on was the Iraq scenario (Note: This was long before OEF or OIF were even talked about - at least not at my level).
We "train as we fight", so we had our weapons, protective masks, as well as our other "battle rattle" and protective gear.
The atmosphere was electrified, chaotic and stressed. When running scenarios they are often nearly impossible to overcome on purpose - depending on the tasks the command wants to test or train on.
Although the scenario was Iraq, the weather was cold and snowy. The drifts were up to the bumpers of our 5-ton trucks (about 3 feet). It was colder than a well diggers elbow. It was so cold you could taste the metallic taste of the cold. The air was filled with the smell of burning diesel fuel we used in the multi-fuel stoves that barely kept the ice off of the sides of the GP Medium tents we used for the TOC (Tactical Operation Center). The smell of a GP Medium tent is a smell you will never forget once you've lived in one for any length of time.
A lot of folks were on edge. Although it was an exercise, you are still being "graded", so we all wanted to do the best we could. What happens during the exercise is what will likely happen when it is for "real". If we get it "right" here we will hopefully get it right in a real-world scenario and save a lot of lives.
We were at a particularly difficult scenarios and I was discussing terrain options with the commander and division staff. It wasn't an "official" briefing. I was called in to provide clarification on the aspects of terrain.
Command wanted to do a maneuver the terrain would not support in order to accomplish a difficult, but high-priority objective.
I remember we were discussing various options when the commander said we "could accept up to 80% loss".
Internal Reaction
At first, I couldn't believe I'd heard the commander correctly. This was the first time I had ever heard any commander say something like this. I don't know how the rest of the staff felt as for me I'm not sure I can literally describe my initial reaction to that statement. To say I was stunned would a gross understatement. Maybe the word is astonished, or dumbfounded - perhaps horror-struck, perhaps a combination of all of them. It was like a sucker-punch came out of now where a gut-punched me.
I told the commander "not on my watch". I would find a way to accomplish that mission without the loss of our troops - and I did.
I understood we needed to accomplish that mission objective. I understood that we will at times loose some of our troops - what I could not understand was the apparent callousness over sending our troops on essentially a suicide mission without exhausting all possibilities.
It seemed the commander only saw "assets" on the board, but I saw the souls of the brigade. It's been so long I forgot the exact size of the unit, but it seems it was a brigade (3,000 to 10,000 souls) - this was before the tactics changed to RCT's (Regimental Combat Teams; 3,000 - 5,000). To me it really didn't matter the numbers even the loss of one was one too many in my book.
Translation to Today:
In the world today folks are being instructed to store "several" days of foo and water and "stuff". Some government websites say two weeks.
Of the three pillars I address "Physical" is the easiest to achieve. You just need a little money and go out and buy "beans and bullets"; but in a real-world, life-or-death scenario that won't ensure you'll make it through the "storm". To be fair, even having more "stuff" does not ensure you will make it through the storm. But you can increase your chances by being ready. Being ready begins with a "Readiness Plan".
Having "several days" worth of "stuff" is not a good "plan", it is not even any kind of a plan. Sure it will likely help - at least for a while. But what do you do if a fire, flood, or other severe storm comes through and destroys all of your stored supplies? Or you have to evacuate (aka Bug-Out) - or any number of other scenarios where you lose that "stockpile"? What do you do then?
Are you willing to accept an "80% loss" of those you love, your family, your friends? I'm not - I wasn't then and I haven't been since!
At Great Living Stories, I reject those losses.
I don't build a Core of Calm® just to feel "better"'; I built it because it is the only way to ensure that "not on my watch" becomes a reality. When you are Spiritually anchored, Mentally resilient, and Physically prepared, you don't have to accept the world's "margin of loss".
I train for Zero Percent Acceptable loss. I did back then, I do now, and you can see that "standard" in my book "Chaos Reigns: Return to Life".
I believe that keeping your family alive means more than physical survival - it means bringing their spirits, their peace and their connection to one another through the storm intact. I engineer certainty is an uncertain world so that when chaos demands a sacrifice, you can stand your ground and say:
"Not on my Watch!"
GL Skye
Founder, Great Living Stories
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