AAR: Varg Freeborn / One Life Defense LLC / “Violence of Mind: Concealment, Critical Ambush and the High-Order Predator”

After Action Review: Varg Freeborn / One Life Defense LLC / “Violence of Mind: Concealment, Critical Ambush and the High-Order Predator”

Location: Hosted by F3 Tactical Training at F3 Tactical, Inc., Chantilly, Virginia

Thanks and kudos to Jimmy at F3 for going above and beyond to open on a Sunday and welcome us all so warmly. This is my second class in F3 Tactical Training’s new classroom and it is a terrific facility with great hospitality.

Date: Sunday, September 10, 2017 from 9 am – 6 pm

Format: Eight hours of lecture, discussion and Q&A

I have had the opportunity to take two courses with Varg within a few short weeks, the first one being a one-hour introduction to this material, expanded in much greater detail for this full-day course. My AAR on the August 26 class is also available online, so my concentration will be slightly different here and meant to elaborate on the varying points without revealing too many specifics as you really need to get your head around those concepts live in his class.

Objectives:

· To provide a unique course on extreme criminal violence from a true insider’s perspective.

· To understand the hardcore criminal mind and how to prepare a necessary response.

· To convey the varying levels of criminal behavior, most specifically the high-order predator.

· To illustrate how orientation is created and displayed.

· To learn to alter our behavior through proper training.

Materials Required:

· None beyond note-taking materials. Varg distributed a 15-page bound handout to attendees, which made it easier for us to focus more intently on what he had to say and add supplemental notes as appropriate.

What to Expect and Key Learnings:

· If you’re still in your “bubble,” Varg will pop it. And you need that to snap into reality. You will be out of your comfort zone much of the time and that’s essential for absorbing the information being presented.

· Varg does not sugar coat things. If you’re looking for an antiseptic or academic course, this is not it; rather, this is a more explicit insider’s look at criminal violence in a straightforward, realistic and experienced context, with great value toward practical application.

· There is no reliance here on PowerPoint presentations, slides, graphics or even stats (other than a very few sprinkled in as relevant). This is real talk, straight from Varg’s heart and mind, and in a way that is clearly troubling for him to relive in order to bring the subject matter to us.

· Varg stated at the top that the class was going to be extremely interactive and that participants would help to drive the content and direction. This was absolutely the case, and attendee involvement was great, with Varg being attentive to addressing key interests very thoroughly.

· In opening the class, Varg speaks intimately about his early home life and “the incident” that led to his conviction and sentence of five years in prison. He is direct in the specifics of that crime and forthright with recommendations on what he discovered later to do and not do in such a situation for legal protection.

· Varg’s major emphasis is on re-engineering everything he learned, experienced and trained in to now place that knowledge on the side of the “good guys.”

· Throughout the course, Varg relays rather chilling stories to illustrate his points, and many are both memorable and disconcerting.

· There was a positive effort on Varg’s part to interject some humor to break up the heavy subject matter, and this was very effective and welcome in humanizing him as well.

· You will leave this class with entirely different definitions of a wide variety of terms including:

-Mission

-Mission Clarity

-Orientation

-Concealment

-Ambush and Counter Ambush

-Combat Mindset

-Internal Parameters

-Return on Investment

-Confidence and Certainty

-Attachments

-Empathy

-Vulnerability

-Manipulation

-“Plan A”

-Sheepdog

-Behaviors

-Deterrence

-Self-Control

-Conditioning

-Techniques / Skills

-Training Principles

-Advance Safety

-Switches

Why this Class is Important:

One might say this class is not for the timid, but it really is…it is for everyone, and is probably most valuable to those that just do not have a clue about the threats out there. Your “bubble” is not safe and its protection is only imagined. Violence is, unfortunately, a part of our world. Varg really drives that concept home, as well as the fact that only a thin line sometimes separates us from them (ordinary folks vs. predators) in how we behave.

Varg’s #1 talent is MAKING US THINK. One of my classmates said, “You make me look at myself,” and that is very critical to Varg’s style of teaching. He makes us think about others and ourselves, how they act, how we act and react, and what we would do if presented with situations that are scary and uncomfortable to say the least.

He will put you into a “predator mindset” where most of us have never gone. We need to not turn a blind eye to what is out there and the circumstances we might face. With murders (many unsolved), abductions, human trafficking, and a wide array of increasingly violent attacks occurring on a random basis, it could happen to any one of us at any time. It is foolish to think otherwise.

You will listen as Varg refers to friends and family members that “are all dead now” and that his “nine lives are all used up” in harrowing detail. This is tough subject matter. However, his emphasis on transferring the knowledge he learned on the “bad side” to the “good side” could save your life and that of those you love.

I believe you will find yourself thinking about his class for a very long time (as I intend to), and that you will see the world, people and surroundings, in an entirely new way. There is considerable value in having an extreme paradigm shift to remind us of the threats we face as we go about everyday life, and that it could be drastically altered at any time. This class is essential education and worth your time and investment. I can assure you that Varg will bring a new perspective that will make a big difference in how you engage your senses and think, prepare and train for life.