#111 Mr. Murphy

Years ago, when I was trying to get on to the police department, I read a ton of books on law enforcement. My favorites were Connie Fletcher books. She would go to Chicago or NYC to interview dozens of police officers about their real lives on the job and compile them into gritty, dirty, honest stories that peered behind the code of silence into the dangerous, heartbreaking, thrilling, soul crushing world of modern policing.

Along the way, a friend loaned me a book by a man named Richard Marcinko. He was a Navy Seal during the Vietnam War. They had just changed their name to Navy Seals, after first being designated in WWII as the UDT (Underwater Demolition Teams). They morphed their operational focused from disarming underwater ship mines to fighting on Sea, Air and Land; taking on dangerous “snatch and grab” missions.

Marcinko wrote dozens of books, his first being Rogue Warrior. After this one, he wrote novels based on himself as a character (and boy howdy, was he) performing daring missions against unbelievable odds. His books were hilariously funny, as accurate as possible about the training, scope, and execution of Seal missions, and blaringly honest about some of his true-life exploits (a few of which landed him in prison for a few years).

He, in his books, would describe his mission planning. An objective would be agreed upon. Each member of his team would be given a specific set of duties and mission parameters. Ingress and egress would be established, and back up plans would be put in place should something fail. Then it was time to practice, practice, practice. They would practice, not until they got the job right, but until they couldn’t get the job wrong.

The most accurate and hilarious aspect of his mission planning was to avoid regular failures. He would call it Murphy-proofing his mission; in reference to the ubiquitous Mr. Murphy of Murphy’s Law.

Murphy’s Law states, “if something can go wrong, it usually will.”

Marcinko was famous for reciting the seven P’s during his planning phase.

Proper Previous Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Marcinko would use lots of military jargon in his books, including the famous…

SNAFU. Situation Normal, All Fucked Up

TARFU. Things Are Really Fucked UP

And

FUBAR. Fucked UP Beyond Any Recognition (or sometimes Repair)

When Seals are executing a mission objective, things can and will go wrong. A teammate could be injured, or taken out, a radio could fail, the explosives could be lost with the one guy who had to be evac’d from the site.

Several things could go wrong, because Mr. Murphy is a prick. He shows up when you least expect him, and when it most matters. Therefore, more than one man would need to carry a radio, a sat phone, the explosives, the triggers, the fence cutters, etc. What happens if the chute doesn’t open? Take a backup chute. What happens if the rifle fails, bring a pistol.

Operators needed to plan for every possible way Mr. Murphy could rudely insert himself into your mission and trash your carefully laid out plans.

I recently read that during BUDS training in San Diego (Basic Underwater Demolition School – the Seals training and elimination school) that the instructors would intentionally sabotage the training exercises that the recruits needed to pass.

In their world, a class of recruits would be divided into squads. The squads would compete against one another. During Hell Week, the third or fourth week of school, recruits would engage in a weeklong combat simulation course. They would endure grueling physical training past the point of exhaustion. They would carry logs, march out into the freezing ocean waves, run for miles, attempt to land inflatable rafts onto craggy, rocky beachheads, practice “drown-proofing” (hands and feet would be zip-tied and they would spend 45 minutes in a pool) and other difficult challenges. The men would sleep maybe 4 hours the entire week.

They were repeatedly told, “The only easy day was yesterday.”

They were also told, “It pays to be a winner.” If a squad achieved its goal first, they got to take a short break (nap) while waiting on the other squads to finish. The squad which finished last got no breaks at all, as the next exercise would immediately commence.

The instructors would do everything in their power to get the guys to quit. They would promise hot coffee, warm meals, hot showers, the end of this torture; anything to expose the emotional and psychological weakness that they could exploit to take a man past his breaking point.

The sabotage included introducing the men to Mr. Murphy. These men were accustomed to being the best of the best. They had excelled in everything they have ever done, be it sports, their jobs in the military, etc. But many had never before experienced failure of this magnitude.

They would be given incorrect maps, compasses that were inaccurate, ever-changing objectives, faulty equipment, substandard clothing, etc. These challenges were intended to make the recruits fail, only to expose how they would behave after that failure. If they lost their minds, threw a fit, blamed other teammates or equipment, blamed the instructors, it would expose a critical weakness that cannot be tolerated in the field. The men must adapt to failure, prepare for it, expect it, overcome it, and accomplish the mission regardless.

The rest of us are not so different.

We make plans, we establish goals, we create expectations, we prepare for advancement. But Mr. Murphy is a dickhead and will laugh his ass off watching how he thwarted your carefully conceived plans.

We must always prepare for failure. We must accept that obstacles will rear their ugly heads. We must understand that to achieve any goal, we must accept that it will be necessary to overcome challenges like Mr. Murphy. We must not be deterred by things we count on breaking down on us. We can never expect things to go smoothly.

Set your goals. Establish your plan of attack. Prepare for Mr. Murphy. Accept that things will go tits up.

Smooth seas make lousy sailors.

Bruce Lee once said,

“Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.”

Keep moving forward.

Weeg

Joe “Weeg” Weigant is a Board Certified Massage Therapist, Holistic Health Authority, Reiki Master Teacher, Herbalist, Metaphysician, and Empowerment Coach. He combines bodywork, energy work, and coaching to improve quality of life by healing from the outside in and from the inside out.

Weeg sells Nature’s Sunshine Products, Pure Herbs Ltd., doTERRA, and Juice Plus+. Weeg suggests lifestyle changes and provides herbal remedies to his clients so they may build new habits for long life and vibrant health. He teaches Karate and Tai Chi, Reiki Certification, as well as seminars and workshops in metaphysical and spiritual matters. Weeg is available for sessions at Tri State Holistic Wellness by appointment only.

Contact by text 812.568.5356, or Facebook Messenger to set an appointment.

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