Grossman in conjunction with Maslow

                         Author: Odhinn Kohout

The use of a tactical breathing exercise developed by David Grossman (On Combat pgs 331-332) which will be a mandatory portion following my theory lecture and prior to beginning any physical training. The purpose of this is to incorporate and test Maslow’s Physiological, Safety, and Esteem needs in a modern warfare training session. This breathing exercise was developed by Grossman to give special operations personnel an exercise which could be used to relax and focus Soldiers just prior to a mission specific task. The parallel to my students is to provide a feeling a calm and certainty before beginning stress inoculated training. Since the goal of my courses is to elevate the heart rate and release adrenaline to mimic combat stress conditions this simple exercise could possibly elevate the Maslow needs hierarchy into a higher and more critical level. Physiological would be impacted by the student’s perception of calmness from the breathing exercise as it lowers his resting heart-rate. This is a physical process which would be affected. Safety in its purest form is life or death. The exercise could help the learner visualize a successful outcome prior to beginning the scenario in which he is victorious and uninjured. (Scenarios are based on life/death critical incidents in my courses) Esteem could be measured at the end of the tactical breathing exercise in which the Instructor could ask the students if they feel better about the overall picture and it is would be a technique that they could see using prior to a high risk task.