I have a friend that was given an award for saving a fellow Marine in a firefight in Afghanistan just a short time after recovering from being shot himself. It was not a major injury and he didn't want to worry his wife so he didn't tell her about it. During the awards ceremony the citation was read. It described his return to duty from his injury and running into fire to retrieve an injured Marine. He tells of being more scared of his wife (who was at the ceremony) finding out that he'd been shot and not telling her about it.
Just saying that, that guy may have acted like a girl when the mouse ran under his chair but when the shtf he may be there. I've seen some guys break dance better than Michael Jackson after walking into a spider web but you would have to cover their six when the chips were down because they were going full blast to the point.
Maybe we might be driving at the same point but from different angles and saying it differently.
The point that I'm trying to make, and you as well, is that none of us know how we will react or how others will react in a critical situation.
However, I think a good gauge of a person's metal is how they have performed in the past.
I've been in a lot of fist fights and street fights as a teenager. The last person that I got into a fight with nearly died at my hands. Trust me, it really was self defense.
I was not going to give him another opportunity to get at me again and had no reservations about choking the life out of him.
So, for myself, I know that I can kill a person as long as they need killing. Some people have no idea if they can do that.
A friend of mine is retired SWAT and described another member of the team as probably being less than reliable. He asked this man if he had ever hunted or killed anything. The answer was no.
He suggested that he take up hunting so he knows what it is to take the life of a living being.
The photos and videos of cops, SWAT teams and other law enforcement personnel look really impressive with the great looking uniforms, body armor, weapons and other gear. However, we have no idea if they will fight.
I know of an active duty cop who is tall, fit and a pretty boy. He's good at the PR but the public doesn't know him like I do. I can predict with 99% certainty that he would turn yellow in a gun fight. I can make that prediction because of how well I know him.
Now that sounds like I'm contradicting my previous statements. However, I've know him for several years and seen him in other settings. I've seen a lot of people like him.
Would I choose him for any serious work requiring quick decision making, courage and ability to react quickly? Hell no.
The pretty boys with all the tactical toys might not be the first choice to put on a badge. Sometimes, little fat guy with a bald head might be the lifesaver.
I'll throw out the question that I asked earlier. Do they ever ask potential cops in a job interview if they have ever been in a fight or been shot at?