Back in 2009, I sat through Lt. Col. David Grossman’s “The Bulletproof Mind” presentation. At the time, he was the primary voice on the psychology of killing and the “Sheepdog” concept. Seventeen years later, as I look back at my notes and incorporate the perspective of legendary operators like Major Dick Winters, I find that while Grossman’s “Hooyah” energy is infectious, his scientific foundation requires a serious reality check.
The Hook: The Sheepdog and the “Screw Golf” Philosophy
Grossman is a master of the motivational send-off. His core message—that we are warriors expected to move toward the sound of the guns—is something every practitioner can get behind. I particularly appreciated his take on “Warrior Hobbies.”
He famously said, “Screw Golf… a golf course is a waste of a good rifle range.” His point was that those of us holding the line shouldn’t waste our time on frivolous activities. Our “fun” should be hunting, fitness, martial arts, and training. As someone who spends his free time in the Adirondacks, at the archery range, or training for the Murph, I’m with him 100%. We rise and fall to our level of training, and “force-on-force” with Simunitions is indeed the gold standard.
The Crack in the Foundation: S.L.A. Marshall
However, as a Captain and a student of history, I have to look at the “evidence” Grossman uses to support his theories in On Killing. Much of his work relies on the WWII-era research of S.L.A. Marshall, who claimed that only 15–25% of soldiers actually fired their weapons at the enemy.
The problem? Marshall’s “ratio of fire” statistics have been largely discredited by historians and veterans alike. In the biography of Major Dick Winters (The Biggest Brother), Winters recounts meeting Marshall after the Brecourt Manor operation. Winters complained that Marshall completely misrepresented the fight in his writing. Marshall didn’t seem to care about the actual facts; he already had a preconceived narrative he wanted to fit the soldiers into.
If the “innate aversion to killing” theory is built on Marshall’s faulty data, the whole structure starts to lean.
Muskets and Misinterpretations
Grossman points to the “multiple loading” of Civil War muskets—rifles found with two or three rounds rammed down the barrel—as “proof” that soldiers were pretending to fire because they didn’t want to kill.
As a hunter and a shooter, I see a much simpler, tactical explanation: The fog of war. A scared-to-death 19-year-old in a cloud of black powder smoke forgets to put a cap on the nipple, pulls the trigger, hears a “click” he can’t distinguish from a “bang” in the chaos, and thinks he fired. So, he loads again. This isn’t “psychological inhibition”; it’s a failure of the “Tactical Preschool” fundamentals under extreme stress.
Preparation vs. Paranoia
There is a fine line between situational awareness and fear-mongering.
Grossman’s presentation often drifted into the “IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!!” territory. While the “It won’t happen here” mindset is a dangerous trap, living in a state of constant, unwarranted fear is equally destructive to the “Long Haul.”
I prefer Gavin DeBecker’s approach in The Gift of Fear. DeBecker teaches us to listen to our intuition and be prepared, but not to sacrifice our “stomach lining” to a statistical anomaly. We should treat active shooter prep like we treat fire safety: we have the alarms, the drills, and the extinguishers, but we don’t spend every waking hour terrified that the toaster is going to explode.
The Verdict
Grossman has done a lot of good by getting the “Warrior” conversation into the mainstream and promoting force-on-force training. But we must be careful not to mistake a “motivational speaker” for a “peer-reviewed scientist.”
We don’t need “evidence” manufactured to fit a concept. We need the truth of the street. Being a “Sheepdog” isn’t about being paranoid or believing in debunked WWII statistics; it’s about the quiet, disciplined pursuit of competence. It’s about being a good person with a skill—and having the “guts” to use that skill when the “Dragon” actually shows up at the window.
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