WHAT IS WYOR?
White! Yellow! Orange! Red!
These are the combat color codes of awareness used by law enforcement
agencies and militaries worldwide.
The WYOR logo incorporates the first letters from each of the "Color Codes of
Awareness" - W for white, Y for yellow, O for orange, and R for red. Also
incorporated into the logo is a graphic of a lone wolf. The lone wolf symbolizes
the fact that it's you against the bad guys. The lone wolf has no "pack" to
warn him of danger. He must depend on his own situational awareness for his
survival. Humans don't have the benefit of the "pack" either - we have only
ourselves and our "situational awareness."
Colonel Jeff Cooper of the world-famous Gunsite school of combat gunfighting
popularized the "Color Codes of Awareness." Basically, they are used as a
simple method to keep us in a state of "situational awareness" for our safety.
The color codes are taught to military units and law enforcement agencies
worldwide. But, they can also be used in our everday lives to help protect us
from those who wish to do harm.
WHITE represents total situational unawareness. Most people are in WHITE.
Take a look at people walking down a busy city street sometime...you'll see
that about 80% of them are wrapped up in their own worlds; they don't
realize what's going on around them. Criminals look for people in WHITE, they
make the best victims. If a crime is committed against them, its over before
they know what happened. Criminals know people in WHITE can't even begin
to describe "what happened" to law enforcement authorities.
YELLOW represents the next level of awareness. People in YELLOW are aware
of their surroundings. They scan the immediate area, make eye contact with
people close by. They are on the lookout for potentially dangerous people and
situations. It's important to distinguish Condition YELLOW from being
paranoid; YELLOW is not anywhere even close to that. Criminals can tell who's
in YELLOW, and generally steer clear of them.
When people go to ORANGE from YELLOW, they have recognized a potentially
dangerous situation or person. For example, you've just exited the mall, and
are on the way to your vehicle in the parking lot. You're in YELLOW, scanning
the lot for anything out of the ordinary as you walk with purpose. Suddenly,
you see an unsavory looking character lounging near your car. That's when
you go to ORANGE. In ORANGE, you've recognized that you may have to take
overt action to avoid a confrontation. In this case, you have many
options...from going back into the mall, to confronting the character. You
decide to keep an eye on him and move to unlock and get into your car.
Suddenly, he pulls a knife and makes a move toward you.
In the above example, you now must move into Condition RED. Being in RED
means you must take overt action to save your life or the life of others. This
can mean anything from removing yourself from the area to deploying a
weapon. If you deploy a weapon, this is where all of your training and practice
with that weapon comes together, and you will prevail.
White! Yellow! Orange! Red!
These are the combat color codes of awareness used by law enforcement
agencies and militaries worldwide.
The WYOR logo incorporates the first letters from each of the "Color Codes of
Awareness" - W for white, Y for yellow, O for orange, and R for red. Also
incorporated into the logo is a graphic of a lone wolf. The lone wolf symbolizes
the fact that it's you against the bad guys. The lone wolf has no "pack" to
warn him of danger. He must depend on his own situational awareness for his
survival. Humans don't have the benefit of the "pack" either - we have only
ourselves and our "situational awareness."
Colonel Jeff Cooper of the world-famous Gunsite school of combat gunfighting
popularized the "Color Codes of Awareness." Basically, they are used as a
simple method to keep us in a state of "situational awareness" for our safety.
The color codes are taught to military units and law enforcement agencies
worldwide. But, they can also be used in our everday lives to help protect us
from those who wish to do harm.
WHITE represents total situational unawareness. Most people are in WHITE.
Take a look at people walking down a busy city street sometime...you'll see
that about 80% of them are wrapped up in their own worlds; they don't
realize what's going on around them. Criminals look for people in WHITE, they
make the best victims. If a crime is committed against them, its over before
they know what happened. Criminals know people in WHITE can't even begin
to describe "what happened" to law enforcement authorities.
YELLOW represents the next level of awareness. People in YELLOW are aware
of their surroundings. They scan the immediate area, make eye contact with
people close by. They are on the lookout for potentially dangerous people and
situations. It's important to distinguish Condition YELLOW from being
paranoid; YELLOW is not anywhere even close to that. Criminals can tell who's
in YELLOW, and generally steer clear of them.
When people go to ORANGE from YELLOW, they have recognized a potentially
dangerous situation or person. For example, you've just exited the mall, and
are on the way to your vehicle in the parking lot. You're in YELLOW, scanning
the lot for anything out of the ordinary as you walk with purpose. Suddenly,
you see an unsavory looking character lounging near your car. That's when
you go to ORANGE. In ORANGE, you've recognized that you may have to take
overt action to avoid a confrontation. In this case, you have many
options...from going back into the mall, to confronting the character. You
decide to keep an eye on him and move to unlock and get into your car.
Suddenly, he pulls a knife and makes a move toward you.
In the above example, you now must move into Condition RED. Being in RED
means you must take overt action to save your life or the life of others. This
can mean anything from removing yourself from the area to deploying a
weapon. If you deploy a weapon, this is where all of your training and practice
with that weapon comes together, and you will prevail.
| All text (other than quotes), images, and graphics specifically relating to WYOR.com on this web site are copyrighted by Michael R. Grimler, Firearms Instructor, 2003-2005 All Rights Reserved - Violators will be prosecuted. |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Serving Santa Fe, Espanola, Taos and Los Alamos |
