Escaping from Custody
7/13/2008 8:01:29 PM by (KReeve)

Imagine that you are working in Baghdad as a reporter for a major wire service. You have a meeting set with a local Sunni tribal leader for an interview. You arrive at the location you are supposed to meet and wait. Five minutes after your meeting time, you are getting ready to leave. As you walk back to your vehicle, without warning and with a suddenness that stuns you, three vehicles filled with armed and hooded men suddenly appear and block your vehicle in. Before you can react, you are surrounded by men armed with AK-47s. They throw a bag over your head and flexicuff your hands. You are picked up and thrown into the trunk of one of the cars. Your interpreter is shot on the spot. His bullet-riddled body is left where it lays in the stree.

You are now in the hands of one of Iraq’s fastest growing industries: kidnapping for profit. Your kidnappers will sell you to the highest bidder, probably Al Qeada operatives. They in turn will use you for whatever high stakes political game they choose. You are a pawn to them, a piece of meat that they care less than nothing for.

As you bounce around in the trunk of the Mercedes sedan, you have to make a decision now. Chances are pretty good that you will be take to a safe house and held while your fate is negotiated much as it was here in the slave trading days of the 14th century. You will be sold to the highest bidder. So now you have some choices to make. Should you cooperate or resist, or should you attempt to escape?

You are in what is called the initial transit phase of your captivity. Once you get to the safe house, you will probably be stripped, and put into clothing designed for ease of your captives. It may be an orange jumpsuit, or it may be native clothing. In any event, you will lose any gear you have on your person. This first phase affords your best chance at escape. You must get away as soon as you can. Once you get to your phase two destination, a holding area, your incarceration will become more secure and your escape more difficult.

Knowing how to escape from custody is one of several skills that could save your life while working in war zone according to experts. One of the key elements is in keeping your head. In a situation such as this, you will be fighting to control your own body as it reacts to the dump of adrenaline that will surge through your body. This surge can create panic and a complete mental shutdown, or it can provide you with clear answers and super-human strength. Knowing how to tap into the adrenal rush is a key element of escape.

Knowing how to escape from restraints is another key element of your success. Knowing how to get out of a car’s trunk is another key skill. And knowing how to successfully evade in an unfriendly environment is critical. Being able to establish communications and to determine your position will be crucial. All of these skills can seem overwhelming.. Find training that will prepare you not only for the physical challenges of urban escape and evasion, but also that will prepare you for the mental and emotional challenges as well.