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Today's excerpt begins on page 91.
While many of the men who are conscripted into military service by their nation to fight during a war will kill some of the enemy, only a relatively small minority of men may be classified as killers, per se.
To possess the attributes of the genuine killer is rare among men.
This is one reason why selection of key personnel for termination teams is so difficult.
There is another reason as well.
If the number of intrinsic killers is small, then the number of reliable, stable-minded, and intelligent people who can be trained to kill on assignment, again and again, and have no remorse or other inner conflicts as a result, can be said to be minuscule.
The professional killer is a rare entity, indeed.
The usual battery of tests administered to persons entering government intelligence and military service is not designed to screen for killer types.
Moreover, even when judged on individual personality and ability in a face-to-face training context, the person who is best suited to assignment in an elite termination unit is not always easy to recognize.
For instructors and historians, then, this chapter explores those essential attributes of personality, character, and psychology that experience has indicated fit the professional killer.
Please note at the outset that our concern is only with suitable persons for professional assignment.
We are naturally excluding those attributes that characterize the psychotic, the psychopathic, and the essentially criminally-motivated.
Such persons are conspicuously unreliable and undesirable for professional assignment,
Fundamental Requirements for Specialist Personnel
Aside from the specific attributes of character that are so difficult to find in any single person, there are other requirements in selecting the right person for special assignment.
These are:
- Physical firmness and above-average athletic prowess.
- Basic intelligence of a high order.
- Careful, analytical mind, with a blend of courageousness and caution.
Remember that, once assigned to a special mission, the assassin is on his own.
If he is not a resourceful, independent, and rugged type, he will not stand much of a chance of succeeding in the face of adversity—save through luck; and we do not wish to depend upon luck.
Every professional requires training in all subjects outlined and taught in this manual.
But he requires more, as well.
If he does not bring to his training the right characteristics of mind and body, then his training will be for nothing.
These are the attributes, then, of the sort of man required for assignment to the brutal job of professional killing...
Coldness
We normally think of “coldness” in human beings as those manifesting an aloof social or even sexual attitude.
We speak of someone, for example, who tends to shun friendship as “cold”.
Or we speak of a woman who avoids males who are trying to initiate a sexual relationship as “cold”.
But in our context, we mean something a bit different.
The professional killer needs to be genuinely and inwardly cold in the profoundest, deepest sense.
He may have a select few friends to whom his loyalty is unquestionable, and he may even be a very good and loving husband and father.
But his deepest philosophy regarding others is chilling.
The professional thinks of all other people as being unimportant metaphysically.
They are hardly “people”.
They do not retain any of the “rights to live” that so many ordinary individuals are fond of speaking about.
They are targets, period.
And others, who are neither targets to be erased nor fellows on the same side, are simply there--like hats and coats.
This coldness is borne of a deep personal philosophy.
In point of fact, it cannot completely be taught.
Some individuals throughout history just seem to evolve this personal view of existence by a combination of their thought processes and their own life experiences.
These are the best men to train for termination teams.
The catch of course is that the cold killer cannot be a person who is withdrawn or “cold” due to inhibitions and/or weaknesses.
He must be the sort of individual whose coldness is self-created, and who is fully capable of affection, love, warmth, sincerity, and human understanding .. . but only on his own terms,
Skill-At-Arms
Good as training programs are, they provide the basics only.
History has shown that the finest killers and fighters have been individuals who were expert practitioners of every conceivable form of combat, from rifle and handgun shooting, to hand-to-hand martial arts, to knife fighting.
The person who comes to the special agency of employ already proficient in all forms of combat (with or without weapons) is the best choice for selection to assignment in termination teams.
He is the person on whom all formalized advanced courses in professional killing techniques will not be wasted.
It has already been pointed out that military draftees can be taught to kill, but they are still not “killers”.
It is the volunteer who is most likely to be true killer material; specifically, the man who volunteers for Ranger, Special Forces, SEAL, or Force Recon assignment.
True, such special volunteers are not always the best persons for the job, but the point is that such people will be much more likely to qualify.
It is among such personnel that recruiters for elite teams should look for candidates.
Men who are avid hunters are likely candidates.
The skills, and more importantly, the mental attributes of the hunter parallel to a certain extent the attributes of the professional killer.
Men who have sought out training in combat-oriented martial arts and techniques (i.e. various forms of karate, knife fighting, combat handgun shooting, et al) may also be promising candidates.
Even if the skill acquired by the individual lacks the technical excellence that an ideal prospect might have, it is the fact that the combat training was sought by the individual for his own satisfaction that is important.
And that is what needs to be considered first.
Skill-at-arms will be improved upon by professional training under qualified instructors in the intelligence or military community.
But the most desirable candidates are persons with a strong background in combat arts already, and who are very proficient in their own techniques.
Enthusiasm for Achievement and Combat Proficiency
The adept assassin is absolutely committed in the area of enthusiasm for building and maintaining high levels of functional expertise in his chosen martial skills whether with or without weapons.
The best fighters and the most ruthless killers are rarely known for their outstanding performance in the sport aspects of the many martial arts.
But they do maintain a deep interest in the continual honing of their own person skills for their own satisfaction,
Law-abiding and Asocial
The sort that a government might contract with for a hit is not, perhaps to the surprise of some, anti-social or at all criminally inclined.
Quite the contrary.
In civilian life it is not at all uncommon for the type of person who will kill without compunction to appear to be a rather conventional professional or business person.
He is not criminal or actively anti-social in either philosophy or conduct.
He is, frankly, too strong and too genuinely independent to care to reduce himself to the status of common criminal.
He has too much self-esteem to take seriously any notion that his life goals and values should be subordinated to the “needs of society”.
One may correctly point out that a professional killer on assignment will have to violate numerous laws and commit acts that most of us would agree are antisocial.
While this is demonstrably correct, it is beside the point.
The professional will do whatever is required to carry out a mission; but he dues not seek out to function anti-socially or criminally.
This makes all the difference in the world.
To take an obvious and clear example: a misfit punk will, because he feels like it, drive through a red light and endanger innocent pedestrians by speeding his car.
That is anti-social behavior carried out for no other reason than the fact that the perpetrator is anti-social.
However, a professional killer will speed his car and go through a red light, all right, but only if required for his mission, or for the saving of his own life.
He does not function on whim.
He functions according to the requirements of his assignment.
The professional does not care about society unless society attempts to actively thwart him.
We see that the type of man who is categorically dangerous will not tolerate subordination of his interests to those of some abstract notion.
Instructors responsible for recruitment and screening of personnel for termination units must always be cognizant that past histories of violent criminal behavior are a warning that the candidate should not be selected for further training or assignment.
A record of aggressive behavior that is not criminal or anti-social, however, is a very good indication that the person has something of what is required.
A “lone wolf” type, providing his preference for solitude and independence is not due to fear of others, should be regarded as possible good material for the agency of employ.
Professional killers are not P.R. men, and the fact that candidates for that title are asocial in their basic orientation is, if anything, a strong recommendation for their suitability.
Definite Sense of Personal Justice
When a court of law sentences a murderer to die in punishment for his crime we say that this is “justice”.
When a private citizen hunts down and kills someone who has murdered a person dear to him, we say that this is “revenge”.
The type of individual that we are attempting to describe here in the abstract would label both the above instances as “justice”.
And he would relish the latter version,
The person we wish to consider for the position of professional killer needs to be strongly self-regulated by a powerful inner sense of honor and justice.
This is, after all, the only real control that we will ever have over him once he is trained fully and sent out on assignment.
Aside from terminating him, there would be no way to regulate the killer without honor, if he chose to disobey orders.
We can sum up the attribute under consideration here by saying that vengeance, to the type of man we are describing, is nothing but another word for justice,
Self-Interest and Selfishness
Whatever the virtues of altruistic living, the assassin is not interested in hearing about them.
For the type of man to whom we look for professional killing, a self interested, actually selfish morality and philosophy is almost surely to be what he lives by.
The above may at first seem to indicate that such a man would not be a desirable choice for a termination team.
Not so.
Such work appeals strongly to this type of individual's self-interest by serving his desire for excitement, challenge, and victory against odds.
We may not like to see this as the underlying motive for the killer, but nothing is served by evading facts.
If we face the truth, as we ought to, then we merely appeal to the innermost desires of the man himself, when we make of him a professional killer.
History’s strongest figures—killers or kings -have been men who have been self-interested.
Altruism is a philosophy for the weak, claim some.
Why is it better to serve someone else’s interests than it is to serve one’s own?
Emotionally, intellectually, and physically, too, the powerful man is motivated by the desire to achieve his own goals in life.
Disinterest in Glory or Reward
There are some men who seek a career with danger because they are motivated largely by a desire for glory.
Individuals like this can be seen in the police and military uniformed services because, frankly, they like to wear a uniform.
There is certainly nothing wrong with this.
But it is a characteristic unbefitting those select men who qualify for the extraordinarily dangerous life of killers-for-hire.
The sort of rugged individualist who is suited for professional contract or assignment killing will be motivated only secondarily (if at all) for the recognition their country or agency of employ can give them.
It is a peculiarly selfish motivation that drives the professional killer, and although his loyalty can be counted upon, it is first a loyalty to himself.
The reader is urged to be a realist.
The above comments may be easier to accept if we restrict them to Mafia hit men, but this is not so.
Well-educated government killers are motivated, quite often, by the very same factors.
This is not a book of fiction.
It is a book of fact.
And the facts are not always what we would like them to be.
Regrettably or not, a professional killer cares not a whit for our gratitude; even if he kills a prominent enemy of our country.
Intelligent Ferocity
Like any true combat master, the assassin is always composed and prepared.
He responds to danger by turning into a ferocious—but intelligent—killing machine.
He does not waste energy or ammunition on wild-eyed hasty action.
A professional killer must be capable of that very elusive quality: intelligent ferocity.
If he is a man who holds back then he will fail.
But if he is a man who charges in without a calculating and clear mind that directs his actions, he will also fail.
The professional killer is above all a man-of-action; but he is a man of controlled, calculated, ferociously lethal action.
Good boxers are examples of men who evidence intelligent ferocity.
They fight furiously and fast, but if they are good, they keep their cool and fight with a controlled, intelligent guidance that directs their energy and their actions.
Intelligent ferocity is not a common characteristic of men.
The type of man who likes to fight is better known as a “fool”.
The type of man who doesn’t like to fight, but who will if he has to, is better; but he is not what we are looking for either.
We need a man who doesn’t personally care about fighting, but who has an appetite for serious adventure.
Couple that with a mind that is undaunted by threats or violence, and that can, under pressure, direct its owner into ferocious action to kill, and we have our man.
Thoroughness
When the decision has been made to terminate a target, the job cannot perhaps be accomplished—it must be.
The agency of employ can provide the training, select the best people, arrange for the procurement of suitable weaponry, and so forth, but ultimately, the final success of the mission depends upon the killer himself.
If he is not thoroughly committed to the task at hand, there is too much chance that the mission will fail.
Such thoroughness is another important trait of the assassin.
This manual discusses the techniques of killing.
The reader is reminded that many of these techniques are last ditch methods.
That is, they are part of the killer’s training program because no one can predict totally how a mission will go, once underway.
Circumstances may prevent the utilization of the weapon of choice.
If that happens, two things will be required for success of the mission:
- The killer must be adequately trained to carry on regardless of weaponry or lack of weaponry.
2, The killer must possess the thoroughness of dedication to assignment that will assure its completion,
Thoroughness, carried to the point of fanaticism, is then an absolute must for the professional in this line of work.
Adventurous Spirit
This point was briefly alluded to previously.
It bears a more thorough discussion,
Adventure is a valid motivation for the killer, assuming that he is otherwise qualified and motivated.
There is a tendency to want things to be other than they are, and this leads to the exclusion of well-qualified people from this work, because those in charge of hiring and selection don’t personally like to accept the fact that, rather than patriotic zeal, the lust for excitement and adventure is more often the root reason for the individual’s desire to become involved in assassination work.
The spirit of adventure can drive many men as far or further than the spirit of patriotism can drive others.
This series of posts will insure that these free thinkers' works live on in living memory.
If only a few.
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