AASP Newsletter - March 2022

Peter Jensen	Chaska Gomez

The Tactical Populations Special Interest Group promotes scholarly and professional growth amongst those who work with tactical occupations, such as the military, law enforcement, and firefighters. One way to support AASP members interested in this area is by providing resources that can help bring more insight to the people, organizations, and cultures of tactical populations. In an effort to help AASP members build their “knowledge of sport” (e.g. Fifer, Henschen, Gould, & Ravizza, 2008) about tactical populations, this article offers several recommended books. There are many books on tactical populations, but the ones offered in this article aim to cover organizational culture, key issues, diversity, and performance aspects unique to these groups. We welcome questions and further conversation on this topic to build awareness, interest, and further understanding of tactical populations. 

We recommend six books on tactical populations. Given the breadth of tactical populations, there are many more books to consider.

Leadership in Dangerous Situations: A Handbook for the Armed Forces Emergency Services, and First Responders

Patrick J. Sweeney, Michael D. Matthews, & Paul B. Lester (Editors)

This text offers an excellent foundation for someone preparing for work within the unique mental, physical, and social aspects of tactical populations. Chapters in this book address specific issues in military, law enforcement, and first responder populations. Integrating both theory and research with practical implications, this book is written by multiple authors, all with personal experience in the various areas of tactical populations. Additionally, this handbook addresses key mental skills, leadership, mental health challenges, ethics, morale, organizational culture, decision-making, team dynamics, and the impact of performance in life-threatening settings.

Inclusion in the American Military: A Force for Diversity 

David E. Rohall, Morten G. Ender, & Michael D. Matthews (Editors)

The US military is considered a microcosm of American society, which means consultants working with service members should develop an awareness and understanding of societal issues surrounding race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. This book offers an overview of how diversity and inclusion are addressed, or failed to be addressed in the military. Insights on how regulations, laws, and rules have impacted marginalized groups are also discussed, making this book an excellent resource for building organization contextual intelligence (Brown, Gould, Foster, 2005).

The Code of the Warrior: Exploring Warrior Values Past and Present

Shannon E. French

Diving deeper into the culture and contextual intelligence of the US military, this book sheds light on the “warrior” culture through examination of values and practices across a wide range of historical contexts.

War

Sebastian Junger

Nothing makes the tactical environment more distinct from other performance settings is the element of life-threatening risk imposed by an opponent with lethal intent. This book closely examines the emotions, personal connections, teamwork, and military culture of modern ground combat. Leveraging research and personal experiences of US Army soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, this is an excellent resource to examine why “war is hell” and how such experiences impact the soldiers who survive battle.

Ashley’s War

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

The author details the formation of the 2010 US Military Cultural Engagement Team program, which called for female Soldiers and Marines to work alongside Special Operations Forces (SOF) fighting in Afghanistan. Contact with Afghan women was culturally unacceptable for male soldiers, but female soldiers assigned to SOF units could connect with Afghan women during civic-action and combat raids to search for weapons and collect valuable intelligence that would otherwise go missed. The book is useful to understand the social and cultural dynamics within the US military surrounding gender, and the ground combat exclusion policy that was in place until 2015, which served as a valuable blueprint for the integration of today’s military force. 

Emotional Survival of Law Enforcement

Kevin Gilmartin

Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) encounter a wide range of unique mental demands associated with the life-threatening risks of their profession. This book covers the socialization LEOs develop over the course of their career, hypervigilance from physical threat, ineffective emotional responses to threat, and insights on how to support both LEOs and their family with coping skills to navigate the long-term effects of what can be a highly stressful career path. The author is a behavioral scientist with a long career working in law enforcement.

There are many other books to consider, especially autobiographies that provide personal perspective on the experiences of individuals living and working in tactical populations. One failing of the current list of recommended books is the lack of representation from countries other than the United States. We hope for feedback from the AASP community on what resources might further understanding of tactical populations from other countries.