Jeff Cooper was without question, one of the most knowledgeable and influential people in the firearms world. Everyone who is passionate about firearms should know who Jeff Cooper was. He was a soldier, educator, innovator and advocate for firearms.
This article touches briefly on his “color code”. Jeff Cooper broke down the different levels of alertness/awareness into four basic categories and assigned a color to each. These are the levels of alertness you and I experience on a daily basis and depending on our circumstances, it could save our life, or at the very least prevent injury or an accident.

The first level of alertness is White. White is reached when we’re sleeping and for some this level is maintained throughout their daily activities. A person in their natural environment can easily slip into White. White is the ability to be completely oblivious to your surroundings. It’s a very dangerous level that could lead to injury or death. Have you heard that most vehicle accidents happen close to home? This is because we’re in a familiar environment and our state of alertness has dropped down to this level.

The second level of alertness is Yellow. Yellow is easily reached while driving a car. You are constantly monitoring your side and review mirrors for cars and objects around you and mentally you are aware of potential threats. A threat can be easily identified and you are mentally ready to make the rapid response based on that threat. Military and first responders are assumed to be at this level based on their chosen profession but everyone should be. It doesn’t matter if you a parking lot attendant or a burger flipper; being aware of your surroundings can prevent most accidents and safeguard others around you. We face threats on a daily basis yet we have forgotten how to be aware. How many people do you see walking around texting on their phone? They have no clue who or what is around them; they are a disaster waiting to happen.

The third level of alertness is Orange. Orange can be an automatic response when a potential threat is identified. This could be a car approaching in your lane or someone walking around in a trench coat when the temperature is nearing 100. It’s your mental ability to identify the strange and unusual. Being aware of your surroundings at level Yellow can easily identify potential threats which automatically raise you into level Orange. You must verify the threat to determine an appropriate course of action. This will either take you back down to level Yellow or catapult you into level Red.

The fourth and final level of alertness is Red. Red is another automatic response based on your assessment of the threat at level Orange. At this level your mind focuses on the threat, evaluates your possible reactions and then sets them into play. What action you take next will determine whether you live or die. All of this happens in seconds, not minutes. As your heart is beating and your blood pumping, adrenaline is surging through your veins, what happens next is pure instinct and is why training is so important.

The goal is to educate everyone on the importance of awareness and how it does apply to everyone, not just the military and first responders. Awareness of your surroundings is critical to your safety and well being. A key point that goes with being aware is training; how you react when you’re confronted with a threat will rely solely on your level of training. Training for your job or your hobby is a given, we all do it. What about your self-protection? Do you train for that moment when your life is depending on it? Standing in one spot shooting paper targets is training but it’s not self-defense training. Engaging a threat under extreme conditions isn’t easy; if it were, the military would not spread most of their time training. The more you train, the more natural the process will become and you’ll be able to repeat it under pressure. Practice with your carry weapon and holster. Find a qualified instructor(s). Watch videos and practice in front of a mirror or your spouse. I’m extremely lucky, I have a wife with the same passion for firearms as I have. We have found a great instructor that works with us, finding a great instructor is hard and the process can be expensive. I can’t count how many instructors we went through before we found the one we’re working with now.

Educate! Train! Advocate!