Here's a silly story to introduce a serious topic: "Tactical Breathing." At the time I didn't know it was called that, and I think I picked it up from using a short cut of an anti-G-LOC technique. But as testified to by Lt. Col Dave Grossman in his excellent book, "On Combat," this technique has saved countless lives. So . . . the story, the theory, and the technique.
— James Albright
Updated:
2024-10-28
The story: 1979
I am sorry to say that I am not G-tolerant. That is, my body cannot take a lot of G forces before I black out. I discovered this in Air Force pilot training, where I blacked out from relatively mild G-forces, about 5 Gs, and had to learn to combat the G-Induced Loss of Consciousness (G-LOC) to survive. Once I learned how to do this, I didn't have any problems. I can best illustrate the anti-G breathing technique as happened in a centrifuge to Fiona, a character in my book Fly-by-Wired:
“Fights on.” The Gs piled on and her vision collapsed. Deal with it!
“Ugh!” Her vision returned. The view of the sky on the screen in front showed her to be in about 80 degrees of bank.
“Breathe. Breathe. Don’t relax the stick, all the way back. Breathe.” The Gs piled on even higher. “You are on top, timer started. Inhale in one second. Hold it two seconds. Exhale one second. Breathe. Make sure you hold that breath for two seconds. Breathe. Gulp that air in! Hold it! Shove that air out. Breathe, Fiona, breathe.”
That is the technique, inhale quickly in 1 second, hold it for 2 seconds, exhale quickly in 1 second. This gets the oxygen to your blood quickly and will help prevent G-LOC. Of course simply breathing is easier said than done under a lot of G, but you have to do it to keep conscious. I used this in the mighty Northrop T-38A Talon, and even the less mighty Cessna T-37B, which I went on to fly another two years.
The story: 1984
There I was, in the left seat of an EC-135J (Boeing 707) with an explosive charge igniting in the Number 3 engine, allowing that engine to come to idle quickly. I had a brand new copilot in the right seat and behind us sat 6 crewmembers and 30 passengers from the U.S. Navy. Their job was to control the nuclear submarine fleet and our job in the front of the airplane was to launch as soon as possible.
"There's idle and here comes max continuous," I said while pushing up the Number 3 throttle. "You got Number 3," I said to the copilot, who placed his left hand on the throttle. His job would be to keep the Engine Pressure Ratio of that engine where it needed to be, so I could start the other three engines. We were being graded by our Navy passengers to see how quickly we could get off the ground, so they could be later graded for whatever it was they did with the submarines. As the last of the engines came to life I made a very big mistake. I said to the copilot, "Idle on three." To which the copilot immediately slammed the throttle it idle. All I could do was watch the gauges and hope the compressor stall didn't over-temp the engine and the explosions to come didn't shake the airplane apart. These engines tended to do this, mostly on the ground, and you learned to treat them gently.
"Kaboom!" loud enough to cause my ears to ring, and I assume the ears of the other 37 people onboard. "Kaboom!" it sounded again, two seconds later, with a little less volume. "Kaboom," again. I knew the engine would keep this up for almost a minute, after which I would deplane the crew chiefs to survey the damage.
"What are you doing?" a voice sounded from behind me. I turned to see a Navy Captain (the equivalent of an Air Force colonel).
"Breathing," I said.
"Breathing?" he asked.
"Yes sir," I said. "I'll deal with the engine when it is safe to do so."
A minute later the "kabooms" stopped, five minutes after that the crew chiefs announced the engine was okay, and five minutes after that we took off.
Two days later the squadron commander asked me to explain my answer. "One deep breath through the nose, hold it for two seconds, one slow exhale through the mouth. Repeat." That wasn't the answer he was looking for. But it has always worked for me.
Tactical breathing: the theory
Credit: U.S. Navy
If you have a job on law enforcement, the infantry, or any job where you find yourself in someone else's gun sight, I highly recommend Lt. Col Dave Grossman's book, "On Combat." He often calls that part of our brain that acts primitively the "puppy brain." Our puppy brains are in charge of our heart rate and perspiration and we have no direct control of either. Don't believe me? Okay, right now, raise your heart rate to 200 beats per minute and break out in a sweat. Couldn't do it, huh? So if you are in a situation where your heart is racing and you are sweating buckets, what can you do to control that?
Tactical breathing: the technique
There is still a need for extensive research to see how long each phase should be held, but for many years now the four-count method has worked wonders for warriors around the globe. Once you start using it, you can tailor it to your body's needs. For example, you might find that you need to hold each count for five seconds and that you need five cycles of the procedure to achieve the desired effect. This is fine. It is like adjusting a tuning knob: Grab hold of the knob and keep tuning it until you get "dialed in" to the level that works for you. For now, let us use the four-count method. Begin by breathing in through your nose to a slow count of four, which expands your belly like a balloon. Hold for a count of four, and then slowly exhale through your lips for a count of four, as your belly collapses like a balloon with its air released. Hold empty for a count of four and then repeat the process. That is it. Short, but effective. Now, follow along as I guide you through the procedure.
In through the nose two, three, four. Hold two, three, four. Out through the lips two, three, four. Hold two, three, four.
In through the nose two, three, four. Hold two, three, four. Out through the lips two, three, four. Hold two, three, four.
In through the nose two, three, four. Hold two, three, four. Out through the lips two, three, four. Hold two, three, four.
Maybe you are feeling a little mellow now or maybe you didn't notice a difference since you were already relaxed. But in a life and death situation, we know this simple exercise can be a true revolution in human development. For the first time in human history we are teaching large portions of our population to consciously control the unconscious part of their body.
Source: Grossman, Dave, On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and Peace, pp. 331 - 332
This technique has been taught for years now and if you want to learn more about the stories of the many law enforcement and military combat veterans who credit it for saving their lives, I encourage you to give the book a read. But even if you aren't in the practice of putting yourself in life and death situations, I encourage you to learn tactical breathing. You may find yourself in a car accident or a natural disaster where you too may find it a life saver.
