The second major element of the survival orientation is an awareness obtained through training that:

• A. Is gained through training that emphasizes control and decision making
• B. Is innate and cannot be taught
• C. Is irrelevant to on-duty performance
• D. Relies only on personal experience

Answer: (A)

Awareness in the survival orientation comes from training that emphasizes maintaining control and making quick, sound decisions under stress. When officers rehearse under realistic, high-pressure scenarios, they build mental models and reflexive habits that help them notice threats, assess risk, and choose appropriate actions rapidly. This kind of training helps you stay calm, reduce hesitation, and improve reaction time when things get dangerous, which translates directly to on-duty performance.

Relying purely on innate traits misses how much practice shapes how you think and act under pressure. Personal experience alone can’t guarantee the right decision in a new or evolving situation, and treating training as irrelevant would ignore the proven benefits of scenario-based work that builds both perception and action under stress.