During a tactical training session in new agent school, I encountered a closed door. A room off a room in the parlance. The door opened outward towards me, which meant I couldn’t just turn the handle and ride the door open (yes, a one-man room entry; new is the operative word here). While I was working as part of a small team, they were handling their assignments and I was holding on this door. Now these were the days before weapon mounted lights, so I had my 4 D cell flashlight in one hand and my duty weapon in my other. To open the door, I’d need to holster the pistol or stow the flashlight. Each decision had pros and cons. Having done searches in the real world as a patrol officer before, I muttered (mostly to myself), “I hate these.” The instructor heard me and chuckled. I made my decision and opened the door. In the after-action review, he had me explain the situation and then explain my decision. He even mentioned my comment on my reluctance to pick the “least worst” decision. He then asked, “Why didn’t you wait a second or two and ask for help?” A tactical lesson learned; and later as a supervisor, one I should have remembered better.
“Here endeth the lesson”👍