This is a guest post written by Lanny Roark. A response to “Defining The Human Terrain – Revealing Core Patterns.” What the military is only now beginning to utilize in regards to reading human terrain has been a prerequisite for successful urban law enforcers for decades. As Patrick stated in his article, the need for our nation’s military to become more capable of separating the enemy from the crowd he hides amongst becomes an increasingly relevant skill-set. This skill set is what has defined and set apart the successful, street-smart urban law enforcement professional from all others. Though the collection and subsequent analysis of data concerning political, social and economic factors can and should be used by a higher level in the chain of command for strategic planning and decision-making purposes, such information does little to provide the domestic law enforcer or Marine the ability to spot the criminal element before a criminal act is executed. Herein lies an important component to understanding the difference between strategic decision-making and tactical decision-making. Tactical decision-making is necessary to keep the boots on the ground “left of bang” and free from the pitfall of “paralysis by analysis,” when there is little time and/or little information to work with.