Take a moment and imagine a scenario between a Naval Special Warfare Operator, such as a Navy SEAL, and a local municipal law enforcement officer.
Imagine the Navy SEAL is in civilian attire in a civilian situation in CONUS (Continental United States) and is pulled over, or confronted by an on-duty Officer for the county in any other type of casual everyday type of scenario.
How does it go down? Who establishes dominance, and respect? Does the small town Police Officer rate to confront, dictate and thus control the elite U.S. Special Forces Operator?
The simple and technical answer I can conclude is that yes, the Navy SEAL should take the speeding ticket, or cooperate with detainment like anyone else should. The law enforcement officer still is deputized, and has the legal authority to police – even if the Navy SEALs training and alpha-male resume’ far exceeds that of the law enforcement officer.
More simply put, the wolf is allowing himself to be controlled by a bunny rabbit – out of principle, and nothing else. But to what degree will the Navy SEAL’s respect for principle prevail? At what point does principle not become relevant, and the personal objectives of the SEAL outweigh that of the social obligations for the SEAL to comply with the social rules and legalities implemented by the very country which the SEAL swore to protect.
This scenario is make believe, but it represents a serious psychological dilemma in dominance and respect of authority.
And it does not just apply to SEAL Operators and Law Enforcement Officers.
[Original edit January 28, 2013, 8:12 pm PST]
"Warfighter" - A U.S. Marine Combat Vet Speaks Up 
Beth Martin said:
I think this touches on one of the most intense readjustment issues our warriors face … we train them to be what we need them to be, throw them overseas and let them off their chain to do it, and then bring them home, say thank you very much, and expect them to go back to acting like they are no different from the rest of us. Say goodbye to the freedom to act on instinct, say goodbye to the adrenalin rush and the power of life & death, say goodbye to the distinction between important and who-the-hell-cares. Once you have lived on the edge and life has been compressed into those seconds of terror and bloodlust and clarity … how can you ever again pretend that it truly matters if you completely stopped at that stop sign on a deserted street at 2 am? How can you worry about the exact length of your hair or the occasional slip of the f-bomb in casual conversations? Doesn’t anyone else know that NONE of that shit really matters?!?! Do I think it’s important to pretend that they matter and help to preserve the order here at home? Sure. But let’s not pretend that it doesn’t take a herculean psychological effort to do so … and let’s not forget that the luxury of being caught up in silly minutiae in our daily lives has been purchased for us with the blood & sacrifice of our warriors!
loydma3 said:
Brother, I feel this pain everyday. This situation can be further expanded to being that same Tier I or Type A individual in a situation where you know you could do a better job that the guy who should be protecting you. How would you feel in a bank robbery, letting police incorrectly breach into your home etc.
Being the wolf dog sometimes means that you have to let the sheep pretend that all is well at home. Here soon we are going to lock hunders of warfighter back in the kennel as we shut down OIF, OEF…