“It’s easy to [kill] a man [who is] in [condition] white”.

-Col. Jeff Cooper USMC (Ret.)

Key Points

• Cooper’s Color Code is a simple method for maintaining your situational awareness.
• You can move through the colors of the code freely & skip colors if needed.
• Many people try to complicate Cooper’s Color Code, but simple is more effective.
• If you find yourself increasing to orange or red, consider escape/egress from a situation, if possible.

Cooper’s Color Code – A Tactical Awareness Primer

What is Cooper’s Color Code?

The first step in maintaining good situational awareness is to perform a self-audit of your current level of alertness.  As we go about our day-to-day lives, it is easy to be drawn into complacency, mainly when doing everyday things.  But, conversely, nobody wants to live in a constant state of paranoia.  So what’s a simple way to remain situationally aware without being paranoid?  The answer is Cooper’s Color Code.  

The late Colonel Jeff Cooper USMC (ret.) developed a system for managing your situational awareness, now known worldwide as “Cooper’s Color Code.” Cooper delineates a person’s awareness into four distinct levels, which are identified by the colors: white, yellow, orange, and red.  This system provides a simple method of self-assessing your awareness level, allowing you to adjust as needed. 

In the video below, you can listen to Colonel Cooper explain his color code.  He is an outstanding speaker, so you won’t be bored.  If the video is not displayed below, you can also use this link to watch.

Condition White

Unready and Unaware.  You should only find yourself in condition white when you are sleeping.  Unfortunately, most people spend the majority of their lives in condition white.  In the words of Colonel Cooper, “It’s easy to take a man in white.” A person in condition white is not observing their surroundings, and should a threat present itself, additional time will be required to observe and orient themself to the threat, which will delay decisive action.  In the words of Colonel Cooper, “It’s easy to take a man in white.” 

Condition Yellow

Relaxed yet alert with no specific threat identified.  In condition yellow, you are consciously aware that a life-threatening situation may present itself at any moment.  Colonel Cooper impressed upon his students that it is possible to spend every waking moment in this condition without undue mental burden.  All that is required to remain in “the yellow” is to think to yourself: “I may have to take action.”

Condition Orange

Alert to a specific threat.  When you notice a specific potential threat, you enter condition orange.  In condition orange, you are thinking to yourself: “I may have to [insert action] to deal with [insert threat].” You are still maintaining situational awareness for other potential threats in your 360 sphere but keeping an eye on the problem that escalated you to orange.  When you find yourself in condition orange or higher, it is worth considering the words of Mr. Myagi from the movie The Karate Kid “Remember, best block no be there.” So, if leaving the area to put distance between you and the threat is possible, you should at least consider that now.

Condition Red

Ready to take action against a specific threat.  When a specific potential threat evolves into a confirmed threat, it’s time to enter condition red and establish a mental “trigger line.” The “trigger line” does not necessarily mean depressing the trigger of a firearm, but rather, any predetermined action you will take once the “trigger” criteria are met.  When the threshold for action is met, take action until that specific threat is neutralized, then look for the next situation which requires attention and handle it.

Using Cooper’s Color Code

Using Cooper’s Code is very, very simple.  However, the code is frequently overcomplicated by many who teach the concept, including the U.S. Military.  Some common examples of overcomplication are: adding additional colors, adding physiologic criteria to colors, adding subcategories of colors, and so on.  Colonel Cooper intended for the code to be extremely simple because it works.  Adding additional flair, in my opinion, only makes the system more complicated to use, reducing its effectiveness.

To use the color code, all that is required is for you to assess your current color condition and then adjust if needed.  If you need to adjust, you can move up or down the scale one color at a time or skip colors entirely.  For example, you can jump from condition white directly to condition red if the situation calls for it.  However, going straight from white to red is what we find ourselves doing if we don’t use Cooper’s Color Code, and thus, what the code aims to prevent.  In addition, the code gives you the mental space to prepare to deal with a threat, affording you precious seconds when they matter the most.

It’s important to mention that if you find yourself in a situation going downhill, it is always the safest option to leave if you can do so.  Of course, if you are military, law enforcement, security, etc., and on duty, you may not have this option.  Remember that violent confrontations have second and third-order effects that materialize after the initial incident and that none of the parties involved will genuinely win.  Mr. Miyagi, from “The Karate Kid” movie franchise, says it best; “Remember, best block no be there.”

Cooper’s Color Code in Practice

While Colonel Cooper developed the color codes primarily to aid decision-making in violent encounters, the system is universally applicable.  For example: Imagine you are frying some delicious chicken wings on your stovetop. 

-Even though you are in your kitchen, where you are typically safe from harm, you know that anything can happen at any time, so in the back of your mind, you are in condition yellow.  In condition yellow, you are relaxed but alert, watching for threats. 

-You recognize that the hot sizzling oil in the pan is a hazard, so you bump up to condition orange and pay close attention to the pan, keeping it in sight at all times. 

-Suddenly, you notice that the temperature reading on the thermometer you placed in the pan is much higher than it should be.  You know that the oil could catch fire at high temperatures, so you immediately reduce the heat setting on your stove and move up to condition red.  Now that you are in condition red, you determine that your mental trigger line will be the oil catching fire, and if it does, you will attempt to smother it with the pan lid.  You also make a secondary plan to deploy your A.B.C. fire extinguisher if your first course of action is unsuccessful.