• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Loadout Room

The Loadout Room

Professional Gear Reviews

Hardcore Gear and Adventure

Menu
  • Shooting
        • Pistol
        • Pistol Accessories
        • Rifle
        • Rifle Accessories
        • Shotgun
        • Machine Guns
        • Air Guns
        • Ammunition
        • Optics and Sights
        • Weapon Lights
        • Tips & How-To
        • Concealed Carry
        • Holsters
        • Suppressors
        • Precision Rifle Shooting
        • Firearms Training
        • m243The M24: America’s Headhunter
        • skorpFull-Auto Fun — Shooting the full-Auto vz. 61 Škorpion
        • p320-full-leftSIG Sauer M17/M18/P320 Pistol Just Can’t Seem to Escape Safety Controversies
        • TISAS_10100520_1__98179Tisas 1911A1 U.S. Army Review: Best Budget .45 ACP WW2 1911 Clone?
    • Close
  • Gear Reviews
      • Mission Gear
      • Camping Gear
      • Survival Gear
      • Medical Gear
      • Adventure & Travel
      • Knives & Tools
      • Overland
      • Disaster Preparedness
      • Footwear
      • Womens Gear & Clothing
        • Viking-Bags Logo 2Pic of the Day, Viking Motorcycle Bags 45L Tactical XL Bag
        • Hunting in TexasThese 5 ATV Dealers Will Get You Ready For Hunting Season in Texas
        • ac65a540-2ef3-4598-8d11-afdf53f46e94.__CR0,0,970,600_PT0_SX970_V1___Streamlight ProTac Rail Mount HL-X: A Thoroughly Bright Review
        • Bluetti 2 handsfree power backpackBluetti Handsfree 2 Review: The Ultimate Power Backpack for Off-Grid Adventurers
    • Close
  • Men’s Lifestyle
      • Fitness
      • EDC
      • Eyewear
      • Watches
      • Electronics & Technology
      • Downtime
      • Mens Clothing & Accessories
      • Manly Skills
      • Style & Grooming
      • Gentleman Drinks
      • Crate Club
        • Viking-Bags Logo 2Pic of the Day, Viking Motorcycle Bags 45L Tactical XL Bag
        • Tom and Blake Sell TeaHow Sasquatch Tea Is Revitalizing a Stagnant Tea Market With Veterans and Outdoorsmen in Mind
        • redcat-blackwidow-articleheaderWar of Words: In the Ultra-Competitive Defense Tech Industry, Storytelling is a Secret Weapon
        • Photoroom_20250525_074933Juggernaut Tactical Frame Review: The Best Upgrade for Your 365
    • Close
  • News
  • Video Demo
  • Buying Guides
  • Shop
  • Advertise
Op-Ed

Self-defense for Sheep

April 7, 2017 by The Loadout Room Leave a Comment

Self-defense for Sheep

by BRANTLEY HARGROVE of Texas Monthly

Inside a tidy, two-story brick house on a cul-de-sac in an upscale neighborhood in the suburbs of Dallas, Clint Emerson turned his back on me and raised his hands above his head. I lifted the Ruger 9mm pistol he had handed me moments before and pointed the barrel between his shoulder blades. It felt intensely unpleasant to level a gun, even an unloaded one, at a retired Navy SEAL, partly because of the fraught nature of the act but mostly because I was well aware of my lowly station in his taxonomic view of the world, which is divided into three classes: sheepdogs (soldiers), wolves (bad guys), and sheep (noncombatants such as myself). Even more unnerving was the fact that Emerson simply doesn’t look the part. He isn’t a bearish, physically imposing good ol’ boy with hands like catcher’s mitts, like the late Chris Kyle (a former SEAL teammate of his). Emerson is the other kind of operative, the nondescript guy who can disappear in a crowd, whom you don’t see coming until it is too late. In gray slacks and a crisp white button-down shirt, he could easily be mistaken for a 41-year-old desk jockey. He’s lean and slightly weathered, like a man who has spent some time in the desert.

Emerson, who retired in January after twenty years in the Navy, served most of his career as a SEAL. His team was the first into Afghanistan, then Iraq, which wasn’t as much of a culture shock for him as one might imagine: though he graduated from Plano Senior High, he largely grew up in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked for Saudi Aramco. “Westerners are not exactly treated the best in Saudi Arabia, and as a child I didn’t care much for the people or the culture,” he said. “As an adult, I understand their culture better and accept that we were the visitors. But it left me with a certain dislike that led to becoming a SEAL and a desire to go back as a soldier. Now that I’ve been back to the Middle East many times, I’ve noticed kids, a portion of them, looking at me with a familiar stare—one of distaste. The same stare I had cast many times on Saudi men.”


Continue reading on Texas Monthly

Photo courtesy of MISTY KEASLER

Share This

More From The Loadout Room

Comments

Primary Sidebar

Most Read

  • The Biggest Little Roundgun: The 3-Inch Kimber K6s
    The Biggest Little Roundgun: The 3-Inch Kimber K6s
  • Breek Arms Sledgehammer: The AR-15 Charging Handle That Gas Can’t Touch
    Breek Arms Sledgehammer: The AR-15 Charging Handle That Gas Can’t Touch
  • My First Single-Action Revolver Purchase: Heritage Rough Rider .22 LR/.22 WMR Range Report
    My First Single-Action Revolver Purchase: Heritage Rough Rider .22 LR/.22 WMR Range Report
  • Bluetti Handsfree 2 Review: The Ultimate Power Backpack for Off-Grid Adventurers
    Bluetti Handsfree 2 Review: The Ultimate Power Backpack for Off-Grid Adventurers
  • Pyramyd AIR’s Springfield Hellcat Pro CO2 BB Pistol Is the Ultimate Dry-Fire Trainer
    Pyramyd AIR’s Springfield Hellcat Pro CO2 BB Pistol Is the Ultimate Dry-Fire Trainer

Find Us on Facebook

Recent Comments

  • Stepvenlau on Full-Auto Fun — Shooting the full-Auto vz. 61 Škorpion
  • Stepvenlau on Honoring John Taffin and Mike “Duke” Venturino with Some Big-Bore Magnum Revolver Blastin’
  • Military Update on M4A1 Block I: The Special Operations Origins of an American Icon

Latest From SOFREP

Firearms

Why My Favorite Gun Wasn’t a Sniper Rifle — It Was a Belt-Fed Beast That Made Grown Men Cry

News

Morning Brief: China Travel Crackdown, Russia Not Impressed with Trump’s Submarine Moves

Op-Ed

The Bolduc Brief: Navigating Future Leadership Appointments

Expert Analysis

The VA’s Chemical Straitjacket: How Polypharmacy Is Drugging Veterans into Silence and Suicide

Military Content Group

© Copyright 2025 Military Content Group · All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertisers