Bugging out by vehicle

EVACUATION: Bugging out by motor vehicle
by Team Training Systems
Reprinted from American Survival Guide  

Most individuals have included "bugging out" in their emergency response planning. This is correct, as evacuation may be necessary for many reasons. Most plans make the assumption that major highways will be open and passable. The individual or group will likely be part of a mass exodus, complete with panicky, desperate drivers, vehicle break- downs, accidents and other traffic-tangling conditions. 


 The military has priority on the interstate highway system, and the military may close the interstates at any time compounding the confusion. We need only to examine the evacuation prior to Hurricane Opal, where 60 percent of evacuees remained in place due to "grid-locked" highways, to see that an alternate evacuation plan should be developed. 
 
While mass evacuation in the event of a natural disaster or hazardous materials incident is normally a well-planned and practiced event, evacuation in the event of mass civil disobedience is not. The Historical Response to such events has been curfews, travel restrictions and restrictions on the sale of gasoline (Remember the riots of the 1960's?)
The ability to travel by tertiary roads, or no roads at all, will be invaluable under chaotic conditions. 

This article is intended to serve as a primer or basic introduction to cross-country evacuation by motor vehicle.We will discuss route find- ing, traversing obstacles, security and communications. Operation will also be discussed. 

ROUTE FINDING-

Prior reconnaissance is an absolute must for successful use of territory roads, trails and utility rights-of-way. A large scale atlas, or better, USGs grid maps will prove invaluable and save time. Power line and particularly pipeline rights-of-way are kept reasonably clear of brush for inspection purposes and are frequently the most direct routes available. Be advised that utility rights-of- way are private property, and frequently include steep grades and side- hills that may be impassable for less capable vehicles. 

Abandoned railroad lines may offer another usable route. Grades are shallow and curves are wide even by modern highway standard. The road- bed was designed for far heavier loads than any four-wheeled vehicle is capable of moving. The roadbed is packed so tightly that very little vegetation grows. Here in the East, abandoned logging and mining rail- roads are frequently encountered and are usable by even low-capability vehicles. The principal drawback is that bridges over both ravines and water obstacles may be collapsed or removed entirely, creating what may be a near-impassable obstacle. Even so, if an abandoned railroad grade appears on the map, it is worth investigating. Never, except under the most dire and immediate circumstances, attempt to travel on a "live" railroad track. An oncoming train could produce the most horrible consequences! 

Even direct cross country travel is not impossible, if the terrain is not too heavily wooded. Most government owned woodland is well covered with maintained fire fighting trails. Open terrain may be crossed on a compass heading, the only drawback being the tracks left by the vehicles. 

OPSEC AND CONVOY OPS-

Most individuals and families concerned with emer- gency planning have formed groups with others of like mind. There is safety in numbers, particularly when traveling. Risk exposure is high- est when on the move, and the risk is compounded when only a single vehicle is involved. 

The type of vehicle is also a risk factor. While not to belabor the obvious, a standard passenger auto or minivan would be a poor choice. Road bound and with poor hauling capacity, this type's virtues are limited to improved high speed capability and greater fuel economy, when compared to the average four-wheel drive. Consider also that a full size four wheel drive usually has sufficient power to drag almost any man-made obstacle out of the way. Choose accordingly. 

The first step in preparing an evacuation plan should be predestination of an initial assembly or "rally" point. This should be a central location for all parties, enroute to the designated area of operations. Ideally a point with a fairly high elevation providing to the degree of cover and concealment should be located. The higher elevation will assist with radio communications, and concealment will be necessary as not all group members will arrive at the same time. Make no on the air reference to road or places names, landmarks, etc., as such radio traffic may assist undesirable elements in locating the group. If the route is over 50 miles or so in length, or passes through several small towns, then intermediate rally points should be designated, using the same criteria as before. 

Second, the order of march should be designated. First in line should be the lightest and least capable vehicle, carrying the forward secur- ity element. If the first vehicle crosses obscales unassisted, then the rest of the convoy should cross also. The heaviest and most capa- ble vehicle will proceed second in line, carrying towlines, chain saws, axes and other vehicle recovery and road clearing equipment. In the event of a stuck vehicle or road obstacle the equipment forward security element will be positioned for most rapid deployment. Next in line, in third and fourth position, should be the supply vehicles and non- operational personnel. The trail vehicle should be a near duplicate of the second vehicle and carry equipment to create roadblocks as well as the rear security element. Open trucks would be ideal as the lead and trail vehicles: the security elements, riding in the open cargo area would have maximum visibility and fields of fire. 

Third, while on the march, maintain maximum safe interval between vehi- cles. Each vehicle should remain within sight and small-arms range of the vehicles immediately preceding and following. Avoid the tendency to "bunch up", particularly at obstacles or other ambush points. Minimize exposure by maintaining interval at temporary halts. 

Fourth, radio communications between vehicles and security elements elements can not be overemphasized. Work out some simple codes so that voice transmissions will be minimized. Keying the mike will produce a spitting sound as the radio breaks squelch. A simple "one" for stop, "two" for go, "staccato burst" for dismount and take cover will suffice for most work. Such short bursts will greatly reduce the effectiveness of direction-finding gear, and will give no clue as to what the group is doing. 

Fifth, when making prolonged halts, the vehicles should be "laagered"- dispersed in a rough circle, under cover and/or camouflaged. Two sentries, circling the laager in opposite directions will be sufficient to keep watch on the laager and each other. Maintain light and noise discipline while laagered. Sound travels for long distances in unpopulated areas, and light is visible for many miles, even in daylight. If group plans include an overnight halt, the same criteria for selection should be used as for the initial rally point. 

FORDING OPERATIONS-

If road travel is be avoided for security reasons, then bridges over water obstacles are to be doubly avoided. Water crossings have been recognized as natural choke points and ambush sights since armed conflict began. Intentional destruction of bridges has been used to deny mobility since ancient times, and more recently, obsolete bridges on tertiary roads frequently are not replaced when damaged. Fortunately, most of these tertiary roads date from horse and buggy days when the only way to cross water obstacles was to ford them. Note the number of waterside towns with -ford in the names (Chanceford, Chaddsford, etc.) that usually indicate an old creek ford. 

Once the fording sight is located, the next step will be determined by the tactical situation. In a high threat environment, the security element will have to proceed on foot and secure both the far bank and both flanks prior to sending the vehicles across. If the perceived threat level is low, one or two lightly armed scouts on the far bank will be sufficient. 

The ford element should proceed across at wheel track width, inspecting the bottom of the creek for deep holes, large rocks, mud, or other obstacles. On reaching the opposite bank, the ford element should continue for at least 200 meters under cover and evaluate conditions. If passable, one of the ford element should return to the ford and direct traffic at the ford itself. 

Park the heaviest, most capable vehicle nose-on to the creekbank to one side of the ford. Connect the front of the most capable vehicle to the rear of the least capable with a towline and send the least capable vehicle across first. The towline should be long enough to reach across the entire obstacle, if possible. If not the heavy vehicle will have to follow the lighter vehicle across in order to maintain slack in the towline. If the first vehicle does not make it across, the recovery system is in place to pull the vehicle out without having personnel wading in the creek in order to hook up the towline.

In the event that the convoy contains low capacity vehicles such as passenger cars, different procedures are in order. These vehicles are not capable of fording more than a shallow stream, and most likely will have to be towed across. If there is any possibility of submerging the engine, the air intake opening should be sealed and the vehicle towed across (dead). Bear in mind that a passenger car will float in relatively shallow water and that it may be necessary to open the doors and puncture the interior trunk floors to prevent the auto from drifting downstream, pulling the tow vehicle with it. It may even be necessary to use a second vehicle and towline as an anchor on the near bank. 

Once across, the first vehicle should stop only long enough to discon- nect the towline, then immediately proceed in the direction of the ford security element. Each vehicle should cross in turn, maintaining inter- val and extending the line. The vehicle operators should not attempt to crash through the obstacle. Proceed slowly and steadily, maintaining control of the vehicle. Use extreme caution when operation in still or muddy water. Depth is hard to determine, and wandering offline could result in a swamped vehicle, or worse. If the water is deep enough to impinge on the radiator fan, the fan belt should be loosened or removed to prevent the fan from revolving. A rotating fan may bend forward far enough to damage the radiator when the fan hits the water. 

The anchor vehicle then picks up the rear security element (if deployed) and crosses last. The convoy should immediately proceed to a secure area at least one kilometer away and halt to inspect all undervehicle components for water vehicle contamination. Do not omit this step if the water is more than axle deep. The convoy may return to normal road march after the inspection is completed. 

DEBRIEFING NOTES: 

Team Training Systems-Creek Fording/Convoy Ops Training
Several of the photographs used in this article were shot on a Team Training Systems training op. We identified several weaknesses needing remediation: 

1. Communications. Due to the late arrival of one of the operators, the pre-op briefing was greatly shortened and several operators did not "get the word." Several crossings were required to set up the photo- graphs properly. 

2. One vehicle had no two-way radio. Due to the short briefing no hand signals were designated. The operator of this vehicle had no idea of what he was expected to do, other than follow the vehicle in front. 

3. Perhaps most important, five large vehicles traveling together on roads that normally see only two or three vehicles per day attracted a tremendous amount of local attention. While no legal authorities were contacted, we found ourselves explaining our presence more than once. This attention would likely be magnified under chaotic conditions. Maintain the largest possible interval between vehicles that reliable communications will allow. Keep weapons and other survival gear out of sight. Camping gear would make a good cover story, as would a large toolbox, hard hats, and a stack of unusual looking electrical parts. Make vehicle halts in parking lots and other public locations. 

In conclusion, prior planning, reconnaissance, identification of obstacles, and several dry runs will be necessary to identify and correct problems.

Defeating Shine

Defeating Shine   

The shine from binoculars, scopes, infrared viewers, watches, night vision goggles, and even individual sun, wind, dust goggles (SWDGs) can give away your presence, especially in the open expanse of the desert, and draw enemy fire. 

Glint from an officer's binoculars gave away the Confederate attack at Gettysburg, killed the German Army's top sniper in WWII, cost an Israeli general an eye, and allowed a Marine gunnery sergeant to take out the Viet Cong's top sniper. 

Visiting paratroopers from the former Soviet Union said recently that looking for reflections from our optics was a major scouting tactic in the Cold War. And during major U.S. Army exercises, at least one scout helicopter is usually assigned the sole mission of looking for optic reflections from ground forces.

You can shield binoculars by cupping your fingers around the outer lenses. But you can't cup your fingers around a weapon scope or around the SWDGs you're wearing or resting on your helmet. 

A field expedient solution is to make lens covers from a pair of women's brown nylon pantyhose, preferably a pair with the thicker nylon in the upper part. this technique will give you immediate camouflage for your optics while preserving their normal use. Another technique is to take OD green duct tape, and tape across the lenses, leaving only a 1/4 inch slit with which to look through.

FOR BINOCULARS AND SCOPES:

1. Cut off the ends (toes).
2. Stretch fabric over the lenses.
3. Secure with a rubber band and tape.

FOR THE SWDG LENS:

1. Lay the lens on the thicker nylon.
2. Outline shape with a pen and cut out.
3. Stretch fabric over the lens as you return it to the frame, leaving a little overhang.
4. When lens is back in place, trim excess nylon from inside the goggles. 

Reference: INFANTRY magazine, March-April, 1995. SWAP SHOP: OPTICAL CAMOUFLAGE
By Mike Sparks, USARNG, Redford, NC

False flag event???

Here is another article from Mr. Hagmann, if his source is legit, we have some serious things to worry about.

 DHS Source: “It’s going hot”

By Douglas J. Hagmann

28 August 2012:

“It’s going hot.” Those were the ominous opening and closing words from my source inside the Department of Homeland Security in two separate contacts we had within the last 72 hours. Readers to this website and listeners to my radio program know this source as “Rosebud,” a source with access to high levels within the DHS administration.


Readers of this website and listeners to my radio program are familiar with this DHS insider from previous leaks detailing alleged plans by members of the Obama administration to keep him in power beyond the 2012 elections.  One could argue that any person of reasonable sensibilities would certainly find this a delusional prospect and tinfoil hat conspiracy nonsense. After all, we have a Constitution, or what’s left of it, that dictates our election process, at least for now. As such, one might logically ask how any sane person can even entertain the prospect of not having normal elections in November.

I would feel the same, and did so as well until the last few years. Today, things are much different than they were four years ago, or even last year at this time. Judi McLeod, award-winning founder and editor of Canada Free Press and not one to succumb to delusion or fantasy, points this out and provides a solid foundation for this possibility in her column published on August 27, 2012 titled “Staged crisis leading to suspended elections could happen on our watch.” What a difference four years can make.

For the purpose of full disclosure, I must note that what follows is a compilation of the information I obtained from my source from two separate contacts within a 72 hour period. Both contacts have been assembled into a single “conversation” for easier reading. None of the information has been changed or otherwise edited.

New information from DHS source
According to my well-placed source within the DHS apparatus, what amounts to a final authorization was reportedly given to DHS directly from the White House. A “go signal” if you will.
“It’s going hot. The plan, or whatever specific operation that was devised, is going hot, being put into motion. You’ve got to let people know that something is up, approval has been given, and unless somebody stops it, we’re going to have a staged event inside the U.S., and it’s being set up so that it gets real ugly real fast.” Obviously, I asked for clarification and more details.

“Look, I’ll tell you everything I know, what I’ve heard and seen, and some of what I’ve been told, but you’ve got to get this public. Even then, I’m not sure we know enough about the specific operational details, have enough time, or have the ability to overcome the characterizations of lunacy they’re going to throw at you, at us, for even talking about this. I’ve heard you talk about the ‘normalcy bias’ of most Americans, and that’s part of what we’re fighting. Look at what they did to you and the content of last information I gave to you. It was like that pass a secret game in first grade, you know, where one student whispers something in the ear of the kid next to him and it’s passed around the room until it gets to the last student. By that time, it’s nothing like the original ‘secret.’ It’s the lesson kids learn about spreading gossip. There was some state representative from Tennessee that sent out a mass e-mail of a screwed up version of what you wrote and then later retracted it,” he stated.

I reminded him that it was Tennessee State Representative Kelly Keisling who sent an e-mail to his constituents based on what amounted to third-hand information he read on the Internet. It centered around an alleged fake assassination attempt, something I never wrote, I told him. “Yes, that’s it. Didn’t you find the timing of that odd? I mean, the information I gave you was back in late April. When did Keisling send that e-mail and then make his very public retraction? Two or three weeks ago? Give me a break. They wanted to discredit you and anyone who makes public their intentions as bad as they want to know where the leaks are coming from,” he stated. “Believe me when I tell you they are desperate on a number of levels.”

My source continued: “Don’t think for one second that the sudden resurrection of the information, as incorrect as it was by that state rep, was an accident, because it wasn’t,” he replied. “Maybe the rep was played and clueless to the original story, but the way the story was managed after the fact made you look like a fool, like a real nutcase,” he said. I thanked him for the reminder.

“That’s their playbook,” he emphasized. “[Glenn] Beck, you on CFP, your show and others who talk about Alinksy tactics are right. Remember, Alinsky when he wrote that ridicule is the most potent weapon, and there is no defense because it irrational and infuriating. Trust me when I tell you that you are going to get hit hard and called crazy, this time with much greater intensity. Expect it the closer we get to the end game. But, pay attention to who is exploiting the false rumors, and you’ll get an idea who is behind the larger agenda,” he added.

I asked my source for details. “What exactly is the plan? Can you give me specific details? How do you know about this plan ‘going hot?’”
“Okay, from what I’ve been able to learn, there have been a couple different plans or scenarios developed, ready to be implemented at a moment’s notice, but each are distinctly different in nature and timing.” stated my source. “This is done for a few reasons. Look how the weather changed the plans for [Vice-President Joe] Biden’s visit to Tampa. That’s just one example. They’ve got contingencies. They are watching the poll numbers.

They are closely monitoring public sentiment. But the objective of the plan is that they want to portray Obama as a victim of racist hatred by the white gun owners, the people concerned about the Constitution, the people they consider fringe. They want to silence their critics, prove that talk show hosts are causing hatred, and that all gun owners are behind the recent shootings. That’s at the heart of the plan. But to understand just how insidious this is, you’ve got to understand the people who are behind it.”

Nero in the White House, Caligula at the DHS

My source continued, “I’ve been trying to get as much information as possible, but it’s not been easy. This is definitely a plan that has its origins at the highest levels of the White House, and seems limited to maybe a handful of the people closest to Obama. The only reason I know about this authorization order, or approval, or whatever you want to call it, is that there was a major slip up at the very upper level of DHS, and I mean the very upper level” he stated.

“Remember the news about sexual harassment, intimidation and all of the garbage that’s gone on between the people Napolitano brought in and promoted due to their ‘lifestyle’ preferences? These are some sick people, mental rapists and perverts, who she’s brought in to her innermost circle. They make Caligula look like a boy scout, at least with power and sex. Well, one of those people, close to Napolitano, was involved in a meeting where the concept and approval of a false flag was being discussed.”

“This is where they almost lost it. You’ve got to understand that this whole thing is very compartmentalized and we’re talking about a very small group of people in this meeting. This person knew some of the information, not all of it, and let some information slip to a counterpart. That counterpart, who found herself involved in a situation way over her head, talked. I won’t go any further, but that’s how I ended up learning the latest information,” said my source. “Now you should have an idea of how this slipped out. But they had a quick handle on damage control, given the circumstances behind the disclosure. Potentially embarrassing circumstances, sexual blackmail” he added.

I asked my source whether DHS is involved in the actual planning or staging of the event. In response, this source stated that Janet Napolitano and her closest aides are playing a supporting role. ” She has to be involved because she has to control the response to a staged event. She’s involved to coordinate and implement the clampdown, after the fact. She does what she’s told. From everything I’ve heard, I believe the plans come from Valerie Jarrett and possibly a close friend and Obama associate who has a very big stake in Obama’s re-election.”

“What happens and when it happens depends on the events of the next sixty days. If it appears that Obama does not have a lock on the next four years to finish what he started, what he has been told to do, then watch for it ‘going hot.’”

http://theintelhub.com/2012/08/29/dhs-inside-source-claims-obama-white-house-set-to-stage-major-false-flag-its-going-hot/

What is going on in this country?

DHS and US Military Make Final Preparations Before Announcing Martial Law

By Susanne Posel, Contributing Writer
theintelhub.com
August 8, 2012

Informants and military personnel are coming forth anonymously to confirm that martial law “is right around the corner.”
However, right now we are under a silent martial law and citizens are reporting strange and unexplainable activity from the US armed forces and multiple federal agencies that point to a covert preparatory operation to completely lock down America in the very near future.

Sources from multiple locations across the nation have independently confirmed that the US military are repositioning soldiers in conjunction with allied foreign troops in the initial stages of martial law.
The US military are secretly moving massive amounts of “equipment” across the country consistently for more than a year. In Phoenix, Arizona, tractor-trailers transporting tanks on public highways have been spotted.

One witness stated that he saw these flatbeds multiple times in the month of June. Eye witness reports are coming primarily from the northern and southern Border States.
Peter Santilli, an ex-marine informant who was a specialist in aviation deployed weapons, explains that a refrigerated truck, allocated by the administration department on base, was directed to the commissary, where the unsuspecting driver believed that he was transporting food.

The weapon was placed at the head of the trailer, and covered up with either food stores (like cans of soup) or body bags. In the event that the truck is stopped en route, the weapon would be well hidden and go undetected by inspectors on the public highways.
Santilli, who was assigned to ride in the cab of the truck with the driver, says that his orders were to make sure the truck arrived at its destination.

If there were problems concerning potential civil unrest, he was to radio into his superiors for aid by either air or ground support. Should the situation warrant serious attention; crowd control methods would be implemented.

One possible scenario was the use of cluster bomb units (CBUs) that will emit upon detonation, a “sleep and kill” chemical weapon that will not disturb infrastructure, but is lethal to all living things within the effected zone.
Santilli describes these particular 3 unit CBUs as shaped like water-heaters with a coned top and plunger-like device. Once deployed in the air, a parachute assists these CBUs to the targeted area. And when detonated, a deadly chemical gas will kill every human and animal in the specified cordoned area.

The acquisition of armory by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and contracts for bullet-proof glass for check-point booths to be positioned strategically throughout the nation on public highways have heightened awareness that the US government is preparing for a well-planned domestic military action. DHS armored vehicles have been sighted on highways in Kentucky.
When citizens attempt to capture the activity on film, some have their cameras confiscated; sometimes after a physical altercation.

On Google Maps, where known military bases were once visible, some strategic areas are now blurred out.
John (a pseudonym) was contracted by DHS to “fill in caves, mines and block trails”. Now these measures are being stepped up, as independent contractors are being brought to mountainous regions and told to block all entrances into the mountains, by way of caves and other areas where people could possibly “hide out in the hills” during a riot situation under declaration of martial law.
Forested areas in states like Montana, Missouri and Arkansas are being closed to the public while military activity is being witnessed by locals. Those commercially contracted civilians working in these areas are allocated parallel shifts and compartmentalized projects to provide for an intelligence controlled operation.

One informant relayed an incident where he was detained on a forest road by unidentified “paramilitary” officials that seized his rifle from the rack on the back of his vehicle.
Another source said that while traveling in a national forest park, he and his party were met by what appeared to be a military police officer who demanded that they turn back.
Residents in Pine Mountain, Georgia and Spruce Mountain, Nevada have had confrontations with US armed forces.

When travelling in public national forested areas, military police with “automatic weapons” say that locals cannot gather wood in surrounding forested spaces (as they have traditionally done for decades). One man in particular had his rifle forcibly confiscated by unidentified armed men.
On dirt roads leading to the Lassen National Forest reserve, paving is being laid over the gravel roads. The locals know that secret underground drilling or tunneling is being conducted. Whenever they enter the park, they are quickly escorted out by heavily armed and quite menacing persons. Even once abandoned logging roads are beginning to see activity again.

Information coming out of reserve units in Arizona is that they are being put on official alert. Military personnel are being told by superiors not to schedule vacations and prepare to be on-call and on-duty indefinitely.

According to one informant, these new assignments are not providing for deployment overseas, but rather for domestic service with the intimation that these deployments may have relation to civil unrest expectations.

In Lake Havasu, Arizona, and Colorado Springs as well as Fort Collins, Colorado, locals are coming forth to report that local fires may have been lit by foreign troops; specifically Russian forces that have been spotted in the area. These Russian troops are believed to be stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado.


Military drills, a.k.a. urban warfare, have been played out in many states by the Pentagon and other branches of the US armed forces.

In Plainville and Worchester, Massachusetts, surprised citizens witnessed last “Wednesday evening. . . military helicopters descended on the vacant Wood School [in] the late hours of the night in a scene that might have appeared to simulate the United States’ special forces attack on Osama bin Laden’s compound last year.” Many locals had their homes swooped down upon by black helicopters in an obvious display of military dominance over the general public.

Residents saw helicopters landing near Worcester Memorial Auditorium in Lincoln Square. Local newspapers were flooded with “telephone calls and e-mails . . . curious about what was happening.”
The local police claim they were unaware of the drills.

A US Army spokeswoman made a half-hearted apology for “any inconvenience or unforeseen disturbance.”

In Hollywood, Florida, DHS and the Hollywood Police Department have taken part in Master Rappelling training exercises (MPTE) with Blackhawk helicopters scheduled over various government-owned buildings. Details concerning the drills are being kept from the public for “security reasons”.

MPTE are special operations to teach law enforcement and military techniques in tactical rope and rappelling skills that can be used in helicopter deployment and advanced tactical training.
Just this month, foreign troops were caught at a Wal-Mart . They were travelling in what were described as “large government vans”.

Law-enforcement battalions have been created out of Camp Pendleton, California, consisting of specialized military police (SMPs) that would be deployed to assist in any event of civil disturbance, handling of detainees, use biometrics to identify suspects and conduct forensic work.
Their assistance is not limited to conducting DUIs and writing speeding tickets in an effort to re-brand the Marine Corps as being more involved with average work now allocated to local law enforcement.

Moving around in white, unmarked vans, strange troops have been seen purchasing food and water at another Wal-Mart in Franklin, Indiana. Parading in military personnel fatigues where drone activity has been reported in Oklahoma City and black helicopters were spotted hovering over a construction site.

According to documents from the RAND Corporation, a planned event concerning a Police Stabilization Force within the US will be “a mix of military and police forces to deal with a range of threats.”

The study explains:
• What the response should be
• The creation of a high-end police force
• Costs for this military/police collaborative force

Estimates are $637.3 million annually and including many federal agencies including: the US Marshals Service, the US Secret Service, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in the Department of State, and the US Army’s Military Police.
There is a media blackout concerning the “state of emergency” (code for martial law) that Anaheim, California residents have been under since the murder of a man by local police.

While protests have been conducted, residents say that “outsiders” are infiltrating peaceful demonstrations to stir up violence and ensure local and military police action against them.
While city officials are gearing up for “another large incident” and “another riot” protesters are coming forth to voice their distain at the “infiltrators” that attended a protest that ended with the fatal shooting of two Latino men.

During protest marches in Anaheim, the white, unmarked vans have resurfaced. This time unidentified “police” detained protesters and placed them into these vans.

The increased activity across the nation in conjunction with the mounting citizen reports of seeing military on their streets, conducting urban warfare drills, and spotting foreign troops have prompted public interest in the US government’s plans to enact a full-scale martial law in America – expected by the end of this year.

The more attention that is brought to these sightings and the more people come forward with information, the safer the American public will be.
The US military have orders to shoot and kill all dissenters. They are being trained to confiscate guns and detain people in “internment” or FEMA camps. For the sake of continuity of government, they are being told to turn on their own fellow Americans.

The reality of being a survivalist

(Getting Past the "Bug Out" Mentality) 
 
Those of us who've figured things out to various and lessor degrees, realize the need to prepare for a time in the not to distant future when the society we've become accustom to will no longer be functional. Let's pause a moment and savor the meaning of what I just said. Some people who have not really paused to consider the true ramifications of a societal collapse, look forward to these times with an almost naive glee. Visions of "Red Dawn," fire fights with well armed but incompetent troops, camping out and feasting on venison seem to figure heavily in these ill conceived fantasies.

Let's explore some of these myths. Anyone who has spent anytime in the bush or in actual combat knows that running and gunning is the option of *LAST* resort!!! When things get down to running and gunning your prospects for long term survival have just become tragically thin. Even elite forces such as the Navy Seals, try to avoid "running and gunning." They operate from a base. They are inserted, do their jobs and are extracted back to the safety of their base. In the scenario so often fantasized, it would be like being permanently behind enemy lines with no support, no hope of extraction and no supplies. Could you survive? Some could, but they are few and far between. Even they could not survive for long. 

Let's explore the notion of living off the land. The reality is, there isn't enough game except in a few places out west, to support a group of any size for any length of time. By the way, you've got to figure you're not going to be the *ONLY* person or group out there fighting for the limited resources. Small game? How many rabbits will you have to kill to feed your self per day? Per week? How about your family? You're going to run out of rabbits pretty quick in whatever area you happen to be in. Fishing? That's a good plan if you're near a body of water. But again, you're not going to be the only one with that idea. Suppose you have a good day and harvest a deer, or twenty or thirty fish, how are you going to preserve the meat? You're probably aren't going to be lugging around a refrigerator or a freezer. 

What about items you take for granted, like toilette paper? How much are you going to carry with you on a bug-out? There are many things to consider. The closest description of the bug-out experience is the Mountain Man life style. However, it's important to note, even the "Mountain Men" had to come back to society for supplies every so often. 

When you begin to consider all the ramifications of "bugging-out," the magnitude of what you're attempting begins to become clear. Of course all this becomes a moot point if you become stuck in a traffic jam trying to leave the city, or if you get rounded up at an unexpected road block. A simple rule for survival in these circumstances is, look at what everybody else is doing, and don't do it!
Let's be smart. The best place to be at in a survival situation is your home. Your home should be your survival retreat! If it's not, make it into your survival retreat. 

If it's not suitably located, buy one or build one that is. Even a well conceived and located apartment or condominium can become a survival retreat with some work and planning. 

The two most powerful assets you can have are storage and concealment. If you want to understand survival, study the masters. The animal kingdom is without exception the best place to learn survival. Almost all animals, as a first line of defense use concealment or camouflage. Even predators such as tigers, cheetahs and leopards use camouflage to assist in their survival. How can we profit from this strategy? The most important thing we can do as survivalist is to *NOT* draw attention to ourselves. A friend of mine once suggested we join an "intentional" community of like minded people and live in a rural communal setting. 

Visions of Waco and Ruby Ridge immediately sprang into my mind. I told this friend I'd rather live next door to the Governor. The likelihood of them taking tanks through the Governor's yard to get to me would be extremely slim. Not to mention being able to keep the News Media five miles away! In essence, "bugging-out" is like leaving the safety of the herd. If you've ever seen predators hunt animals in the wild, the first thing they do is cut them off from the protection of the herd. Then they descend on them and rip them to pieces, while the rest of the herd looks on grateful that it's not them being ripped to pieces. Do you see the analogy between Waco and Ruby Ridge? 

These were people who were cut off from the herd by the government predators and savaged. The rest of society has gone back to grazing, thanking their god it wasn't them.
They've even gone so far as to justify what happened by saying these people were extremist. This is very much like what happens in the animal kingdom. Only the sickly and diseased fall prey to the lion. Hence, if people are attacked by our government... they must be politically sick. But enough of this. It is not my intent to give you my political exegesis. 

Being a Survivalist is a way of life! It's not just storing away supplies for a rainy day. I'm intrigued by people who spend thousands of dollars on camping equipment, semi-automatic rifles and hand guns, and who don't spend money where it counts. 

Let me give you some examples. Are you physically fit? How many miles can you run? How many miles can you run with a full pack on your back? Take an honest assessment of your self. Would you feel safe as the cruise ship pulled away from the dock knowing you had brought along your scuba tank, mask and fins, but had never had a swimming lesson and couldn't swim? If so, you'd better check the ship you're sailing on... It might be the Titanic. 

The other thing that fascinates me, is the number of arm chair survivalist that spend great time carefully assembling a firearms battery, but don't take the time to become truly proficient with the firearms of their choice. 

Too many times we trade the illusion of security for reality. The reality is, everything is governed by chance and probability. Our goal should be to turn a low probability of survival into a high probability of survival. I can only shake my head in disbelief at those who spend hundreds of dollars on the finest handgun they can afford - as well they should, how much is your life worth - but then spend $9.95 on a little suede inside the pants holster for it. That holster will most likely get you killed! I practice quick drawing each of my primary pieces at least 100 times per day. I go to the range regularly. I practice quick draw with carry ammunition, that's the ammo I carry for survival and defense at 100 yards. I can draw, fire and *keep* all shots in the kill zone at 100 yards quicker than most of the Hollywood enhanced draws you see in the movies. 

Does this make me the baddest thing walking? Nope! Because nobody's shooting back! What it does is increase the probability of my chances for survival against someone who's got their nice, shiny, new-in-the-box looking pistol in a $ 9.95 brown suede inside the pants holster. I'm not worried about the chap who carries an almost new looking pistol in a holster that looks like he just took it out of the plastic. I'm worried about that chap who's pistol has the fine patina of holster wear, the chap who's pistol is scratched and worn. To me he's a far more dangerous foe. 

It's been said and it's true, beware the man that owns one gun... and shoots it!
Being a survivalist is a way of life. Is your home hardened? Is it stocked and supplied? Are you constantly thinking of ways to manufacture more of the things you go to the store and purchase? If your mate doesn't sew, do you? Could you make a serviceable out fit out of cloth or fabric? Or will you be reduced to foraging for garments if TEOTWAWKI comes in our life time? It certainly looks like it's just around the corner... Being able to "Bug-Out" is good, but it should never become your primary survival strategy! 

If you don't have a hardened place to "Bug-Out" to, you're probably wasting your time. Your best bet is to harden your home. Don't blow your cover by bragging about your supplies, in fact be extremely cautious about who you allow into your home. If things blow up, you don't want someone who's seen and noted your food stores, showing up on your door step with their family asking to share what you've set aside through your hard labor and sacrifice. The best neighbors are those that mind their own business. Mind yours and insist they mind theirs. You want to develop a support network of people who not only believe the way you do... but who believe strongly enough to act on their beliefs. In a survival situation everyone must pull their own weight. 

Written by Benjamin T. Moore
Originally posted to the Misc.Survivalism newsgroup 

Veteran Declared ‘Mentally Defective,’ Has Guns Seized

Now this is crazy. So now the government can take away veterans guns who have PTSD, because they might be dangerous... Seriously, PTSD is caused by what our great American heroes were exposed to while fighting for our great nation, and so we treat them like this??? This is NOT acceptable!!!

News of similar case emerges day after release of Brandon Raub
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com


Friday, August 24, 2012

Just a day after Brandon Raub was released following his incarceration in a psychiatric ward over political Facebook posts, news has emerged of a similar case involving a veteran who had his guns seized after being labeled a “mental defective’ and faces being committed by a judge.

Radio host Steve Quayle was sent news of an Army combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient in west central Ohio who was the victim of a police raid on the evening of August 22nd during which Miami County Ohio Sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant to seize the man’s firearms for the “safety of the defendant and the general public,” according to the warrant.

The veteran, who is currently unnamed, had his guns taken because he was adjudged to be mentally incompetent, despite the fact that his previous VA psychiatric evaluations were all clear, he is not on medication, and he had no criminal record. The man appears to be a respected member of the community – he works for a Christian company and his father is a police officer and a pastor.

“The person is under adjudication of mental incompetence, has been adjudicated as a mental defective, has been committed to a mental institution, has been found by a court to be a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order, or is an involuntary patient other than one who is a patient only for purposes of observation. As used in this division, “mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order” and “patient” have the same meanings as in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code,” states the warrant.

Amongst the items confiscated were a .45 caliber pistol, one .380 caliber pistol, a 12 gauge shotgun, two AR-15 rifles, a stripped AR-15 lower receiver, as well as a hunting knife.

“In addition to the confiscations, the deputies attempted to question my friend and his fiancee,” states the email sent to Quayle by the man’s friend. “I didn’t get specific details on the questions asked. They refused to answer any questions without an attorney present. When my friend stated, “This is bullshit,” one of the deputy detectives remarked, “Look man, I’m just doing my job.”

The veteran now faces “an evaluation of mental competency” with a judge who will decide whether he should be committed to a state psychiatric ward. If any more weapons are found on the man’s property in the interim he will have committed a felony and will face a jail sentence.

Since the veteran is active in the so-called truth movement or patriot community, it is assumed that his involvement in this field is part of the reason why he has been targeted for psychiatric evaluation.

“Unlike Brandon Raub’s case, however, the state of Ohio won’t allow law enforcement to involuntarily commit a person unless there is an immediate need to do so, such as holding a gun to their head or another person’s head,” states the email. “Ohio law requires a judge to make the decision on having a person evaluated for mental illness. Of course, you’re then evaluated by a state-appointed psych, and that isn’t exactly going to play out in your favor. Had my friend lived in Virginia, he may be sitting in a metal hospital (prison) right now. Or worse.”

The veteran’s lawyer has already filed motions attempting to discover who asked the judge to sign the search warrant and for what reason he was declared mentally defective.

Earlier this year, we reported on a similar case involving David Sarti, one of the participants in the National Geographic Channel’s Doomsday Prepper show. Sarti visited his doctor complaining of chest pains, only to have the doctor later commit him to a psychiatric ward and alert authorities, before Sarti was declared “mentally defective” and put on an FBI list that stripped him of his second amendment rights.

Brandon Raub, a former veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, was also involuntarily detained for psychiatric questioning last week by authorities in Virginia’s Chesterfield County for leaving anti-establishment messages on Facebook which questioned the official story behind 9/11 and referred to corruption within the U.S. government. Raub also posted song lyrics on a private message board.

The FBI claimed Raub’s posts were “terrorist in nature” and yet within a week Raub was ordered to be released by a judge who found that the original petition for his detention contained no facts whatsoever on the reason for his incarceration.

Raub’s lawyer John Whitehead revealed that shortly before his release, psychiatrists had threatened to forcibly medicate Raub in order to “brainwash” him.

Whitehead warned that there were 20,000 recent cases in Virginia alone of people being snatched from their homes having been declared mentally defective by the state with virtually no due process whatsoever and with the victim having committed no crime.

Critics have made comparisons to the infamous psikhushka psychiatric prisons in the former Soviet Union where dissidents were sent to be isolated, brainwashed, and have their political ideas discredited amongst the general public.

Given the fact that the Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly demonized veterans as likely domestic terrorists, it’s clear that former servicemen are being targeted as part of an effort to chill free speech and discourage other veterans from being politically active.

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

Warrantless cellphone tracking is legal, federal court rules

 This article is from NBC news, I can't even believe they covered this story.

An interstate drug trafficker hauling a motor home filled with marijuana isn’t the most sympathetic defendant.  But a federal court’s declaration that Melvin Skinner pretty much should’ve known his pre-paid cellphone could be tracked via GPS — and therefore cops didn’t require a warrant to track him — has repercussions that privacy advocates say deserve your attention. 
Even if you don’t drive around in recreational vehicles loaded down more than a thousand pounds of pot.

On Tuesday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that law enforcement officials don’t need a warrant to track suspects via cellphones. Attorneys argued to overturn Skinner’s many convictions, citing that the GPS location information that led to the defendant’s arrest was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. This didn’t wash with the majority of judges over the case, who voted in a 2-1 ruling.

“When criminals use modern technological devices to carry out criminal acts and to reduce the possibility of detection, they can hardly complain when the police take advantage of the inherent characteristics of those very devices to catch them,” wrote Judge John Rogers in the majority opinion that will affect future cases in a huge chunk of the country.

Skinner was arrested in 2006, with 1,100 pounds of marijuana in the motor home he was driving, after law enforcement officials tracked him via one of the pre-paid phones the drug ring purchased using false identities. Such “burner” phones are regularly discarded by criminals to avoid tracking. In this case however, officials obtained Skinner’s number from another member of the ring, and then a court order that required the cellphone company to disclose “cell site information, GPS real-time location, and ‘ping’ data” for Skinner’s phone.

Accessing this information, law enforced trailed Skinner to a Texas rest area where a drug-sniffing dog turned up 1,100 pounds of pot in the motor home he was driving. Skinner was arrested, of course, and was convicted of  conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, conspiracy to commit money laundering, aiding and abetting the attempt to distribute in excess of 100 kilograms of marijuana — charges his lawyers say were derived by a warrantless search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Here's the crux, as it may relate to everyone else: "There is no Fourth Amendment violation because Skinner did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the data given off by his voluntarily procured pay-as-you-go cellphone." That's what Judge Rogers stated in the in the majority opinion, where he cited the Stored Communications Act. The law hamstrings the Fourth Amendment in relation to wire and electronic communications — noting that the use of third-party providers diminishes a person's expectation of privacy. 

Rogers maintains his statement within the context of committing a crime. As the judge writes, "If a tool used to transport contraband gives off a signal that can be tracked for location, certainly the police can track the signal." Failing that, "technology would help criminals but not the police."
This ruling is creating cognitive dissonance among privacy advocates who note that in January, all nine members of the Supreme Court held that warrantless GPS tracking is unconstitutional. In that case, police tracked suspected drug dealer Antoine Jones for 28 days — without a warrant — via a GPS device they’d attached to his car.

"That the officers were able to use less expensive and more efficient means to track the vehicles is only to their credit," he wrote.
Given the ubiquity of cellphones — most of which come with some form of GPS automatically enabled — this latest ruling rings a warning bell among privacy advocates.
"Location data is extraordinarily sensitive. It can reveal where you worship, where your family and friends live, what sort of doctors you visit, and what meetings and activities you attend," Electronic Frontier Foundation senior staff attorney Marcia Hofmann wrote in a blog post prior to the court's decision.

"Whether this information is collected by a GPS device or a mobile phone company, the government should only be able to get it with a warrant based on probable cause that's approved by a judge."

"The 6th Circuit’s cell-tracking opinion is really disappointing. It’s the first appeals court decision about cell tracking after the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Jones and I’d hoped for a better result," Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, told NBC News.

Crump led the ACLU’s blockbuster analysis of collection of cellphone location data by local police. The results, released earlier this year, revealed that many of the 200 law enforcement agencies that responded to the ACLU’s public records request, track cellphones without a warrant.
In this latest, ruling, Crump said, “the court seems to think that if criminals use cellphones, they can hardly complain if they are tracked through these phones. But the court’s reasoning deprives all of us of constitutional protection against warrantless cellphone tracking. And besides, even suspected bad guys have constitutional rights.”

-- Bob Sullivan of Red Tape Chronicles contributed to this report.

Texas Judge Preparing For ‘Civil War’ If Obama Re-Elected

Now this is an interesting story, it is hard to believe, but hey what isn't in the world today? I wish him the best if that is how it goes down.

LUBBOCK (CBSDFW.COM)

A Texas leader is warning of what he calls a ‘civil war’ and possible invasion of United Nations troops if President Barack Obama is re-elected.

Lubbock County Judge Tom Head is convinced that Mr. Obama winning a second term would lead to a revolt by the American people and he’s is pushing a tax increase for the district attorney’s office and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office. He says the money is needed to “beef up” it’s resources in case President Obama wins the November election.

In the event of civil unrest Judge Head said he’s concerned the President would hand over sovereignty of the United States to the U.N. and that the American public would react violently.
“He’s going to try to hand over the sovereignty of the U.S. to the United Nations, what’s going to happen when that happens?” Judge Head told FOX 34 in Lubbock.

“I’m thinking worse case scenario,” Judge Head explained. “Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe…we’re not just talking a few riots or demonstrations.”

The West Texas judge’s proposed tax increase is to help the sheriff’s office hire a law enforcement large enough to protect the county and to drive away the invaders.
“I don’t want rookies,” Head said flatly. “I want trained, equip and seasoned veteran officers to back me.”

The republican judge said that he himself will meet the enemy, “in front of their armored personnel carriers” to tell them they are not welcome, and has the county sheriff to back him up. “I don’t want U.N. troops in Lubbock County,” he said.

Tom Head, a graduate of Highland Park High School, has been a county judge since 1999.

Source: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/08/22/texas-judge-preparing-for-civil-war-if-obama-re-elected/

Prepare for the Absence of Government

This is from the horses mouth as the saying goes.

Congressman Bartlett: “Every Citizen Should Develop an Individual Emergency Plan to Prepare for the Absence of Government Assistance for Extended Periods”

In the documentary Urban Danger, Maryland’s Congressional Representative Roscoe Bartlett warned those who can to move their families out of major cities
.
Outspoken in his belief that each individual American should prepare for a crisis where the government would be unable to provide for the basic needs of the national population, Bartlett has himself created a hideaway deep in the West Virginia forest. His cabin runs on independent power, he has put away food and canning equipment, stockpiled supplies for the long-term, and is ready for a worst-case scenario should it ever come to pass.

“We don’t really think of those today, because it’s so convenient to go to the supermarket,” he cautions. “But you know, you’re planning because the supermarket may not always be there.”
The electrical grid could fail tomorrow, he frequently warns. Food would disappear from the shelves. Water would no longer flow from the pipes. Money might become worthless. People could turn on each other, and millions would die.

Bartlett’s biggest concern, the vulnerability of our national power grid, is justified through extensive research by private organizations and the US government alike. A 2010 report by the Center for Security Policy estimated that 9 out of 10 Americans would die within one year should a catastrophic emergency take down the national power grid and restrict access to key just-in-time delivery systems like food, gas and utilities.
Sitting down with officials and experts at a conference in Washington D.C., Bartlett has been working to pass legislation that would promote individual preparedness on a national level.

Bartlett recently sat around a Capitol Hill conference room table with a group of like-minded experts to unveil legislation that calls for “every citizen to develop an individual emergency plan to prepare for the absence of government assistance for extended periods” and for communities to become capable of providing 20 percent of their own power, food and water if necessary.
The electric grid, everyone agreed, is vulnerable to natural disasters and terrorist attacks. “This is possibly the most serious threat the United States faces right now, because we are so utterly unprepared for it,” said Richard Andres, a senior fellow at National Defense University.
The grid could be crippled at least four different ways, Bartlett says: terrorist assaults on power substations, a cyber attack, a massive solar storm and an electromagnetic pulse attack.
Bartlett has for decades warned of the harm of an EMP attack — a nuclear detonation in the atmosphere that could fry computers and anything with an electric circuit — in his writings, in legislation and in late-night speeches on the House floor, though experts differ on the seriousness of the threat. Some agree the dangers are real, while others say such an attack is unlikely and the potential effects remain uncertain.

“Whatever level you’re concentrating on, being as self-sufficient as you can, as quickly as you can, is going to be the right thing to do,” he says.
In “America’s Cities,” a separate documentary with similar themes, Bartlett approvingly cites the financial adviser and author Howard Ruff — an influential figure among survivalists — who counseled that “the most important investment you can make” is to have a year’s supply of food for your family, and “the second-most important investment” is a thousand-dollar stash of silver coins and jewelry to bargain with in an emergency.
“This is great advice for anybody,” Bartlett says. “And maybe you can’t buy a year’s supply of food. All the Lord expects you to do is what you can do.”
Source: The Washington Post

An EMP, a massive natural disaster, or a widespread currency collapse that threatens global payment systems could make it impossible for any the exchange of goods across the globe to take place. This means that food and energy supplies would simply stop flowing, and it would leave 320 million Americans without any ability to acquire even the most basic necessities for life.

The US Government has been actively preparing for natural and man-made emergencies by stockpiling emergency foods, equipment, self defense arms and ammunition, backup shelters, and creating contingency plans to deal with the chaos that would follow such an event.

They themselves, however, have noted that should a truly large-scale disaster come to pass they would simply not have the resources available to help everyone. FEMA recommends that every American household have at least a two week supply of food, water and critical supplies ready for an emergency. At last count, only about 3 million Americans prepare, about 1% of the population, suggesting that any far from equilibrium shock to the system as we know it would lead to outright panic and chaos as those without reserve supplies would stop at nothing to get their hands on them.

The government is preparing to deal with it when it happens.

Are you?

Author: Mac Slavo
Date: August 21st, 2012
Website: www.SHTFplan.com

The Grey State

This is a description of the movie from the makers;

The world reels with the turmoil of war, geological disaster, and economic collapse, while Americans continue to submerge themselves in illusions of safety and immunity. While rights are sold for security, the federal government, swollen with power, begins a systematic takeover of liberty in order to bring about a New World Order.
Americans, quarantined to militarized districts, become a population ripe for tyrannical control.

Fear mongering, terrorism, police state, martial law, war, arrest, internment, hunger, oppression, violence, resistance – these are the new terms by which Americans define their existence. Neighbor is turned against neighbor as the value of the dollar plunges to zero, food supplies are depleted, and everyone is a terror suspect. There are arrests. Disappearances. Bio attacks. Public executions of those even suspected of dissent. Even rumors of concentration camps on American soil.

This is the backdrop to an unfolding story of resistance. American militias prepare for guerilla warfare. There are mass defections from the military as true Patriots attempt to rally around the Constitution and defend liberty, preparing a national insurgency against federal forces, knowing full well this will be the last time in history the oppressed will be capable of organized resistance.

It is a time of transition, of shifting alliance, of mass awakening and mass execution. It is an impending storm, an iron-gray morning that puts into effect decades of over-comfort and complacency, and Americans wake up to an occupied homeland. It is a time of lists – black list, white list, and those still caught in the middle, those who risk physical death for their free will and those who sell their souls to maintain their idle thoughts and easy comforts. It is in this Gray State that the perpetuation of human freedom will be contested, or crushed.

Is it the near future, or is it the present? The Gray State is coming – by consent or conquest. This is battlefield USA.

Ideas for Government

Here are some of the things I would like to see our Government do.

Enact term limits for Congress so they cannot sit there forever and only concentrate on their personal political future. If Congress had a definite time limit in office then maybe, just maybe they would do what is right for the country instead of just what will get them further down their own political road.

Make an amendment to the Constitution for our leaders to balance our countries budget. We need to really start taking fiscal responsibility for ourselves and our country.

Our leaders need to start paying off our debt!!! When you have debt you answer to other entities, thus you no longer have complete control over your situation. That means someone has a form of control over you, you are answerable to them. Do we really want our country to have to answer to China or any of the other countries that control our debt? I do not think so.

Take away a lot of the power the Federal Government has and return it to where it belongs, which is the States. Our Federal Government is supposed to according to the Constitution go to the States and ask permission to do things, not the other way around. Government has gotten WAY to large at the Federal level. Government as a whole is involved in MANY things that they have no business in. Our wonderful (NOT) Government has succeeded in making us reliant on it. We should be reliant on ourselves, not our Government. Like the famous line from JFK's speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country"! Now that line says a lot, think about it.

We need to get rid of the entitlement mentality that is very prevalent in our country. Many people feel the government owes them something. The government owes us a safe and secure place to live and fair laws that will enable us to prosper. They should not be trying to control us by making us reliant on them!

We need to stand up as Americans, work hard, get involved in our government, take back the control and ensure our great nation has just as great a future as our past and our beginnings.

This country was founded on the principals of limited governmental power, not the seemingly unlimited ways in which our government now pushes itself on us.

Is our government supposed to provide food, education, welfare and health care for us, or are they supposed to provide a safe environment for us to take care of ourselves? Today a lot of people are all too happy to sit back and let the government run their lives. Is this what the government is supposed to be doing? No it is not!

We need to stop having an entitlement mentality and start taking care of and responsibility for ourselves. People today seem to think that the government owes them something, yes the government does owe us something, they owe us proper representation and a safe environment for us to work hard and to be successful ourselves.

Our government does not owe us many of the things they provide today. In fact our nation would be much better off if we got rid of many programs, downsized our government and took a look at our values. 

We need to stand up to defend our Constitution and the rights it gives us, we need to stop letting our freedoms slip through our fingers, we need to make a change NOW!

Be Prepared, An Introduction to Food Storage

In the age of the 24 hour supermarket, food storage may seem like a crazy concept. But economic forces are converging in such a way that skyrocketing food prices no longer seem like a possibility, more and more they appear to be an impending certainty.

Don’t be the person holding up a sign looking for help, be the person with a life raft. Look at the information on food storage and decide what’s best for you and your family.

THINGS TO CONSIDER

- No refrigeration, plan for emergency assuming no electricity.

- Be nutritious, there may be more physical activity required

- Keep calorie count, be aware of what you are storing

FOOD

- Recommend you start with 2 week supply of food
- Good no-cook food items

- Energy bars / breakfast bars
- Almonds
- Peanut butter
- Tuna packages
- Canned pasta
- Dried fruit / canned fruit
- Dry milk
- Instant coffee
- V-8 juice

- Plan around the way you already eat.

- Build around 3 categories of food

- Grocery store goods:  often inexpensive, and it’s all familiar stuff.  (i.e. mac & cheese)
- Freeze dried foods:  lightweight and don’t take up much room.  more expensive up front, but priced out per serving, it’s budget friendly. 
- Bulk dry food:  rice, beans, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, cornmeal, wheat, dried milk, etc.  It will be the backbone of your food storage and last up to 20-30 years.

- Don’t stock up on it unless you know you like it.

- Look at ingredients. You don’t want something high in sodium or preservatives

- Pay attention to shelf life. Take a look at package, can. Soup doesn’t need water and can store this for a few years.  Plastic bags and cardboard boxes – 1 yr max

WATER

- Easiest way to store is by using cleaned out 2 liter soda bottles. You can easily clean out with hot water, drop of soap. Rinse thoroughly. That type of plastic is safe for storage. I use it for my water storage, I use every plastic container I use for water storage after it is done being used, as long as it is something that can be sealed air tight.

- Recommend 2 liter soda bottle / per person / per day. For consumption and washing.

- If a situation where water is an issue, be sure to have stash of paper plates & freeze dried meals.

- If you can heat water, then at least you can enjoy a hot meal (i.e. mac & cheese, pasta, soup)

STORAGE

- 5 main enemies to storing food

- Temperature:  ideal is 40 degrees -  72 degrees.  For every 18 degrees above 72, food will lose its’ nutritional value by half - Humidity: Store food off the floor and away from outside walls

- Pests: Keep food in air-tight containers clean up food particles on the shelves or floor
- Oxygen: Use oxygen absorbers, rotate food, vacuum packing food to reduce oxidation
- Light: Keep your pantry area dark.  If food is in clear containers, keep them in labeled boxes with lids.

- Look for places where can you de-clutter (I have water bottles stored under my kids’ beds)

- You can store food in bin under a bed, clear out space in closet and designate a shelf.

- I recommend pieces of furniture that can double as storage. (i.e. Bench that opens up with a storage component – especially good for small homes)

- Store in a place that you won’t be dipping into constantly.

NON-FOOD ITEMS

- Items like toilet paper, can be bulky but it can be stored in garage, attic, shed, etc. moisture will affect it but temperature won’t.
- Non-food items, purposefully 1-2 weeks supply
- Go through entire day and jot down every non-item used. Soap, shampoo, contact solution, etc. buy extras of those.
- Keep easily organized in buckets (i.e. dental, laundry, etc.)
- Give serious consideration to how your family will cope when power is down. Communication, entertainment, What would we do to take care of pets? Keep things cool in the home, etc?

Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation
Storage information
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/store.html
Canning information
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html
Drying information
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/dry.html

Building a Community for SHTF?

This is a great article about how and why building a community for SHTF is important, and what some of the benefits are of doing this. I did not write this article, credit is given at the end of the article for the author. I am very glad to have other informed patriots that have good writing skills around to help get the word out and to provide different forms of information and training, to assist us and our fellow patriots in these troubling times.



You’re living in your suburban home. CNN has just said that the stock market is dropping for the ninth day in a row and people are now racing to their banks to empty their accounts. Couple this with an unstable euro, an unstable Middle East, and a worldwide economic recession and you get the start of the shit hitting the fan. How does your neighborhood react to this? Who in your neighborhood do you trust?

Now take that a step further and imagine a state of civil unrest. Homes nearby are being looted and undesirables are now common in your neighborhood. You have a weapon, but the occupants of your home include you, your wife, and your two small children. You have a front door, a backdoor, and the garage door. How do you cover all three much less the first floor windows?

What I’ve described above is the situation you will be faced with when the SHTF. So, do you need to build a community of liked-minded folks when the shit hits the fan? I believe there are 10 reasons why building a community is key when it all goes down.

Strength in Numbers

Being in a suburban area, I tend to worry about what will happen if looters run amok. I imagine when the SHTF, criminals will likely run in gangs. Those gangs will target individual homes for looting and potentially seek to oust the folks living there. They would target homes with a small number of occupants to make their raids that much easier.
So, to avoid being in their crosshairs, it would be optimal to be viewed as a large group. These criminals will have quite a few homes to choose from when things get tough and there is no sense in being an easy target. Remember, giving the perception of a large force is enough to deter those with bad intentions.

More Hands, More Work Done

Continuing with the theme of a group, the more folks in that group, the more workers you have. Those additional sets of hands will be able to help garden, cook, pack supplies, gather water, and hunt for food. While you will have to feed and care for those extra bodies, the work you get from them should more than make up for it.
I would much rather have 5 people foraging for food and supplies versus one, as time will be of the essence.

Pre-planning

Knowing you’ll have a community of preppers allows you to be proactive with planning now. You can request your neighbors start preparing by gathering supplies, preparing their homes and getting their financials in order. You can even go as far as planning the homes you will use for what purpose. By having those families focus on particular areas of prepping, you can be sure you will be best prepared when the trigger event happens.
At the very least, having your neighbors prepared will prevent them from being a liability when things go south. The last thing you need is a needy “friend” eating into your family’s supplies.

Multiple Locations

Having multiple homes in a community provides several advantages. Besides the tactical advantage of defending yourself, you acquire additional space for supplies, including areas to prep them.
Additionally, you provide the sense of normalcy for the folks in the community. Utilizing one house as a mess hall could be a possibility. Having a house serve as a medical facility is another. You would almost be able to build a town within the community. You cannot underestimate the importance of this helping with the psychology of the group trying to survive.

Additional Resource Network

Your neighbors will have different supplies, different tools, and especially different skills. That alone is a huge asset when attempting to survive in uncertain times. However, the resources we don’t think about are the various contacts they may have.  They may have an uncle who owns 10 shotguns. A cousin that has an RV for sale. A friend with access to critical medical supplies.
Each neighbor will have their own network of contacts that may come in handy. Those contacts become even more valuable when things get very tough. You may even choose to join a larger group that your neighbors will have paved the way for by providing that connection.  We can be sure that we will need to be creative during difficult times.

More Supplies

You can never have enough supplies when chaos ensues.  Your neighbor may have several bundles of firewood he’s been collecting. Another may have a portable generator and a water filtration system. Another may have access to items very useful for bartering. Each one may have specialized tools to do things you do not.
With each person you bring into to the group, you add to your potential assets. While they will come with their own liabilities (need for food, shelter, etc), the assets and skills they bring should tip the scales in your favor.

Never Stop Working

When you are part of a group, you’re able to work in shifts. You are also able to continue working if one of the group gets ill. This is key when you are pressed for time in preparing supplies.
As mentioned earlier, you’ll also have people that excel in certain areas. This will allow you to accomplish things efficiently and effectively.  For example, my neighbor happens to be very good with electrical issues. If we needed to fashion something electrical, I would be very hard-pressed to come up with something effective. The time I spend working on that electrical solution would be time away from building defense capabilities, which are my strengths.  Not to mention, it would take me significantly longer.

Companionship

When the SHTF, people will have a hard time adjusting. We will be going from a life where we have access to almost everything, to a life where getting the basic needs will be a challenge. While having our families will be a crutch that we rely on, having others to share the hardship with will certainly be a comfort.
As a man I know that hanging out with my male buddies is something I look forward to. Being able to vent to the other dads in the community and husbands will be a huge release (and take a bit of the burden off my wife). Don’t ignore the importance of human companionship when facing tough times.

Never a Bad Thing… More Guards

Obviously, the additional folks will help defend the community. Again, the different skill sets will come into play here. Some neighbors may have experience in the military which will come in handy when defending your position.
I hear many preppers say they have so many weapons in their home that would be difficult for any looters or criminals to penetrate. However, at most you will be able to fire two guns (as you have two hands). I don’t know many people that could hit a target with two guns in your left and right hand.
Having and training additional marksmen would put you at a huge advantage. Think about it, as a criminal would you want to face an armed group or dad trying to defend his wife and two kids?

Scouts / Reconnaissance 

Having the ability to leave your compound without fear of losing it, is a distinct advantage. There will be times when you need to go out and either hunt for food, do some reconnaissance, or simply search for supplies.  Having able-bodied men guarding your community allows you (and others) to venture out to find information and plan further.
Remember, there will be no turning on CNN to find out what’s going on down the street.  You will need to be able to gather intelligence military style.

Conclusion

Clearly, having more mouths to feed and more variables in the equation will be a challenge.  However, a unified front when the desperate folks come calling is clearly the best long term approach.

This article has been contributed by Survivor Mike of The Home for Survival.

Level One Skills for the Militiaman

Theses skills/tasks are designed for a militia unit that wishes to be a step above the average weekend warrior unit that does not really take training seriously.

This is a list of tasks that I feel members of a militia unit should be able to complete if they want to be an effective fighting force, not just a bunch of targets.


Core Training Tasks for a Militia Unit

Skill Level One:

This is the basic level of training required. All members must be able to accomplish these tasks and demonstrate proficiency in the skills listed in order to be considered an active member of the unit.

• Command and Organization

• Mission Statement

• Foundational Beliefs

• Chain of command

• Explain and follow rules of engagement (ROE)

• Mobilization and alert procedures

• Alert levels

• Automatic deployment criteria

Physical fitness standards

• Two mile forced march in full battle kit with weapon (without rucksack) in 30 minutes or less

• 20 pushups, 20 sit-ups

Basic weapon skills

• Demonstrate safe weapon handling skills

• Score at least “sharpshooter” on the US Army rifle qualification

• Place 8 out of 10 shots into a paper plate at 25 feet with sidearm

• Perform immediate action to correct weapon malfunctions/ failure to fire

• Field strip individual weapons and perform basic maintenance and cleaning

Individual movement techniques

• Know your pace count at 100 meters

• Low crawl/ high crawl

• Move as a member of a fireteam

• Three to 5 second rush

Team movement techniques

• Ranger file

• Team wedge

• Team diamond

• Bound by fireteam (fire and maneuver)

• Cross a linier danger area

• Scrolls to the road

• Heart method

The member should be able to perform these Individual tasks:

• Camouflage yourself and your individual equipment (properly)

• Basic field communications

• Team hand signals

• Operate and perform basic maintenance on personal radio

• Basic radio procedures

• Issue a SALUTE report

Tactical security

• Conduct a security halt

• Select or build a hasty firing position

• Fill out a range card

• Challenge/ password

• Perform guard/ sentry duty

• Perform visual surveillance as a member of a team

First aid

• Evaluate a casualty

• Stop life threatening hemorrhage

• Apply an Israeli battle dressing

• Convert a battle dressing to a pressure dressing

• Use a hemostatic product (celox/ quickclot)

• Apply a combat action tourniquet

• Open and maintain an airway

• Head thrust

• Jaw thrust

• Insert an oral airway

• Perform rescue breathing

• Apply a dressing to an open chest wound

• Apply a dressing to an open abdominal, head, or eye wound

• Prevent and treat for shock

• Splint a fracture

• Immobilize a spinal injury

• Transport a casualty

• Prevent and treat hot and cold weather injuries

• Locate and purify drinking water

• Perform field sanitation and preventative medicine

• Possess an approved IFAK/ ventilator kit

Land navigation

• Read a topographical map

• Find your azimuth with a lensatic compass

• Plot a 6 digit grid position without the aid of a GPS device (UTM, 1000 Meter Grid)

• Navigate dismounted from one spot to another using a map, a compass, and a grid protractor

Mountaineering skills if your unit is located in a mountainous area, or will perform the functions of an Alpine Infantry Unit.

• Tie a Swiss seat and a expedient chest harness

• Tie a Prusik knot

• Tie a square knot

• Tie a double fisherman’s knot

• Tie a figure 8 on a coil knot 

• Also members of an alpine unit or that live in the mountains would need mountaineering equipment, and would also have modified physical standards that would include a march/hike with full kit with a decent altitude accent.