Great information in the following links to enjoy.
Survival Blades Part 1
Survival Blades Part 2
Here they come! Cal gun confiscation law (effective 01 Jan 2016)
Here is a great force multiplier: Thermal evasion suit
You need to always have a PSK on, or close to you Video about personal survival kit
This is sweet, but it takes a prescription to get one: Wound stopping sponge gun
I hope you guys find this information useful or at least interesting. Thanks for reading this blog. If you enjoy it, please join up.
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Unconventional Warfare
This is a very good article that the readers of this blog and any involved in the patriot movement need to learn. We need to be ready to do our part, and to do so means we need to learn/train/practice things that will increase our survivability and our ability to perform the role we will be called on for.
Understanding Unconventional Warfare As It Applies to Conservative Families, by Swamp Fox
Before reading a book, watching a YouTube video, or obtaining any form of information from any source, a wise consumer will ask a few questions. What is the worldview of the individual imparting the information? Is the individual, who is imparting that information, qualified to do so? Is this person sufficiently capable of relaying this information through his or her chosen means of communication? It is said that one “cannot judge a book by its cover”. I disagree. As a man who has, from a very young age, frequented used book sales in search of hidden treasures among tattered covers, I firmly believe in judging a “book by its cover” or, if not purely by the cover, the summary on the inside flap, the biography of the author, and a quick skim of parts of the book, its illustrations, and the author’s writing style. Is this book worth my time? To preface this article I will give you my cover story, which is basically why I believe that my worldview is valuable, worth my time to put on paper, and therefore worth your time to read. As stated in the book of Proverbs, “Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.”
I am the oldest of nine children: eight boys and one girl. We were homeschooled from kindergarten through high school. I was raised on the words of Ralph Moody, Paul Hutchens, Jack London, Jack O’Brien, and G.A. Henty to name a few. I have spent time in two of America’s armed forces– the Navy and currently the Army, where I remain employed as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant. I am married and have five children: four boys and one girl. We live on five acres with goats, chickens, and one awesome Boerboel. A few of my childhood heroes were John Mosby, Francis Marion, and the Apostle Peter, who struck off the ear of a high priest. Honorable mention goes to Sampson for the unconventional fighting award, tying 300 foxes together by their tails, lighting said tails on fire, and driving them into his enemy’s camp.
I will not offer advice on subjects for which I am not a subject matter expert. So this essay will be on how conservative families can wage unconventional warfare; specifically, it’s on raising boys, both from my experience as a homeschooled boy as well as my experience as a homeschooling father. It will define the current war we are engaged in and our role in winning that war. For OPSEC, any military-related items covered will be open source; Wikipedia will be my manual.
When we hear the phrase Unconventional Warfare (UW), it may drum up ideas of ninja clad warriors stalking through dark, murky swamps, armed with knives, seeking to kill the Vietcong. We think of Mosby’s Rangers and the Swamp Fox. What might not come to mind is the Civil Rights movement, the Socialist invasion of our education system, or the degrading of Christianity in America’s worldview. In fact, if you pay attention, there are UW campaigns, with their accompanying propaganda, going on all over our country and the world. The battle is being fought. Do we even recognize that we are at war? Wikipedia states that “Unconventional Warfare consists of activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt or overthrow an occupying power or government by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary and guerrilla force in a denied area.” My challenge is to convey to you the following facts:
1.A war for the hearts and minds of our children is being waged by covert, and, at times, overt means.
2.We, ourselves, posses the tools of UW to fight back.
Growing up as a sheltered homeschooler, I was indoctrinated from a young age as to the evils of the government. The evil Democrats, the church down the street, or that music that has too much beat are all “tools of the devil” to lure our hearts and minds away from God, or so I was led to believe. Escaping home, I traveled, read, watched, and learned. I noticed that everyone had pet peeves. Historians and wealthy homeschoolers on a tour of old battlefields in the northeast United States waxed eloquent on our loss of freedoms as Americans. Libertarians and Conservatives cried “taxation without representation”. The list of fractured political protests goes on and on. What I didn’t see were answers. At a well known Christian conference, I cornered the keynote speaker. At 19 years of age, I was young and full of venom. Since he considered himself such an orator on the evils of our society and our rights as Americans, I asked what his plans were to fix those problems; if he were elected POTUS tomorrow, what would he do? After hours of getting a whole lot of nothing, I realized he was “clouds and wind with no rain”. A light bulb went off, and I realized that nobody had a plan. It was all talk, negative talk, with no solution and best left to gossips and drunks. Young men have work to do. Then I learned about American Redoubt.
I Kings 19:10 says, “And He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” Verse 18 of the same chapter says, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which not bowed to Ba’al, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”
Elijah was a great warrior for God. He did not have access to do a Google search on men who had not bowed the knee to Ba’al. He believed himself alone, the last servant of God in the world, and he believed his enemies surrounded him to kill him and that their victory was assured. Today we face a world in which our families are encompassed on all sides by the enemies of God, but unlike Elijah the prophet, we have the tools to find like-minded people through the Internet.
I was led to survivalblog.com, through the guidance of a friend from church. We were discussing some of our common beliefs and he told me to Google the American Redoubt, which I in turn did. For the first time in my life I was looking at action. Make no mistake, moving like-minded people to areas where they can affect elections through peaceful means and engaging in recruiting such freedom-oriented individuals to join the fight is UW. It is brilliant, engaging, and practical. Before reading about the American Redoubt, my individual opinion was that the world was doomed and the best I could do was train my children in critical thinking and survival skills to weather the storm. The idea behind peaceful utilization of our right to vote and voting with our feet is beautiful. So I firmly believe the long-range goal for all conservative families should be to consider voting with their feet.
Practical Preparations
My worldview is pretty simple– we are at war. The war is already won and the outcome secured, but in the meantime we fight. The TV blasts propaganda at us and our families. Modern literature, newspapers, and other types of media are all tools to dull our minds and lure us into complacency in order to slowly take away our freedom to raise our children as we see fit. So how can we fight? The battle begins with examining every thing that enters into our home. We must filter all information through the worldview of what is good and right and return it to our children clean and sanitized. What follows are practical things I have done with my boys to prepare their minds for battle.
Structure and Detail
First, structure and attention to detail are absolute imperatives. In a world full of excuses and weakness, boys need to know that blaming others and government for personal problems is unacceptable. One of the first talks I had with my wife when we married was far from politically correct. I explained that in our household we do not use excuses like being tired, hungry, or “that time of month” for weakness. Do we follow this to a T? No, but the premise is there, and we attempt to transform our excuses into victory. Soldiers are expected to perform at high levels whether or not they are tired or cold, whatever the weather, bugs, or other distractions. Soldiers must accomplish the mission no matter what. We are all soldiers in one way or another, and I teach my boys that when they demonstrate toughness and are able to accomplish difficult things when under duress, they have done a great thing. As a second-generation homeschooler, I would say one of the worst flaws of homeschooling is that it is easy to become lazy and allow children to escape accountability. We teach them to be self-taught, but we don’t follow up and insure that they are abiding by standards of excellence. Boys need the discipline of fathers or they will run circles around their mother, manipulating her, and doing what they please. Fathers must be a part of the process of homeschooling boys; they must lead by example.
Even when very young, boys must be taught that for every action there is a reaction. For example, if you leave a terrible mess with your toys and refuse to diligently clean them up in a reasonable amount of time, then you have too many toys. Obviously, you are not prepared for the great responsibility of owning so many great things, and therefore, until you learn to properly steward what is yours, five toys a day will be thrown away or something to that effect. Boys need to be weaned or driven off of electronics, movies, and other forms of indoctrination. Don’t get me wrong, the iPad is a great learning tool, but structure must be observed and laws established. Let’s talk about movies. Remember the hero? Yea, he was rather pathetic, weak, and uninspiring, but have you noticed the trend in children’s movies for the anti-hero? Young children are supposed to empathize with this character. He isn’t big or strong or particularly good looking. He is passive aggressive and hip. This disgusting role model mocks his parents and always has a wiser way of doing everything, inevitably leading his family and friends to his or her way of thinking. Young soldiers should not be subjected to watching this filth. In our house, we watch our share of movies, but if you actually listen to the propaganda being fed our children, you will perhaps agree that there are better forms of entertainment, such as books, projects, and shooting. Open the world of literature to boys, and steer them towards what is good and right. Give them room to re-enact what they read. Give them space to run and get dirty, make bows, and wrestle. Monitor their behavior and watch for teachable moments to drive home important life lessons about character and manhood. Bullying and weakness are never acceptable.
Guidance
Secondly, let us abolish this lie that we must not steer our boys towards liking anything, that we have to let them choose their own path. Children would wallow in their own fecal matter, eat nothing but sugar, and participate in a myriad of other ridiculously barbarous acts, if we did not teach them otherwise. There is nothing wrong with teaching a boy the skills of his father. There is nothing wrong with understanding that every boy should have a foundation of skills to enter the halls of manhood. Perhaps they don’t like to shoot or do wood projects or change the oil in their car. Big deal. Like the Nike commercial says, “Just do it.” If we equip them with critical thinking skills and a philosophical view of the world through literature, then, with our aid, we can steer them toward whatever vocation they please, but they will have basic, practical skills before they leave the house.
Reading
Another benefit to survivalblog.com is that it has a great reading list. I have read a few on the list, and one that stands out is Boston’s Gun Bible by “Boston T. Party” or Kenneth W. Royce. With American Sniper setting so many records in the box office, it would appear that America recognizes our need for riflemen. On second thought, maybe not. Still, America needs shooters, America needs Minutemen, and America needs boys trained by their father’s to become riflemen. The best illustration of the grave necessity for rifleman is watching Europe cringing and hiding in fear from Sharia militias. The Charlie Hebdo shooting in France further illustrates the point. Ask yourself if this could happen in America, where many of our citizens are armed? Could terrorists waltz around with apparent impunity stating, “What up, St. Louis Taliban says hi?” I would hope not. Even our criminal elements would shoot back, because they can’t have the Taliban on “their” turf. Will history remember our generation as those who allowed themselves to be herded into cattle cars by evil forces? You can say God would not let that happen, until you are blue in the face. Tell that to Christians in Iraq or North Korea. Train your boys to shoot and shoot straight. Train your girls to shoot, train your wife to shoot, and train your neighbors to shoot.
Battle the Dragons
When I was on my first trip, in Special Forces, to a mountainous region in Asia, I left my wife and two small boys in Japan, where we were stationed. I returned during the day and knocked on the door. My oldest son opened it and calmly asked me, “Are they all dead?” Slightly confused, I played it out. “Are who all dead, buddy?” He replied, “The dragons. Mommy said you were overseas killing dragons, so are they all dead? Is that why you came home?” What could I say? Honestly, what a great illustration of a little boy’s mind that is. A boy’s mind is full of dragons, of princesses and castles, of good and evil. From the time my boys were very young, we have fought “dragons”; the vile things show up at the worst times. In Japan we didn’t have guns, and we didn’t have much land, but we had those dragons. We would stalk them in a wedge formation, using only hand signals in the dark, where the boys were scared. I taught them to face their fears. One of the coolest things I’ve heard was on another military sponsored “vacation”. My wife emailed me to tell me about my boys. A tropical storm was brewing and the wind howled around our house in Okinawa. My wife walked into the living room to see a triad of small Spartans, clad in an odd assortment of my military gear and swimming goggles and carrying spear guns without tips that I had let them play with. With the wind howling and darkness falling, they were terrified. However, when my wife asked them what they were doing, they responded that they were scared of the dragons outside and that their dad had taught them to face their fears, so they had no choice but to do battle and engage the dragons. She of course let them out to face their fears.
I’ll leave you all with this. Teach your boys to turn the light on, to clear under the bed, the closet, or wherever the bogie man is hiding. We know him for what he is– weak and cowardly. The enemy is scared of all that is good and true. All we have to do is stand like a man, face his shenanigans, and send him to hell, where he belongs.
In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Understanding Unconventional Warfare As It Applies to Conservative Families, by Swamp Fox
Before reading a book, watching a YouTube video, or obtaining any form of information from any source, a wise consumer will ask a few questions. What is the worldview of the individual imparting the information? Is the individual, who is imparting that information, qualified to do so? Is this person sufficiently capable of relaying this information through his or her chosen means of communication? It is said that one “cannot judge a book by its cover”. I disagree. As a man who has, from a very young age, frequented used book sales in search of hidden treasures among tattered covers, I firmly believe in judging a “book by its cover” or, if not purely by the cover, the summary on the inside flap, the biography of the author, and a quick skim of parts of the book, its illustrations, and the author’s writing style. Is this book worth my time? To preface this article I will give you my cover story, which is basically why I believe that my worldview is valuable, worth my time to put on paper, and therefore worth your time to read. As stated in the book of Proverbs, “Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.”
I am the oldest of nine children: eight boys and one girl. We were homeschooled from kindergarten through high school. I was raised on the words of Ralph Moody, Paul Hutchens, Jack London, Jack O’Brien, and G.A. Henty to name a few. I have spent time in two of America’s armed forces– the Navy and currently the Army, where I remain employed as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant. I am married and have five children: four boys and one girl. We live on five acres with goats, chickens, and one awesome Boerboel. A few of my childhood heroes were John Mosby, Francis Marion, and the Apostle Peter, who struck off the ear of a high priest. Honorable mention goes to Sampson for the unconventional fighting award, tying 300 foxes together by their tails, lighting said tails on fire, and driving them into his enemy’s camp.
I will not offer advice on subjects for which I am not a subject matter expert. So this essay will be on how conservative families can wage unconventional warfare; specifically, it’s on raising boys, both from my experience as a homeschooled boy as well as my experience as a homeschooling father. It will define the current war we are engaged in and our role in winning that war. For OPSEC, any military-related items covered will be open source; Wikipedia will be my manual.
When we hear the phrase Unconventional Warfare (UW), it may drum up ideas of ninja clad warriors stalking through dark, murky swamps, armed with knives, seeking to kill the Vietcong. We think of Mosby’s Rangers and the Swamp Fox. What might not come to mind is the Civil Rights movement, the Socialist invasion of our education system, or the degrading of Christianity in America’s worldview. In fact, if you pay attention, there are UW campaigns, with their accompanying propaganda, going on all over our country and the world. The battle is being fought. Do we even recognize that we are at war? Wikipedia states that “Unconventional Warfare consists of activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt or overthrow an occupying power or government by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary and guerrilla force in a denied area.” My challenge is to convey to you the following facts:
1.A war for the hearts and minds of our children is being waged by covert, and, at times, overt means.
2.We, ourselves, posses the tools of UW to fight back.
Growing up as a sheltered homeschooler, I was indoctrinated from a young age as to the evils of the government. The evil Democrats, the church down the street, or that music that has too much beat are all “tools of the devil” to lure our hearts and minds away from God, or so I was led to believe. Escaping home, I traveled, read, watched, and learned. I noticed that everyone had pet peeves. Historians and wealthy homeschoolers on a tour of old battlefields in the northeast United States waxed eloquent on our loss of freedoms as Americans. Libertarians and Conservatives cried “taxation without representation”. The list of fractured political protests goes on and on. What I didn’t see were answers. At a well known Christian conference, I cornered the keynote speaker. At 19 years of age, I was young and full of venom. Since he considered himself such an orator on the evils of our society and our rights as Americans, I asked what his plans were to fix those problems; if he were elected POTUS tomorrow, what would he do? After hours of getting a whole lot of nothing, I realized he was “clouds and wind with no rain”. A light bulb went off, and I realized that nobody had a plan. It was all talk, negative talk, with no solution and best left to gossips and drunks. Young men have work to do. Then I learned about American Redoubt.
I Kings 19:10 says, “And He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” Verse 18 of the same chapter says, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which not bowed to Ba’al, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”
Elijah was a great warrior for God. He did not have access to do a Google search on men who had not bowed the knee to Ba’al. He believed himself alone, the last servant of God in the world, and he believed his enemies surrounded him to kill him and that their victory was assured. Today we face a world in which our families are encompassed on all sides by the enemies of God, but unlike Elijah the prophet, we have the tools to find like-minded people through the Internet.
I was led to survivalblog.com, through the guidance of a friend from church. We were discussing some of our common beliefs and he told me to Google the American Redoubt, which I in turn did. For the first time in my life I was looking at action. Make no mistake, moving like-minded people to areas where they can affect elections through peaceful means and engaging in recruiting such freedom-oriented individuals to join the fight is UW. It is brilliant, engaging, and practical. Before reading about the American Redoubt, my individual opinion was that the world was doomed and the best I could do was train my children in critical thinking and survival skills to weather the storm. The idea behind peaceful utilization of our right to vote and voting with our feet is beautiful. So I firmly believe the long-range goal for all conservative families should be to consider voting with their feet.
Practical Preparations
My worldview is pretty simple– we are at war. The war is already won and the outcome secured, but in the meantime we fight. The TV blasts propaganda at us and our families. Modern literature, newspapers, and other types of media are all tools to dull our minds and lure us into complacency in order to slowly take away our freedom to raise our children as we see fit. So how can we fight? The battle begins with examining every thing that enters into our home. We must filter all information through the worldview of what is good and right and return it to our children clean and sanitized. What follows are practical things I have done with my boys to prepare their minds for battle.
Structure and Detail
First, structure and attention to detail are absolute imperatives. In a world full of excuses and weakness, boys need to know that blaming others and government for personal problems is unacceptable. One of the first talks I had with my wife when we married was far from politically correct. I explained that in our household we do not use excuses like being tired, hungry, or “that time of month” for weakness. Do we follow this to a T? No, but the premise is there, and we attempt to transform our excuses into victory. Soldiers are expected to perform at high levels whether or not they are tired or cold, whatever the weather, bugs, or other distractions. Soldiers must accomplish the mission no matter what. We are all soldiers in one way or another, and I teach my boys that when they demonstrate toughness and are able to accomplish difficult things when under duress, they have done a great thing. As a second-generation homeschooler, I would say one of the worst flaws of homeschooling is that it is easy to become lazy and allow children to escape accountability. We teach them to be self-taught, but we don’t follow up and insure that they are abiding by standards of excellence. Boys need the discipline of fathers or they will run circles around their mother, manipulating her, and doing what they please. Fathers must be a part of the process of homeschooling boys; they must lead by example.
Even when very young, boys must be taught that for every action there is a reaction. For example, if you leave a terrible mess with your toys and refuse to diligently clean them up in a reasonable amount of time, then you have too many toys. Obviously, you are not prepared for the great responsibility of owning so many great things, and therefore, until you learn to properly steward what is yours, five toys a day will be thrown away or something to that effect. Boys need to be weaned or driven off of electronics, movies, and other forms of indoctrination. Don’t get me wrong, the iPad is a great learning tool, but structure must be observed and laws established. Let’s talk about movies. Remember the hero? Yea, he was rather pathetic, weak, and uninspiring, but have you noticed the trend in children’s movies for the anti-hero? Young children are supposed to empathize with this character. He isn’t big or strong or particularly good looking. He is passive aggressive and hip. This disgusting role model mocks his parents and always has a wiser way of doing everything, inevitably leading his family and friends to his or her way of thinking. Young soldiers should not be subjected to watching this filth. In our house, we watch our share of movies, but if you actually listen to the propaganda being fed our children, you will perhaps agree that there are better forms of entertainment, such as books, projects, and shooting. Open the world of literature to boys, and steer them towards what is good and right. Give them room to re-enact what they read. Give them space to run and get dirty, make bows, and wrestle. Monitor their behavior and watch for teachable moments to drive home important life lessons about character and manhood. Bullying and weakness are never acceptable.
Guidance
Secondly, let us abolish this lie that we must not steer our boys towards liking anything, that we have to let them choose their own path. Children would wallow in their own fecal matter, eat nothing but sugar, and participate in a myriad of other ridiculously barbarous acts, if we did not teach them otherwise. There is nothing wrong with teaching a boy the skills of his father. There is nothing wrong with understanding that every boy should have a foundation of skills to enter the halls of manhood. Perhaps they don’t like to shoot or do wood projects or change the oil in their car. Big deal. Like the Nike commercial says, “Just do it.” If we equip them with critical thinking skills and a philosophical view of the world through literature, then, with our aid, we can steer them toward whatever vocation they please, but they will have basic, practical skills before they leave the house.
Reading
Another benefit to survivalblog.com is that it has a great reading list. I have read a few on the list, and one that stands out is Boston’s Gun Bible by “Boston T. Party” or Kenneth W. Royce. With American Sniper setting so many records in the box office, it would appear that America recognizes our need for riflemen. On second thought, maybe not. Still, America needs shooters, America needs Minutemen, and America needs boys trained by their father’s to become riflemen. The best illustration of the grave necessity for rifleman is watching Europe cringing and hiding in fear from Sharia militias. The Charlie Hebdo shooting in France further illustrates the point. Ask yourself if this could happen in America, where many of our citizens are armed? Could terrorists waltz around with apparent impunity stating, “What up, St. Louis Taliban says hi?” I would hope not. Even our criminal elements would shoot back, because they can’t have the Taliban on “their” turf. Will history remember our generation as those who allowed themselves to be herded into cattle cars by evil forces? You can say God would not let that happen, until you are blue in the face. Tell that to Christians in Iraq or North Korea. Train your boys to shoot and shoot straight. Train your girls to shoot, train your wife to shoot, and train your neighbors to shoot.
Battle the Dragons
When I was on my first trip, in Special Forces, to a mountainous region in Asia, I left my wife and two small boys in Japan, where we were stationed. I returned during the day and knocked on the door. My oldest son opened it and calmly asked me, “Are they all dead?” Slightly confused, I played it out. “Are who all dead, buddy?” He replied, “The dragons. Mommy said you were overseas killing dragons, so are they all dead? Is that why you came home?” What could I say? Honestly, what a great illustration of a little boy’s mind that is. A boy’s mind is full of dragons, of princesses and castles, of good and evil. From the time my boys were very young, we have fought “dragons”; the vile things show up at the worst times. In Japan we didn’t have guns, and we didn’t have much land, but we had those dragons. We would stalk them in a wedge formation, using only hand signals in the dark, where the boys were scared. I taught them to face their fears. One of the coolest things I’ve heard was on another military sponsored “vacation”. My wife emailed me to tell me about my boys. A tropical storm was brewing and the wind howled around our house in Okinawa. My wife walked into the living room to see a triad of small Spartans, clad in an odd assortment of my military gear and swimming goggles and carrying spear guns without tips that I had let them play with. With the wind howling and darkness falling, they were terrified. However, when my wife asked them what they were doing, they responded that they were scared of the dragons outside and that their dad had taught them to face their fears, so they had no choice but to do battle and engage the dragons. She of course let them out to face their fears.
I’ll leave you all with this. Teach your boys to turn the light on, to clear under the bed, the closet, or wherever the bogie man is hiding. We know him for what he is– weak and cowardly. The enemy is scared of all that is good and true. All we have to do is stand like a man, face his shenanigans, and send him to hell, where he belongs.
In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Information of the day
I just wanted to post up some links to information that is relevant to us as Patriots.
Great podcast with tons of great information and years worth of episodes: Radio Free Redoubt
Fun read for those of us "crazy" preppers: 30 Reasons why you might be a crazy prepper nut job
What Thomas Jefferson had to say about taxes: Thomas Jefferson on Taxes
Great read about the relevance of the 2nd Amendment today: The Second Amendment and its relevance in todays society
I hope you guys like the information I am posting up, and the articles. Please make a comment if you have any feedback about this blog. Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great podcast with tons of great information and years worth of episodes: Radio Free Redoubt
Fun read for those of us "crazy" preppers: 30 Reasons why you might be a crazy prepper nut job
What Thomas Jefferson had to say about taxes: Thomas Jefferson on Taxes
Great read about the relevance of the 2nd Amendment today: The Second Amendment and its relevance in todays society
I hope you guys like the information I am posting up, and the articles. Please make a comment if you have any feedback about this blog. Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soft Power
I found this great bit of information over on the Forward Observer site and knowing it's importance re-posted it here for you to read. This article makes some really good points, especially about your group's/your reputation, and how it will affect things during SHTF.
Community Defense & the Elements of “Soft Power”
If hard power is violence and coercion, then soft power is influence and motivation. American power projected across the globe teaches that violence has its limitations. To modify a turn of phrase, war is not always the answer. Coercion causes resentment and, as we’ve seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, creates unnecessary enemies. (Just look at the popular backlash against law enforcement when violence is used as an action of first resort. Many individuals not directly affected by police action have changed their opinions on just how peaceful “peace officers” are.) Violence indeed solves some problems, but it may also cause more problems than it solves — and that’s why we need soft power, too.
In his book, The Accidental Guerrilla, author David Kilcullen writes that soft power on a regional or global scale includes, “international reputation, moral authority, diplomatic weight, persuasive ability, cultural attractiveness, and strategic credibility,” arguing that soft power is a critical piece of enabling hard power and not an either/or proposition. It was America’s soft power after 9/11 that enabled a global response to al-Qaida. American leaders persuaded and gained the cooperation of other nations not directly affected by al-Qaida to join a coalition to wage the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The nations that did not participate in kinetic operations tracked and prosecuted terror financiers, stemmed the flow of foreign fighters and materiel, and cooperated with U.S. intelligence to hunt down known and suspected terrorists.
Now consider America’s soft power in the world in the years following the Iraq War. Between perceived unilateral action, the global battlefield, warrantless spying on U.S. citizens and other “perceived human rights abuses,” America’s standing in the world is diminished, both among its foreign and domestic audiences. In short, U.S. soft power is diminished because the government has harmed its credibility and reputation. To reiterate, your soft power is a critical enabler of your hard power, as Kilcullen writes.
For individuals and communities preparing for a future that incorporates violence and morally ambiguous situations, to omit developing soft power is an unwise move. We can imagine lots of realistic scenarios in which soft power will enable us to achieve or maintain security: gaining the trust of community members to contribute to the security effort, working with local authorities to fight known threats, sharing information with neighboring communities and security groups, and persuading at-risk segments of a community to not support threat elements.
How can we develop soft power as a part of community defense? First, focus on your reputation. There are militias, security teams and prepper groups that have poor reputations, stemming from poor leadership, unrealistic, unethical or immoral goals, past indiscretions, and incompetence. When cooperation is a necessity for community defense, these groups are going to have a much more difficult time finding partners to push in the same direction. You don’t want to be a security partner of last resort with a team reluctant to work with you.
Second, be virtuous people. I foresee that communities who seek justice and do the right thing, even at great personal cost, will be more able to exercise its soft power in an area. Community members, neighbors, and others in the regions will be more likely to trust you and therefore more willing to cooperate towards greater security and stability.
Third, focus on developing an ability to persuade. Influence, by Robert Cialdini, should be on everyone’s bookshelf. Those who are just as interested in solving another person’s problem as they are their own, are more likely to find satisfactory, win-win agreements. If you want to persuade someone to cooperate with you, demonstrate your value and trustworthiness.
Lastly, be technically and tactically proficient. That’s a bit from the U.S. Army’s Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) Creed; which, by the way, many of us here at FO have had to recite from memory on more than one occasion. Tactical and technical proficiency should be the standard for those outside the military, too; especially those working towards security and defense. Technical proficiency means knowing your tools and equipment. Whether it’s a radio, rifle, or medical kit, know how to use it and be able to teach others. (Being able to teach and mentor others will go a long way in gaining a positive reputation, too.) Being tactically proficient means knowing how to employ your tools, equipment and teammates to accomplish the mission. You may not need to have been a career infantry soldier to accomplish community defense, however, obtaining tactical training for you and your team, as well as continuing education and follow-on training, is the absolute minimum effort that will be required.
If you can set aside some time to consider how to further develop these four things — your reputation, making virtuous choices, your ability to persuade, and becoming technically and tactically proficient — then you will be developing “soft power” that will benefit you and your community in any SHTF scenario.
Community Defense & the Elements of “Soft Power”
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Community Defense & the Elements of “Soft Power”
If hard power is violence and coercion, then soft power is influence and motivation. American power projected across the globe teaches that violence has its limitations. To modify a turn of phrase, war is not always the answer. Coercion causes resentment and, as we’ve seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, creates unnecessary enemies. (Just look at the popular backlash against law enforcement when violence is used as an action of first resort. Many individuals not directly affected by police action have changed their opinions on just how peaceful “peace officers” are.) Violence indeed solves some problems, but it may also cause more problems than it solves — and that’s why we need soft power, too.
In his book, The Accidental Guerrilla, author David Kilcullen writes that soft power on a regional or global scale includes, “international reputation, moral authority, diplomatic weight, persuasive ability, cultural attractiveness, and strategic credibility,” arguing that soft power is a critical piece of enabling hard power and not an either/or proposition. It was America’s soft power after 9/11 that enabled a global response to al-Qaida. American leaders persuaded and gained the cooperation of other nations not directly affected by al-Qaida to join a coalition to wage the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The nations that did not participate in kinetic operations tracked and prosecuted terror financiers, stemmed the flow of foreign fighters and materiel, and cooperated with U.S. intelligence to hunt down known and suspected terrorists.
Now consider America’s soft power in the world in the years following the Iraq War. Between perceived unilateral action, the global battlefield, warrantless spying on U.S. citizens and other “perceived human rights abuses,” America’s standing in the world is diminished, both among its foreign and domestic audiences. In short, U.S. soft power is diminished because the government has harmed its credibility and reputation. To reiterate, your soft power is a critical enabler of your hard power, as Kilcullen writes.
For individuals and communities preparing for a future that incorporates violence and morally ambiguous situations, to omit developing soft power is an unwise move. We can imagine lots of realistic scenarios in which soft power will enable us to achieve or maintain security: gaining the trust of community members to contribute to the security effort, working with local authorities to fight known threats, sharing information with neighboring communities and security groups, and persuading at-risk segments of a community to not support threat elements.
How can we develop soft power as a part of community defense? First, focus on your reputation. There are militias, security teams and prepper groups that have poor reputations, stemming from poor leadership, unrealistic, unethical or immoral goals, past indiscretions, and incompetence. When cooperation is a necessity for community defense, these groups are going to have a much more difficult time finding partners to push in the same direction. You don’t want to be a security partner of last resort with a team reluctant to work with you.
Second, be virtuous people. I foresee that communities who seek justice and do the right thing, even at great personal cost, will be more able to exercise its soft power in an area. Community members, neighbors, and others in the regions will be more likely to trust you and therefore more willing to cooperate towards greater security and stability.
Third, focus on developing an ability to persuade. Influence, by Robert Cialdini, should be on everyone’s bookshelf. Those who are just as interested in solving another person’s problem as they are their own, are more likely to find satisfactory, win-win agreements. If you want to persuade someone to cooperate with you, demonstrate your value and trustworthiness.
Lastly, be technically and tactically proficient. That’s a bit from the U.S. Army’s Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) Creed; which, by the way, many of us here at FO have had to recite from memory on more than one occasion. Tactical and technical proficiency should be the standard for those outside the military, too; especially those working towards security and defense. Technical proficiency means knowing your tools and equipment. Whether it’s a radio, rifle, or medical kit, know how to use it and be able to teach others. (Being able to teach and mentor others will go a long way in gaining a positive reputation, too.) Being tactically proficient means knowing how to employ your tools, equipment and teammates to accomplish the mission. You may not need to have been a career infantry soldier to accomplish community defense, however, obtaining tactical training for you and your team, as well as continuing education and follow-on training, is the absolute minimum effort that will be required.
If you can set aside some time to consider how to further develop these four things — your reputation, making virtuous choices, your ability to persuade, and becoming technically and tactically proficient — then you will be developing “soft power” that will benefit you and your community in any SHTF scenario.
Community Defense & the Elements of “Soft Power”
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Monday, December 28, 2015
Being Anonymous
Disclaimer: I did not write the following article, the credit is listed below. I posted it here because I felt that it is good information, and that the readers of this blog would gain something from this information.
Being Anonymous, by Spotlight
As posted on the Survival Blog.
I walked out onto the driveway to greet my wife as she backed the car in, arriving home from a long day at work. Right away, I noticed a magnet on the back of the car, proclaiming us to be members of our church, complete with our town name. “What’s up with that?” I said, looking at the magnet, as she got out of the car. She laughed and said the pastor of our church had put it on there when he saw her in the parking lot. I think she had laughed because she knew what I was going to say next , “That won’t make it until bedtime!” (It didn’t.) When I got into preparedness, I came across the “grey man” theory at some point. Reading it, I realized that I fit the profile, for the most part. I think of it more in the sense of being anonymous, but it’s close enough. The grey man theory is the idea of remaining unnoticed in general and not standing out, not being the one on television who’s being interviewed in regard to some controversial position, not being the guy everyone noticed because of his loud mouth or loud clothing, and that sort of thing.
I have actually been fairly anonymous all of my life, although I didn’t realize it until more recently. You know how some people are very noticeable? Do you know how everyone takes notice when they walk in a room, people talk about them when they’re not in the room, and everyone generally remembers what they said? I am the opposite. It never really dawned on me for most of my life. I’ve always been an introvert, always being more comfortable alone than in a group. In school I always had one or two close friends and never really a big group of them, despite being on numerous sports teams.
When I grew up, I became a police officer in the small town I grew up in. After a few years, I was promoted to detective and spent the rest of my career in that role, which I really enjoyed.
Since I was a cop in the town I grew up in, which as I mentioned was a small town at that, I was particularly careful about telling people where I lived and even more so after I got married and had a family to protect. People think that only big city cops have to worry about retaliation from criminals, when in fact I suspect that it is much more prevalent against small town cops. We’re a lot easier to find, since most big city cops I ran into didn’t live in the cities they patrolled. Those of us in the small towns tend to have repeat contact with the same criminals, and it’s easier to run into a small town cop on a force of 50 or less on purpose, than to find some cop in a city of thousands. On the occasion people asked me where I lived, depending on who they were (i.e. criminal or non-criminal), I either flat-out lied (to the criminals) and named a city where we had looked for houses so I could be somewhat knowledgeable of the area or was vague enough (to the non-criminals) so that it sounded like I had answered but really hadn’t told them much. In addition to being careful what I told people, I had an unlisted phone number and a PO box to get my mail, which was necessary since we first lived in an apartment with no direct mail service. The PO box just became another layer of security after we moved.
As I got into prepping and became familiar with the grey man concept, I realized that I had been born a “grey man” to some degree. For some reason, I am really good with names and faces, but no one seems to remember mine, even people I have met on more than one occasion. Perhaps it’s because of my introverted nature that I am not “rememberable” to people, but I have always found it somewhat humorous to go up to someone I met once or twice, call them by name, and watch as I see them looking confused as to who I am or why they know me while we talk. (I’ve often told my family that men are lucky. We can call each other “buddy”, “pal”, “boss”, and the always flattering “chief”, and no one is the wiser as to the fact that we have no idea who this guy is that we’re talking to!)
So, let’s get back to the car magnet my wife received. Why on earth anyone would drive around with a sign saying where they worship (and probably live) on the back of their car? It’s like those family magnets people put on their car, showing how many kids they have and what gender they are, then add a sticker from the local elementary school as well. So, you have just notified the world that you have X number of young children, what school they go to, and what town you live in. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Don’t get me wrong; I do know why people do it. They’re showing pride in their church, school, or even their family. I just think it’s poor OPSEC, at a minimum, and in some ways, dangerous.
Before I list my tips to being anonymous, here’s one word on the Internet. It was a game changer for privacy as we all know. Anyone who wants to can probably find me pretty easily, since a lot of public records are online for free or for a small fee. However, as one of my former co-workers said when we were discussing why we bothered taking privacy precautions as police officers, “Just because they can find it if they look hard enough, doesn’t mean we should give it to them for nothing.”
Being Anonymous:
1.Unlist your phone number. If you’re already listed, I don’t know how much this will do to remove what’s already out there. At a minimum, tell the phone company you don’t want your address listed. (Yes, you can do that!) My unlisted number costs me less than $5 per month. As a bonus, I almost never get telemarketing calls. If I’m asked in a store for my phone number, I tell them it’s unlisted or give them my cell number, which is not connected to my home.
2.Use a PO Box or UPS store mailbox. Yes, it’s a hassle to have to go somewhere other than the end of your driveway for mail. We actually do get some mail at our house, but we use the UPS store mailbox that I set up for a side business for most of our bills, checks, DMV paperwork, et cetera. It’s particularly helpful on the DMV paperwork. In the event my car gets stolen, the thieves won’t have my home address. In my state, the DMV is okay with a PO Box or UPS store address on the actual license or registration, as long as you provide them with your real street address for their records. Anytime I’m asked for my address, it’s the UPS Store one I give.
3.Skip the flashy clothes or ones with controversial statements. One of the things I liked about being a cop was wearing a uniform. There was no picking out clothes everyday. Then I made detective and had to pick out clothes (and a tie!) everyday. Now that I’m retired, I wear mostly earth tones, nothing that screams tactical (i.e. “shoot me first” in a robbery), and either work boots or hikers. Before I was a cop, I was obsessed with police hats, sweatshirts, et cetera. Not long after I got on the job, I realized that not everyone actually likes the police, so that came to an end quickly. I have participated in events like praying the rosary outside Planned Parenthood without having to wear the t-shirt that goes along with it. I don’t wear shirts that advocate gun rights, but I could still go to a gun rights rally. I don’t think being anonymous keeps you from exercising your rights; it just doesn’t need to be on the shirt you wear.
4.Keep stickers and magnets off the car. Similar to above, I don’t put stickers or magnets on my car that state my political beliefs either. Similar to the family type magnets or what school my kid goes to, no one needs to guess that I’m probably carrying a gun because I have five NRA stickers on my bumper. While we’re at it, maybe take off that license plate frame the dealer loves to put on every car they sell. First of all, why am I giving them free advertising? Secondly, no one needs to know where you got your car, since most of us buy them near where we live.
5.Don’t drive a flashy, distinctive car. Speaking of cars, driving a flashy or distinctive car is definitely anti-anonymity. After I retired from law enforcement, I was a private investigator for a few years. At that time, we just happened to own a navy minivan that was about eight years old and a grey Ford sedan that was about the same age. Talk about perfect cars for PI work! I spent many hours in the back of the minivan, seats folded flat, sitting on a lawn chair, watching worker’s compensation scammers ply their trade. When I wasn’t on surveillance, the Ford was great for riding around in to conduct interviews or accident investigations. If I drove a lifted Ford F-150 with 35” mudders on it, I probably would not be too successful at sneaking around. Which car are people going to remember driving down their street?
6.Avoid publicity as much as possible. As stated above, it’s much harder in the Internet age to do so than it was when I was growing up. My name still appears online in regards to some old cases I worked on and in things related to my old department. There’s nothing I can do about that. However, when I was invited to appear as an audience member on a national TV show in regards to the gun control debate, I politely declined.
7.Recognize that some times you will be exposed. No matter how hard you try to be anonymous, it’s very difficult and sometimes you’ll be identified through no fault of your own. My wife joined a local organization and became its president after a few years. Unbeknownst to her until a year or so after her term was up, the national organization that oversees the locals had put all of the officer’s names, addresses, and phone numbers online! This was prior to our PI business being up and running, and it was during the time where we had moved away from the area where our PO Box was and we were only getting mail at our house. I think she was more upset than I was, mostly because her job sometimes requires her to deal with some angry people, so she wasn’t too keen on our address being so public. Again, we can’t control everything.
8.Don’t be completely forthcoming when talking to people you don’t know. As an introvert, I don’t have too much problem with this, since I don’t spend much time engaged in conversation with strangers. But, even if you are an extroverted type of person, try to avoid giving your life story to everyone you meet. Most people are just being polite when they ask where you live or what you do and don’t have any evil motives. Even then, it doesn’t mean you have to give out your address. Even now, to people I meet who may ask, I generalize where I live by describing its close relation to the next town over, but that description is pretty broad in reality. I can always tell someone more about myself later if necessary, but I can’t “untell” them anything once it’s out of my mouth.
9.Don’t attract attention to yourself by being the big mouth at the event or the one who is complaining loudly about some perceived bad treatment you received. This doesn’t mean not to complain if it’s warranted; just don’t make a big scene when it’s not necessary (and it’s usually not). In this day and age, you can bet your tirade will be on YouTube or someone’s Facebook page as soon as you’re done ranting.
10.Don’t post anything online using your real name. I often see people posting on various websites with what appear to be real names and in some cases definitely are. I used to read one investigation related website that required real names! Note I said “read” as I would never have posted there or anywhere else with my real name. Some people claim it makes it harder for people to hide behind their pen names, which is probably true, but it’s also dumb. Luckily, Survival Blog allows and encourages us to use pseudonyms when posting.
11.Get a shredder. We have had a shredder for many years, since way before they became really popular. Currently we have a small Fellowes brand shredder that cross cuts, which is way better than the old strip style shredding. Now they make ones that micro shred, which is even smaller than cross cutting.
12.Don’t use social media. If you’ve read Survival Blog for any amount of time, you are probably aware of social media and its downfalls. Facebook is notoriously bad at maintaining its users’ privacy. Don’t do it!
13.Turn off GPS tracking. I always keep my GPS software turned off on my phone and digital camera. One of my cop buddies used to tease me by telling me that I thought I was so important that someone would track me. I didn’t think that, but with the NSA listening to regular American’s phone calls, who knows who’s watching us anymore? Again, don’t give it away.
14.Select an Internet birth date. I have what I call an “Internet birthday”, which is not my real birthday. If something on the Internet requires my birthdate, it’s my Internet birthday that I put down. Make it something you’ll remember easily but that’s close enough to your own that you don’t make yourself too much younger or older. Also, be careful where you use it. I once used it for a particular company where I didn’t think it really mattered and then months later when trying to verify who I was the rep asked me for my birthday. I forgot I had used my Internet birthday. Oops! Luckily I was able to identify myself in other ways, but be more careful than I was. Plus, I get to admonish my family every year when no one wishes me a Happy Internet Birthday on that day!
15.Finally, don’t be paranoid. This probably sounds ironic, coming from someone who just described all of the things he does to remain anonymous, but as stated earlier, you can’t control everything. I used to do crime prevention surveys for residents of the town where I was a police officer. One of the things I used to tell our residents was, “if for some reason, someone wants to get into your house (as opposed to any house), they will, regardless of what you do.”
I hope this has been helpful to you in your quest to keep you and your family safe. I truly believe anonymity is an important part of being prepared.
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Being Anonymous, by Spotlight
As posted on the Survival Blog.
I walked out onto the driveway to greet my wife as she backed the car in, arriving home from a long day at work. Right away, I noticed a magnet on the back of the car, proclaiming us to be members of our church, complete with our town name. “What’s up with that?” I said, looking at the magnet, as she got out of the car. She laughed and said the pastor of our church had put it on there when he saw her in the parking lot. I think she had laughed because she knew what I was going to say next , “That won’t make it until bedtime!” (It didn’t.) When I got into preparedness, I came across the “grey man” theory at some point. Reading it, I realized that I fit the profile, for the most part. I think of it more in the sense of being anonymous, but it’s close enough. The grey man theory is the idea of remaining unnoticed in general and not standing out, not being the one on television who’s being interviewed in regard to some controversial position, not being the guy everyone noticed because of his loud mouth or loud clothing, and that sort of thing.
I have actually been fairly anonymous all of my life, although I didn’t realize it until more recently. You know how some people are very noticeable? Do you know how everyone takes notice when they walk in a room, people talk about them when they’re not in the room, and everyone generally remembers what they said? I am the opposite. It never really dawned on me for most of my life. I’ve always been an introvert, always being more comfortable alone than in a group. In school I always had one or two close friends and never really a big group of them, despite being on numerous sports teams.
When I grew up, I became a police officer in the small town I grew up in. After a few years, I was promoted to detective and spent the rest of my career in that role, which I really enjoyed.
Since I was a cop in the town I grew up in, which as I mentioned was a small town at that, I was particularly careful about telling people where I lived and even more so after I got married and had a family to protect. People think that only big city cops have to worry about retaliation from criminals, when in fact I suspect that it is much more prevalent against small town cops. We’re a lot easier to find, since most big city cops I ran into didn’t live in the cities they patrolled. Those of us in the small towns tend to have repeat contact with the same criminals, and it’s easier to run into a small town cop on a force of 50 or less on purpose, than to find some cop in a city of thousands. On the occasion people asked me where I lived, depending on who they were (i.e. criminal or non-criminal), I either flat-out lied (to the criminals) and named a city where we had looked for houses so I could be somewhat knowledgeable of the area or was vague enough (to the non-criminals) so that it sounded like I had answered but really hadn’t told them much. In addition to being careful what I told people, I had an unlisted phone number and a PO box to get my mail, which was necessary since we first lived in an apartment with no direct mail service. The PO box just became another layer of security after we moved.
As I got into prepping and became familiar with the grey man concept, I realized that I had been born a “grey man” to some degree. For some reason, I am really good with names and faces, but no one seems to remember mine, even people I have met on more than one occasion. Perhaps it’s because of my introverted nature that I am not “rememberable” to people, but I have always found it somewhat humorous to go up to someone I met once or twice, call them by name, and watch as I see them looking confused as to who I am or why they know me while we talk. (I’ve often told my family that men are lucky. We can call each other “buddy”, “pal”, “boss”, and the always flattering “chief”, and no one is the wiser as to the fact that we have no idea who this guy is that we’re talking to!)
So, let’s get back to the car magnet my wife received. Why on earth anyone would drive around with a sign saying where they worship (and probably live) on the back of their car? It’s like those family magnets people put on their car, showing how many kids they have and what gender they are, then add a sticker from the local elementary school as well. So, you have just notified the world that you have X number of young children, what school they go to, and what town you live in. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Don’t get me wrong; I do know why people do it. They’re showing pride in their church, school, or even their family. I just think it’s poor OPSEC, at a minimum, and in some ways, dangerous.
Before I list my tips to being anonymous, here’s one word on the Internet. It was a game changer for privacy as we all know. Anyone who wants to can probably find me pretty easily, since a lot of public records are online for free or for a small fee. However, as one of my former co-workers said when we were discussing why we bothered taking privacy precautions as police officers, “Just because they can find it if they look hard enough, doesn’t mean we should give it to them for nothing.”
Being Anonymous:
1.Unlist your phone number. If you’re already listed, I don’t know how much this will do to remove what’s already out there. At a minimum, tell the phone company you don’t want your address listed. (Yes, you can do that!) My unlisted number costs me less than $5 per month. As a bonus, I almost never get telemarketing calls. If I’m asked in a store for my phone number, I tell them it’s unlisted or give them my cell number, which is not connected to my home.
2.Use a PO Box or UPS store mailbox. Yes, it’s a hassle to have to go somewhere other than the end of your driveway for mail. We actually do get some mail at our house, but we use the UPS store mailbox that I set up for a side business for most of our bills, checks, DMV paperwork, et cetera. It’s particularly helpful on the DMV paperwork. In the event my car gets stolen, the thieves won’t have my home address. In my state, the DMV is okay with a PO Box or UPS store address on the actual license or registration, as long as you provide them with your real street address for their records. Anytime I’m asked for my address, it’s the UPS Store one I give.
3.Skip the flashy clothes or ones with controversial statements. One of the things I liked about being a cop was wearing a uniform. There was no picking out clothes everyday. Then I made detective and had to pick out clothes (and a tie!) everyday. Now that I’m retired, I wear mostly earth tones, nothing that screams tactical (i.e. “shoot me first” in a robbery), and either work boots or hikers. Before I was a cop, I was obsessed with police hats, sweatshirts, et cetera. Not long after I got on the job, I realized that not everyone actually likes the police, so that came to an end quickly. I have participated in events like praying the rosary outside Planned Parenthood without having to wear the t-shirt that goes along with it. I don’t wear shirts that advocate gun rights, but I could still go to a gun rights rally. I don’t think being anonymous keeps you from exercising your rights; it just doesn’t need to be on the shirt you wear.
4.Keep stickers and magnets off the car. Similar to above, I don’t put stickers or magnets on my car that state my political beliefs either. Similar to the family type magnets or what school my kid goes to, no one needs to guess that I’m probably carrying a gun because I have five NRA stickers on my bumper. While we’re at it, maybe take off that license plate frame the dealer loves to put on every car they sell. First of all, why am I giving them free advertising? Secondly, no one needs to know where you got your car, since most of us buy them near where we live.
5.Don’t drive a flashy, distinctive car. Speaking of cars, driving a flashy or distinctive car is definitely anti-anonymity. After I retired from law enforcement, I was a private investigator for a few years. At that time, we just happened to own a navy minivan that was about eight years old and a grey Ford sedan that was about the same age. Talk about perfect cars for PI work! I spent many hours in the back of the minivan, seats folded flat, sitting on a lawn chair, watching worker’s compensation scammers ply their trade. When I wasn’t on surveillance, the Ford was great for riding around in to conduct interviews or accident investigations. If I drove a lifted Ford F-150 with 35” mudders on it, I probably would not be too successful at sneaking around. Which car are people going to remember driving down their street?
6.Avoid publicity as much as possible. As stated above, it’s much harder in the Internet age to do so than it was when I was growing up. My name still appears online in regards to some old cases I worked on and in things related to my old department. There’s nothing I can do about that. However, when I was invited to appear as an audience member on a national TV show in regards to the gun control debate, I politely declined.
7.Recognize that some times you will be exposed. No matter how hard you try to be anonymous, it’s very difficult and sometimes you’ll be identified through no fault of your own. My wife joined a local organization and became its president after a few years. Unbeknownst to her until a year or so after her term was up, the national organization that oversees the locals had put all of the officer’s names, addresses, and phone numbers online! This was prior to our PI business being up and running, and it was during the time where we had moved away from the area where our PO Box was and we were only getting mail at our house. I think she was more upset than I was, mostly because her job sometimes requires her to deal with some angry people, so she wasn’t too keen on our address being so public. Again, we can’t control everything.
8.Don’t be completely forthcoming when talking to people you don’t know. As an introvert, I don’t have too much problem with this, since I don’t spend much time engaged in conversation with strangers. But, even if you are an extroverted type of person, try to avoid giving your life story to everyone you meet. Most people are just being polite when they ask where you live or what you do and don’t have any evil motives. Even then, it doesn’t mean you have to give out your address. Even now, to people I meet who may ask, I generalize where I live by describing its close relation to the next town over, but that description is pretty broad in reality. I can always tell someone more about myself later if necessary, but I can’t “untell” them anything once it’s out of my mouth.
9.Don’t attract attention to yourself by being the big mouth at the event or the one who is complaining loudly about some perceived bad treatment you received. This doesn’t mean not to complain if it’s warranted; just don’t make a big scene when it’s not necessary (and it’s usually not). In this day and age, you can bet your tirade will be on YouTube or someone’s Facebook page as soon as you’re done ranting.
10.Don’t post anything online using your real name. I often see people posting on various websites with what appear to be real names and in some cases definitely are. I used to read one investigation related website that required real names! Note I said “read” as I would never have posted there or anywhere else with my real name. Some people claim it makes it harder for people to hide behind their pen names, which is probably true, but it’s also dumb. Luckily, Survival Blog allows and encourages us to use pseudonyms when posting.
11.Get a shredder. We have had a shredder for many years, since way before they became really popular. Currently we have a small Fellowes brand shredder that cross cuts, which is way better than the old strip style shredding. Now they make ones that micro shred, which is even smaller than cross cutting.
12.Don’t use social media. If you’ve read Survival Blog for any amount of time, you are probably aware of social media and its downfalls. Facebook is notoriously bad at maintaining its users’ privacy. Don’t do it!
13.Turn off GPS tracking. I always keep my GPS software turned off on my phone and digital camera. One of my cop buddies used to tease me by telling me that I thought I was so important that someone would track me. I didn’t think that, but with the NSA listening to regular American’s phone calls, who knows who’s watching us anymore? Again, don’t give it away.
14.Select an Internet birth date. I have what I call an “Internet birthday”, which is not my real birthday. If something on the Internet requires my birthdate, it’s my Internet birthday that I put down. Make it something you’ll remember easily but that’s close enough to your own that you don’t make yourself too much younger or older. Also, be careful where you use it. I once used it for a particular company where I didn’t think it really mattered and then months later when trying to verify who I was the rep asked me for my birthday. I forgot I had used my Internet birthday. Oops! Luckily I was able to identify myself in other ways, but be more careful than I was. Plus, I get to admonish my family every year when no one wishes me a Happy Internet Birthday on that day!
15.Finally, don’t be paranoid. This probably sounds ironic, coming from someone who just described all of the things he does to remain anonymous, but as stated earlier, you can’t control everything. I used to do crime prevention surveys for residents of the town where I was a police officer. One of the things I used to tell our residents was, “if for some reason, someone wants to get into your house (as opposed to any house), they will, regardless of what you do.”
I hope this has been helpful to you in your quest to keep you and your family safe. I truly believe anonymity is an important part of being prepared.
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Tme off for Christmas Holiday
I want to apologize now, but I will not be posting on the blog between 23-27 December. I hope you guys understand how important recognizing the birth of our Savior is. I am a man of devout faith, and so is my family, so we will be spending family time together and visiting relatives.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
4th Generation Warfare (4GW)
First off I wanted to say HOOYA! We have reached a benchmark today!!! 100 Posts and still kicking, actually picking up steam! Thanks to all of you that swing by hear, and especially to those who join the blog to follow it.
This is a very important topic for you patriots that someday will be called upon to defend your nation.
The link below is to a draft of FMFM 1 A on Fourth Generation War, it is a good read, so please open it up, read it, print it, give it to your buddies.
LINK TO DOCUMENT
The role that we will play, when called on to do so will be as Light Infantry in an "Asymmetrical War". We will not be "Heavy Infantry" like the Marine Corps and Army are today. Our military today has gone away from the traditional role of light infantry. Now our troops are heavily laden with all kinds of stuff that really takes them out of the light infantry mode. They also have developed a dependence on fire support, such as artillery, and air power, that we will not have in our fight.
A good example of true light infantry are the insurgents in the big sand box. They travel light, carrying an AK, a couple of mags, a little food and water, and that is about it. We may not want to go to that extreme, but we need to take a look at our kit and ensure that it is a load that we can carry through the worst terrain, under the worst conditions for extended periods of time and still maintain the ability to engage our enemies effectively.
Here is another great source of information for your training. It is a PDF about mountain warfare, from which we can learn a lot, and train ourselves to be much more effective since the fight will inevitably end up in the mountains. I really like the idea of modeling groups after the German Alpine Troops (Jaeger's), the idea of lighter equipped, self contained units that are capable to operate without support for extended periods of time, far from support. This is the model we will have to adopt if we want to be successful.
Mountain Warfare
Hopefully you guys will be taking this to heart and incorporating tactics of light infantry, and guerilla warfare into your training. (Hopefully you are training in the first place!)
Please take this stuff to heart, and think about how it will help you and your guys, train on it, learn it, study it. We need to be able to operate in a variety of modes during the up coming difficult times. We need to be as prepared as we can be, and be ready to do our best.
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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This is a very important topic for you patriots that someday will be called upon to defend your nation.
The link below is to a draft of FMFM 1 A on Fourth Generation War, it is a good read, so please open it up, read it, print it, give it to your buddies.
LINK TO DOCUMENT
The role that we will play, when called on to do so will be as Light Infantry in an "Asymmetrical War". We will not be "Heavy Infantry" like the Marine Corps and Army are today. Our military today has gone away from the traditional role of light infantry. Now our troops are heavily laden with all kinds of stuff that really takes them out of the light infantry mode. They also have developed a dependence on fire support, such as artillery, and air power, that we will not have in our fight.
A good example of true light infantry are the insurgents in the big sand box. They travel light, carrying an AK, a couple of mags, a little food and water, and that is about it. We may not want to go to that extreme, but we need to take a look at our kit and ensure that it is a load that we can carry through the worst terrain, under the worst conditions for extended periods of time and still maintain the ability to engage our enemies effectively.
Here is another great source of information for your training. It is a PDF about mountain warfare, from which we can learn a lot, and train ourselves to be much more effective since the fight will inevitably end up in the mountains. I really like the idea of modeling groups after the German Alpine Troops (Jaeger's), the idea of lighter equipped, self contained units that are capable to operate without support for extended periods of time, far from support. This is the model we will have to adopt if we want to be successful.
Mountain Warfare
Hopefully you guys will be taking this to heart and incorporating tactics of light infantry, and guerilla warfare into your training. (Hopefully you are training in the first place!)
Please take this stuff to heart, and think about how it will help you and your guys, train on it, learn it, study it. We need to be able to operate in a variety of modes during the up coming difficult times. We need to be as prepared as we can be, and be ready to do our best.
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Monday, December 21, 2015
Contact from Multiple Firing Points
I noticed this article by Max and thought it would be really good information to pass on to the people that read this blog. I hope you do not mind, but this is an article and video from Max Velocity.
Contact from Multiple Firing Points
Posted by Max Velocity in Tactical Comment, Uncategorized on December 16 2015
I sometimes get questions about Break Contact Drills, and what to do if the contact is from multiple directions. We do practice some scenarios like this on the Combat Patrol (CP) class, which take the drills beyond what we do on the Combat Team Tactics (CTT) Class. There are really two types of break contact drills:
1) Patrol immediate action drills, that happen automatically to the call of contact (direction). These drills are briefed /rehearsed as SOP prior to departing on the patrol.
2) Squad/platoon leader decision to break contact depending on the situation.
In the case of (1), the implementation of the immediate break contact drill does not preclude the leader stepping in and changing the plan once the drill has begun to flow, and in the light of a developing situation. In the case of (2) the drill does not occur until decided upon by the leader, in line with a plan developed as a result of a combat estimate (on the fly). An example would be an attempted hasty attack that becomes bogged due to an incorrect assessment of enemy strength, when a break contact may be called.
Given ‘a video paints a thousand words’ I am posting the video below, which illustrates a number of these points, and shows how a section commander (squad leader) will react to the developing situation. This is not a ‘break contact drill’ per se, it is in fact an attempt to reduce the enemy within the framework of a developing contact. However, you can see illustrated some of the techniques of maneuver and break contact, such as the peel, being put to use to maneuver on the battlefield.
You can see the contact develop from multiple directions and how the section commander (great job by the young leader) maneuvers his section (squad) as the situation develops. This relies on the training of his men so they all know what he means when he wants them to maneuver. In this way, basic fire and movement drills, such as bounding and peeling, are used to maneuver the squad to various parts of the battlefield both into and out of contact.
The video also gives a general impression of the range, pace and feeling of these types of situations. It is not all 100mph with massive amounts of enemy fire coming at you. There is time to think. The importance is in maintaining momentum by continuing suppressive fire as you maneuver. I often stress one of the hardest things to do is locate the enemy. You see this in the video, in particular where new firing points open up. You cannot suppress until you can locate, and then put accurate fire down onto the enemy to change his behavior (suppress him).
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Contact from Multiple Firing Points
Posted by Max Velocity in Tactical Comment, Uncategorized on December 16 2015
I sometimes get questions about Break Contact Drills, and what to do if the contact is from multiple directions. We do practice some scenarios like this on the Combat Patrol (CP) class, which take the drills beyond what we do on the Combat Team Tactics (CTT) Class. There are really two types of break contact drills:
1) Patrol immediate action drills, that happen automatically to the call of contact (direction). These drills are briefed /rehearsed as SOP prior to departing on the patrol.
2) Squad/platoon leader decision to break contact depending on the situation.
In the case of (1), the implementation of the immediate break contact drill does not preclude the leader stepping in and changing the plan once the drill has begun to flow, and in the light of a developing situation. In the case of (2) the drill does not occur until decided upon by the leader, in line with a plan developed as a result of a combat estimate (on the fly). An example would be an attempted hasty attack that becomes bogged due to an incorrect assessment of enemy strength, when a break contact may be called.
Given ‘a video paints a thousand words’ I am posting the video below, which illustrates a number of these points, and shows how a section commander (squad leader) will react to the developing situation. This is not a ‘break contact drill’ per se, it is in fact an attempt to reduce the enemy within the framework of a developing contact. However, you can see illustrated some of the techniques of maneuver and break contact, such as the peel, being put to use to maneuver on the battlefield.
You can see the contact develop from multiple directions and how the section commander (great job by the young leader) maneuvers his section (squad) as the situation develops. This relies on the training of his men so they all know what he means when he wants them to maneuver. In this way, basic fire and movement drills, such as bounding and peeling, are used to maneuver the squad to various parts of the battlefield both into and out of contact.
The video also gives a general impression of the range, pace and feeling of these types of situations. It is not all 100mph with massive amounts of enemy fire coming at you. There is time to think. The importance is in maintaining momentum by continuing suppressive fire as you maneuver. I often stress one of the hardest things to do is locate the enemy. You see this in the video, in particular where new firing points open up. You cannot suppress until you can locate, and then put accurate fire down onto the enemy to change his behavior (suppress him).
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Friday, December 18, 2015
What is your "Red Line"?
I am just thinking out loud here (well, thinking and typing actually, lol) and I was wondering to myself where my "Red Line" is? What I mean is what has to happen for me to "Go Active". I am ready and standing by for when I will be needed (I have no doubt that that day will come), but when are we going to stand up and restore this nation to it's former glory? I am sure we all have our individual "Red Lines", but we need to think about what has all ready happened, and continues to happen.
Our government defiantly falls into the category of "Tyrannical", but if that is the case, why have we not stood up yet? We need to find a point of no return, then be willing to stand up TOGETHER! If we do not stand up together then they will win, and we will be labeled as "Right Wing Extremists", and thrown in jail, or shot by "Law Enforcement" personnel while "Resisting Arrest".
I know that most Patriots will agree that door to door gun confiscations is a definite "Red Line", but what else is to you? I know I am just rambling here, but bear with me, I know this topic is important, and I want you to really think about it.
I know one thing, and that is that we need to have our kit ready to go, and we need to be as trained up as possible so that we are ready to go at a moments notice! We need to be there for our nation when she needs us! Please have your 1st line, 2nd line, and 3rd line gear ready to go, have your magazines loaded, have your vehicles gassed up (do not ever let your fuel drop below 1/2 tank in case you have to get out of dodge), have your contact numbers, frequencies ready to go, ensure you are training on a regular basis, and that you are working on your physical fitness so you are ready to go!
What about the UN Arms Treaty, the TPP, the Globalist agenda, and any other thing that threatens our sovereignty? I feel very strongly about defending our sovereignty, and our national identity! I know that most (hopefully all) people that read this blog agree with me about this. I know you guys and gals are good people that will stand up and do the right thing when you are needed. Just remember this is not just about sitting behind a keyboard in our nice warms comfortable houses, this is about being highly trained under all conditions.
Please think about this, and be ready for when you are needed!
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Our government defiantly falls into the category of "Tyrannical", but if that is the case, why have we not stood up yet? We need to find a point of no return, then be willing to stand up TOGETHER! If we do not stand up together then they will win, and we will be labeled as "Right Wing Extremists", and thrown in jail, or shot by "Law Enforcement" personnel while "Resisting Arrest".
I know that most Patriots will agree that door to door gun confiscations is a definite "Red Line", but what else is to you? I know I am just rambling here, but bear with me, I know this topic is important, and I want you to really think about it.
I know one thing, and that is that we need to have our kit ready to go, and we need to be as trained up as possible so that we are ready to go at a moments notice! We need to be there for our nation when she needs us! Please have your 1st line, 2nd line, and 3rd line gear ready to go, have your magazines loaded, have your vehicles gassed up (do not ever let your fuel drop below 1/2 tank in case you have to get out of dodge), have your contact numbers, frequencies ready to go, ensure you are training on a regular basis, and that you are working on your physical fitness so you are ready to go!
What about the UN Arms Treaty, the TPP, the Globalist agenda, and any other thing that threatens our sovereignty? I feel very strongly about defending our sovereignty, and our national identity! I know that most (hopefully all) people that read this blog agree with me about this. I know you guys and gals are good people that will stand up and do the right thing when you are needed. Just remember this is not just about sitting behind a keyboard in our nice warms comfortable houses, this is about being highly trained under all conditions.
Please think about this, and be ready for when you are needed!
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Thursday, December 17, 2015
American Redoubt Concept
I do not know if any of you have heard about the American Redoubt, but it is a great concept. The idea is for a safe haven area for "The Emerging Safe Haven and Refuge for God-Fearing, Liberty-Loving Patriots." to have an area to move to, to be around like minded people.
The Redoubt consists of Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
It is a great idea, and I highly recommend people think about moving their families there if you can. Imagine how much better life would be surrounded by like minded prepared people!
Here are some links for the American Redoubt stuff:
Radio Free Redoubt website
Radio Free Redoubt Podbean player
American Redoubt Radio Operators Network
Here is some information about it from the Survival Blog
Here are some words about the Redoubt from John Jacob Schmidt the host of Radio Free Redoubt.
More from JJS on the American Redoubt, in “John Jacob” terms:
Imagine the sea-level of the oceans rising at a rate of 50 feet in elevation per day … across the globe. Naturally, out of self-preservation, any creature in its right mind would be compelled to move to higher ground for safety.
No matter how persistent the efforts to build levies with bulldozers and fill sandbags, the waters rush in, over, and through every countermeasure. Eventually, the creatures congregate to safe havens and places of refuge.
Now think of the rising water in human societal and cultural terms. There has already been a shift of people moving to “higher ground,” socially speaking of course. Conservative, God-fearing men and women who love liberty and traditional American ideals are moving to safe havens and joining those already in places of refuge. The waters of Marxism, Communism, Socialism, Humanism, Existentialism, Globalism, Islamo-fascism, anti-Americanism, and
“Tolerance” are rising.
Christianity, Biblical doctrine and traditional American values are under attack from an increasingly hostile and intolerant “ism” culture.
Most certainly one of the most significant demographic shifts in the United States today is the movement of people with fundamental American and Judeo-Christian value systems moving into the inland Pacific Northwest. Particularly, this retreat to higher ground encompasses Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Eastern Washington.
It’s hardly visible, as a strong current under the surface. But it’s there. That, my friends, is the American Redoubt. A stronghold. A safe haven. A refuge.
-JJS
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
The Redoubt consists of Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
It is a great idea, and I highly recommend people think about moving their families there if you can. Imagine how much better life would be surrounded by like minded prepared people!
Here are some links for the American Redoubt stuff:
Radio Free Redoubt website
Radio Free Redoubt Podbean player
American Redoubt Radio Operators Network
Here is some information about it from the Survival Blog
Here are some words about the Redoubt from John Jacob Schmidt the host of Radio Free Redoubt.
More from JJS on the American Redoubt, in “John Jacob” terms:
Imagine the sea-level of the oceans rising at a rate of 50 feet in elevation per day … across the globe. Naturally, out of self-preservation, any creature in its right mind would be compelled to move to higher ground for safety.
No matter how persistent the efforts to build levies with bulldozers and fill sandbags, the waters rush in, over, and through every countermeasure. Eventually, the creatures congregate to safe havens and places of refuge.
Now think of the rising water in human societal and cultural terms. There has already been a shift of people moving to “higher ground,” socially speaking of course. Conservative, God-fearing men and women who love liberty and traditional American ideals are moving to safe havens and joining those already in places of refuge. The waters of Marxism, Communism, Socialism, Humanism, Existentialism, Globalism, Islamo-fascism, anti-Americanism, and
“Tolerance” are rising.
Christianity, Biblical doctrine and traditional American values are under attack from an increasingly hostile and intolerant “ism” culture.
Most certainly one of the most significant demographic shifts in the United States today is the movement of people with fundamental American and Judeo-Christian value systems moving into the inland Pacific Northwest. Particularly, this retreat to higher ground encompasses Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Eastern Washington.
It’s hardly visible, as a strong current under the surface. But it’s there. That, my friends, is the American Redoubt. A stronghold. A safe haven. A refuge.
-JJS
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
Monday, December 14, 2015
To be part of the solution
Fellow patriots; I hope that you are wanting to be part of the solution when things go bad (SHTF/WROL/TEOTWAKI). This means that we need to be prepared not only tactically, but also with our food/water/medical/sustainable items we have.
We need to ensure that we have adequate food storage for ourselves and our families (preferably 1 year, but at least 3-6 months) water storage (at least 1 gallon per person for at least a couple of months) medical gear that is adequate to stabilize all but the worst injuries, and last but not least Non-GMO/Organic/Heirloom seeds to maintain a sustainable living plan. I have not mentioned the topics I am usually concentrating on in this blog which is the tactical aspect of preparedness, due to that topic being covered by other posts. The main purpose with this post is to get people thinking of the other things it will take to keep them alive, and enable them to be part of the solution.
If we do not prepare well across the board then we may end up being part of the problem, which is when people start roving around and trying to take what they need from others. Also if you are not prepared and equipped you will not be able to be ready and available when you are needed to come to the aid of our nation during the restoration.
We really need to train on other topics of which the single most important thing we can train on other than tactics, is communications. We should all really be trying our hardest to get HAM radio licenses, and to own and practice with them. If we cannot communicate with the people around us, or with our group members, or with other groups, then we are severely inhibiting our ability to be the best we can be. Also we need to get other methods of communications such as CB/FRS/GMRS. If you have not checked out AmRRON yet, then you need to, this is the basis of a great communications network that would be a great aid to us in the patriot movement.
Click on AmRRON to go to the site: AmRRON
Gardening will be a great resource for us to be able to feed ourselves over what might become a long term period of turmoil in our nation and around the world. Here is a great system of gardening I have found and plan on using at my house, and at my retreat cabin.
Mittleider Gardening Method This is a great way of gardening that increases production, grows very nutritious food, and makes harvesting much easier.
I highly recommend taking some medical classes also. Take as many as you can, CERT is a good source of getting training such as this, as well as many other good topics that would be of use to us.
The point of this post is to get us all thinking of becoming well rounded if we are not already. We need to be ready for as much as we can. I know we do not have tons of disposable money, and we have lives to live also, and work to go to, but if we all do just a little more, then we will be that much better off. I hope this sinks in, and helps someone, if this only helps one person, then I will be very happy. The more people that are really prepared the more of a chance we will have to restore our great nation to it's former glory and to overcome the forces aligned against us.
For any gear you need check HERE
We need to ensure that we have adequate food storage for ourselves and our families (preferably 1 year, but at least 3-6 months) water storage (at least 1 gallon per person for at least a couple of months) medical gear that is adequate to stabilize all but the worst injuries, and last but not least Non-GMO/Organic/Heirloom seeds to maintain a sustainable living plan. I have not mentioned the topics I am usually concentrating on in this blog which is the tactical aspect of preparedness, due to that topic being covered by other posts. The main purpose with this post is to get people thinking of the other things it will take to keep them alive, and enable them to be part of the solution.
If we do not prepare well across the board then we may end up being part of the problem, which is when people start roving around and trying to take what they need from others. Also if you are not prepared and equipped you will not be able to be ready and available when you are needed to come to the aid of our nation during the restoration.
We really need to train on other topics of which the single most important thing we can train on other than tactics, is communications. We should all really be trying our hardest to get HAM radio licenses, and to own and practice with them. If we cannot communicate with the people around us, or with our group members, or with other groups, then we are severely inhibiting our ability to be the best we can be. Also we need to get other methods of communications such as CB/FRS/GMRS. If you have not checked out AmRRON yet, then you need to, this is the basis of a great communications network that would be a great aid to us in the patriot movement.
Click on AmRRON to go to the site: AmRRON
Gardening will be a great resource for us to be able to feed ourselves over what might become a long term period of turmoil in our nation and around the world. Here is a great system of gardening I have found and plan on using at my house, and at my retreat cabin.
Mittleider Gardening Method This is a great way of gardening that increases production, grows very nutritious food, and makes harvesting much easier.
I highly recommend taking some medical classes also. Take as many as you can, CERT is a good source of getting training such as this, as well as many other good topics that would be of use to us.
The point of this post is to get us all thinking of becoming well rounded if we are not already. We need to be ready for as much as we can. I know we do not have tons of disposable money, and we have lives to live also, and work to go to, but if we all do just a little more, then we will be that much better off. I hope this sinks in, and helps someone, if this only helps one person, then I will be very happy. The more people that are really prepared the more of a chance we will have to restore our great nation to it's former glory and to overcome the forces aligned against us.
For any gear you need check HERE
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Political views quiz
I just found a great site where you can answer a bunch of questions about your political views and then the site will tell you who you are closely aligned with as far as the candidates go. It will tell you which areas of the country think like you do, as well as a bunch of other stuff. I had a lot of fun answering the questions; one thing though, make sure you click the more questions link at the bottom of each category until you have answered all the questions, you will get better results this way.
Here is the link: I Side With
Once done you can click on the "Party" tab on top of the page to see how you align with the various parties. It will also tell you your ideology. (I am a "Right Wing Libertarian")
Here is my results of how I align with the different political parties. (It does not show the last party (Socialist) of which I was 8%)
Here is the link: I Side With
Once done you can click on the "Party" tab on top of the page to see how you align with the various parties. It will also tell you your ideology. (I am a "Right Wing Libertarian")
Here is my results of how I align with the different political parties. (It does not show the last party (Socialist) of which I was 8%)
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Tactical Fitness
Okay guys and gals, to be effective at providing for, and protecting or families, communities, and nation we need to be at a certain level of fitness. I know this is a tough thing to do with everything we already do in our daily lives, but come on, is it important to be physically capable of taking care of your family during a "bad" situation.
With that said, I challenge you to step up your game, ensuring that you can be part of the solution during a SHTF situation. Without the ability to carry your gear across miles of wooded/mountainous terrain you will be very limited to where and how far you can go. This puts you and yours at risk.
I recommend that everyone work out at least 30 min a day 4 days a week, then work up to more. You should get to the point where you can carry all your gear (Battle Belt, Plate Carrier/Chest Rig, and Ruck/Pack) for at least 5 miles.
Being from a military background I know that you do not need a bunch of fancy equipment or a gym to workout. The following are exercises I recommend doing on a weekly basis.
Running/Jogging
TABing (Tactical Advance to Battle) this is where you put on a pack weighing at least 30 lbs (less if you have to)and sort of shuffle run, not a full out run, but not a walk either.
Walking with gear on
Pushups (Shoulder width, Wide and Narrow)
Pull ups (Shoulder width, Wide and Narrow, forward grip and reverse grip)
Dips (Body width, and Wide)
Lunges
Lunge walk
Flutter Kicks
Leg Lifts
Crunches
Plank
Plank walk
Low Crawl
Scissor Kicks
Sun Gods (arms out to side, in front, and above head, small circles, large circles, forward and reverse)
Squats
8 count Body Builders (standing drop to ground 1 do a pushup down 2 up 3 jump your legs out to the side 4 jump your legs back 5, pushup down 6 up 7, stand 8 and repeat)
Rope climb
Walk up and down stairs
Curls with some kind of weight
I will add more information about this topic. Please add a comment at the bottom of this post if you have any input on this topic.
Bottom line is people, that we need to prepare our bodies as well as our souls, and store food, water, firearms, ammunition, medical equipment, seeds, etc... to be able to get through the up and coming difficult times.
Do you want to give yourself a better chance of survival? If you do WORK OUT!!!
With that said, I challenge you to step up your game, ensuring that you can be part of the solution during a SHTF situation. Without the ability to carry your gear across miles of wooded/mountainous terrain you will be very limited to where and how far you can go. This puts you and yours at risk.
I recommend that everyone work out at least 30 min a day 4 days a week, then work up to more. You should get to the point where you can carry all your gear (Battle Belt, Plate Carrier/Chest Rig, and Ruck/Pack) for at least 5 miles.
Being from a military background I know that you do not need a bunch of fancy equipment or a gym to workout. The following are exercises I recommend doing on a weekly basis.
Running/Jogging
TABing (Tactical Advance to Battle) this is where you put on a pack weighing at least 30 lbs (less if you have to)and sort of shuffle run, not a full out run, but not a walk either.
Walking with gear on
Pushups (Shoulder width, Wide and Narrow)
Pull ups (Shoulder width, Wide and Narrow, forward grip and reverse grip)
Dips (Body width, and Wide)
Lunges
Lunge walk
Flutter Kicks
Leg Lifts
Crunches
Plank
Plank walk
Low Crawl
Scissor Kicks
Sun Gods (arms out to side, in front, and above head, small circles, large circles, forward and reverse)
Squats
8 count Body Builders (standing drop to ground 1 do a pushup down 2 up 3 jump your legs out to the side 4 jump your legs back 5, pushup down 6 up 7, stand 8 and repeat)
Rope climb
Walk up and down stairs
Curls with some kind of weight
I will add more information about this topic. Please add a comment at the bottom of this post if you have any input on this topic.
Bottom line is people, that we need to prepare our bodies as well as our souls, and store food, water, firearms, ammunition, medical equipment, seeds, etc... to be able to get through the up and coming difficult times.
Do you want to give yourself a better chance of survival? If you do WORK OUT!!!
Friday, December 4, 2015
My sincere appologies
Hello everyone, sorry for the lack of posts. I am back now though and looking to really improve this blog. I will be making regular posts about preparedness, tactical training, firearms, fitness, gardening, water and food storage, and many other topics that will help you become ready for the coming troubled times.
We are also rebuilding our Amazon Store from scratch so be patient. We are going to try our best to get as many things as we can that you will need to become prepared, the best products we can find for the best prices we can get. We hope you will visit the Amazon Store, and order the things you need.
Link to the Store: The Tactical Patriot
We are also rebuilding our Amazon Store from scratch so be patient. We are going to try our best to get as many things as we can that you will need to become prepared, the best products we can find for the best prices we can get. We hope you will visit the Amazon Store, and order the things you need.
Link to the Store: The Tactical Patriot
Friday, October 4, 2013
Shooting from a down position
When it comes to practicing “Man Down Drills” or “Injured Man Drills”, we need to remember that we will not always be healthy and in the best position to engage.
I recommend that you practice this with something other than your firearm to begin with, I would start off using, blue guns or perhaps air soft or air guns before attempting to draw and fire at a live range from the ground. It is best to practice shooting from this position with both your primary and secondary weapon systems (Rifle and Handgun). Just as those positions prove to be accurate after getting used to them, gun handling from a weakened position is an acquired skill. These drills need to be performed in your tactical gear and kit, there is no need to have your pack on, but have all your other gear on, remember you have to train the way you fight, because you will fight the way you train.
The next level would be to practice drawing while headed to the ground instead of after the fact. Again, be extremely mindful of muzzle direction and safety at all times.
To learn how to fall properly, I would recommend at minimum a brief enrollment in a martial arts school specializing in Judo, jujitsu, Aikido, Hwa Rang Do or some of the more traditional martial arts which teach nothing but how to roll, fall and recover from the same for the first few weeks.
Drawing from the ground, shooting from the ground and even practicing how to fall and recover can reveal shortcomings about gear and training. For example, an open bottom holster may get caked in mud or snow; this could cause a malfunction or barrel obstruction, so if you only have an open bottom holster, think about placing some duct tape over the barrel, or do not worry about it.
The most advanced stage would be moving to an advantageous position or perhaps engaging targets not just in front but to the back and sides. This would require a very specific and purpose built range to accomplish that safely, but could be replicated with air soft or pellet guns as mentioned previous for safety’s sake.
The best thing to do to gain a higher level of proficiency is to get off your butt, go to a place you can do drills like this, and actually do them. Practice going to the ground, drawing, and shooting acuratly, perform mag changes, and engage targets from different directions. I know this is hard if not impossible to do at a range, but if your range will not let you do this, find a place in the woods you can, or just practice in your backyard, or living room with an unloaded gun. Remember, even if you cannot go full bore and actually shoot, do what you can, you will still be better off than if you did nothing.
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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I recommend that you practice this with something other than your firearm to begin with, I would start off using, blue guns or perhaps air soft or air guns before attempting to draw and fire at a live range from the ground. It is best to practice shooting from this position with both your primary and secondary weapon systems (Rifle and Handgun). Just as those positions prove to be accurate after getting used to them, gun handling from a weakened position is an acquired skill. These drills need to be performed in your tactical gear and kit, there is no need to have your pack on, but have all your other gear on, remember you have to train the way you fight, because you will fight the way you train.
The next level would be to practice drawing while headed to the ground instead of after the fact. Again, be extremely mindful of muzzle direction and safety at all times.
To learn how to fall properly, I would recommend at minimum a brief enrollment in a martial arts school specializing in Judo, jujitsu, Aikido, Hwa Rang Do or some of the more traditional martial arts which teach nothing but how to roll, fall and recover from the same for the first few weeks.
Drawing from the ground, shooting from the ground and even practicing how to fall and recover can reveal shortcomings about gear and training. For example, an open bottom holster may get caked in mud or snow; this could cause a malfunction or barrel obstruction, so if you only have an open bottom holster, think about placing some duct tape over the barrel, or do not worry about it.
The most advanced stage would be moving to an advantageous position or perhaps engaging targets not just in front but to the back and sides. This would require a very specific and purpose built range to accomplish that safely, but could be replicated with air soft or pellet guns as mentioned previous for safety’s sake.
The best thing to do to gain a higher level of proficiency is to get off your butt, go to a place you can do drills like this, and actually do them. Practice going to the ground, drawing, and shooting acuratly, perform mag changes, and engage targets from different directions. I know this is hard if not impossible to do at a range, but if your range will not let you do this, find a place in the woods you can, or just practice in your backyard, or living room with an unloaded gun. Remember, even if you cannot go full bore and actually shoot, do what you can, you will still be better off than if you did nothing.
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Bounding Over-Watch
The Bounding Over-Watch reinforces teamwork while moving toward an objective with limited cover. Essentially it is firing on the move and providing cover fire to help the team advance on the objective. To conduct it successfully a wide shooting range is needed of at least 100 yards. Ideally it is conducted with a four man fire team broken down into two groups, although this can be modified to suit your team or department's needs.
Initially, one of the teams will provide cover fire as the other team moves down range. It is important to maintain muzzle discipline at all times when conducting this drill. That means fingers off the trigger with safeties on, as the shooters on the other team may end up in front of you at times.
One two man team will shoot as the other team moves. Initially this can be done in increments of ten yards to develop a feel for it and to institute a level of safety. When the team moving reaches their destination, they alert the shooters that they are “Clear” and take up the task of providing cover until the other team passes them by ten yards.
The roles then switch back and forth until both teams are within 5 feet of the targets.
There is no firing across the range at any time in the interest of safety. Shooters should only engage targets directly in front of them.
It is equally important to vary range conditions with each session, so as not to build or train for complacency. Improvised pieces of cover can be used, such as pallets turned on their sides. In a real world situation, as officers are moving to a position of cover, the suppression fire is to provide them protection while on the move.
In military situations, this drill is conducted in the reverse as well by moving backward from the 10-yard line to the 100-yard line. This has limited use in police situations as the turning and traveling rapidly to the rear of the range is to simulate an egress or an escape.
If you conduct the rearward drill it is best to peel off to the outside. When moving, turn away from the team providing cover so that you never muzzle them with your weapon. Index your trigger finger, keep the muzzle down and safety on; at all times you want to keep as close to 180 degrees from them as possible.
This drill is the most effective way to practice moving over open ground while seeking the next piece of cover at all times. The Bounding Over-Watch is an essential drill to learn how to fight through an ambush and advance rapidly on an objective with one or more active shooters.
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Initially, one of the teams will provide cover fire as the other team moves down range. It is important to maintain muzzle discipline at all times when conducting this drill. That means fingers off the trigger with safeties on, as the shooters on the other team may end up in front of you at times.
One two man team will shoot as the other team moves. Initially this can be done in increments of ten yards to develop a feel for it and to institute a level of safety. When the team moving reaches their destination, they alert the shooters that they are “Clear” and take up the task of providing cover until the other team passes them by ten yards.
The roles then switch back and forth until both teams are within 5 feet of the targets.
There is no firing across the range at any time in the interest of safety. Shooters should only engage targets directly in front of them.
It is equally important to vary range conditions with each session, so as not to build or train for complacency. Improvised pieces of cover can be used, such as pallets turned on their sides. In a real world situation, as officers are moving to a position of cover, the suppression fire is to provide them protection while on the move.
In military situations, this drill is conducted in the reverse as well by moving backward from the 10-yard line to the 100-yard line. This has limited use in police situations as the turning and traveling rapidly to the rear of the range is to simulate an egress or an escape.
If you conduct the rearward drill it is best to peel off to the outside. When moving, turn away from the team providing cover so that you never muzzle them with your weapon. Index your trigger finger, keep the muzzle down and safety on; at all times you want to keep as close to 180 degrees from them as possible.
This drill is the most effective way to practice moving over open ground while seeking the next piece of cover at all times. The Bounding Over-Watch is an essential drill to learn how to fight through an ambush and advance rapidly on an objective with one or more active shooters.
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Friday, September 27, 2013
A couple of good reads from Max Velocity
Here are some articles from one of my favorite blogs, by Max Velocity. I am currently reading and almost done with Patriot Dawn, and have Contact and Rapid Fire to read next. So far I am impressed with the book, it is a good read, with tons of great info in it. From reading his stuff so far, I can say that there is not an article he has written that I did not agree with at least 95% of the time. So with that said, check out these articles.
There will be no theme music
Countering aerial thermal surveillance
Thermal Poncho
The concept of the thermal poncho, or blanket is of vital importance to us, and should be a part of each of our kits. We will not have any success in our fight if we are suseptable to thermal surveillance. We have to ensure every means of increasing our survivability. Without items like this in our loadout, we will not be of much use to our nation in it's time of need.
There will be no theme music
Countering aerial thermal surveillance
Thermal Poncho
The concept of the thermal poncho, or blanket is of vital importance to us, and should be a part of each of our kits. We will not have any success in our fight if we are suseptable to thermal surveillance. We have to ensure every means of increasing our survivability. Without items like this in our loadout, we will not be of much use to our nation in it's time of need.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Combat Casualties
Here is another article by Max Velocity, I just find his articles so good I have to put them up for you guys. I just bought his books by the way, I will read them and do book reviews here when I am done.
SHTF Combat Casualty - Considerations & Realities
On my CRCD class, I don't have time to do a full class on TC3 (Tactical Combat Casualty Care). However, what I do is give a few pointers as to how causalities will fit into the game in a real SHTF contact situation.
When I train people in patrol break contact drills, I explain that it is like practicing a fire emergency drill. The fire alarm goes off, we all head downstairs and rally in the parking lot. Simple. But in the reality of a fire, we may not all get out, it may be a smoke and flame filled confusion, and we may take casualties. It's the same for break contact drills.
So, we practice our choreographed drills and at the level of the CRCD class I don't even throw in casualties. The worst case reality of a break contact drill, facing a well sited enemy ambush, is that you may get out crawling down a creek bed dragging your wounded buddy. Or you may not get out at all. But that is worst case.
Break contact drills are 'Oh Shit' emergency drills and there are worst case scenarios. The other side of that is that with a well executed drill, even though you are doing the drill to ultimately get away, you may react and hit the enemy in such an effective way that you leave them reeling, wondering what happened as you "faded away into the woods."
In the immortal words of Captain Jack Sparrow of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' fame: "We will fight them, to run away."
The main point that I want to bring out today is firstly the effect of casualties on your drill, and secondly the effect that SHTF will have on your TC3 procedures.
Firstly, the hardest thing you will do is going to probably be evacuating a casualty under enemy fire. Moving a casualty is very hard. Initially, you will be dragging the casualty by his gear every bound back that you make. You will move, dragging the casualty, covered by the other buddy pair. Then, you will stop, take a fire position, and fire to cover the withdrawal of the other buddy pair. As you get further away from the contact, creating a breathing space, you can consider reorganizing slightly so that, depending on the size of your team, there is an element moving the casualty and an element fire and moving back to cover that. For a four man team with one casualty, that will mean one person moving the casualty, whether by dragging or the Hawes carry, and the other two bounding back to cover that move.
Once you rally up out of contact, you can reorganize, again your numbers will determine exactly how you do that (are you a team or a squad?), to create a litter carry party and a security party to cover the move out.
Secondly, let's look at the reality of TC3 in an SHTF situation:
There are three phases to TC3:
1) Care under fire
2) Tactical Field Care
3) Evacuation
In the Care under Fire phase, the primary thing you must concentrate on is fighting the battle. If you are breaking contact that means do that. Don't do anything that will cause more casualties, such as running out in the open to get that downed point man, unless you have first suppressed the enemy.
Th only intervention you, or the casualty, can do in the Care under Fire phase is to apply a hasty tourniquet 'high and tight' on a wounded limb to stop imminent death from extremity bleeding. As a team you will be going through your individual RTR drills, reacting to the contact, and then flowing into the break contact drill as appropriate. If you have a man down, you will simply have to grab him and drag him back on each bound you make back as part of your fire and movement.
Even in the care under fire phase, don't try and put a tourniquet on in an exposed position. Drag the guy into a semblance of cover, be practiced so you can whip it on and tighten it down quick either in the groin or armpit area, and then get on with firing and moving. If you kneel in the open to apply a tourniquet, you will be shot down.
If you are in some other contact situation where you are not actually moving and breaking contact, and you are engaged in a firefight with a casualty exposed in the open, then don't risk all to go to them. Concentrate on suppressing the enemy and winning the firefight. There are pretty much four things you can shout to them under TC3:
1) Can you return fire?
2) Can you apply self-aid? (i.e. hasty tourniquet high and tight)
3) Can you crawl to me?
4) Lay still! (so as not to draw more fire - don't tell them to "play dead", it's not good psychologically!)
But, dependent on the situation you find yourself in SHTF, there are some other considerations. You probably don't have back-up and there is no 'dust-off' medevac on the way. If the guy is obviously dead, grey matter on the ground or whatever, then look to the greater good of the team and fight out of there. SHTF will make you face some hard decisions. You may not be able to bring them all home. The other side of that is that wounds can be horrific and look a lot worse than they are. So long as the guy is breathing, even better screaming, then do your best to get him out of there, even though you may be repulsed and unsure how you could ever take care of such a nasty wound.
The next phase to look at is the Tactical Field Care phase. This is where training can diverge from the SHTF reality. In training, once you have suppressed the enemy and got the casualty to cover, then you can go into Tactical Field Care, which means taking care of H-ABC (now MARCH, same thing) and then the full assessment before packaging up the casualty (thermal blanket to prevent hypothermia, even in hot weather) and monitoring them for evacuation. This is where a whole bunch of interventions are possible. However, in SHTF I can't tell you who your enemy will be. Worst case, they are an aggressive force that will follow you up, potentially even a Regime style 'enemies foreign or domestic' hunter-killer force. If so, you will not be able to hang around in the rally point for longer than it takes to do a personnel check, tactical reloads, and maybe a quick intervention on the casualty. Other than that, if you hang around and they follow up into your hasty ambush established as part of the rally, you will be back in contact and will have to roll back into the break contact drills again, back to another rally point. Don't hang about after breaking contact.
In that sort of situation, you will have to do what you can for the casualty as you move back, creating further distance as you E&E away from the contact point. But here we hit another dilemma. You need to have equipment with you, and personnel, to carry the casualty. If you are using a litter, one casualty will take a squad to move - four on the litter at any one time, struggling, and the others pulling security as you move. You could use other methods, such as the ruck-style carry straps allowing one person to carry the casualty, but all this is going to be really hard work and make you slow.
Enter: more hard decisions: how badly wounded is the casualty? Do you have definitive care to get him back to? How hard are you being pursued? Can you take care of the pursuit with a hasty ambush, or are you in serious trouble? Can you move fast enough to get away while moving the casualty? Will the casualty survive the evacuation (which as non-medically trained personnel you may not even know)? If you leave the casualty, what will the enemy do to him? Maiming, torture, cannibals, interrogation? Is leaving the casualty a security risk to your teams operations and ultimate survival? Do you have a contingency plan for team members falling into enemy hands - can you move your FOB location faster than you expect him to break to interrogation?
No, I'm not advocating that you shoot your guy and leave him, or that he shoot himself. But this may be a time for a little volunteer heroics from the casualty, which always carries a risk of capture. It all just depends on the situation, and no doubt an SHTF or civil war/resistance type situation is going to throw up some really hard choices. Some of this ties in with comments that I have made before about dumping gear to get away, running off naked through the woods after having dumped all your gear to escape. The key here is to carry a load that you can move with, and shuffle-run out with if necessary, so you never have to dump all your weapons, ammo and gear even if you dump your patrol pack. If you are being closely pursued, whether you have a casualty or not, then you may face a choice of dumping everything and running, or you may turn and fight, hasty ambush, get close to the enemy negating indirect fire weapons, and maybe survive in the chaos, in the gaps. That is your choice and largely depends on what you are about i.e. what you see as your mission.
There is a time to live, a time to fight, and a time to die. All that really matters is how much it's going to hurt, right? If you are going to go out like a fighting bear, go out like a grizzly.
This leads us on to the last part, which is evacuation. The whole point, in a nutshell, of the TC3 protocols is basically to stabilize the casualty and keep them alive so that they can be evacuated back to definitive care, in military terms at the CASH (Combat Hospital). But in SHTF you will only have whatever medical care you have. Whether that is a medically trained person, or yourself having read up and taken some courses.
The interventions that you do under TC3 protocols rely on further definitive interventions back at the hospital to take care of the problem. You have to take that tourniquet off some time right? Are you going to clamp that artery? Do you have the equipment? You have to get a chest tube in to take care of the sucking chest wound and tension pneumothorax (collapsed lung), right? Can you get over your own feelings of revulsion at the gore and blood in order to be effective in helping your buddy or family member?
So ultimately, keeping the guy alive until you can get him out will then rely on being able to keep him further alive by definitive interventions. You may be back to an 1860's level of medicine, giving him a bottle of whisky to drink while you do what you can. So, you need to be able to clean, debride and suture wounds. You need to consider antibiotics, because back in the day infection was the major killer of those who initially survived their wounds. Think about use of betadine/sugar poultices and similar, as used by vets on horses.
So, ultimately what is my point? Like all military style doctrine, it has to be assessed and looked at from the perspective of an SHTF situation. TC3 is no different. It is really useful to train as a combat lifesaver or combat medic and to learn to do TC3. But make sure you have assessed the use of it in a non-military SHTF environment and consider the potential absence of definitive care as well as the need for people in your group to step into those gaps with useful skills.
Live Hard, Die Free.
MV
http://maxvelocitytactical.blogspot.com/2013/09/shtf-combat-casualty-considerations.html
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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SHTF Combat Casualty - Considerations & Realities
On my CRCD class, I don't have time to do a full class on TC3 (Tactical Combat Casualty Care). However, what I do is give a few pointers as to how causalities will fit into the game in a real SHTF contact situation.
When I train people in patrol break contact drills, I explain that it is like practicing a fire emergency drill. The fire alarm goes off, we all head downstairs and rally in the parking lot. Simple. But in the reality of a fire, we may not all get out, it may be a smoke and flame filled confusion, and we may take casualties. It's the same for break contact drills.
So, we practice our choreographed drills and at the level of the CRCD class I don't even throw in casualties. The worst case reality of a break contact drill, facing a well sited enemy ambush, is that you may get out crawling down a creek bed dragging your wounded buddy. Or you may not get out at all. But that is worst case.
Break contact drills are 'Oh Shit' emergency drills and there are worst case scenarios. The other side of that is that with a well executed drill, even though you are doing the drill to ultimately get away, you may react and hit the enemy in such an effective way that you leave them reeling, wondering what happened as you "faded away into the woods."
In the immortal words of Captain Jack Sparrow of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' fame: "We will fight them, to run away."
The main point that I want to bring out today is firstly the effect of casualties on your drill, and secondly the effect that SHTF will have on your TC3 procedures.
Firstly, the hardest thing you will do is going to probably be evacuating a casualty under enemy fire. Moving a casualty is very hard. Initially, you will be dragging the casualty by his gear every bound back that you make. You will move, dragging the casualty, covered by the other buddy pair. Then, you will stop, take a fire position, and fire to cover the withdrawal of the other buddy pair. As you get further away from the contact, creating a breathing space, you can consider reorganizing slightly so that, depending on the size of your team, there is an element moving the casualty and an element fire and moving back to cover that. For a four man team with one casualty, that will mean one person moving the casualty, whether by dragging or the Hawes carry, and the other two bounding back to cover that move.
Once you rally up out of contact, you can reorganize, again your numbers will determine exactly how you do that (are you a team or a squad?), to create a litter carry party and a security party to cover the move out.
Secondly, let's look at the reality of TC3 in an SHTF situation:
There are three phases to TC3:
1) Care under fire
2) Tactical Field Care
3) Evacuation
In the Care under Fire phase, the primary thing you must concentrate on is fighting the battle. If you are breaking contact that means do that. Don't do anything that will cause more casualties, such as running out in the open to get that downed point man, unless you have first suppressed the enemy.
Th only intervention you, or the casualty, can do in the Care under Fire phase is to apply a hasty tourniquet 'high and tight' on a wounded limb to stop imminent death from extremity bleeding. As a team you will be going through your individual RTR drills, reacting to the contact, and then flowing into the break contact drill as appropriate. If you have a man down, you will simply have to grab him and drag him back on each bound you make back as part of your fire and movement.
Even in the care under fire phase, don't try and put a tourniquet on in an exposed position. Drag the guy into a semblance of cover, be practiced so you can whip it on and tighten it down quick either in the groin or armpit area, and then get on with firing and moving. If you kneel in the open to apply a tourniquet, you will be shot down.
If you are in some other contact situation where you are not actually moving and breaking contact, and you are engaged in a firefight with a casualty exposed in the open, then don't risk all to go to them. Concentrate on suppressing the enemy and winning the firefight. There are pretty much four things you can shout to them under TC3:
1) Can you return fire?
2) Can you apply self-aid? (i.e. hasty tourniquet high and tight)
3) Can you crawl to me?
4) Lay still! (so as not to draw more fire - don't tell them to "play dead", it's not good psychologically!)
But, dependent on the situation you find yourself in SHTF, there are some other considerations. You probably don't have back-up and there is no 'dust-off' medevac on the way. If the guy is obviously dead, grey matter on the ground or whatever, then look to the greater good of the team and fight out of there. SHTF will make you face some hard decisions. You may not be able to bring them all home. The other side of that is that wounds can be horrific and look a lot worse than they are. So long as the guy is breathing, even better screaming, then do your best to get him out of there, even though you may be repulsed and unsure how you could ever take care of such a nasty wound.
The next phase to look at is the Tactical Field Care phase. This is where training can diverge from the SHTF reality. In training, once you have suppressed the enemy and got the casualty to cover, then you can go into Tactical Field Care, which means taking care of H-ABC (now MARCH, same thing) and then the full assessment before packaging up the casualty (thermal blanket to prevent hypothermia, even in hot weather) and monitoring them for evacuation. This is where a whole bunch of interventions are possible. However, in SHTF I can't tell you who your enemy will be. Worst case, they are an aggressive force that will follow you up, potentially even a Regime style 'enemies foreign or domestic' hunter-killer force. If so, you will not be able to hang around in the rally point for longer than it takes to do a personnel check, tactical reloads, and maybe a quick intervention on the casualty. Other than that, if you hang around and they follow up into your hasty ambush established as part of the rally, you will be back in contact and will have to roll back into the break contact drills again, back to another rally point. Don't hang about after breaking contact.
In that sort of situation, you will have to do what you can for the casualty as you move back, creating further distance as you E&E away from the contact point. But here we hit another dilemma. You need to have equipment with you, and personnel, to carry the casualty. If you are using a litter, one casualty will take a squad to move - four on the litter at any one time, struggling, and the others pulling security as you move. You could use other methods, such as the ruck-style carry straps allowing one person to carry the casualty, but all this is going to be really hard work and make you slow.
Enter: more hard decisions: how badly wounded is the casualty? Do you have definitive care to get him back to? How hard are you being pursued? Can you take care of the pursuit with a hasty ambush, or are you in serious trouble? Can you move fast enough to get away while moving the casualty? Will the casualty survive the evacuation (which as non-medically trained personnel you may not even know)? If you leave the casualty, what will the enemy do to him? Maiming, torture, cannibals, interrogation? Is leaving the casualty a security risk to your teams operations and ultimate survival? Do you have a contingency plan for team members falling into enemy hands - can you move your FOB location faster than you expect him to break to interrogation?
No, I'm not advocating that you shoot your guy and leave him, or that he shoot himself. But this may be a time for a little volunteer heroics from the casualty, which always carries a risk of capture. It all just depends on the situation, and no doubt an SHTF or civil war/resistance type situation is going to throw up some really hard choices. Some of this ties in with comments that I have made before about dumping gear to get away, running off naked through the woods after having dumped all your gear to escape. The key here is to carry a load that you can move with, and shuffle-run out with if necessary, so you never have to dump all your weapons, ammo and gear even if you dump your patrol pack. If you are being closely pursued, whether you have a casualty or not, then you may face a choice of dumping everything and running, or you may turn and fight, hasty ambush, get close to the enemy negating indirect fire weapons, and maybe survive in the chaos, in the gaps. That is your choice and largely depends on what you are about i.e. what you see as your mission.
There is a time to live, a time to fight, and a time to die. All that really matters is how much it's going to hurt, right? If you are going to go out like a fighting bear, go out like a grizzly.
This leads us on to the last part, which is evacuation. The whole point, in a nutshell, of the TC3 protocols is basically to stabilize the casualty and keep them alive so that they can be evacuated back to definitive care, in military terms at the CASH (Combat Hospital). But in SHTF you will only have whatever medical care you have. Whether that is a medically trained person, or yourself having read up and taken some courses.
The interventions that you do under TC3 protocols rely on further definitive interventions back at the hospital to take care of the problem. You have to take that tourniquet off some time right? Are you going to clamp that artery? Do you have the equipment? You have to get a chest tube in to take care of the sucking chest wound and tension pneumothorax (collapsed lung), right? Can you get over your own feelings of revulsion at the gore and blood in order to be effective in helping your buddy or family member?
So ultimately, keeping the guy alive until you can get him out will then rely on being able to keep him further alive by definitive interventions. You may be back to an 1860's level of medicine, giving him a bottle of whisky to drink while you do what you can. So, you need to be able to clean, debride and suture wounds. You need to consider antibiotics, because back in the day infection was the major killer of those who initially survived their wounds. Think about use of betadine/sugar poultices and similar, as used by vets on horses.
So, ultimately what is my point? Like all military style doctrine, it has to be assessed and looked at from the perspective of an SHTF situation. TC3 is no different. It is really useful to train as a combat lifesaver or combat medic and to learn to do TC3. But make sure you have assessed the use of it in a non-military SHTF environment and consider the potential absence of definitive care as well as the need for people in your group to step into those gaps with useful skills.
Live Hard, Die Free.
MV
http://maxvelocitytactical.blogspot.com/2013/09/shtf-combat-casualty-considerations.html
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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
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Monday, September 16, 2013
Covert Movement
I just read this article by Max Velocity and thought you guys and gals might find it of use also. So here it is from his site:
http://maxvelocitytactical.blogspot.com/2013/08/comment-on-covert-movement.html
Comment on Covert Movement
I'll try and keep this post short. That usually turns out to be harder than you think, as I start getting into the topic. I saw an interesting post on the American Mercenary blog: 'Moving Groups'. I am moved to comment.
So yes, a lot of this depends on the exact scenario you find yourself in. We are not soldiers on a foreign battlefield. It really just depends on how the situation pans out when you end up fighting those 'enemies foreign and domestic'. A few good points have been made out there in the blogosphere lately. Mosby with his 'Underground Tradecraft' post (part 1), and other comments about the likelihood of taking off into the woods in camo and a boonie hat (I'm game....).
It may be SHTF and you are able to wear your best camo.
It may be that you are an active member of the Resistance and you are operating out of camps in the forests and deserts.
It may be that you are a member of the auxiliary, still living in the suburbs and aiding and abetting the active resistance members out there freezing/sweating in the forests.
It may be that we have not yet reached a time of full camo-clad SHTF and you are fighting those pesky 'enemies foreign or domestic' in a more covert way.
In a situation where you are operating as an unconventional fighting force, you will most likely be adopting light infantry tactics. If that is the situation, and you are a classic resistance force out there in the boonies, then you have choices over how you will tactically move those forces around. A classic decision here would involve a platoon sized force, that you perhaps want to move out on an ambush patrol. To do so, you have the choice of moving the whole platoon together, on a route using the best terrain masking available. Or, you break the platoon down into smaller squads or teams and send them via different routes, to rally up at the ORP (objective rally point).
Each approach has advantages and disadvantages (don't they all): the platoon moving together is a larger force, better able to look after itself if discovered and bumped by the enemy, but harder to conceal. On the other hand, the smaller teams are easier to conceal, but using multiple routes may increase the likelihood of discovery, depending on the terrain available to you. You make your own decision based on METT-TC, which in plain language means depending on the circumstances.
In the AmMerc article the approach was discussed, if you are utilizing highly competent personnel, of infiltrating in a covert way as per prior instructions so that individuals would coalesce at a target and conduct an operation, without actually meeting up at something like a rally point beforehand. Well, again it depends on the circumstances but I would be very circumspect of conducting an operation without full orders/briefing plus rehearsals preceding it. It may be that you can then disperse and move to the target by a series of covert individual means, moving either via an ORP or perhaps straight into individual support by fire and assault positions, depending on what you are doing.
Of course, if it is some kind of covert hit onto an enemy target, then it may be able to be conducted more in this manner, with team members either recognizing each other or having recognition signals. It may be that you have an individual or team surveiling the target. Once the conditions are met, they somehow communicate the 'GO' to the kinetic team or individual (sniper perhaps) to move into position, to attack if they are already tin position, or whatever. The target is hit and the sniper team or individual moves out on a predesignated route. At this point, he may have a drop point or perhaps an individual to leave the rifle with (or dump it, clean of forensics, if you can afford to lose it). He then moves, covertly in nondescript civilian clothes, to outside the *** store on *** street, where he meets up with the extraction team/individual in a covert builders van, or whatever. He either knows the guy or the van description, or has some other signal that it is the right van. He gets in and is driven off.
You get the picture. The above description is a way that you could organize, even using a cell system perhaps with guys that did not know each other, to accomplish a mission. It still needs to be planned and coordinated. This would assume a more normal times scenario where people are still out and about in the streets unarmed and where vehicles can move in the streets. Hmmmm....perhaps after full gun confiscation laws are enacted, comes to mind....???
It's not so far fetched; both sides used to get up to stuff like this in Northern Ireland, before everyone hugged and became friends. Let's look at some techniques:
CMV: this is a 'civilian military vehicle'. It describes what is basically a civvy van, all decked out to be no different from a builders truck, delivery van or whatever. These can be used for the covert infil or exfil of troops onto a mission, such as a patrol. Sometimes they were used when the weather was too bad to get a chopper in or out, or when the RAF was watching the game back at their cosy base and could not be bothered to come out and get you. The vans are driven by guys in civilian clothes complete with concealed weapons. In the back, you could have anything up to a full uniformed patrol of twelve guys fully decked out in uniform, or you could have some more covertly attired guys perhaps in earth tone clothing or street clothes.
Because these CMV's were used by security forces rather than resistance fighters, it therefore allowed them freedom to do various things. Pick up and drop off would be done at some covert place. However, one way to do it would be to wait until the CMV was imminent at the pick up point, throw in a quick fake Vehicle Checkpoint on the road, the CMV would roll up and be stopped, and then the patrol would all pile into the van and drive off when no-one was watching. Obviously a tactic for night time use on deserted country roads. A Resistance team could use these vehicles in a similar way to covertly move personnel around, to infil and exfil them from drop-off points where they could continue the mission either in a 'uniformed' or plain clothes manner. Once dropped off, a camo-clad resistance team would then continue to use terrain masking to patrol on foot towards the objective.
In Northern Ireland, the rule of law was very much in evidence. It meant that known 'players' could be stopped at a temporary vehicle checkpoint, searched for weapons, and sent on their way. They did not go about armed for this very reason. They may have been let on their way because to continue to surveil them was a clever plan, or simply because without weapons or direct evidence they could not be arrested. It got complicated. However, I do wonder whether in our increasing police/surveillance state there would even be the freedom of movement accorded to known terrorist players in Northern Ireland? I suspect that in a tyrannical United States, merely being recognized as a suspect would result in a beating and arrest or execution. Its just how we are getting ready to roll right now....
If it's just mass arrests and murders, then that points to a camo-clad resistance based deep in the forests. And, most importantly, hiding families deep in the forests with you, which is going to be the subject of that post on family safety that I need to write. Simply because of reprisals against resistance fighters, you will have to move your families to a hidden and protected location. If that becomes the situation, then all this talk of covert stuff becomes a little irrelevant. It would become camo-clad resistance fighters hiding out in the boonies, supported by an auxiliary who would have to remain 'clean' in order for the Regime to continue to allow them freedom of movement. If movement is stopped due to a lock-down by martial law, then it's just up to the camo-clad guys in the woods to prosecute the campaign.
Back to the Northern Ireland thing: in that situation, the terrorists would not carry weapons except at the specific time that they were going to conduct an attack. That may be different here - you would still likely need to carry a concealed handgun even if you did not pick up your long rifle until just prior to moving into position. Not carrying weapons meant that they could transit on the roads and not get arrested at a traffic stop/search. They would be able to move into the vicinity of the target and be provided the weapon at the last minute, which would then be handed off or dropped as they made their escape.
In Northern Ireland, there was a 'quartermaster' logistics chain that would move weapons and equipment into position. Smuggling it across the border etc. For the next courier in the chain to pick up the item, such as a rifle, it would be left in a cache, often PVC pipes dug into the side of a ditch, and a description would be given. Like a pirate treasure map if you like. Example: "Go to the lay-by two miles north of the *** bridge. Walk north to the broken fence post. Cache in the ditch...etc." It would need a series of recognizable features like a chain to find the cache. The item would be picked up, moved on and eventually be used in an attack.
So, really what is my point? It is to point out a few methods that could be utilized to increase tactical and covert freedom of movement. With a little bit of imagination you can move covertly or you can transport 'uniformed' resistance fighters around the place in a covert manner. If you do so, then you need to have a series of SOPs and contact drills for if the CMV runs into a checkpoint.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://maxvelocitytactical.blogspot.com/2013/08/comment-on-covert-movement.html
Comment on Covert Movement
I'll try and keep this post short. That usually turns out to be harder than you think, as I start getting into the topic. I saw an interesting post on the American Mercenary blog: 'Moving Groups'. I am moved to comment.
So yes, a lot of this depends on the exact scenario you find yourself in. We are not soldiers on a foreign battlefield. It really just depends on how the situation pans out when you end up fighting those 'enemies foreign and domestic'. A few good points have been made out there in the blogosphere lately. Mosby with his 'Underground Tradecraft' post (part 1), and other comments about the likelihood of taking off into the woods in camo and a boonie hat (I'm game....).
It may be SHTF and you are able to wear your best camo.
It may be that you are an active member of the Resistance and you are operating out of camps in the forests and deserts.
It may be that you are a member of the auxiliary, still living in the suburbs and aiding and abetting the active resistance members out there freezing/sweating in the forests.
It may be that we have not yet reached a time of full camo-clad SHTF and you are fighting those pesky 'enemies foreign or domestic' in a more covert way.
In a situation where you are operating as an unconventional fighting force, you will most likely be adopting light infantry tactics. If that is the situation, and you are a classic resistance force out there in the boonies, then you have choices over how you will tactically move those forces around. A classic decision here would involve a platoon sized force, that you perhaps want to move out on an ambush patrol. To do so, you have the choice of moving the whole platoon together, on a route using the best terrain masking available. Or, you break the platoon down into smaller squads or teams and send them via different routes, to rally up at the ORP (objective rally point).
Each approach has advantages and disadvantages (don't they all): the platoon moving together is a larger force, better able to look after itself if discovered and bumped by the enemy, but harder to conceal. On the other hand, the smaller teams are easier to conceal, but using multiple routes may increase the likelihood of discovery, depending on the terrain available to you. You make your own decision based on METT-TC, which in plain language means depending on the circumstances.
In the AmMerc article the approach was discussed, if you are utilizing highly competent personnel, of infiltrating in a covert way as per prior instructions so that individuals would coalesce at a target and conduct an operation, without actually meeting up at something like a rally point beforehand. Well, again it depends on the circumstances but I would be very circumspect of conducting an operation without full orders/briefing plus rehearsals preceding it. It may be that you can then disperse and move to the target by a series of covert individual means, moving either via an ORP or perhaps straight into individual support by fire and assault positions, depending on what you are doing.
Of course, if it is some kind of covert hit onto an enemy target, then it may be able to be conducted more in this manner, with team members either recognizing each other or having recognition signals. It may be that you have an individual or team surveiling the target. Once the conditions are met, they somehow communicate the 'GO' to the kinetic team or individual (sniper perhaps) to move into position, to attack if they are already tin position, or whatever. The target is hit and the sniper team or individual moves out on a predesignated route. At this point, he may have a drop point or perhaps an individual to leave the rifle with (or dump it, clean of forensics, if you can afford to lose it). He then moves, covertly in nondescript civilian clothes, to outside the *** store on *** street, where he meets up with the extraction team/individual in a covert builders van, or whatever. He either knows the guy or the van description, or has some other signal that it is the right van. He gets in and is driven off.
You get the picture. The above description is a way that you could organize, even using a cell system perhaps with guys that did not know each other, to accomplish a mission. It still needs to be planned and coordinated. This would assume a more normal times scenario where people are still out and about in the streets unarmed and where vehicles can move in the streets. Hmmmm....perhaps after full gun confiscation laws are enacted, comes to mind....???
It's not so far fetched; both sides used to get up to stuff like this in Northern Ireland, before everyone hugged and became friends. Let's look at some techniques:
CMV: this is a 'civilian military vehicle'. It describes what is basically a civvy van, all decked out to be no different from a builders truck, delivery van or whatever. These can be used for the covert infil or exfil of troops onto a mission, such as a patrol. Sometimes they were used when the weather was too bad to get a chopper in or out, or when the RAF was watching the game back at their cosy base and could not be bothered to come out and get you. The vans are driven by guys in civilian clothes complete with concealed weapons. In the back, you could have anything up to a full uniformed patrol of twelve guys fully decked out in uniform, or you could have some more covertly attired guys perhaps in earth tone clothing or street clothes.
Because these CMV's were used by security forces rather than resistance fighters, it therefore allowed them freedom to do various things. Pick up and drop off would be done at some covert place. However, one way to do it would be to wait until the CMV was imminent at the pick up point, throw in a quick fake Vehicle Checkpoint on the road, the CMV would roll up and be stopped, and then the patrol would all pile into the van and drive off when no-one was watching. Obviously a tactic for night time use on deserted country roads. A Resistance team could use these vehicles in a similar way to covertly move personnel around, to infil and exfil them from drop-off points where they could continue the mission either in a 'uniformed' or plain clothes manner. Once dropped off, a camo-clad resistance team would then continue to use terrain masking to patrol on foot towards the objective.
In Northern Ireland, the rule of law was very much in evidence. It meant that known 'players' could be stopped at a temporary vehicle checkpoint, searched for weapons, and sent on their way. They did not go about armed for this very reason. They may have been let on their way because to continue to surveil them was a clever plan, or simply because without weapons or direct evidence they could not be arrested. It got complicated. However, I do wonder whether in our increasing police/surveillance state there would even be the freedom of movement accorded to known terrorist players in Northern Ireland? I suspect that in a tyrannical United States, merely being recognized as a suspect would result in a beating and arrest or execution. Its just how we are getting ready to roll right now....
If it's just mass arrests and murders, then that points to a camo-clad resistance based deep in the forests. And, most importantly, hiding families deep in the forests with you, which is going to be the subject of that post on family safety that I need to write. Simply because of reprisals against resistance fighters, you will have to move your families to a hidden and protected location. If that becomes the situation, then all this talk of covert stuff becomes a little irrelevant. It would become camo-clad resistance fighters hiding out in the boonies, supported by an auxiliary who would have to remain 'clean' in order for the Regime to continue to allow them freedom of movement. If movement is stopped due to a lock-down by martial law, then it's just up to the camo-clad guys in the woods to prosecute the campaign.
Back to the Northern Ireland thing: in that situation, the terrorists would not carry weapons except at the specific time that they were going to conduct an attack. That may be different here - you would still likely need to carry a concealed handgun even if you did not pick up your long rifle until just prior to moving into position. Not carrying weapons meant that they could transit on the roads and not get arrested at a traffic stop/search. They would be able to move into the vicinity of the target and be provided the weapon at the last minute, which would then be handed off or dropped as they made their escape.
In Northern Ireland, there was a 'quartermaster' logistics chain that would move weapons and equipment into position. Smuggling it across the border etc. For the next courier in the chain to pick up the item, such as a rifle, it would be left in a cache, often PVC pipes dug into the side of a ditch, and a description would be given. Like a pirate treasure map if you like. Example: "Go to the lay-by two miles north of the *** bridge. Walk north to the broken fence post. Cache in the ditch...etc." It would need a series of recognizable features like a chain to find the cache. The item would be picked up, moved on and eventually be used in an attack.
So, really what is my point? It is to point out a few methods that could be utilized to increase tactical and covert freedom of movement. With a little bit of imagination you can move covertly or you can transport 'uniformed' resistance fighters around the place in a covert manner. If you do so, then you need to have a series of SOPs and contact drills for if the CMV runs into a checkpoint.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, September 13, 2013
List of possible extremists
Man, about 30 of the items on this list apply to me!
Originally posted and authored by Michael Snyder at The Truth. All credit goes to him.
Are you a conservative, a libertarian, a Christian or a gun owner? Are you opposed to abortion, globalism, Communism, illegal immigration, the United Nations or the New World Order? Do you believe in conspiracy theories, do you believe that we are living in the “end times” or do you ever visit alternative news websites (such as this one)? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you are a “potential terrorist” according to official U.S. government documents. At one time, the term “terrorist” was used very narrowly. The government applied that label to people like Osama bin Laden and other Islamic jihadists. But now the Obama administration is removing all references to Islam from terror training materials, and instead the term “terrorist” is being applied to large groups of American citizens. And if you are a “terrorist”, that means that you have no rights and the government can treat you just like it treats the terrorists that are being held at Guantanamo Bay. So if you belong to a group of people that is now being referred to as “potential terrorists”, please don’t take it as a joke. The first step to persecuting any group of people is to demonize them. And right now large groups of peaceful, law-abiding citizens are being ruthlessly demonized.
Below is a list of 72 types of Americans that are considered to be “extremists” and “potential terrorists” in official U.S. government documents. To see the original source document for each point, just click on the link. As you can see, this list covers most of the country…
1. Those that talk about “individual liberties”
2. Those that advocate for states’ rights
3. Those that want “to make the world a better place”
4. “The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule”
5. Those that are interested in “defeating the Communists”
6. Those that believe “that the interests of one’s own nation are separate from the interests of other nations or the common interest of all nations”
7. Anyone that holds a “political ideology that considers the state to be unnecessary, harmful,or undesirable”
8. Anyone that possesses an “intolerance toward other religions”
9. Those that “take action to fight against the exploitation of the environment and/or animals”
10. “Anti-Gay”
11. “Anti-Immigrant”
12. “Anti-Muslim”
13. “The Patriot Movement”
14. “Opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians”
15. Members of the Family Research Council
16. Members of the American Family Association
17. Those that believe that Mexico, Canada and the United States “are secretly planning to merge into a European Union-like entity that will be known as the ‘North American Union’”
18. Members of the American Border Patrol/American Patrol
19. Members of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
20. Members of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition
21. Members of the Christian Action Network
22. Anyone that is “opposed to the New World Order”
23. Anyone that is engaged in “conspiracy theorizing”
24. Anyone that is opposed to Agenda 21
25. Anyone that is concerned about FEMA camps
26. Anyone that “fears impending gun control or weapons confiscations”
27. The militia movement
28. The sovereign citizen movement
29. Those that “don’t think they should have to pay taxes”
30. Anyone that “complains about bias”
31. Anyone that “believes in government conspiracies to the point of paranoia”
32. Anyone that “is frustrated with mainstream ideologies”
33. Anyone that “visits extremist websites/blogs”
34. Anyone that “establishes website/blog to display extremist views”
35. Anyone that “attends rallies for extremist causes”
36. Anyone that “exhibits extreme religious intolerance”
37. Anyone that “is personally connected with a grievance”
38. Anyone that “suddenly acquires weapons”
39. Anyone that “organizes protests inspired by extremist ideology”
40. “Militia or unorganized militia”
41. “General right-wing extremist”
42. Citizens that have “bumper stickers” that are patriotic or anti-U.N.
43. Those that refer to an “Army of God”
44. Those that are “fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and international in orientation)”
45. Those that are “anti-global”
46. Those that are “suspicious of centralized federal authority”
47. Those that are “reverent of individual liberty”
48. Those that “believe in conspiracy theories”
49. Those that have “a belief that one’s personal and/or national ‘way of life’ is under attack”
50. Those that possess “a belief in the need to be prepared for an attack either by participating in paramilitary preparations and training or survivalism”
51. Those that would “impose strict religious tenets or laws on society (fundamentalists)”
52. Those that would “insert religion into the political sphere”
53. Anyone that would “seek to politicize religion”
54. Those that have “supported political movements for autonomy”
55. Anyone that is “anti-abortion”
56. Anyone that is “anti-Catholic”
57. Anyone that is “anti-nuclear”
58. “Rightwing extremists”
59. “Returning veterans”
60. Those concerned about “illegal immigration”
61. Those that “believe in the right to bear arms”
62. Anyone that is engaged in “ammunition stockpiling”
63. Anyone that exhibits “fear of Communist regimes”
64. “Anti-abortion activists”
65. Those that are against illegal immigration
66. Those that talk about “the New World Order” in a “derogatory” manner
67. Those that have a negative view of the United Nations
68. Those that are opposed “to the collection of federal income taxes”
69. Those that supported former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr
70. Those that display the Gadsden Flag (“Don’t Tread On Me”)
71. Those that believe in “end times” prophecies
72. Evangelical Christians
The groups of people in the list above are considered “problems” that need to be dealt with. In some of the documents referenced above, members of the military are specifically warned not to have anything to do with such groups.
We are moving into a very dangerous time in American history. You can now be considered a “potential terrorist” just because of your religious or political beliefs. Free speech is becoming a thing of the past, and we are rapidly becoming an Orwellian society that is the exact opposite of what our founding fathers intended.
Please pray for the United States of America. We definitely need it.
Originally posted and authored by Michael Snyder at The Truth. All credit goes to him.
Are you a conservative, a libertarian, a Christian or a gun owner? Are you opposed to abortion, globalism, Communism, illegal immigration, the United Nations or the New World Order? Do you believe in conspiracy theories, do you believe that we are living in the “end times” or do you ever visit alternative news websites (such as this one)? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you are a “potential terrorist” according to official U.S. government documents. At one time, the term “terrorist” was used very narrowly. The government applied that label to people like Osama bin Laden and other Islamic jihadists. But now the Obama administration is removing all references to Islam from terror training materials, and instead the term “terrorist” is being applied to large groups of American citizens. And if you are a “terrorist”, that means that you have no rights and the government can treat you just like it treats the terrorists that are being held at Guantanamo Bay. So if you belong to a group of people that is now being referred to as “potential terrorists”, please don’t take it as a joke. The first step to persecuting any group of people is to demonize them. And right now large groups of peaceful, law-abiding citizens are being ruthlessly demonized.
Below is a list of 72 types of Americans that are considered to be “extremists” and “potential terrorists” in official U.S. government documents. To see the original source document for each point, just click on the link. As you can see, this list covers most of the country…
1. Those that talk about “individual liberties”
2. Those that advocate for states’ rights
3. Those that want “to make the world a better place”
4. “The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule”
5. Those that are interested in “defeating the Communists”
6. Those that believe “that the interests of one’s own nation are separate from the interests of other nations or the common interest of all nations”
7. Anyone that holds a “political ideology that considers the state to be unnecessary, harmful,or undesirable”
8. Anyone that possesses an “intolerance toward other religions”
9. Those that “take action to fight against the exploitation of the environment and/or animals”
10. “Anti-Gay”
11. “Anti-Immigrant”
12. “Anti-Muslim”
13. “The Patriot Movement”
14. “Opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians”
15. Members of the Family Research Council
16. Members of the American Family Association
17. Those that believe that Mexico, Canada and the United States “are secretly planning to merge into a European Union-like entity that will be known as the ‘North American Union’”
18. Members of the American Border Patrol/American Patrol
19. Members of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
20. Members of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition
21. Members of the Christian Action Network
22. Anyone that is “opposed to the New World Order”
23. Anyone that is engaged in “conspiracy theorizing”
24. Anyone that is opposed to Agenda 21
25. Anyone that is concerned about FEMA camps
26. Anyone that “fears impending gun control or weapons confiscations”
27. The militia movement
28. The sovereign citizen movement
29. Those that “don’t think they should have to pay taxes”
30. Anyone that “complains about bias”
31. Anyone that “believes in government conspiracies to the point of paranoia”
32. Anyone that “is frustrated with mainstream ideologies”
33. Anyone that “visits extremist websites/blogs”
34. Anyone that “establishes website/blog to display extremist views”
35. Anyone that “attends rallies for extremist causes”
36. Anyone that “exhibits extreme religious intolerance”
37. Anyone that “is personally connected with a grievance”
38. Anyone that “suddenly acquires weapons”
39. Anyone that “organizes protests inspired by extremist ideology”
40. “Militia or unorganized militia”
41. “General right-wing extremist”
42. Citizens that have “bumper stickers” that are patriotic or anti-U.N.
43. Those that refer to an “Army of God”
44. Those that are “fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and international in orientation)”
45. Those that are “anti-global”
46. Those that are “suspicious of centralized federal authority”
47. Those that are “reverent of individual liberty”
48. Those that “believe in conspiracy theories”
49. Those that have “a belief that one’s personal and/or national ‘way of life’ is under attack”
50. Those that possess “a belief in the need to be prepared for an attack either by participating in paramilitary preparations and training or survivalism”
51. Those that would “impose strict religious tenets or laws on society (fundamentalists)”
52. Those that would “insert religion into the political sphere”
53. Anyone that would “seek to politicize religion”
54. Those that have “supported political movements for autonomy”
55. Anyone that is “anti-abortion”
56. Anyone that is “anti-Catholic”
57. Anyone that is “anti-nuclear”
58. “Rightwing extremists”
59. “Returning veterans”
60. Those concerned about “illegal immigration”
61. Those that “believe in the right to bear arms”
62. Anyone that is engaged in “ammunition stockpiling”
63. Anyone that exhibits “fear of Communist regimes”
64. “Anti-abortion activists”
65. Those that are against illegal immigration
66. Those that talk about “the New World Order” in a “derogatory” manner
67. Those that have a negative view of the United Nations
68. Those that are opposed “to the collection of federal income taxes”
69. Those that supported former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr
70. Those that display the Gadsden Flag (“Don’t Tread On Me”)
71. Those that believe in “end times” prophecies
72. Evangelical Christians
The groups of people in the list above are considered “problems” that need to be dealt with. In some of the documents referenced above, members of the military are specifically warned not to have anything to do with such groups.
We are moving into a very dangerous time in American history. You can now be considered a “potential terrorist” just because of your religious or political beliefs. Free speech is becoming a thing of the past, and we are rapidly becoming an Orwellian society that is the exact opposite of what our founding fathers intended.
Please pray for the United States of America. We definitely need it.
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