I think I'm going to start a "lessons learned" thread on this tomorrow or the next day, after things have quieted down a bit. But yes, social media played a big part in this. That's good, and bad. We were getting a ton of news fast, but not all of it was real. Which is par for the course when you're trying to gather intelligence. Every G/2 and S/2 officer I've ever known had gray hair.

YouTube played a huge part in this, too. Regular TV news didn't cover much of this, but internet videos more than made up for that lack of coverage.

And, as Fal3 said, this was a huge PR boost for the militia.

I'll have more on this in a day or two.

Onward and upward,
airforce

UP the militia!

Up God.

When I took Consigcor's post with the freqs into a series of Twitter posts, they started getting retweeted all over the place. I don't know what we were lacking but perhaps seeing HAM systems deployed or possibly deployed was but one element that raised the threat footprint. It's easy to strong-arm the cell phone companies to shut off towers, but it's not easy to shut down countless base stations and repeaters.

Whether this is a victory or not will not be known until the war is over. We still have half of April left, and it's coming upon "sacrifice time" when shit is bound to happen because the baby-rapers need their blood sacrifice. Who knows what they will pull. It can be anything from a windup toy shooting up a school to a suitcase nuke in a city (though cities comprise the main voting blocks of the states for the present controlling regime - who knows

And there's always May Day to watch out for.


I'm also sensing a "stone soup" approach to militia presence as well. There were reports of militia presence long before any evidence of it.

Strat, you know what I mean on this.

The worst thing the administration could suffer has come to pass. They have been both stood up to and embarrassed.

Knowing it as I do you can bet the farm there WILL be a retaliation. More than likely it will come in the dead of the night and involve killing.

Biggest question is can anybody get the evidence on a deal for the land between Harry Reid and the Chinese?

Like EVERYTHING else with the Dems and particularly this administration......FOLLOW THE MONEY!

Doug Hagmann sent The report to Steve.

While Steve has been known to post unfounded rumors...I find this report to be very plausible. I have no doubt that it is probably close to the truth.

Photos of militia counter sniper.

http://www.theakforum.net/forums/14...y-looks-like-cooler-heads-prevailed.html

More info on Reid's involvement:
http://danaloeschradio.com/the-real-story-of-the-bundy-ranch/

In the first picture in the 1st above link...Gentlemen...The guy on the left is doing it correctly..The guy on the right is silhouetting himself against the sky, and is likely to lose his head...

I guaranty you, The license plate of every single vehicle was documented, And let me add, Facial Recognition Technology. Its what comes next that concerns me. God Bless every one that showed up, True Americans !!!!!!! Look out for each other, Stay vigilant. And SEMPER FI

That's OK. We know who they are, too.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Just wanted to add today..

I posted a couple comments on Breitbart about the lack of coverage...They were deleted...No foul language or remarks..not my bag...but still deleted..

I posted remarks about the vilification that seems to have started on Breitbart and the Blaze of Mr.Bundy and the folk with him....Deleted..

It reminded me so much of the way, the Davidians and the Weavers were made out to be by the media..

Then they did the same thing to the militia..

I know some of you like breitbart, I liked some of their stuff too..But they are a disinformation site, I now fully believe...

As for the Blaze..Beck has been calling for resistance for years, Yet today he is calling for the protesters to not confront the government..This is saying basically stay in your 1st amendment zone and let them do what they will..Blaze say one thing and does another..

Not a good way to build a movement..It is a good
way to confuse a movement..

Time is to stand and not back down...

Since Andrew Breitbart passed away, his websites have all gone downhill. "Big Government" is now nothing more than an outlet for the "mainstream" GOP. Mr. Breitbart would be turning over in his grave if he knew what it was today.

It was nice to see Glenn Reynolds finally mention the standoff , after it ended. Note the comments. They may not have known what to make of the situation, but we sure did.

Onward and upward,
airforce

I'd look for the Feds to strike back against those with the audacity to resist more covertly. Relentless IRS audits, EPA, OSHA, .... (Rest of the alphabet soup agencies) investigations into trumped up false charges till they find or fabricate something that sticks!

I believe THEY are scared out of their big heads over the November elections. We patriots need to make the 2010 Tea Party movement that swept congress look like a warm up for this main act 4 years later.

I fear they will not let this happen one way or another. I sence manure getting very close to large ventilators...

Video about.... How this may be a ploy to get the militia men to let their guard down, or leave ...

See all.... if can, but 9 minutes to 12 minutes is where he calls all the local motels, and ask if his Agents have shown up...

Not only do they get quite, they tell him all motels are full up..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0w8rcy1bnms

That's ok I have a list of feds who were on site. A list with lots of personal info.

One more thing we need to do, is get into the habit of taking a camera with us wherever we go.

If all you have is the camera on your phone, that's OK. But digital cameras have become a whole lot more powerful and versatile in the last few years, and a whole lot cheaper. I have a Canon with 64X zoom, and video capability, for about $100. And it fits in my shirt pocket. At that price, there's no reason why all of us don't have one.

As a tool for gathering intel, it's priceless. Let's get photos of our enemies, of their cars, of their license plates, of what they're doing, where they're doing it, where they're staying, everything.

If it's appropriate to do so, put it on the internet. If not, put it on a disk and save it. It may come in handy later on.

Government agencies like to operate in the shadows. Let's take away the shadows.

Onward and upward,
airforce

You need more than a camera.

How about live offsite streaming?


http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/stream-live-video-smartphone/


Once it's offsite, there's no crushing the device with the jackboot to destroy the evidence. Now the usual operation of just getting that one cop "who will do anything since he got caught with the kiddy porn" to pull the patriot over on a backroad and execute him will involve a higher technical threat footprint. More specialists needed (who might not necessarily be a dirty cop who will do anything to stay out of prison) more equipment needing to be signed out, etc. Combine that with it being known that you are well trained and armed, and your threat footprint becomes enormous.

And from the perspective of evil who flee where none pursue, they will think they need the National Guard to do anything to you.

Hmmm - where are the big fat old guys with SKS's 'plainin' bout the gooberment and r'storin 'murica?

http://instagram.com/p/mvpxplPJv1/#

People may have actually read the NMS.

I never thought I would see this day


http://www.infowars.com/historic-feds-forced-to-surrender-to-american-citizens/

But we know the baby rapers and their minions don't take such losses well. And the hordes of statists wailing and gnashing their teeth today will gleefully see to a day when we are being whacked and stacked en mass.

Useless activism, asking the devil for "mercy", is now kicked away like a spent stage of a rocket. There's no more comfort in the useless status quo activism, the "meet, eat retreat" model foisted on us by so many bought off movements.

There is no turning back now.

Hey, day may come sooner than you think that you will be glad to have that SKS chattering away covering your REAR, Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall." Don't belittle your fellow Patriots

Follow link for video http://toprightnews.com/?p=2479

Steve Klein on Steve Quayle site http://www.stevequayle.com/index.php?s=33&d=878

I was once told that the best rifle is "the one you have and know how to use"!

If these facts are true, what is the chance that it will be broadcast over the next few days on mainstream media.

There is something more sinister at work here.

From the Bundy ranch, about an hour ago:

Onward and upward,
airforce

Archangel1, that is exactly why I posted what Doug Hagmann had sent to Steve Quayle about the what & why they did what they did, to bring it to peoples attention that this IS FAR FROM OVER. I believe something else to be coming and aimed at destroying the Militia and the Patriot crowd in general, just my .2c.......

Colt, what you say is spot on.

Everyone needs to maintain a high state of situational awareness and group readiness.

And don't just rely on the net or phones. Monitor the various patriot frequencies. Don't have radios? Better hurry up its about to be game on.

I would reflect that this is a small victory and deeper plans may be in play. This may be a time of false security.

Author unknown

Supplies-
• There were approximately 300 cases of bottled water and other drinks.
• There was a running river accessible to us.
• Food was assorted cookies brownies and other sugar snacks.
• Saturday we had hotdogs, burgers, chicken salad. No real long term food sustainability.
• Ammo, some had thousands of rounds others came with an empty weapon.
• No medical supply point set up only personal supplies, IFAKS, first aid kits etc.
• No medical trauma area with medical volunteers.
• Shelter was a few outbuildings, cars, tents.
• Communications was CB,HAM,GMRS, FRMS. Batteries came from your own supply.
• Radios, only a few around, mix match of what everyone had brought for personal use.
• Electricity from small generator.
• Internet came from personal phones, ipads, 3G / 4G Hot spots.
• Small arms to include 1 Braveheart sword, and 1 Ninja sword, limited precision rifles or SDM’s.
Protest site located off a public road, small area used as a gathering point for the rally. General rally supporters parked vehicles in close proximity to event site. Camping took place wherever space allowed for comfortable sleeping conditions.
The rally site was located on a small out cropping just adjacent to the public road. The rally site was backed up against a gentle down slope which flattened out at the bottom. The surrounding terrain features were intermittent hills. One such hill was directly in front of the rally site. This hill was eventually occupied by Rebel Forces (RF).
Government Forces (GF) were observed at 2048 yards on top of a mesa overlooking the rally site. These GF’s had intermittent forces occupying the OP. 2 to 6 SUVs and Pickup truck style vehicles were observed parked next to 2 Easy up shelters. Long range observation devices and other devices had been seen at this OP.
Small LP/OP areas had been observed as close as 400 yards from the rally site. These LP/OPs had not been approached, only observed from a distance.
Improved fighting holes had been observed near the GF compound. Newly dug holes with dirt piled in front was observed along the perimeter of compound. During daylight hours these positions did not look occupied.
GF compound had high bermed walls made from dirt excavated on site by heavy equipment. Entrance to compound was controlled via a traffic control point. This seemed to be manned 24/7 with numerous over watch positions.
The entrance to the GF compound had a set of traffic cones blocking access. 25 yards behind the cones a dump truck was parked at an angle blocking vehicle traffic access. 25 yards behind the dump truck was a makeshift guard shack with built up cover positions nearby. Flood lights on extension booms were raised to approximately 30 feet in the air. These lights pointed out and made it difficult to see much detail inside the compound.
Flood lights on extension booms were positions around the entire GF compound. Likely avenues of approach had Flood lights positioned. One example is the dry riverbed. A dry area of river bed under the North and South bound Highway 15 were covered by Flood lights. During hours of darkness these lights were turned on but no one manned the lights. A string of yellow police tape was put up in front of the lights indicating an area not to be crossed. It is with high probability that these illuminated likely avenues of approach were all covered by rifle fire and probably sniper fire as well.
GF’s were staged at pull out locations just less than a mile North and South of the GF’s compound. During daylight hours, it seemed that SWAT, to include numerous MRAPs , numerous medical first response vehicles and several white school bus looking vehicles with bars on the exterior windows.
Numerous Ford F250 extended and crew cab trucks with camper shell that had no windows and a rear step through door with heavy locking mechanism on the door. These trucks were not marked. The drivers all wore the latest in multicam assault shirts and pants. No markings on uniform. One sticker on the back of all the trucks indicated the following (logo created to the best of observer’s recollection):
Command and control was not refined. You would have different people disseminating contradicting directions or directives to volunteers. Militia involvement was broken into “organized” and “un-organized”. Those who came as a unit, or met up at a Rally point (RP) and coalesced as a group were considered “organized”. Those who came on their own were considered “un-organized”.
An overall incident commander introduced himself and indicated he had been asked by the “family” to act as the onsite Militia overall commander. Organized Militias were asked to send command representatives to speak with the onsite commander. The organized Militia still followed there command, but the Militia command took its directives from the onsite commander.
Un-organized Militias were put under the command structure of the onsite commander.
Power struggle:
The power struggle between who is in control, who wants to be in control, and who thinks they are in control was very evident. Leaders meetings consisted of initial good information but quickly moved into less of a leadership briefing and more of a complaints and threats session.
Maps were handed out, expectations and assignments came quickly and were not fully vetted out by the “family” who apparently had other ideas of what they wanted or didn’t want the assisting Militia to do.
Specific issues came up with the look of Militia personnel wearing certain gear. Several self proclaimed head honchos came through and told Militia members to take off full battle rattle and only wear exposed pistol.
According to self proclaimed leader, he was acting on behalf of the “family” and Stewart Rhodes of Oath Keepers. This unknown leader went on to say it was an order that all Oath Keepers would not bear long rifles or full battle rattle as this would give off the impression we were looking for a fight.
(Personal note: If this is true that Rhodes put out an ordered to Oath Keepers who answered the call to show up and support this cause-most, at the drop of a dime and on their own expense -to not wear full battle rattle because it looks “mean”, well then that is CS (Chicken Shit).
If Rhodes really said that Oath Keepers couldn’t have the equipment to protect themselves because wearing said protective equipment makes it look like they came for a fight, well then I am done with Oath Keepers.
I don’t need to pay a yearly membership fee to a group in order to remember why and how to keep the numerous Oaths I have taken over the years. I’m unimpressed with Rhodes in how he sends out an emergency call for all Oath Keepers to show up and yet there was little support from Rhodes as far as leading his Oath Keepers. I’m sure he was too busy in the peace talk’s delegation to worry about putting out a short directive to his Oath Keepers as to expectations.
Oath Keepers did not have an official presence at this rally, if they did then the leadership sucked. The several organized Militia groups at the event had good to great leadership.)
A large number of able bodied people came to the Militia staging area and wanted to help. Many of these individuals had the following challenges:
I came with a rifle but I don’t have any ammo.
I came with a sword and I want to help.
I came and want to fight….right now!
I came to help but I don’t have any food, or water.
I came to help but…never mind it’s too hot out.
I came to help, I have lots of firearms, I have 1000 rounds 45 ACP, 4000 rounds 5.56, fully decked out in the latest tactical assault gear, but I’m 78 years old.
I came to help but all I really want to do is sit in the Militia compound and drink beer, tell war stories and eat this delicious pizza that was donated. (Drinking alcohol was outlawed by on scene commander the next day at the leadership meeting)
Radios:
Many of the leadership were worried about GF’s picking at the low hanging fruit of Militia members using HAM and other communication devices that required a license to operate. All of those communication devices that were deemed to require licensing were not used out of fear GF’s would use that as a means to throw down probable cause and arrest unlicensed operators.
A shortage of radios left many without communications. (Shoot, Move, …..) If you can’t communicate you aren’t helping to your full potential.
(Personal note: having a dozen or so standard talkabout radios or their equivalent- loaded into a go bag with batteries should be a team item. I don’t think you can show up to an event and have too many radios. COMSEC is an issue but that can be dealt with by other mitigating efforts. )
Tactical:
Lots of different everything on site, from the different weapons systems, to the type of gear, to the amount of sustainability, to the physical abilities, to the levels of tactical knowledge and leadership and experience.
Lots of door kickers. It looked like a lot of the tactical outfits were geared more toward the 1 hour raid / door kicking mission than geared toward the open desert AO we were in. Load out is important, AO considerations are very important.
Having precision long range capabilities are important and was lacking. SDM’s were lacking. Knowing how to deploy your resources such as snipers, scouts, plain clothes intel collectors etc was lacking.
Lots of amazing men and women onsite that came prepared, but physically, in my estimation would not be a good fit for combat operations. Auxiliary YES !
Operational differences were obvious. Some organized units had a handle on how they did things. It was evident this was frustrating to them when they worked with others Militia units that either didn’t do it their way or didn’t have a way of doing things.
Leadership challenges were also obvious. If you are going to lead, then lead. Don’t apologize for leading or putting out orders. Others see that as a sign you are not confident in the plan. This will affect the subordinates as they may feel the leadership is not competent due to second guessing, apologizing, and lack of overall confidence.
Esprit de corps:
Every single person I met at the rally / operation was dedicated to peacefully showing the .gov folks that we are not afraid any longer. The main theme was that despite the long running battle between the Bundy family and the government, most people were there to show support for the overall over-reaction of the government these last few weeks.
Personal feelings on why I attended the rally / operation:
I didn’t get motivated to spend $300.00 in fuel and other costs associated in showing up at the rally / operation due to the cattle. I was motivated to show up because of the way the government is treating this family. I showed up because I am tired of MRAPs being the first interaction with the government.
I was motivated to show up because this fight is not mine, but it does have implications to my future. If I conducted a full litmus test on every fact and fact checked those facts…when would I ever have the time or energy to act? I acted because what I had observed with my own eyes, because of what I had read and heard through open source news lead me to believe this was an effort worth my support.
I don’t want to be that person that runs off half cocked not fully thinking through things before acting, but I don’t want to be that person that over analyses everything to the extent of not being able to act or react when the time comes.
I had heard that others on the interwebs are saying that the Patriots that showed up in support of the Bundy Ranch rally / operation are idiots. To each their own, If this rally wasn’t important enough to show up for due to the facts, then what do those calling us idiots feel is an appropriate rally / operation to show up for?
When the fight isn’t your own it is easy to find all the reasons not to support it, until those that we are all resisting are at YOUR front door. Who will you call then? Will you call more of the same folk that believe they must not show up for YOUR rally/ operation because they need to be in 100 % agreement with all of your facts, assertions, and actions?
Maybe when the fight is at your front door you will be happy to know that I and others like me will show up just because we are on the same team.
We support each other, we don’t always agree with each other but at the heart of all matters we are in total agreement that Freedom, Justice, the Constitution, and limited government are the tenants which we believe in and will support no questions asked 24 / 7 – 365.
Even when we just get done with a long days work, low on funds, and would rather stay home with our families, we will load up our equipment fuel our vehicles and at our own peril show up and stand next to you for YOUR cause too.
As long as there are those brave enough to stand up against a tyrannical government for a cause they believe in, then I will continue to be “idiot” enough to show up and stand alongside them. I hope that when I am standing up for my cause that there will be someone to stand alongside me during my test of courage.

From Hagman.

Good analysis and learning points. Proud too see some people still show up for the reason, not for the season.

ConSigCor, I tried to PM you ,but your box is full, clean it out......

colt,

Try edupn@yahoo.com

We know it's not over

http://youtu.be/NLMAEcjIBxw

Good AAR posted by Statiotes- whoever the source is, the AAR had some great nuggets of info.

• Things that make you go hmm- like the need to self-deploy logistically sufficient for a number of days. At least 3 minimum and better if 7-14 days self sufficient.
• Command and Control. Always a challenge. Good idea on go bag full of radios for a team.
• Group C2. Maybe ICS structure can provide a framework for events.
• Just like insurgents in Iraq and AFG- have a camera man to record ops.
• Need reach-back info ops capabilities. Do you have a twitter account? I don't but will get one. Have to have ways to get the message out.
• Movement needs deployable medical, commo and logistics capabilities/units.

Lots of good info to digest, wargame or do a what if drill to see how it might apply in your AO.

ConSigCor,

Email sent your way.

ColtM4

creating chaos is a method not a goal. It is a means but not an end. There must be more going on we must get to the bottom of this...

And Leaders should not have to pull essential data out of intelligence products. It should be prepared in a prioritized format based off of the leaders needs. Raw data and intelligence must be readily available for the leader as well.

As I observe the events unfold I have noticed consistently the inaccuracy of initial reports.

This proves Gen.Patton's Maxim " Never believe the first report, But believe that a more accurate report will follow"

The guys on ground from this board I thank you for doing what you did. And as for the Oath keepers. Any man who refuses to lead from the front should be stripped of leadership. I don't trust them(Leadership) . I don't count on them(leadership and I don't support them. Fair weather patriots(leadership) who scamper when the real poop hits the fan. The members of that organization deserve a better leader than some buffoon who swaggers and yet wears the shackles with pride.

And as far as the Comms go CSC has hammered that for years so has ringsider, Butler County OUM, and Etech. Get it together.

And we have many a medic on this board who can assist with the band aids

Anyone who names a fed as a source of information is going to get a visit from other not so nice agencies. Especially if it was real information.

This should be obvious to all here. misinformation is disinformation.

I just read a report on Nationalreport.net, That says undercover agents pretending to be protestors have made 16 arrests of Militia members and charged them with Domestic Terrorism. Has anyone else seen this ? Is it true ? Or is it a Bogis Story ? SEMPER FI

From the Bundy Ranch:

See this also.

Onward and upward,
airforce

The Bundy Ranch has photos of cattle that have been shot . They say they have removed the bullets with a lawyer present, and will attempt to find out who shot them.

Onward and upward,
airforce