Posted by: Irish Jaeger Dec 19 2005, 11:24 AM
I posted this over at AWRM and I figure I'll post it here as well.
MILITIA SUPPORT
by "Old Crow"
First off, it takes a lot of soul searching for some of us to realize we can't "run and gun" any more. But the knowledge is still in there, so is the experience and that is VITAL.
There is not much discussion on Support and the fact that it must be planned for as well. Along those lines are the women and kids - don't see much talk on what the "militiamen" are gonna do about them. Most guys won't leave the wife and kiddos to be taken to concentration camps or whatnot. So what is the plan? Do the wives know this plan? Have they rehearsed it?
Historically it takes many, many more support types than fighters. Gotta have a plan for that too. Running around the woods with your buddies on weekends may be fun but if you don't incorporate the families into it there will be chaos the first time they all come together under "stressful" conditions.
On base camps: Having a retreat/base camp/etc is all well and good - depending on your envisioned foe. You better have back ups and caches. Better have a (rehearsed) plan to move the base camp. Might be a good idea to have friends/alliances far away to run to. Might be a good idea not to discuss them on the net...
What is your base camp security like? Do all your people know the plan? Have they rehearsed it? Some folks found out recently they had holes in their "plan". Good thing to find out earlier rather than later...
Medical knowledge and supplies are critical. Ask a nurse/surgeon/emt/paramedic how much supplies they use up on ONE car crash victim. Picture a couple of your guys shot up - you will need LOTS of stuff. Your first aid kit on your LCE or in your rucksack won't cut it for long. You won't be able to tell the hospital staff you had a "hunting accident". Ever consider nursing supplies and skills? Changing a bed pan is not "sexy" and we don't see folks posting pics of their newest "high speed tactical bed pan" but you may NEED some.
If you are a serious militia you need to identify, train and equip these folks NOW. You can't picture yourself running and gunning and not sustaining any casualties can you?
How are you gonna feed your people? Do you know when counter guerrilla offensives take place? Winter. Because if the forces can get the guerrillas running in winter time, bust them out of their camps and stashes of food they have a huge advantage. Think about it.
I could be wrong, but I think many militiamen have unrealistic expectations of life post-tshtf. If you have not yet done so - read Duncan Long’s “Backpack Survival”.
So you have your arsksakfal battle rifle and 3 backups; you have a bazillion rounds of ammo; you have all this high speed load carrying equipment, some cool radios and a first aid kit. That’s good. What happens when your house is taken down while you are at work? What happens if you get 5 minutes advance warning that the Mongolian Hordes are coming up your street? IF you get away you won’t be carrying much.
You need to spread it around a little bit. You need to learn all about caching. Do it now while there is time and freedom of movement.
You’ve practiced your movement formations through the woods with your buds. Have you also practiced them with John’s wife Mary and Bill’s three little girls tagging along? You should.
Back to Mary and the girls: Do they know how to do basic things like self defense, first aid, communication, cooking over fires, keeping quiet, keeping secrets, being observant, communicating effectively, passing messages, serving as lookouts?
The base camp idea has some merit. Have y’all practiced living in one for any kind of extended period of time? How do you prepare food for all the people? What about sanitation? How do you secure it and do anything else? How fast can you move it? You may have to perform a fighting retreat - that will suck. It will be worse if you have never rehearsed it.
You don’t have enough people to consider building underground base camps ala Al Qaida or the NVA. No, you don’t.
You need to acquire group supplies. Medical gear and food are two biggies. So is foot gear. Read your history books. You need to identify folks who, although they may not join you actively, will support you. Mechanics, Doctors, Vets, Grocers. You need to do this now. After the show starts is no time to try and get your support net into place. And these things take time.
Read books on counter-guerrilla warfare. What are the techniques? Population control, resource control - separate the fish from the sea. (Add to that “information control” - your militia band WILL be a group of pedophile, drug manufacturing rapists bent on total anarchy - believe it.) Establish control of the physical area. Then go hunt the fish. Cold, hungry fish don’t swim fast or fight well... Keep the fish running and he gets tired, he makes mistakes. It helps if some of his buddy fish can be convinced to work for the hunters... You can mitigate a lot of this now - but you must have more than a closet full of nice looking toys. You must have SUPPORT.
If you are going to be (for example) “the Tailor”, then you need to have all necessary equipment. You need to be able to work your craft under the conditions you envision living in. I met the “commo guy” at one event who wanted to rig this great antenna high up in the trees. Only he needed to find someone with a sling shot or bow to get it up there. If you are doing the job - have the tools. Cached.
Back to the Tailor. Maybe he has agreed to support you by sewing up clothes on his treadle sewing machine. He plans on staying in town and riding it out - he will work under the enemy‘s steady gaze. Ok. How will he pass the new clothes to your militia unit? What about security measures? How will he let you know your package is ready to pick up and all is clear? Your militia unit won’t come traipsing into town ala “Red Dawn”. You have to work this stuff out now.
I posted a little while after 911 that it was a great time to start generating public support for the militia - have a barbeque, tell the community how you could help them, etc. This would also allow you start meeting folks to help in the support role. You could assign folks to key committees. The Mormon church has some great ideas on organizing auxiliaries and such. They do it for many of the same reasons you want to....
But doing all this is hard. It takes time and effort. It makes what many of us do no longer a fun “hobby” but a way of life. And this is why most folks won’t even consider doing it.
It’s all fun and games ‘til someone gets an eye poked out.
"Got Support?"
Posted by: ConSigCor Dec 28 2005, 11:06 AM
Everyone should burn this post into their brain. Take the info and expand upon it. Prepare now while you still can.
Posted by: Ringsider Dec 31 2005, 05:16 PM
QUOTE
You need to be able to work your craft under the conditions you envision living in. I met the “commo guy” at one event who wanted to rig this great antenna high up in the trees. Only he needed to find someone with a sling shot or bow to get it up there. If you are doing the job - have the tools. Cached.
Just wanted to add a note regarding the "commo guy". A simple tool to help him accomplish would be a reel from a fishing rod (a Zebco 202 works well) mounted to a slingshot. Shooting a lure with a line attached gives you a means to pull up a guy rope for your antenna.
Posted by: Hawker Jan 1 2006, 04:24 AM
It was a good read on AWRM.... and it was just as good to get to read it again!
Thanks Irish!
What comes to mind when I read this piece is that 68 year old Viet Nam vet in the movie "The Postman", who I took for a Electronics Tech cause he was tweakin' the freqs.
The Postman see's him in line among the new postal carriers being sworn in..... "What can you do? Can ya ride?"
Vet says, "Nope.... can't walk too good either"
"Then why are you here?" askes the Postman.
Vet comes back with, "Cause I know stuff......"
