Civil preparedness (I'll admit that has a better ring to it than "Logistics," the heading I would have chosen) is a pretty huge category. It literally encompasses everything we do before the shooting starts, and almost everything we will do once it does. Despite this, logistical planning and preparedness is all too often overlooked.

The consequences of that neglect can be catastrophic. History is replete with tragic examples of logistical failures, but we need look no further than the once great--and now even more historic--City of New Orleans. For a graphic account of what can happen without realistic logistical planning and execution, there is no more timely example.

For the sake of simplicity, we'll divide this discussion into three categories: Personal and Family Preparedness, Militia Preparedness, and Resupply. these categories are arbitrary, with more than a little overlap, but we have to start somewhere.

I. Personal and Family Preparedness

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of New Orleans policemen, firemen, security officers, and paramedics who should have been preventing looting and violence, rescuing people trapped by the flood, and providing medical attention to the sick and injured, weren't. Why not?

Because their own families needed assistance. Duty to their own loved ones quite understandably took precedence over their duty to the City of New Orleans. Let that be a lesson for us.

Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else, will come to the battle until our own families are out of danger and supplied with the necessities.

And, that may not just include just our immediate families. Are your parents and grandparents taken into account? Can you really leave that old family friend to fend for himself? Who will look after your mistress? (Just kidding--I know you don't have a mistress.) You better make at least some provision for all of them.

For too many of us, "preparedness" means having a three-day supply of MRE's for everybody. If that is your plan, I hope to change your mind. I am going to recommend enough water to provide two gallons of water per person, per day, for fourteen days--and a way of getting more. A year's supply of food will see your family through any foreseeable disaster (or an extended period of unemployment, which for most of us means the same thing).

I'm not crazy about the idea of the militia hunting and trapping for food, but this is practical for families, especially when it comes to saving money while you're making preparations for hard times. During a crisis, your family is likely to be too busy with other things to go hunting for food. Still, it wouldn't hurt to get them involved in gathering wild foods now. (I intend to include a topic on recipes for wild foods so, if you're an Iron Chef when it comes to Cat Stew or Rat Pot Pie, I'd like to hear some of your ideas.)

Before we leave this category, let me bring up the subject of looting. Any number of commentators in the weeks following Katrina have pointed out that stealing TV's is wrong, but looting food, water, and infant formula for your family is alright. Well, let's ask God for His Opinion on that:

"Thou shalt not steal."

Pretty unambiguous, isn't it? Not much room for quibbling, either.

If you follow the recommendation in this forum, you should have no need to resort to stealing. Unforeseen events do occur, though. If you find yourself needing something that belongs to someone else, either leave payment for it, or leave a note saying who you are and how you intend to make restitution. And, don't be surprised if you're greeted by a load of buckshot anyway. Enough said.

II. Militia Preparedness

A while back, I added up what it would cost to keep a 16-man militia squad fed with MRE's for a two-week period. The price tag--over $3000--came as quite a reality check to a lot of people. MRE's are great, but we're going to be eating a lot more beans, rice, and canned goods than we are "Chicken a la Freeze Dried."

We must be brutally realistic about what we can accomplish in the field. The three general limitations are time, labor (or manpower), and resources. None of us are Rambo, and none of us are Daddy Warbucks either. If you're planning on putting 25,000 people in the Superdome, you better plan to feed them, police them, and clean the damn latrines, too.

-----

I was watching the Fox News Channel the Wednesday after Katrina hit. Reporter Jerry Rivers (er, "Geraldo Rivera") was outside the New Orleans Convention Center (he was, he said, afraid to go inside) interviewing the Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department.

"We need help now," cried the Superintendent. "It's chaos in there, pure anarchy! We have 20,000 people in there, with no food or water since Monday! If we don't get help, this place is going to explode tonight! We need help desperately, now!"

Well, first of all, Mr. Superintendent of Police, isn't it your job to maintain order and prevent chaos? Instead of complaining to Geraldo, how about getting back in there and doing your job?

Furthermore, Mr. Superintendant, you knew on Monday you had that many people. Didn't you realize then that a certain number of them would be criminals? (You must have; it was you who emptied the jail and sent the inmates there!) Didn't you realize a few others would be sick or injured, or have serious psychological problems? Didn't you know some of them would be going through drug or alcohol withdrawal? Didn't you figure that everyone there would be under a great deal of stress? What did you expect to happen? Why didn't you make plans to deal with the violence?

Furthermore, Mr. Superintendent, you knew on Monday there was no water. Did you expect the problem to fix itself? Why didn't you organize some work details to gather cooking pots and fuel, construct some improvised water filters, and go about boiling and filtering some water? You're the Superintendent--why didn't you use a little initiative?

Likewise, On Monday, you knew there wasn't enough food. You look like you could lose a few pounds anyway, Mr. Superintendent, but didn't you see this would be a problem?

Finally, Mr. Superintendent, I'm sorry for singling you out. You were far from the only incompetent public official in this sorry, tragic fiasco. Honest, it was just your whining like a punked-out inmate on national TV that made me want to bitch-slap you.

-----

Folks, don't be like that hapless Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department. Be realistic about what you can do with your available time, manpower, and resources. Plan on using them effectively and, when the plan goes awry (which it surely will), don't whine about it. Be a leader, and fix the problem.

III. Resupply

This is where the first two categories come together. If you think your guerrilla force can "live off the war," think again; no successful force has ever been able to do so. Even people as resourceful as the Hmuong tribesmen of Vietnam and Laos needed constant resupply by U.S. forces.

In this category will be discussions on caching and storage, the development and management of an auxiliary force, and the ever-present limitations of time, manpower, and resources.

We'll include some novel approaches from the history books (resistance fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto, for instance, donned uniforms from dead SS troops to "requisition" supplies of oil and gasoline). And, we may even include some fun stuff, like getting supplies past FEMA and Homeland Insecurity roadblocks to flood victims.

So that's it, a rough overview of the subject of Logistics and Civil Preparation, and of what I hope to accomplish in this forum. Now, let's get to work.

Onward and upward,
airforce




Posted by: ConSigCor Sep 22 2005, 07:22 PM


The following snippet is part of a forthcoming report on the state of the militia.


The militia's state of readiness is alarming. The combat effectiveness of many units would be negligeable were they ever to be deployed. One internal study done by the MMCW several years ago found that their "units were barely prepared to sustain operations in the field for two weeks".

9. "Militia operations suffer from the most completely crippled logistical tail in the history of organized warfare. On the one hand, they fancy themselves to be the defenders of the oppressed people of the United States. On the other hand, they have no way of feeding themselves... Their lack of a functioning supply system eventually reduces them to a nomadic pursuit of food which will expose them to destruction..."

"Their primitive medical and commisary arrangements will inflict more casualties on their forces than enemy bullets and they will suffer from rapid force depletions due to dessertion."

“You need the resources to provide medical care for your people, and this has to include safehouses that have rooms in them suitable for providing medical care and the recovery of the sick and or wounded. This has to include real medical care, not just "lets pretend we know first aid" medical care. Antibiotics, drugs, and the ability to perform operations on a level similar to that of a field hospital. If you can't find some people who are capable of providing this care, then you need to be able to train your own even if it means sending one of the kids to medical school.

On the medical care issue, you need to have medical teams set up that can discreetly and securely travel between safehouses and provide medical care. Set up agreements on discretion and plausible deniability with regards to the treatment of "friends who are staying over after that accident at work".

"Quartermaster and Ordinance supplies will presumably be liberated from the oppressors via guerilla warfare. The last operation that used this method of supply, the Viet Cong, suffered 1,000,000 dead against a US loss of 50,000 and the bulk of their military supplies was actually coming from the Soviet Union and China. What nation on earth is going to be forwarding military aid to the freedom-loving guerillas of North America?" The militia's only source of supply is what they can carry on their back and 99% are armed with nothing more than a rifle. There is almost no weapons standardization within the units themselves which will lead to a logistical nightmare.”

10. “Militia’s suffer from an incredibly naïve view of what martial law would look like or the character of a guerrilla war waged within the confines of the United States. “Given that militias expect the USA to be taken over by a cruel, and possibly satanic, dictatorship, it is highly unrealistic to expect them to observe the ordinary constitutional niceties when investigating acts of guerrilla warfare.”

“There isn’t going to be any dusting for fingerprints or collecting DNA for use at trial. The civilians in the neighborhood are going to be lined up and asked to betray the names of the perpetrators. If they don’t know or fail to answer, they are going to be shot---all of them. So the next mission you run, you are going to have to ask yourself the question: ‘Will the death of three UN privates justify the massacre of 300 innocent civilians in reprisal?’

“The families of those members serving in the field are not going to be eligible for food stamps or able to keep working their civilian jobs while hubby goes out to fight for freedom. They will be hostages, the sicker and more starved the better, used to encourage their men to surrender and save their own families from ruin at the expense of the country’s need.” In many cases “brother shall turn against brother”, father against child, wife against husband…just to save their own skin.

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

Think about the above for a minute.

It is irrelevant if my rifle is bigger than yours if I can't feed or supply myself in the field. You must make preparations to provide for your family totally "off the grid". Further, the family is THE support element of the militia. They are the backbone of our supply and logistics system.

Posted by: ClanWolf Sep 24 2005, 07:54 AM
Please look at these pics long and hard.


These barrels hold enough food for 2 people for 4-5 yrs. Thats enough for 8 people for 1 year.

Thats not including TP, soaps, mills, water filters, and other needed items.

The militia is not living in the real world when it comes to be ready for anything. When was the last time any unit had classes in food storage, water purification, trapping, food prep or anything that wasn't military? Can anyone even sew up a tear in thier BDU's? Build a latrine?

I have tried in the past to get AWRM and AM to have forums just for logistical and resupply, but no, thats not want is really wanted. On Firstshirts site, he put three forums for this and there are no post about anything there. The militia is more into bitch sessions about the best rifle or gear or that the cheapest china junk is best. Or who's religious views are right.

Until people start putting money into supplies instead of weapons, the militia will be a joke.

Posted by: airforce Sep 24 2005, 09:08 AM
Agreed, Clanwolf. Maybe this forum will help turn this around.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Posted by: Irish Jaeger Dec 19 2005, 11:32 AM
This is an EXCELLANT topic...thanks guys.

Posted by: Laconicus Dec 19 2005, 12:06 PM
I tried to start a thread a while back on AWRM concerning logistics, but most people aren't that interested in beans and bullets since it doesn't involve being Rambo. Also, those few who did discuss it were of the idea they'd be able to survive by hunting and picking stuff off the dead.

Hopefully we'll have better luck with this thread.

The way I see it is this: Most of our caches will, at one time or another, be compromised. Its up to individuals and units to see to their supply needs. Quantity has a quality all of its own, and when it comes to stockpiles of food and other gear, I wholeheartedly agree. It's far wiser to have a lot of smaller caches of food and gear (enough for a couple of weeks tops) scattered all over than a few larger caches. That way if one, or several, are compromised you still have a wide variety of options. Also understand that the fewer people who know about the locations of your caches, the better off you'll be. This includes people in your units. Supply officers and their assistance (and the leader, of course) should be the only ones who know the locations of all the units caches (as they should be the ones establishing and stocking them). Individual members should be encouraged to make their own caches as well in the general area of the units caches. This will relieve a huge amount of the supply burden.

What I'd stock at an individual cache:
Food (1-2 weeks worth, no more)
fuel (5-10 gallons)
cooking fuel (tabs or whatever)
medical supplies (for ind. kit)
ammunition (no more than a full combat load)
parts for weapons (those most likely to break, firing pins, etc.)
sewing kit
weapon cleaning supplies
Spare uniform/CW Gear (depends on AO)
Boots & socks (1 pair boots, 2 pairs socks)
Extra ruck (store as much of the above mention stuff as you can in it)


Understand that once you've used a cache (even for only a day or two) it's been compromised and is now useless. Take everything you'd ever want and destroy the rest and never, ever, under any circumstances go back to that area. A lot of people are gear heavy (hey, its fun I know), but I would encourage everyone to learn to move with as little gear as possible, and to survive effectively that way.

Posted by: Ringsider Dec 21 2005, 01:00 PM
QUOTE
...Until people start putting money into supplies instead of weapons, the militia will be a joke.


Everyone reads about the H5N1 Avian Flu virus, and about the possibility of of it becomeing a super-flu. The individuals living in outlying areas could stand a beter chance of survival if they were to isolate themselves from exposure. That could only be accomplished with proper stores of supplies.

Posted by: Dhass Jan 11 2006, 11:46 AM
Be advised that caching supplies and materiel will have to be modified for the AO that they are stored in. If you have all kinds of stuff in an ALICE ruck in a city or urban environment, you will stand out much more than if you were wearing a coat & tie and carrying stuff in a somewhat large shoulder-strap gym bag. To complete the picture and "achieve the look," add a sports drink bottle (some gym bags have netted side pockets for this).

Larger duffle bags (padlocked) stashed at garages/homes in your general area are an excellent method for the suburbs. Older ones are best, so watch the garage sales. If possible, stencil different names, etc. on them. Don't put a friend at risk by storing illegal stuff this way as they will roll over on you in a heartbeat.

Keep clothes in each location for the ability to blend in wherever you are. If you have very long hair, a set of hair clippers can totally change your appearance after you don that coat and tie. Money, food, ammo, water purification, footwear, clothing, sidearm/holster, (small) rifle--maybe a folding stock or breakdown style, and other items that you can think of.

Another option would be to do the "musician routine." Get an older instrument case (trombone & tenor sax cases work well) without the horn, re-do the interior for your weapon, gear, or whatever. Then, arrange to place a padlock on the case. Also, get a music stand to "achieve the look." If you do the trombone routine, remember that brass players generally have another bag for their mutes--so get some. Now, remember that little old lady across the street that really hates you? If she sees you with a tenor sax case, music stand, etc., she will become your best friend because her dead husband played with Stan Kenton (Lawrence Welk, Woody Herman, etc.). You had better be able to talk about sax players with some authority (or trombone players, bassoon players, etc). An old tux shirt with studs in it always adds to "the look."

If there is a Boy Scout Troop in your area, you might consider trying to affiliate with it. Having a Scout Leader's uniform in the back seat of your Olds might help to get you away from a nosy LEO when a ruck and boots are seen.

If you do decide to do the burial routine, DO NOT DO SO WHERE YOU RESIDE. DO NOT DO SO ANYWHERE THAT YOU NORMALY GO. THEY WILL CHECK THESE PLACES. Chances are (sorry, Johnny Mathis) that they know about your freinds & acquaintances also. Plan accordingly!

More later.