Retreat Security and Small Unit Tactics: A How-To Guide for Protecting Your Loved Ones and Property When it All Comes Unglued [Kindle ed.]

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Retreat Security and Small Unit Tactics David Kobler and Mark Goodwin Copyright © 2014 Kobler and Goodwin All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote short passages in a review. All information contained in this book is for educational purposes only. The authors shall not have liability or responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or allegedly caused, directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. ISBN: 1499662491 ISBN-13: 9781499662498

Mark Goodwin and David Kobler would like to thank CATI Armor for their ongoing work in preparing our fellow patriots for the uncertain times ahead and for their support in helping to make Retreat Security andSmallUnit Tactics a reality.

CONTENTS Acknowledgments 1 Why Prepare? 2 Common-Sense Ways to Make Your Retreat More Secure 3 Sound and Light Discipline 4 OCOKA 5 Defending Your Retreat against Fire

6 Gearing up for a Patrol 7 Assault Bag 8 Personal Preparedness 9 Troop Movements 10 The Security Plan 11 Perimeter Defense 12 Urban Security 13 Standard Operating Procedures Afterword

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to thank Jesus Christ for his saving grace and sacrifice. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Thanks to Amanda Price for a fantastic editing job. The authors would like to thank their families for their unyielding support. A special thanks to Becki Kobler for her photographic contributions and Catherine Goodwin for her editing contributions. Thanks to Jim and Cindy Thompson of LifeChangesBeReady.com for making the introduction of David Kobler and Mark Goodwin The authors would like to express a special note of gratitude to Brian at CATIArmor.com, Robert at JRHenterprises.com, and Tom at CampingSurvival.com for their continued work in getting folks prepared and for their assistance with the production costs associated with this book. i

Why Prepare? The world has always been a dangerous place. Ever since Cain murdered his brother, people with bad intentions have shared the planet with us. While many men and women in our country have dedicated their lives to keeping our streets safe in the field of law enforcement, they can’t be everywhere all the time. It would be

impossible to have a police officer in every house, and neither would we want to live in a world where that was the case. The primary responsibility to defend against evil falls to the individual. In most crimes the best we can hope for from law enforcement is that they will apprehend the perpetrator and prevent him from harming another person. But for the victim, the damage has already been done. As we watch the effects of the continued economic downturn, we see conditions worsening around the country. After Detroit’s bankruptcy and subsequent budget cuts, 911 response times have risen to fiftyeight minutes for highpriority calls within that city. Other municipalities in America are struggling to keep the bills paid as well. Overpromised, underfunded, and mismanaged pension funds threaten many large cities with a fate similar to Detroit. This is the reality today. These are the threats before even considering a postapocalyptic future caused by an EMP, a terrorist attack to our electrical grid or banking infrastructure, a currency collapse, or another natural or manmade disaster. Many events have the potential to bring our society to a screeching halt. We don’t have to look far to see how fragile our current way of life is. Whether it is the LA riots or the more-recent police strike in Argentina, it’s obvious that chaos sits always poised to strike whenever opportunity knocks. Many economists believe the US dollar is in the final stages of life and that an economic collapse in America or the globe is inevitable. An event like this would leave our current system without the means to function and trigger a catastrophic failure of civilized society. While speculation about what that world would look like is beyond the scope of this book, it has been thoroughly examined in David Kobler’s video series Without Rule of Law, which is available on his Southernprepper1 YouTube channel and in Mark Goodwin’s fictional book series The Economic Collapse Chronicles, available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audio editions. The tips and tactics in this book will help you to prepare for uncertain times ahead. They will also help you to harden your home and develop your security skills for the present.

Common-Sense Solutions to Retreat and Home Security Your number-one survival tool is you. You have to exercise common sense and situational awareness at all times. The best alarm system in the world won’t help if you don’t arm it. The highest-quality firearms in the country are only effective if you train and learn to operate them. Most criminals are inherently lazy. They’ll look for the easiest home to victimize. By doing little things to make your home or retreat a hard target, you’ll give criminals an incentive to find somewhere else to cause trouble. One of the easiest things you can do to keep your home or retreat safe is to lock the doors. Thirty percent of break-ins are through unlocked doors. The same goes for your vehicles and outbuildings. A few seconds to lock the door will make it that much harder to get into. Lights are a big deterrent for burglars. Keeping lights on outside will reveal suspicious activity to neighbors, passers-by, and law enforcement patrolling the area. Having a well-lit area around your home or retreat will also allow you to see what’s going on through the window should you hear a suspicious noise in the night. It’s a well-known fact that criminals will avoid dogs. A trained German shepherd or other common breed of guard dog will make an excellent addition to your security team. If that’s not your style, even a small dog like a Jack Russell will be a vigilant listener and alert you if there is unusual activity around your property. Any size dog will be an effective alarm system even in a grid-down scenario. When you’re not home, leaving on a television gives the sense that someone is home. There are devices that mimic the light motions of a television, but the real thing also makes noise. A news channel will mostly be the sound of people talking and will give the impression that there is more than one person in the house. You can put the television on a timer to turn on and off to save energy if you’d like. It may run up the electric bill if you’re going on a long trip, but it’s cheaper than getting your house broken into. A safe is a great addition to keep your valuables secure, but make sure you bolt it to the floor. Otherwise the burglar may take it with him

and worry about opening it later. The most secure valuables are the ones no one will ever find. Burying a cache on your property will keep your items safe and accessible in the event that banks are closed and safedeposit boxes inaccessible. Be sure your items are very well protected from moisture before burying them, particularly things that are easily damaged, like firearms. Some preppers have been known to vacuum seal firearms before caching them in PVC tubes or dry boxes. Keep in mind that items like jewelry, guns, gold, and silver can be ferreted out with a metal detector. One method of reducing the chances of your items being found with a metal detector is to bury several decoys. Cans full of nuts and bolts buried nearby will keep treasure hunters digging holes with very little payoff. Burying a cache under a slab of concrete with rebar running through it will also give off a signature to a metal detector and keep raiders guessing. Chapter 3 Sound and Light Discipline In the postapocalyptic world or PAW, resources may become scarce, and looting could become a very real threat. As we mentioned in the last chapter, the safest assets are the ones that no one else knows about. To maintain the anonymity of your retreat or homestead, light and sound discipline will be very important. There are several common-sense measures you can take to reduce your noise and light signatures. Chainsaws are very loud and can broadcast your location for long distances. The best solution to avoid this issue is to stock up as much firewood as possible right now. The other benefit to cutting your wood now is that gasoline as well as bar and chain oil are readily available. Time and manpower spent on cutting wood now can be allocated to other tasks after a disaster or TEOTWAWKI event. Gunshots can broadcast your location for over a mile. If you decide to hunt at a distance from your retreat, you may be cut off from your group. Your security team could be short staffed if hunters leave the retreat. There are other alternatives to hunting far from your retreat. You can become proficient with a bow. There are some very powerful

pellet guns with calibers as high as .25. Snares and traps can be used for taking game without firing a shot. Curtains are an important addition to a home or retreat for light discipline. If you have a generator or solar panels, you may be the only house around with the lights on at night. That is a big signal to others that you have resources. Curtains will also serve to keep the light out during the summer to keep your home cooler. Curtains will deny key intelligence to bandits trying to look through the window to see how many people are home, how well armed they are, and what resources are available if they decide to invade the home. Small flashlights that attach to your head with an elastic band are a great addition to your security plan. These lights will allow you to have use of both hands when performing tasks in low-light conditions and can usually be found for a couple of bucks. The lights are widely available on Amazon or at big-box home improvement stores. These head lamps often have a selector for white or red light. The red light can be used when you need light outside but would rather not broadcast your position for several hundred yards. The red light will not be seen from as great of a distance as the white light. Additionally, the red light will not disrupt your natural night vision as badly as the white light. While they don’t offer the hands-free operation like head lamps, military-style flashlights can also be purchased with color filters. Any color light filter, such as green or blue, will serve a similar purpose, but red is very common in head lamps. Chapter 4 OCOKA OCOKA is a military acronym to cover the security concerns for a location. It stands for observation and fields of fire, cover and concealment, obstacles, key terrain, and avenues of approach. Whether you are defending your retreat, your home, or a position, you can use these important steps to assess the specific location for strong points and weaknesses. This will help you to develop a strong defense plan. We will go through each of the steps individually. Observation and Fields of Fire

It is vital that you are able to observe in all directions around your property. If you can’t see 360-degrees around your property, those blinds spots can be identified by raiders and exploited to launch an attack against your family or group. In addition to being able to see potential threats, you have to be able to engage that threat. It won’t help to be able to identify the threat if you can’t take action against them and eliminate the threat. Cover and Concealment Cover and concealment are both useful but very different. Cover will stop bullets, while concealment will only provide a place to hide from view. Two examples might be a concrete wall and a shrub. Both will allow you to hide behind them so your attacker can’t see you, but only the wall will stop bullets if your assailant fires on you. If you are out in the open and the shrub is your only option, take it. It will at least reduce the odds of your attacker being able to put his sights on you. Given the choice of cover or concealment, always try to choose cover that will stop a round. If you do have to settle for concealment, immediately start looking for cover or a way to start moving away from the threat to put distance between you and the shooter. In a postapocalyptic world, you can create cover around the immediate perimeter of your home or retreat. Sandbags have been used for decades to provide cover from hostile forces. Trenches, raised-bed gardens, logs, and other heavy objects can also serve as cover. Obstacles The goal of obstacles is to stop or slow down your attacker. If you can use obstacles to change your assailant’s direction. You can steer him into a kill zone, where you can easily eliminate the threat. By slowing down a person approaching your retreat, you can observe him and assess whether he is a friendly or a threat. Once you make that call, you can develop and implement an appropriate response. A fence can serve as an efficient obstacle. Of course there are different types of fences, but all of them serve as a barrier to let people know that they need to be invited before crossing. A barbed

wire fence is easy for a person on foot to cross or crawl under, but if it were to be breached by a vehicle, the wire will likely get caught up in the wheel well and disable the oncoming car or truck. If you are in a neighborhood, try to use a fence that will match the neighborhood. If everyone else has a white picket fence, a twelvefoot-tall, chain-link fence with razor wire on top is going to mark you as having something worth stealing. Of course the white picket fence may not be as effective, but it is an obstacle that will slow down an attacker or funnel him into a kill zone. The diagram below shows a typical military use of fence or barbed wire. The outer layer of fence is called supplementary wire. The purpose of the supplementary wire is to confuse the enemy. This keeps him guessing as to what is the real area that you’re trying to protect.

The next layer of fence or wire is called protective wire. This layer should be from forty to one hundred meters out from your position. You may not have that much space, but do the best you can. The purpose of the protective wire is to keep the enemy back so they can’t throw grenades, incendiaries, Molotov cocktails, or other explosives into your retreat perimeter. The lines running out from your retreat are tactical wires. These will be strands of barbed wire or other fencing that will intersect with your

protective wire. This will allow you to fire down the fence lines. At night if you hear a noise along the tactical fence, you can engage the intruder without being able to see him. Tanglefoot is a type of wire configuration that is also used by the military. If you have an area of tall grass or crops around your perimeter, you can run wire at varying heights beneath the cover of the grass. This wire would be crisscrossed back and forth along stakes that are placed between two and ten feet apart. The purpose of tanglefoot is for your attacker to get his feet tangled in the barbed wire and slow him down. As with all fence, the tanglefoot is only effective to keep your assailant in your engagement area so you can eliminate him. You can only do this if you are monitoring the fence and covering it with fire. Any fence can be breached, so you have to keep eyes on the fence at all times for it to be an effective obstacle. Another alternative might be tactical landscaping. Certain types of bushes make better obstacles than others. In most areas of the country, blackberries will grow easily. They have sharp thorns and act as a deterrent for intruders. Blackberries have the added function of producing food, which is a big bonus. In the south, the bougainvillea bush produces beautiful fuchsia and pink blooms and has strong thorns that are very painful if a person is stuck by them. Distance is also considered an obstacle. Having a wide open space will force your attackers to spend a long period of time without cover or concealment if they are attacking on foot. Anti-vehicle obstacles can be anything that will make it difficult for someone to drive up to your front door. Concrete blocks, other vehicles, ditches, logs, and as we mentioned before, obstacles. During barbed wire can all make effective the protests in Kiev, protestors built obstacles out of wooden pallets and tires stacked on top of each other. During the winter months, they packed the tireand-pallet barriers with snow to make them heavier and harder to breach. A simple plastic garbage can may not seem like a very effective obstacle, but if it is filled with dirt or sand, it will stop a car or a bullet.

Key Terrain Key terrain is a hill or other defendable position that can give you the advantage over your attacker. If you chose a hill for a defense position, do not go to the top of the hill. This will profile your silhouette against the sky and make you an easily identified target. It is much better to stay about six feet below the crest of the hill. Avenues of Approach Monitor roads, paths, waterways, and open areas. The further you can see the threat out from your position, the more time you’ll have to react. If your avenues of approach are overly accessible, consider using obstacles to slow down potential threats. Chapter 5 Defending Your Retreat against Fire Fire can be a natural or manmade threat against your retreat. During droughts or lightning storms, the threat of fire is increased. Fire can also be used as a weapon to burn or smoke you and your family out of your retreat. In a griddown scenario, the only fire department you may be able to call is the one you have organized with your family or mutual assistance group. There are several different levels of preparedness for fighting fires. We will start with the easy stuff and work our way up. Since fire is one of the most probable threats you will face both now and after it hits the fan, it makes sense to dedicate as much time and resources to fire prevention as possible. Common-Sense Prevention Steps One of the easiest things you can do is keep flammable items away from your living quarters. Many preppers stockpile fuel in case of power outages or supply crunches. That is a good idea, but be safe about where you store it. Always store your gasoline in containers designed for fuel storage. Keep them away from heat sources and ignition sources as fumes can build up in an enclosed area. Space heaters, pilot lights on hot water tanks, and furnaces are all potential ignition sources for gasoline

fumes. Clean spills with sawdust, newspaper, or rags to avoid the buildup of fumes. Another easy step to take in protecting your retreat against fire is to have smoke detectors and extra batteries. Every prepper should already have at least one fire extinguisher. We recommend setting a goal to have one fire extinguisher for every room in your retreat. Many fires start in the kitchen, so if you only have one, keep it near the stove and make sure it is rated for grease fires. Extinguishers rated A are rated for anything that will produce ash, such as wood and paper. Extinguishers rated B are for flammable liquids, such as oil and gas. C-rated extinguishers are for electrical fires. An easy way to remember this is C is for “current.” If you try to stick with ABC extinguishers, you’ll be covered for all of those threats. To use the fire extinguisher, remember the acronym PASS. P is for Pull the pin. The second step is A, which stands for Aim. Next is Squeeze the handle to release the contents. Finally, Sweep the hose from side to side to cover the entire area of the fire. Sand is a good extinguisher for flammable liquids, such as kerosene. Fire blankets are good firefighting tools as well. Heavy wool blankets such as are often seen in military surplus stores make good fire blankets. Fire blankets cut off the oxygen to the fire and suffocate it. Once in place, leave the blanket on the location of the fire for at least thirty minutes. When using a fire blanket for a person who is on fire, have the person stop, drop, and roll first. Then place the fire blanket on top of him or her. Placing the blanket on a standing person will force the flames up toward the person’s face and can actually make the situation worse. If you are approaching a fire with a fire blanket, grab it from the back so your fingers are not exposed to the fire. After a disaster, fires may be used for basic cooking. Even now, people in rural areas use fire to dispose of trash and debris. These are two useful aspects of fire. To ensure your fire is safe, be sure to clear several yards of bushes, trees, and debris to avoid a floating ember from starting an unwanted fire nearby. Be sure to have containment tools nearby when burning a fire. At a bare minimum, try to have a water hose and shovel close to your burn location.

If you happen to be trapped in a burning building and unable to escape, there are a few steps you can take to increase your odds of survival. If 911 is still available, call 911 first and make sure they know what floor you are on and what room you are in. Next, get dressed; you don’t want to fight a fire in your PJs. If you have access to water, wet some towels or blankets to push up against the crack beneath the door to stop the smoke from coming in your room. Try to seal off the vents as well. Find something to use as a bandana. Wet it down, and cover your nose with it. Remember to breathe through your nose. Bite down on the bandana with your teeth to keep from breathing through your mouth. Pull the curtains or blinds from the window both to reduce the odds of them catching fire and to signal to firefighters that the room is occupied and needs rescuers. Open the window a small amount to let in enough fresh air for you to breathe. Don’t open the window all the way, which can allow smoke from the other room to blow into your room. Firefighting Attire For your personal firefighting attire, consider having leather boots and gloves that will burn rather than melt. Synthetic materials will melt when they get hot and cause much worse skin burns. Wear a cotton shirt and denim jeans for the same reason. Keep a bandana or large cotton scarf to cover your mouth and nose, especially if there is a lot of smoke and embers blowing about. Have some type of eyeprotection safety glasses at a minimum, but safety goggles that form a barrier offer even more protection. Be sure to have a radio so you can communicate with the other members of your team. Keep a flashlight with you as well. Power can be cut off, and you may have to have a flashlight to see inside your home. A late-afternoon firefight can last for several hours, and the sun can go down during the event. Basic Firefighting Equipment A few items to be sure you have for fighting a fire on your homestead are a rake, a shovel, a hoe, and an axe. Keep a good garden hose and a sprinkler. If you know a wildfire is headed your way, you can utilize a garden sprinkler to wet down

important areas while you focus on other tasks. Consider building a brace that will secure the sprinkler to your roof in the event of a wildfire. It may only take an hour or so to construct such a device now, but that is time you won’t have when the fire strikes. A roof sprinkler can even be left running in the case of an evacuation. Leaving your equipment out after an evacuation will make it accessible to any strike teams from your local fire department that may come through after you leave. Good ladders are essential to be able to get on top of your roof or to get a higher viewpoint to see where the approaching fire is. Placing your ladder on the opposite side of a structure from where the fire is coming will give you a few precious minutes to get down and flee the area if the fire moves in faster than you anticipated. A chainsaw will allow you to quickly clear trees and shrubs near your home to remove potential fuel for an oncoming wildfire. Water Storage and Pumps Water storage is a pillar of preparedness already. Having it available for firefighting is just an added bonus. 275 gallon IBC totes can often be purchased from Craigslist or surplus outlets. Since they are stackable, the top tote will have natural gravity pressure. If the totes are placed uphill from where you intend to use them, this will add more gravity pressure to the water supply. The fact that they have airtight screw-on caps will keep them clear of mosquitos and other unwanted pests and debris. When purchasing your totes, take a piece of twoinch threaded universal pipe to see if they are going to be compatible with standard hoses and quick-connect devices. Gravity pressure is great if you can position your totes to provide it. However, it is always going to be limited in its ability. The next step to increase your firefighting ability would be to add a good pump. A good pump can be connected to your water-storage tote or can have a filter attached to pump water directly from a creek or pond. Small electric utility pumps can be purchased from your local hardware store for as little as $100. A typical eight-amp pump will

move about twenty-three gallons of water per minute. You can power it via a standard wall outlet or run it off of your generator. You can use a twelve-volt on-demand pump to run off of your solar panels or battery bank. They can produce around five gallons per minute, which is not much pressure but will make much less noise. Gas-powered pumps come in a large range of sizes. Honda makes a four-stroke pump that only weighs about thirteen pounds. It connects to standard garden hoses, is lightweight and easy to move, and can pump around thirtyseven gallons per minute. Larger six-horsepower pumps can pump approximately 150 gallons per minute. They are usually configured to connect with a two-inch hose. This would be the best option to use for a direct attack on a fire. They can be used in conjunction with a 275-gallon tote in the back of a truck to make a fire truck for your retreat. Chapter 6 Gearing up for a Patrol There are going to be some items of your gear that are going to be very mission specific in your retreat security and other items that are going to always be with you. We’ll take a close look at several different pieces of security gear and then discuss load-outs for specific missions in the following chapter. Body Armor The fact that you are implementing a security plan on your retreat indicates that conditions are such that you believe the chances of an attack on your homestead or living quarters are not zero. Body armor can greatly reduce the odds that an assault against you will be fatal. There are different levels and types of body armor. Level I body armor is typically a soft vest made of Kevlar or similar material designed to stop knife attacks and smallpistol rounds such as .22, .25, and .380 Auto. Level II A is designed to stop all lower-level threats and lower-grade 9mm and .40 rounds. Level II is designed to stop all lower-level threats, higher-velocity 9mm, .40 rounds, and .357.

Level III A is effective against all handgun ammunition, including .44 Magnum. Level III utilizes hard plates made of ceramic or steel and is designed to stop rifle rounds such as 7.62x39, .223, and 7.62x 51. Level IV also uses hard plates and is effective against at least one round of armor-piercing ammunition. Level III and IV can be used with soft body armor to help absorb the impact of the round. The kinetic energy can still produce significant damage even with the use of hard ballistic plates. Multiple rounds from a rifle can crack ceramic plates and render the armor ineffective. Ceramic plates can have small fissures inside from being dropped or mishandled. These imperfections may be invisible to the naked eye yet cause a disastrous failure in the armor. High-grade steel plates, such as those available at CATI Armor, can withstand multiple hits from .223, 5.56, and 7.62x39 rounds. CATI Armor offers plates made of topquality, quarter-inch AR500 steel. Their top-of-the-line model features Rhino Linings, which reduces spall. Spall is the fragments of bullets that hit the face of the hard armor plates and can follow the profile of the plate, resulting in a lethal strike under the chin or on the arms or legs. Spall can also kill or injure a team member standing nearby. Anti-spall coating, like Rhino Linings, deflects the fragments back out at an angle and away from the individual being protected by the plates. CATIARMOR.com offers body armor for every budget, but even their top-of-the-line, AR500 Steel, Rhino Linings anti-spall-coated set, including front, two sides, and rear plates, ships free for under $200. Plate Carriers Many lower-level body armor vests, such as Level I and II, will include pouches on the front, sides, and back to insert steel or ceramic plates. This combination will offer the highest level of protection against rifle threats. It will also be heavy and can get expensive. If you decide on a lower-cost or lighter-weight option, you can use a simple plate carrier vest. These can be purchased in most common camouflaged colors as well as flat colors like black, olive drab, and

coyote. Plate carriers are also available with MOLLE straps to attach rifle and pistol magazine pouches, first-aid kits, radio pouches, and pistol holsters. Chest rigs with multiple rifle magazine pouches can be worn over top of plate carriers with no pouches or MOLLE straps of their own. Night Vision and Thermal Your ability to see in the dark is a combat multiplier. Night-vision equipment gives you an extreme advantage over an attacker who can’t see in the dark, or at least levels the playing field if your attacker also has night-vision capabilities. Like body armor, there are several different levels of night vision as well. As you move up the ladder for night vision, the price also makes huge leaps. Gen 1 night vision is better than nothing, but if you can save up and purchase Gen 2 or even Gen 3, it will be worth the wait—that is, unless the dollar just collapsed. In that case, get whatever you can right now, because tomorrow might be ugly. One of our favorites is the PVS 14 Gen 3. It is a top-ofthe-line nightvision unit that can be mounted to your weapon or helmet for handsfree operation. It is available from JRHEnterprises.com for under $3,000, making it one of the best values in its class. Gen 1 night-vision equipment can be purchased for as little as $500, but you get what you pay for. Thermal imaging allows you to see the heat generated by objects. One of the advantages of thermal over standard night vision is its ability to see through fog and dust. It requires no light whatsoever since it shows you the heat radiating from the objects in your field of vision. The FLIR Scout PS 24 is one of the best values for thermal on today’s market. Available from JRHEnterprises.com for $2,000, it is a handheld unit that does not currently have available hardware for weapon or helmet mounting. High-quality weapon-mounted units such as the X320 and FLIR Thermal Sight R Series are also available from JRH at $3,000 and $3,500, respectively. Helmets

Your head is your container for your primary survival tool, your brain. You’re going to want to take care of that. Helmets are a great way to protect your head from bluntforce trauma and fragmentation. In a theend-of-the-worldas-we-know-it or TEOTWAWKI situation, helmets become even more valuable because of the lack of medical services that will be available. What might be an easily remedied injury in today’s world can be catastrophic post-collapse. The Personal Armor System for Ground Troops or PASGT helmets were recently discontinued by the military and were widely available on the surplus market. While the supply is dwindling and prices have gone up, they can still be found occasionally for around sixty-five dollars on sites like eBay. These helmets offer Level III A ballistic protection and are compatible with hardware to mount night-vision systems. The military replaced the PASGT helmets with MICH or Modular Integrated Communication Helmet. These helmets offer a redesigned pad system that provides more in the way of comfort and impact protection. The Kevlar used for the MICH is also more advanced and offers a slightly higher level of protection from handgun rounds. A used MICH helmet will run you about double the price of the PASGT at the time of this writing. The latest version of the MICH, the Advanced Combat Helmet or ACH, is currently available fully outfitted to accept night vision equipment from JRH Enterprises. Especially after the stuff hits the fan, take extra precautions. Whether you are running a security patrol or chopping wood, do whatever you can to protect your head. If you don’t have access to a combat helmet like the ones described in this section, use whatever you can find. A construction helmet, motorcycle helmet, or even a bicycle helmet, while not offering much in the way of ballistic protection, will greatly mitigate an impact injury. Eye Protection If you can’t see, you can’t fight. Attacking the eyes is a very common offensive strategy. Since your eyes are a natural target for your attacker, you must give special attention to protecting them. We touched on this subject briefly in the section on firefighting.

Besides being a target for those who mean you harm, moving through heavily wooded areas or landscapes with thick brush has risks to your eyes. A twig, branch, or thorn can injure your unprotected eyes while running through the forest or moving in heavy brush under low-light conditions. Regular safety glasses are much better than no protection at all but can easily be knocked off your head. Goggles with straps to keep them in place offer the highest level of eye protection. Military-style goggles come with interchangeable lenses. They should have a clear lens for night or evening operation and a smoke-colored lens for daylight operation. Ballistic lenses will give you even more protection. Most are rated to stop birdshot and will also protect against low-level shrapnel. If the lenses don’t say ballistic lenses, they probably aren’t rated for this level of protection, even if they are in a military-style goggle. Prices will range greatly for goggles. They may be as cheap as $20 or closer to $80 for military spec, interchangeable ballistic lenses. Amazon offers a great selection of goggles and allows you to read very specific product descriptions and reviews. Communications Having the ability to communicate with the rest of your security team is very important. Perhaps the easiest to use is the GMRS/FRS radios. These radios can be used in the FRS or Family Radio Service mode without a license. These are the types of radios that are typically sold at outdoor stores such as Bass Pro or Cabela’s. They have very limited range, especially in FRS mode. While they may claim to have a thirty-six-mile range, this estimation is under perfect conditions, with no obstructions such as hills, trees, or buildings between the two radios. If you were on the open ocean or in a perfectly flat desert with nothing breaking the line of sight, thirty-six miles still would be highly unlikely for these units. They are inexpensive and do work very well for a small retreat or homestead where the line of sight isn’t broken by obstacles. The next level would be a Wouxun or Baofeng hand held radio. These radios will provide much greater range for just a slightly higher costs. These radios also give the user short-wave capabilities. You do need

a license to transmit in short-wave mode, but you may listen without a license. These radios require a bit more technical knowledge than the GMRS/FRS radios, which is beyond the scope of this book. To learn more about the Baofeng and Wouxun radios, check out AMRRON.com, the site dedicated to communications put together by the folks over at RadioFreeRedoubt.com. You can also visit the Comms Prepper YouTube channel. If you are just starting out with getting the gear you need for your retreat security, getting your Ham license and learning the skills you need to be proficient with a more advanced radio system may consume more time and resources than you have available. You may want to purchase a simple-to-use set of GMRS/FRS radios. If you have someone in your group you can dedicate to getting his or her Ham license and learning how to operate a system with more capabilities, maybe that person can be assigned to be your comms expert. Once you get up to speed with your other preparation, you can always go back and upgrade your skill set and equipment. At that point, your old radios can be used as a backup system or stowed away in a Faraday cage in case of a coronal mass ejection or an EMP attack. Redundancy is always a good thing in the prepper’s world. Weapons There is an endless variety of weapons used for concealed carry, hunting, and home defense. Rather than turn this book into a book about guns, we will just stick to a few basic choices that offer solid features for retreat security. Battle Rifles Selecting a standardized battle rifle for your security team will allow everyone in your group to share extra parts, magazines, and ammunition in a postapocalyptic world where those items may become hard to obtain. With that being said, diversity can also have its advantages. Each type of battle rifle has its distinct advantages and setbacks. Having a variety to choose from will allow you to select the tool that works best for a specific task.

There are several different weapons that make a good battle rifle, but we are going to focus on three of the most common favorites. Sticking to common calibers and models will make it easier to find ammunition and parts when needed. The rifle of choice for the US military is the M4. The civilian version of this gun is the AR-15. The primary design of this gun was developed in 1955 as the AR-10 by Eugene Stoner. The original AR-10, which fires a 7.62 x 51 or .308 round, is still very popular today. The military and many prepper mutual assistance groups have chosen the slightly lighter-weight version, the AR-15. One of the reasons the AR-15 has become so popular is the size of the round. The .233 caliber or 5.56 mm round is small enough for a soldier or retreat group member to carry over a hundred rounds. Modern AR-15s are also easily configured to accept a multitude of accessories, such as longrange and close-quarters optics, flashlights, forward grips, adjustable stocks, tripods, easily deployed backup sights, and other features. When purchasing an AR-15, we recommend purchasing a rifle in 5.56, which will also accept .223 rounds. If the rifle is chambered in .233, it may function properly for some time, but the higher chamber pressure of the 5.56 round may eventually result in serious damage to the rifle. These rifles are widely available with varying barrel lengths and barrel twists. A longer barrel will give the shooter more accuracy, but it will also be more cumbersome in closemore accuracy, but it will also be more cumbersome in close in-9 to 1-in-12 and even 1-in-14. This simply means that the rifling inside the barrel will spin one time in seven inches for a 1-in-7 twist or one time in twelve inches for a 1-in12 twist. Lighter-weight bullets, like a 55-grain bullet, will do better in the slower twist like the 1-in-12 twist and heavy bullets, like a the slower twist like the 1-in-12 twist and heavy bullets, like a in-7 twist. The 1-in-9 twist is the industry standard and will work just fine with most bullet weights and is especially well suited for the 5.56 militaryspec 62-grain bullet. The optics you choose should match the use of your most-likely scenario. If your retreat is in a heavily wooded area, most of your

targets will be relatively close, and a reflex sight might be your best choice. If your compound is in a wide-open plain, you will most likely want a scope for longdistance shots. For those of you who need to toggle back and forth from close quarters to long distances, you can either stack a reflex sight on top of your scope with a scope mount, which has a tactical rail on top, or you can mount a flip-tothe-side magnifier in line with your reflex sight. If you go with the flip-to-the-side option, make sure the magnifier and the reflex sight line up, as all systems will not be compatible. We mentioned the AR-10, which has all of the same advantages of the AR-15 except it is a slightly heavier weapon and the ammo is heavier. The upside to the weight is that the AR-10 is capable of longer shots and greater penetration. For people who are very well built and above average height, the AR-10 may be a more effective weapon. It will take more stamina to keep the larger rifle steady when taking shots from a standing position. Another prepper and retreat group favorite is the AK-47. Also known as the Kalashnikov, this weapon is based on the original design by Mikhail Kalashnikov, which was developed in 1946. Kalashnikov crafted a rifle that is simplistic in its operation and requires minimal maintenance. The AK-47 has proved to be more reliable than even the AR-15 in extreme weather conditions or in environments where the weapon is likely to get very dirty. The reliability of the AK-47 is attributed to the loose-fitting design and has made it the most widely used rifle by militaries around the world. It is the rifle used by the Russian and Chinese armies as well as most Eastern European, Asian, Middle Eastern, and African militaries. At one time, it was harder to find rail systems to accessorize your AK47. Now you can attach most any accessory to your AK-47 that is available for the AR-15. The only true downside to the AK-47 is that the 7.62x39 ammunition is a bit heavier than 5.56 ammo for the AR15. This added weight will limit the amount of extra ammo that you can carry into a combat situation. Shotguns

A shotgun is not designed to function like a battle rifle. It is limited in the magazine capacity and effective range. Even though the shotgun can’t take the place of a battle rifle, it can play an important role in your retreat security plan. In the event that your team is forced into the position of having to breach a door, a shotgun can perform that function. Other advantages of shotguns are their price and versatility. A goodquality shotgun can be purchased for under $300. That amount won’t even get you started in the battle rifle arena. Shotgun shells can be purchased for different tasks. Slugs are available for breaching doors and large game such as deer and hogs. There are a variety of sizes of buckshot for large game and home defense. Smaller-sized shot is available for birds and small game, like squirrel and rabbit. Shotguns like the Mossberg 500 can switch barrels in less than one minute. A short, eighteen-inch barrel is perfect for home defense, and the twenty-eight-inch barrel is great for hunting. Many tactical accessories are now available for the Mossberg 500, like tactical stocks, rails for flashlights, and extra shell carriers. Side Arms A reoccurring theme you will always hear about in prepping is having redundancy. This ensures that if one system fails, another is there to step in and fill the void. A pistol could never fulfil the role of a battle rifle, but it is necessary in an imperfect world where rifles jam and malfunction. Glock is probably the most common side arm in the prepper community. As we discussed before, common means it is easy to find parts and magazines for the gun. The two factors responsible for pushing the popularity of the Glock are price and reliability. Glocks are commonly used by militaries and domestic police agencies worldwide. Glock produces full-size, compact, and subcompactsized pistols. Their double-stacked magazine design allows for maximum ammunition capacity. They are available in all common pistol calibers. Glocks come in 9mm, which is a smaller round but allows for more capacity in the magazine, .40 caliber, which straddles the fence between stopping power and magazine capacity and .45 ACP, which has maximum

stopping power, but magazine capacity is restricted by the size of the round. Glocks are also available in other calibers, such as 10mm, .45 GAP, and .357, but these are less common and will be harder to find ammo, parts, and magazines for in the PAW. Glock pistols have recently tried to enter the concealed carry market, with single-stacked .45 ACP and .380 Auto models, which offer a thinner profile. The next-most-popular pistol for preppers is the model 1911. This design is produced by several different firearms manufacturers, such as Colt, Browning, Rock River, Smith and Wesson, Kimber, Springfield Armory, and Sig Sauer, just to name a few. Folks who like the 1911 are rarely fans of Glock, and vice-versa. 1911 model pistols are reliable and common, which makes them easy to find parts and magazines for. The typical 1911 is chambered in .45 ACP, but they are available in other common calibers. Camouflage Having the ability to blend in with your surroundings is a major benefit to a security team. Whichever camo pattern your group decides upon, try to get everyone on the team to be consistent with the pattern. This will serve two purposes. First, it will make your group look like a more cohesive unit. To outsiders, you will look more professional and you are much more likely to be taken seriously. Can you imagine how amateur it would look to go into a fast-food restaurant where the employees were all wearing different types of clothes? Yet how much more important is the safety of your family and your retreat than the dollar menu? The second and equally as important function of having everyone in the same camo pattern is identification. In an ambush or closequarters firefight, the lines will be blurred enough without having to try to figure out if the guy on the other side of that bush is a friend or foe. That uncertainty can result in a friendly-fire incident if you shoot and it was someone from your team. A two-second hesitation to get a better look at the person on the other side of the bush could cost you your life.

Which camo pattern you decide on is going to depend on your area of operation and your budget. Outdoor retailers such as Cabela’s and Bass Pro have a wide selection of camouflage patterns that are very specific to certain geographical areas. They also offer patterns that fit well with different seasons. These choices can get expensive, and you’ll have a rough time finding tactical gear, such as chest rigs or plate carriers, to match your pattern. The easy fix for tactical gear to go with these types of patterns would be to go with olive drab if the pattern is for wood lands and coyote if the pattern is for a more arid environment. Several veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq have voiced their displeasure with the ACU digital camo pattern because of the colors not being a good fit for any particular environment. Most other military patterns work well, particularly in wooded areas. Digital woodland and the old woodland BDU are both well suited for a mountain or forest retreat security team. The new mulitcam pattern is even better as it has smaller, more organic shapes that blend well with the foliage. Mulitcam also has small patches of very light color, which mimics light passing through the leaves from above. Mulitcam accessories can be a bit pricier than other patterns, but the surplus market may push prices lower in the future. Black is not the best color for camouflage, even at night. The worst thing about it is that it is a solid color, and the shape of the team member wearing it is not broken up in any way. Next, it is rarely a color that occurs in nature. Most things that appear black in nature are actually a very dark hue of brown. Every rule does have its exception though. If you’re planning to secure a neighborhood in an urban environment, black can be a very intimidating color. Trying to survive a Without Rule Of Law scenario in a city is going to look a lot like the zombie apocalypse, so you’ll need all the help you can get. While the authors would never recommend trying to ride out a WROL event inside a major population center, we do understand that there are people who may not have a choice and we encourage you to not give up.

For winter patrols, a simple white sheet with a hole cut through the top can be worn as a poncho over your regular camo. Unless there is several feet of snow, you will rarely see everything as totally white. You can break up the large area of white on the sheet with a few vertical streaks of brown or tan spray paint that matches the bark on the trees around you. We mentioned that black is rarely found in nature, yet most battle rifles are all black. A lot of folks look at their rifle like a beautiful car. They like to clean it up and take it through the park on Sundays. That is a very understandable viewpoint. After all some battle rifles are true works of art. We do have to remember though, your rifle is a tool, just like a hammer or a saw. A few quick sprays of tan, OD green, and foliage green spray paint will break up the solid color of your rifle. Use the best-quality paint that you can find and be sure to protect the receiver, muzzle, and other areas with openings and moving parts from the paint. If you just can’t stomach spray painting your rifle, there is a wide array of camouflaged tapes. Individual First Aid Kits There are the obvious threats of injury from a firefight, but being in the great outdoors has a variety of potential hazards. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, medical services may be nonexistent. It is imperative that you have the tools and skills to address common cuts and abrasions before infection sets in. The items we will be talking about in this section are simply what you should be carrying on a security patrol and not an exhaustive list of the medical supplies you should have at your retreat. Although, if you have these simple items, you will probably be more prepared than most. If you only had one item from this list, the IBD or Israeli battle dressing would be the thing to have. It can address a number of injuries. The IBD is a self-contained, sterile bandage. It has a large section of sterile gauze affixed to a bandage material similar to an Ace bandage. The IBD can be used to address deep cuts on your torso or any appendage. It has a compression cleat, which allows you to tighten the bandage, putting pressure on the wound to reduce the bleeding. Since the wrapping portion of the IBD is made of an Ace bandage

type material, it can also be used to address a sprain. The IBD will also serve to secure two sticks on either side of a broken bone to act as a splint. The next most important item to stop bleeding is Quickclot. Quickclot comes in a sponge that is packaged individually and sterile. It works by pulling all of the fluids out of the blood and leaving the platelets, which clot up to stop the flow of blood. A single Quickclot sponge will stop bleeding in most non-arterial bleeding within a minute or two. There are other hemostatic agents on the market that work similarly, but we recommend only Quickclot. Another product in this category is Celox granules. Celox will also stop the bleeding just like Quickclot; the difference is in the aftercare. After the bleeding has stopped, each individual Celox granule has to be picked out of the wound. This is no fun for the medical caregiver and even less fun for the patient. These two previous items are very effective if no arteries are severed. Arterial bleeding can be easily identified by quick, successive spurts of bright red blood. The injured individual can bleed to death very quickly if the bleeding artery is not stopped. The easiest way to stop arterial bleeding is with a tourniquet. The tourniquet should be placed between the injury and the heart to be effective. Two very popular tourniquets are the TK4 tourniquet and the Combat Application Tourniquet. The TK4 is a smaller and more affordable tourniquet while the C-A-T is more comprehensive. The TK4 is a simple band that is wrapped tightly around the affected appendage and secured via the attached hook. The C-A-T is a Velcro band with a pencilsized rod that is twisted to add additional pressure to the arm or leg and then inserted into an attached clip to keep it from unwinding. One of the largest targets on your body is your lungs. They are located right at the center of mass, which is the primary target your enemy is likely to aim for. A gunshot wound or puncture wound in the lungs will result in a sucking chest wound. Each time the victim breathes in, he is pulling blood and air into the lungs through the wound. If not addressed quickly, the victim will die. To address this type of injury, the wound channel must be blocked so air can no longer enter the lungs through the opening. This can be accomplished by

simply duct taping a piece of plastic like the sterile wrapping of the IBD or even a piece of a trash bag. A better solution is the Asherman Chest Seal. The ACS has a one-way valve that allows the air to escape through the wound, which helps to get the blood away from the lung, but doesn’t allow air to enter the lung through the wound opening. When injuries occur, they often occur on areas that were covered by clothing. It can be very cumbersome or even impossible to remove the clothing so the wound can be addressed. The best solution for this problem is a good pair of EMT shears. EMT shears can cut through denim or even Kevlar so you can gain access to the wound. If an injury occurs on a patrol, it is unlikely that you will be near a sink to properly sanitize your hands and equipment before trying to stop the bleeding or bandage the area. A good pair of latex or nitrile gloves is a great addition to your IFAK or individual first aid kit, but also consider keeping a small bottle of hand sanitizer to sanitize your hands and equipment if you have to do work in the field. Sometimes you just need a Band-Aid. Small cuts in the PAW can become major issues if not properly cared for. A small tube of triple antibiotic gel will help prevent infection from cuts and abrasions. All bandages are not alike. For your IFAK, get the good Band-Aids. We like Band-Aid Tough strips because they will still stick to you even if you are sweaty or damp from the weather. They also won’t get pushed off easily by clothing or gear. For more serious cuts, a good suture kit is something to consider for your kit. You can learn to suture on YouTube in a matter of minutes. A suture kit should have pre-threaded sutures, a pair of hemostats, and some type of antiseptic. Betadine is the antiseptic used by hospitals for suturing and is available in individually wrapped swabs. Your EMT shears will work for cutting the suture thread once you’re finished with the stitch. Some cuts are borderline or you may not have the time to properly suture the wound. 3M Steri-Strips work well for either of these situations. Steri-Strips can hold the skin together for several days.

Burn gel packets are good for minor burns. Additionally, the primary ingredient in burn gel is lidocaine. While not as potent as injectable lidocaine, the topical application of burn gel to an area that needs a suture will make the skin being sutured less sensitive. Gauze pads are good for stuffing gaping wounds and cleaning deep cuts before bandaging them. Keep some pain relievers in your kit too. All the fancy stuff won’t help a headache, toothache, or sore muscles. Your dietary habits may be significantly altered in the PAW so keep some Imodium on hand as well. While we’re on the subject, water purification tablets don’t take up much room. You never know when your patrol is going to be overrun and turned into an escape and evasion mission. Benadryl can help to counteract allergic reactions to insect stings or bites as well as adverse effects of toxic plants. Very thorough individual first aid kits are available on PrepperRecon.com. Just click the STORE tab at the top of the page. Our IFAKs come in MOLLE compatible pouches and are available in OD green, coyote, ACU, and black. They weigh about a pound and a quarter and include most of the items mentioned in the IFAK section except water purification tablets, Benadryl, and Imodium. These three items are hard to source in properly labeled, single-use packaging. Chapter 7 Assault Bags An assault bag is a small or medium-sized backpack to carry a few essential items for the specific task you are going out to complete. This is a separate bag from your bug-out bag, which is intended to keep you alive for seventy-two hours. Your assault bag should be much smaller and lighter as you may be moving quickly and will already be carrying a lot of gear, such as your rifle, side arm, extra ammunition, IFAK, and possibly body armor. Even in the event that you are going on a long-distance reconnaissance mission where you will be carrying a large bag and staying out for several days, you still need a smaller, separate assault bag, which can be attached to the outside of your larger pack. This

will allow you to drop the heavy load and quickly detach your assault bag if you have to engage the enemy. Before you begin a mission, you are going to configure your assault bag to the specific task. A reconnaissance mission will have a very different load-out than a security patrol. While many of the items will be the same, there will be other items that will be quite different. First, let’s look at the items that will always be in your assault pack. Whether it is in your assault pack in the way of a hydration kit or it’s is in a canteen on the side of your belt, you are always going to need water. Getting dehydrated on a mission creates a risk to you and your entire team. The PrepperRecon.com STORE, offers MOLLE compression packs and compatible three-liter hydration kits. They come in a variety of colors and camouflage styles to match most camo gear. Since they are MOLLE packs, MOLLE IFAKs can be attached to the back for easy access to your medical supplies. The compression straps on the sides, top, and bottom allow you to lock down your gear inside to reduce noise from loose gear rattling around. For those on a limited budget, CampingSurvival.com offers one- and two-quart canteens and sling-style carriers or covers with keeper clips that can attach to your belt from four dollars. You never know when your simple patrol mission can turn into an escape and evasion mission. You can be cut off from your retreat or overrun by enemy forces. Some method of water purification is an essential item for your assault pack. At around seven dollars for a bottle, the cheapest and most space efficient solution to this need is water purification tablets such as Potable Aqua. These use iodine to kill potential pathogens in the water. While they are very effective, they do leave something to be desired in the way of taste. A couple of packs of Gatorade mix will help cover the taste. You can even make your own sports hydration drink mix by mixing a quarter cup of sugar, a quarter teaspoon of salt, and half a packet of your favorite flavor of Kool-Aid per quart of water. For better-tasting water, a small water filter makes a good permanent addition to your assault bag. Katadyn offers several small models for

every budget. They all function in roughly the same way. The price will reflect the capacity of water that can be filtered by each. The top-ofthe-line is the Katadyn Pocket, which weighs twenty ounces and can filter thirteen thousand gallons of water. The Katadyn Pocket lists at $369. If that is way out of your budget, have no fear. The Katadyn Hiker, which is about the same size, can filter up to 750 gallons for under seventy dollars. CampingSurvival.com carries Potable Aqua purification tablets as well as several models of Katadyn filters. As with all water filters, you will get much better results if you prefilter cloudy water by using a gypsy well or simply by pouring it through a clean shirt or bandana to remove some of the sediment. A gypsy well is a small hole dug near a stream, pond or lake that will allow the water to seep through and filter out sediment and some pathogens. Keeping MREs in your assault bag will ensure that you have at least a couple of meals with you in the event that you are cut off or out on an extended mission. They can store for up to twenty years so you can throw them in your pack and forget about them. The fact that they are ready to eat means that you won’t have to start a fire, which could broadcast your position to the enemy. CampingSurvival.com sells MREs from an array of different manufacturers, including the same MREs produced for the US military and packaged for retail sale. Another component of your assault bag should be extra ammunition and magazines. How much will depend heavily on your likelihood of an enemy engagement. You may also have a chest rig, a tactical vest, or a plate carrier with several magazine pouches. If they can hold a sufficient amount of extra ammo, you may not need more in your assault bag. Keep in mind that you also need additional ammunition for your side arm. If your chest rig is only set up for rifle magazines, you may want to keep a few pistol magazines in your assault bag. Keep a compact cleaning kit for your rifle in your assault bag. Extra socks are a must-have for your assault bag. Gloves are a good addition for protection from the elements or if you anticipate dealing with barbed wire or other hazardous surfaces that can injure your hands.

If you think there is a possibility of encountering CS gas or other chemical agents, keep a gas mask with you. If your mission is going to be conducted in an urban environment, you may not want an assault bag that looks like a military-style bag. You may want something in a more neutral color. This is known as the gray-man approach. Rather than full military gear, the gray man seeks to blend in with his environment. Rather than camo gear, jeans, a Tshirt, and a ball cap might fit the scope of the mission better. Your gray-man assault bag should be a subdued color like dark blue, khaki, or dark gray. If you are moving through an area where you think you might be searched, keep that in mind as well. Consider carrying bottled water rather than a militarystyle canteen. One of the authors, David Kobler, served with the 101st Airborne in the invasion of Iraq. The Iraqi soldiers were quick to ditch their uniforms and attempted to blend in with the civilians. Two common mistakes made by Iraqi forces during the invasion that made them easy to spot by David and the others were they kept their militaryissued boots or their military-issued belt. Little things like that can make you stand out if an enemy force is looking for your group or team. Other mission-specific considerations for your load-out might be repelling or crossing a body of water. In these instances, you might need rope, a harness or webbing, and D rings. Binoculars or a monocular is a critical tool for being able to gather information from a distance. This is obvious for any type of reconnaissance mission, but even for a security patrol or salvage mission, knowing what you are walking into will increase your odds of success. If you anticipate breaching a door, you might need a battering ram. This may not necessarily be for engaging a hostile force; it might be to gain entry for a salvaging mission. Other tools you might need to carry could include bolt cutters or wire cutters, a fold-up shovel, a hatchet, or a wire saw. You may need to

cross fences, cut wire, or dig a crawl space under a fence or open gates for reconnaissance and salvage missions. Some missions will require a map. There are several considerations with your map. For one, you need to make sure your map is weather proof. You can purchase rolls of clear laminating sheet easily enough, before it hits the fan. If you make indications on your map of where your team’s outpost or base camp is located, be sure to use codes. You never want to carry vital information into the field that can be found if one of your team members is killed or captured. Cable ties or zip ties are a very useful item that can have several functions. They can be used for quick fixes when gear breaks or tears, they can be used to construct a bivouac shelter out of tree limbs and debris, or they can be used to restrain hostiles. Likewise, trash bags take up very little room and can be very useful for collecting items on salvaging missions, a quick poncho to protect you from the rain, water collection, or even to waterproof the roof of a bivouac shelter. Once your team has determined what the specific loadout for the mission will be and you’re ready to move out, the team leader should do a pre-combat inspection. The leader will go to each team member and inspect his or her gear to make sure he or she has every item on the list and that all of his or her equipment is in proper working order. All radios should be checked to make sure the batteries are working properly and that they are on the correct channel. An important test for the pre-combat check is to have the team member jump up and down. This will reveal gear that is not properly secured when it falls off or makes a lot of noise. As we mentioned before, the compression backpack will allow you to tighten the exterior straps to lock down the gear inside and keep it from rattling. Check out your night vision equipment if you are taking it on the mission. Make sure the batteries are working and that each person in your unit has the proper attachment equipment to secure it to his or her rifle or helmet.

For the leader, it is very important that the other team members are willing to allow the pre-combat inspection. If a team member is not willing to accept the authority of the leader for the pre-combat inspection, more serious problems are sure to come. Chapter 8 Personal Preparedness One last thing before we start focusing on tactics. Your number one weapon and survival tool is you. Most of the tactics in this book will be fairly easy to accomplish for people in good shape. Those who are out of shape may find some of the maneuvers difficult or downright impossible. Some folks may be limited by arthritis or other physical factors that hinder your ability to perform at a certain level. Do what you can, and don’t do what you can’t. If you are out of shape, now is the time to address that problem. Get on an exercise program, and regulate your caloric intake. It is going to take will power, but you can do it. Your life literally depends on it. Neither economic collapse nor zombie apocalypse are on the top-ten killers list in America. The number one and two causes of premature death in our country are both easily remedied. Cancer, which is linked to smoking, and heart disease, which is linked to obesity, are the top two killers in America. One out of ten premature deaths in the United States is linked to alcohol. If you consider yourself a survivalist, or simply want to greatly increase your quality of life, quit smoking and drinking and maintain a healthy weight. The extra stress of any of these health risk in a post-apocalyptic world will slow you down and consume precious resources. If you are obese, you won’t be able to keep up with the extra tasks that you’ll be required to perform in the PAW. If you are addicted to drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes, you are going to expend precious resources to avoid withdraw symptoms that could have gone to feeding yourself or your family. Not only is this a major issue after TEOTWAWKI, but a pack of cigarettes costs over five dollars. If you smoke a pack a day, that’s $1825 per year. Can you imagine the prepper supplies you could get with that much money?

Another reason to shed addictions now is that you are going to need to focus. Addictions are very distracting, and addictions to drugs and alcohol inhibit your ability to make good decisions. I know it’s hard to stop, but it’s a lot easier now than it will be later. Certain prescription drugs may become difficult to obtain after the collapse as well. If the medications you are taking are not necessary to keep you alive, consider talking to your doctor about getting on a program to wean yourself off of them. Antidepressants are widely overprescribed in America. One of the best antidepressants around is a good exercise program and a healthy diet. That leads us into our mind-set. For security missions, you need to take on the warrior mentality. You need to be fully convinced that what you are doing is right. The reality of working a security patrol or any combat mission is the possibility of death. The time to think about that is now. Both of the authors are Christians. That means they have decided to place their faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That means no one is good enough to get into heaven by their own merits. The Bible also says in Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” That’s the end of the Bible study, but you need to decide what you believe and do what you need to do to get right with God right now. Waiting until you are in a firefight and in the valley of the shadow of death to get right with God is a horrible idea. Contemplating what comes next during a gun fight may cloud your thoughts or cause you to hesitate. That distraction or split-second hesitation can cost you or your team member his or her life. Whatever you believe and whatever you decide, do it now. You have all the time in the world right now to explore the Bible or spend time wondering what comes next. Don’t wait until it is too late to think about this very important issue. Besides pie in the sky in the sweet by and by, having faith has some very practical applications for the here and now. Many of the soldiers who have survived long periods of time in POW camps have credited

their faith in God as being the determining factor in their survival. Faith and hope are very real survival tools. The survival rule of threes says you can survive for three minutes without air, three hours without shelter in extreme conditions, three days without water, three weeks without food, and three months without hope. Chapter 9 Troop Movement There are a few basic troop movements that will help a team function as a cohesive force. These movements are relatively easy to do for those who are in good shape. Movement is a critical aspect of battle. The most important things to focus on in battle are remembering to shoot, move, and communicate. Shooting to destroy or harass the enemy is an obvious task of a team member in a firefight, but just as important, moving keeps the enemy from being able to zero in on the individual team members. Communication is also key. It is important for each team member to understand the commands or hand signals given by the fire team leader or squad commander. Low Crawl

We’ll start with individual troop movements. The first is the low crawl. The low crawl will allow you to move while maintaining a minimum profile. This reduces your size as a target to the enemy. The low crawl is performed by lying with your belly on the ground, grabbing your rifle by the hand guard and letting the pistol grip rest on your elbow with your arm at an angle. High Crawl

The next individual troop movement is the high crawl. This movement is a bit more natural and will allow you to carry your rifle cradled across your arms. You can move a bit more quickly as well. The obvious tradeoff for the speed is that you have a higher profile and offer a better target for the enemy. With both of these movements, and particularly the low crawl, you will be dragging everything in the front of your chest rig or tactical vest through the dirt and debris on the ground. It is important to make sure that your magazines are facing down so dirt and debris are not being pushed into the magazines, which can cause your rifle to jam. As you move forward in the low crawl or high crawl, you are looking for cover and looking for targets that can be eliminated. As a reminder, concealment is anything that keeps the enemy from being able to see you. Cover, which is the best option, is anything that can stop a bullet. A bush might offer concealment, which will keep the enemy from being able to identify you as a target, but it won’t stop bullets that are being sprayed in your direction. A boulder will offer cover from enemy fire and concealment from the enemy’s view.

The next movement is the short rush. This movement can be used to change positions rapidly. For this movement, you will first identify the next location of cover and concealment. Then get up, run to the new position, and drop back down behind cover. As soon as you get up, you will become a potential target, so move as quickly as possible to your new position of cover and concealment. When moving with a team, be conscious of your team members’ locations and avoid moving into their line of fire. By using a leap-frog approach, one or two members of a fire team can move while the other members lay down cover fire. A fire team is typically around four people. Once the moving team members have reached their position, they will lay down cover fire for the others to advance. When your turn to advance comes around, listen for cover fire from your team members and start moving as soon as you hear it as they are expending valuable resource by sending cover fire down range. All of these individual troop movements should be practiced regularly with your retreat security team. You can practice them on your own as well so that group training time can focus more on team coordination. Another important training exercise is magazine changes. As we mentioned before, magazines should always be facing down to prevent dirt and debris entering the magazine during a low crawl. Having them face down is also the most efficient position for retrieving them from your magazine pouch for a reload. The best position on your vest to store your rifle magazines is on the left for right handed shooters and on the right for left handed shooters. This allows you to maintain control of your rifle and keeps you from having to reach across to the other side of your body to reload. Keep the magazines all pointed in the same direction, which should be with the bullet pointed inward. This is the most natural direction to have your magazine so you don’t have to turn it around when reloading. Additionally, if you practice reloading with your magazines pointed toward your center, muscle memory will kick in when you are reloading in the dark. We can’t emphasize enough the importance of practicing magazine changes. If you are ever involved in a gun fight, the stress and

adrenaline are going to make everything harder. If you’ve practiced this several times, it will go much more smoothly. If you are forced to make magazine changes in the dark, you’ll be able to do it because you’ll instinctively know where everything is. When your magazine is finished on a battle rifle, the bolt will remain open. Hit the magazine release button and drop the magazine. If you are engaged in a firefight and you win, you can go back and collect your magazines later. If you lose, you won’t need those magazines anyway. Those precious seconds of trying to retrieve the spent magazine during the firefight could be the deciding factor on that particular gunfight. Hold your rifle up and at an angle so you can keep your eyes on the enemy while you’re changing your magazine. Retrieve the next mag from your pouch, insert it, and slap the bottom with your palm to make sure it is securely seated in the magazine well. Then, slap the bolt catch with your palm. This ensures that you will hit the button without having to look. This procedure can be practiced over and over in your house while standing over a comforter or thick blanket to keep from damaging your floor or your magazines. Now that we have covered basic individual troop movements, we’ll move on to group movement. In order to move as a unit, the leader needs to be able to communicate a few key commands to the rest of the unit. Radios are great, but there will be times when you need to be quiet. There will be other times in combat that you can’t hear anything because of gunfire and explosions. The best way for a leader to communicate to the rest of the unit is via hand signals.

V Formation Signal with Arms

The first signal is V formation. By sticking both hands up in the air at a slight angle, the leader is signaling that the unit will form a V with the leader at the tip and the others falling in behind him.

V Formation Signal with Hand

If the leader is unable to make the gesture with his arms due to being in enemy territory or because he doesn’t have both hands available, he can signal V formation with his hand by holding up only his pinky and index finger. Form a Line

Next, the leader can call for the unit to form a line by dividing up equally on his right and left by holding both arms straight out perpendicular to his body.

Line up on the Left

up on the Right

Line

Likewise, the leader can hold one arm up to the left or the right to signal he wants the unit to line up on one side of him. Spread Out

Move in Closer Together

Standard distancing between team members will be around five to ten meters. If the leader wants the unit to spread out, he will motion by turning his hands outward and moving his arms apart. To signal the unit to move in closer together, he will turn his palms inward and move his arms from the outside inward.

Ranger File

Ranger file or file is signaled by raising one hand straight up in the air. This signals that the unit should fall in behind the leader in single file. Double Time

Double time is indicated by making a fist and holding it out to one side of the body and moving it up and down. This signals to the rest of the team to pick up the speed.

I Need Comms

It may be that your team has only one radio, or there is only one team member with a long-range radio. If the leader needs to call the team member dedicated for communications, he will signal by holding up his thumb and pinky, then holding his hand to his head like a telephone.

Danger Area

A danger area might be an open field where the team could be easily seen by hostile forces or an open crossing where the unit could be ambushed. To signal that the team is approaching such an area, the leader will move his hand across his throat in a slicing motion.

Halt

If the leader needs to signal the rest of the group to halt, he will raise one hand with his palm open. This would be to stop the team to rest, consult a map, or any reason other than danger. Halt Danger

If the leader senses that contact with the enemy is likely or eminent, he will stop the unit by holding up one hand but with his fist closed. The closed fist signifies a fight and distinguishes halting due to danger so the team can be ready to take action.

Cease-Fire

The leader can signal a cease-fire by holding his palm facing outward, his elbow bent and waving his hand up and down in front of his face. This is a very important signal as team members may not be able to hear because of the noise from ongoing or recent gunfire.

Gas Hazard

Holding your arms straight out and moving your hands back and forth toward your head will signal the threat of gas. This would be used for nuclear or biological hazard, as well as the threat of CS gas. An easy way to remember this sign is that when the hands come close to the head it looks like you’re pulling your gas mask over your head. Hold Your Weapon at an Angle When Shooting with a Gas Mask

While we’re on the subject, shooting with a gas mask presents a new set of challenges. It would be wise to practice shooting with your gas mask on. The major issue is that it is difficult to get a good cheek weld or sight picture due to the mask being in the way. To compensate for this, try holding your rifle at a forty-five-degree angle to allow you to get a better sight picture. V Formation Heavy Left

V Formation Heavy

Right

The first signal we talked about was the wedge or V formation. When a unit is moving in the V formation, the team leader will be at the point with the other team members falling in behind. If the leader anticipates a higher likelihood of attack from the right, he will have more team members on the right side of the V. This is known as V formation heavy right. He will also concentrate his heavy hitters on the right side. For a prepper group running a security team, they would want the individuals with the most firepower on the right side. Let’s say the team has only one member with an AR-15 or similar battle rifle; they would want that person on the right side. Of course, if the left side is the more obvious side to be attacked due to geographic elements or known location of enemy forces, the team would move in a V formation heavy left.

Diamond Formation

Diamond formation is a very effective formation for troop movement. The team member in the rear of the diamond has the responsibility of watching for an attack from the back. Ranger File

Diamond and V formations offer good security elements for different situations. The primary drawback to those formations is speed. When traveling through heavy brush or densely wooded terrain, the team members on each side have to slow down to pick their way through the obstacles of the given landscape. When enemy contact is not expected, the file formation allows the team to move quickly through the terrain. As with all of the formations, maintain a safe distance between other team members of at least five meters. File formation offers serious challenges if the team does make contact with hostile

forces. One problem is that if the enemy approaches from the front, the entire team is in the line of fire from the team members in their rear. A well-trained force can quickly move into a V formation to engage the bad guys, but they must be very careful not to shoot a team member running out in front of them. Line Formation

In situations where you anticipate enemy contact, line formation allows you to maintain maximum firepower in front of your position. If you are traveling through heavy brush, it will be slow moving because each team member has to pick his path through the brush and other obstacles. Traveling

The formations we have discussed up to this point are for individual fire teams of around three to four team members. Next, we’ll discuss troop movement for a larger group. Our first level of movement is

called traveling. Traveling is a quick-paced movement for a squad when contact with the enemy is unlikely. The squad will be made up of two fire teams, each with a team leader in the front point position and a squad leader between the two fire teams. The squad leader will be giving instruction to the two team leaders, and the team leaders will be giving instruction to the other two to three men in their fire team. These two fire teams will keep a distance of around twenty meters between them. The front team will move in a wedge formation, and the rear team will move in a diamond formation so they have one team member assigned to guard the rear of the entire squad. Traveling over Watch

When enemy contact is more likely, the two fire teams will keep a greater distance between them. Keeping a fiftymeter distance rather than twenty meters leaves more room for one of the teams to maneuver around and flank the enemy if the other team has to engage in a firefight. Always be conscious of the distance between each team member within the fire team and maintain a five-to-ten-meter spacing. Bounding over Watch

When contact with the enemy is almost certain, bounding over watch is the best method of movement for the squad. As in traveling over watch, the two fire teams will maintain a distance of about fifty meters. Rather than one team being in a V or wedge formation, both

teams will move in a diamond formation. One team will sit still and cover the other team while they advance. Once the first fire team has reached their position fifty meters ahead, the second team will advance fifty meters in front of the first team. This leap-frog approach will ensure that one team is always in a position to engage the enemy if he should appear. And since both teams are in diamond formation, there will always be one team member assigned to cover the rear of the squad. Chapter 10 The Security Plan In this chapter we’ll discuss three main components for a good security plan. The size of the retreat security team will determine which of these can effectively be implemented. First is the command post. Every retreat security team should try to designate some area inside or near the main living quarters where planning, battle tracking, and communications can be set up. Your command post should have all the communications equipment set up in a central location so various sources of information can be monitored and relayed to outposts and patrols. This might include a television if regular broadcasts are still being aired, internet if available, an AM/FM radio, UHF/VHF short wave, citizens band or CB radio, scanners, GMRS/FRS radios, or whatever types of communications are being used for patrols and hardline field phones between the command post and outposts. Hard line field phones are perfect for fixed outposts and observation posts so communications between command and outposts can’t be intercepted. Once a security plan has been implemented, this informationmonitoring station within the command post should be monitored twenty-four hours a day. The people who monitor the station can break it up into shifts depending on the available manpower. This is a perfect position for a teenage girl, elderly person, or injured team member who can’t participate in perimeter patrols or is not well suited for an outpost. The command post should also have a variety of maps that can be used to identify locations on the retreat, local, state, and national levels. Maps and dry-erase boards are important tools for battle

tracking. As with many items, dryerase markers are inexpensive and easily accessible now, but that could change quickly in a TEOTWAWKI situation. We discussed laminating your maps for patrols to protect them from the elements. This is also a great idea for your command post. Laminating your maps will allow you to mark positions on them with a dry-erase marker and remove the marks as the situation changes. Duplicate copies of laminated maps can be distributed to patrols with phase lines or codes for streets and landmarks. Oak Street might be labeled phase line alpha. This is important for operational security; if anyone intercepts the communication that the patrol is crossing phase line alpha, they would know less about the operation than if they had intercepted a call that the patrol was crossing Oak Street. All pertinent information should be aggregated and tracked at the command post. This information might include positions of outposts and patrols, known enemy locations, and locations of previous attacks. The next security component we will discuss is the listening post observation post or LPOP. The LPOP would be located at such a distance and in such a location that it can monitor the primary avenues of approach to the main living quarters of the retreat. A good position for a LPOP might be a wooded hill overlooking the retreat’s primary structure and outbuildings. The LPOP can be near the top of the hill for a good vantage point but should not be at the peak, where it will be profiled against the horizon in the background. A hunting blind could be used for the LPOP to camouflage the person manning the post and offer some level of protection from the elements. A more elaborate LPOP might dig into the side of the hill to fabricate a better camouflaged structure. In the best-case scenario, hard line field phones would be used to communicate between the LPOP and the command post. The third element of a good security plan is security operations or a mobile security team. They will be assigned a specific set of tasks to protect the main retreat, provide early warning of danger, and keep the enemy from getting close enough to attack or fire into the retreat.

This group can provide security for a fixed location, the main body of a fighting force, or a moving group. By locating the enemy before an attack on the retreat, information can be relayed to the command post and allow the security commander to formulate and implement a plan to send out the main security force in the event that the retreat is threatened. Screen The first function of security operations is screen. Here, the security operations team will conduct reconnaissance, observe, identify the enemy’s course of action or COA, and report it back to the command post. Under the screen, the only time the security operations team would initiate an attack against the enemy would be to destroy an enemy recon team. Otherwise, they would try to avoid a firefight unless they were being attacked. Guard Next is guard. Here the security operations team will have more combat capabilities and will be one step closer to the retreat. The retreat security commander will typically assign more team members to operate in the guard function. They will be more likely to directly engage the enemy in a fight. The guard wants the enemy to believe they are the main body of the fighting force in hopes that the enemy will underestimate the strength of the full fighting force. This also gives the main body an opportunity to flank the enemy. Other specific tasks for the guard may include destroying the enemy’s advanced guard, clearing avenues of advance, or reducing obstacles for the main body to be able to attack the enemy. As with the screen, the guard force should always maintain contact with the enemy so they can report the enemy’s movement back to the commander. Cover Unlike screen and guard, the cover force will have even greater combat capabilities and can operate as an autonomous unit, separate from the main body. Their list of tasks also includes deceiving the enemy into believing they are the main body. They will try to identify weaknesses in the enemy that can be exploited by them or the main

body. The cover force will try to fix the enemy. To fix the enemy, the cover force can use suppressive fire by one element of the force while the another group from the cover force maneuvers to pin the enemy down so the enemy can’t retreat or work their way out of a predicament. If the cover force can pin the enemy into a cross fire, it will be very hard for the enemy to even get into a position to return fire. Think of a chess game where one player is trying to maneuver his pieces around the other player’s king to put him in a position where he is trapped. Once you understand this concept, you have grasped the concept of fixing the enemy. Just as the cover force can move against the enemy to fix them, so can the enemy move against your team to fix you. This is why you have to keep as a mantra, “Shoot, move, and communicate.” We can’t stress enough how important it is to keep moving so the enemy can’t pin you down. Area Security The area security force can be offensive or defensive in nature. Some of their tasks might include maintaining checkpoints responsible along avenues of approach. They might be for keeping supply lines open or operating checkpoints around the community or town near the main body. Fixed-area security forces have to assume they are being watched by the enemy. weaknesses and complacency. routines when planning their attack. It is recommended to change team members out every four hours so they don’t get tired, lose vigilance, and become vulnerable to an attack. The enemy will look for They will also watch for Local Security The local security force will be responsible for maintaining the perimeter defense. They will main observation posts and combat outposts. Local security will be responsible for keeping the enemy from being able to gather intelligence about what is happening with the main body. This might be accomplished through the use of camouflage, sound and light discipline, and limited radio usage. Local

security should double their guard at stand-to times, which is typically right before daylight. This is one of the most likely times to be attacked because the enemy anticipates that everyone will be asleep. We mentioned that area security will be responsible for perimeter defense. We have dedicated an entire chapter to perimeter dense in chapter 11. A small retreat security force of ten or twenty people is not going to be able to field all of the positions mentioned in security operations. One fire team of three or four people may be responsible for all of the tasks mentioned for all five functions of security operations. The important thing is that you do what you can to locate the enemy and maintain contact with him. If he slips out of your sight, he can move against your retreat and overrun it. Do what you can to create a buffer zone between the enemy and your retreat. Maintain steady communication between your security operations and your main body to give them time to formulate and implement a plan if your retreat is attacked. If you can eliminate enemy recon, and monitor your avenues of approach, you’ll greatly increase your odds of survival. Chapter 11 Perimeter Defense Step one of establishing a good perimeter defense strategy is to determine the size of the perimeter. Two considerations that have to be made are what areas need to be defended and what your security capabilities are. Besides the obvious living quarters that you want to defend, other areas of the retreat that you would like to defend might be the garden and livestock pins. In order to effectively defend all of these areas, you’ll need a sufficient security force. One way of monitoring a perimeter without actually posting a guard to observe the area is by using trip-wire alarms or remote electronic-monitoring devices. Because the area can be monitored without a person being there, perimeter alarms are a combat multiplier.

A low-cost option is to use simple battery-operated door alarms with magnetic sensors, which are available in hardware stores or on Amazon for as little as five dollars. The alarm can be painted foliage green or olive green for camouflage. You can also drape a small piece of camo netting or some natural vegetation to obscure the device even more. A length of trip wire or fishing line can be secured to an adjacent tree and then to the magnetic sensor at shin level. Keeping it at shin level will reduce the odds of an intruder stepping over it and the chances that a false alarm will be tripped by small animals such as squirrels or rabbits. Larger animals like deer can still trip your alarm. There are a variety of YouTube videos of folks who have made perimeter alarms from a mouse trap and inert rounds like .22 caliber nail-gun loads. Never, ever attempt to use live rounds in a perimeter alarm as it could be you, your child, a neighbor, or a pet that accidentally trips the alarm. Mouse traps can also be used to construct visual alert systems using glow sticks. Pre-made visual alert systems that utilize glow sticks or chem lights are available for purchase online. These alert systems are only effective at night and when someone is visually monitoring the area. The positive elements of these two types of alarms is that they can be seen or heard from longer distances and the batteries don’t need to be changed. A more advanced perimeter defense system is the Dakota Alert System. This system operates on the MURS radio band and will alert the monitoring station of the specific zone that has an intruder. This system can be used in conjunction with a MURS radio system for communications as well. The Dakota Alert System will not let the intruder know that he has been detected, so that adds the element of surprise to the retreat security team. These systems are available from JRH enterprises starting at $499 for a complete set. Some other perimeter defense considerations are longrange threats and vehicles. For long-range threats, keep in mind that a .50 caliber weapon system can be effective at 1400 meters. Even if you can locate the sniper at that distance, you would need a comparable weapon system to engage him. Your other alternative is to maneuver around the sniper and engage him at a closer distance. Large rocks

and big trees are a few things that can stop a bullet of that size. Even if you can’t produce enough cover to protect your property against threats of this magnitude, consider landscaping with thick shrubs and low trees to at least offer some concealment so the sniper will have a harder time identifying a target on your retreat. For large military vehicles, regular gates are not going to be much of an obstacle. Consider using large logs as barriers to slow down big vehicles. Yes, the enemy can get out and cut the log up, but it will slow them down so you have time to formulate and implement a perimeter defense plan. Taking pot shots at those who get out to clear the tree will hamper their progress even longer. This a great thing to think about when you are choosing a bug out retreat. Look for property that has natural barriers, such as steep hills and mountainous terrain. Chapter 12 Urban Security Many of the people who are reading this book are in the planning phase of organizing their retreat. Between now and the completion of their retreat, they are at risk of being trapped in an urban environment during a Without Rule Of Law or WROL scenario. There are others who have rural retreats but still live in the city. There is always the possibility that they will be unable to leave and forced to ride out the crisis where they are. Even the off-grid survivalist who has severed his ties with the industrialized world may be visiting friends or family when an EMP hits. This chapter is for those situations. As with the previous chapter, there will be plenty of information that will cross over and be useful in any crisis. Even if the information isn’t a perfect fit for the challenge at hand, the ideas can be modified to match the specific course of events. One of the biggest differences you will be facing if you have to survive a TEOTWAWKI event in an urban setting will be a higher level of resource scarcity. Folks who are able to get to a rural retreat will still deal with resource scarcity, but they will be in proximity to a lot fewer people. Not only will those in the city be in a higher population density, but the population in an urban area is much more dependent on systems of support. There is very little wild game other than birds and squirrels and very few gardens. The typical city has approximately

three days’ worth of food on the shelves, but in a panic, hoarders will clear shelves in a matter of hours. We’ve seen this play out over and over when hurricanes approach the coast and during the October 2013 EBT computer glitch. The temporary EBT-processing outage lasted only hours and affected only a few states, but the chaos that ensued crippled several Walmarts and grocery stores for over a week. Some store shelves were not fully restocked for ten days. Food storage is beyond the scope of this book, but it is covered extensively by both of the authors in David Kobler’s SouthernPrepper1 YouTube channel and Mark Goodwin’s PrepperRecon.com podcasts and blog posts. What we discuss in this book is how to protect it. As resources become scarcer in a crisis, people will become more and more desperate. If you are stocked up, looking well fed and clean, you are going to be a target. If the power is out and alternative methods have to be used for cooking, the smell of cooking outdoors will broadcast the fact that you have food for a long distance. If you can stomach eating canned food cold, that will eliminate this issue. In the first stages of a grid-down crisis, most people will probably have two to three days’ worth of food. This would be the best time to be cooking food and preserving things in the fridge that are going to go bad. Consider canning meats and vegetables that will be lost due to power outages. As with everything, there is a learning curve with canning. Now is the time to practice and hone those skills. You’ll be building your stockpile of storable food in the process. Even an experienced canner is going to face new challenges when trying to can foods over an outdoor fire. Solar ovens are a great addition to your preps. They cook very slowly and give off less aroma and no smoke to signal to others where the buffet is located. Next, consider your landscape. Cut back shrubs and trees so it can’t be used by looters to hide behind. Using raised-bed landscaping will offer a buffer to keep vehicles from crashing into your home or as defensive positions that can be used as cover in a gunfight.

We mentioned lighting in the second chapter. To better prepare for a WROL situation, consider upgrading your security lights to solar so they will still provide security in the event of grid failure. We also mentioned locking your door in chapter 2. Think about upgrading your door to a steel door and replacing the screws in your strike plates with longer screws. Another security item we mentioned in the second chapter was dogs. For a the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it or TEOTWAWKI scenario, make sure you have enough food stockpiled for all of your furry friends. If you are specifically considering a dog for home security, take into account how much food you’ll need to store for the size of dog you would like. Remember, even a small dog makes an excellent burglar alarm. In areas where hurricanes are prevalent, hurricane shutters make a good security barrier. The problem is that while they offer additional protection, they also block light and air when there is no electricity. Many hurricane shutters come in panels so you can put up all the panels on a window except one. This will leave an opening too small for a person to break in through and greatly reduce exposure to small arms fire. In other parts of the country, wooden shutters are popular decorative elements to homes. Most are only ornamental, but if you have them, consider replacing them with functional shutters. Joe Nobody is a popular fiction and survival handbook author. He recommends using nets to cover windows to allow light and fresh air in the house. They can be secured around the opening of the window with hooks. The hooks will make small holes in the wall, but they can easily be patched after the crisis has receded. Of course nets can be cut, but the objective is to buy just enough time to get to your weapon. One of the worst possible problems you may encounter is unprepared neighbors. We highly recommend trying to organize some basic level of preparedness group among your neighbors. Joining or organizing a neighborhood watch is a perfect way to find others who are willing to take responsibility for their own security. After a collapse where systems of support and emergency services no longer respond, you will probably find your neighbors are more willing to work together for security of the neighborhood. Even if you don’t find much interest in

planning now, go ahead and develop a way to cordon off your street or neighborhood that can be implemented when they finally come around. Working together with your neighbors benefits everyone. By protecting your street, you are protecting your home. There is a very fine line between maintaining operational security and trying to get your neighbors to prepare. Start the conversation by talking about specific threats to your area. If you live along the east coast, open up a discussion about hurricane preparedness. If you live in Washington state or around the New Madrid fault line, talk about earthquakes. Droughts, forest fires, and tornadoes are all threats that won’t necessarily mark you as a prepper if you bring them up in casual conversation. As you see interest developing, you can little by little let your neighbors in on your preparedness. Only tell them what they need to know for their current level of preparedness. There is never a reason to divulge your full preparedness plan unless you are in a formal mutual assistance group. Whatever you tell your next-door neighbor you can be sure will travel down the grape vine until everyone on your street knows. No matter how hard you try, some people will never make a priority out of achieving the most basic level of preparedness. We saw the perfect example of this after Hurricane Sandy hit the northeast coast. Despite official warnings that went out days in advance to evacuate or stock up on essential supplies, millions of people did neither. We saw video footage of very affluent people digging food out of dumpsters in the days following the super storm. The reality is that your efforts to get your neighbors to prepare may backfire. You might find yourself with starving neighbors who never prepared beating at your door on doomsday, unwilling to take no for an answer. While most people reading this book are likely wellarmed, no one wants to pull the trigger on a neighbor. Yes, charity is great, and I believe you should plan for that, but the Bible also says in 1 Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” There is only going to be so much you can do for those

who rejected your advice to get ready. For this situation, we recommend arming yourself with some lesslethal options. Pepper spray, Tasers, and rubber shot or rubber slugs for a shotgun are all effective deterrents that will be much easier to deploy than lethal force. We call these defensive measures less lethal because, while not designed to cause death, they can still result in loss of life. Tasers have, on occasion, killed people by causing heart failure. A misplaced round of rubber buckshot can cause a concussion or even death if it is fired at close range. Even pepper spray can cause someone to become disoriented and fall, causing deadly injury. In short, never deploy any weapon system unless your life is in danger. And yes, someone threatening to steal your food in a WROL scenario qualifies as your life being in danger. A great way to mitigate threats is by avoiding them. By stocking up on provisions now, you will eliminate the need to involve yourself in the chaos that might be going on at the supermarket or gas station. If you recall the 2014 Elk River chemical spill that contaminated the water supply in parts of West Virginia, there were people fighting over bottled water. Even if you have a rural retreat away from your urban residence, we recommend keeping at least three months of essential supplies at your home in the city. We covered sound and light discipline in chapter 3. In an urban survival situation, trash discipline becomes an issue as well. There is a high likelihood that sanitary services will not be operating, so it makes sense to limit your trash. If you have a small garden, you may already have a compost bin. You can compost all biodegradable trash. Even cardboard boxes with a shiny, colorful finish can go in the compost. Most of the inks used in paper and cardboard packaging are soy based and will not harm your garden. Sturdy plastics can be washed and used for water collection or other storage solutions. By composting and being creative about recycling, you can greatly reduce the amount of trash you’ll have to worry about. The remaining waste can be buried or burned. The last thing you want is to be throwing out fresh candy bar wrappers and long-term storage food containers

three weeks into a crisis where no one has any food. This will mark you as a target as quickly as having a picnic on the front lawn. Chapter 13 Standard Operating Procedures Now that you have a basic understanding of the things you can do to provide for the security of your retreat or subdivision, the next thing you want to do is make a plan and put it into writing. Writing out your standard operating procedures or SOP will make it clear who is responsible for what specific tasks. This eliminates finger pointing after a mistake has been made because everyone knows what is expected of them and the other team members. Your SOP is going to be as unique as you are. No standard SOP is going to serve as a one-size-fits-all solution. The number of positions in your SOP is going to be limited by the number of able-bodied people in your retreat or community security team. Leave room for revisions. If you’ve ever tried to put together a budget for your family or business, you know that it usually takes some adjustments to get your budget to function in the real world. Think of your SOP as your budget for manpower. You’ll be trying to make the most out of your human resources. You may find you’ve put too many people on security operations and there is no one left to feed the livestock. As long as you understand that your SOP is written on paper and not etched in stone, that should be easily remedied. Below you’ll see an actual SOP written by David Kobler for a retreat group. We have provided a copy of it to give you an idea of the types of things that might be included in an SOP. Yours might be shorter or even longer than this book. Just keep in mind that the more detail you get into in your SOP, the more time each team member is going to have to spend to familiarize him or herself with the material. Your CQ or charge of quarters can be one person who is permanently assigned to making sure all the tasks are being carried out faithfully, or the position can be given to different people for set amounts of time. If the position rotates among all adult members of the retreat, everyone will have a higher appreciation for being responsible for the security of the retreat or community.

Sample SOP Retreat Security Security of the retreat is a twenty-four-hour job that is the responsibility of everyone. Combatives and noncombatives play a vital role in defending the retreat from the lone gunman or a well-organized group. Every individual will have an assigned battle station or a location that he or she will report to when the retreat goes on alert status. Any member of the retreat can put the retreat on full alert or battle stations by simply giving the command. When the warning is given, all personnel will assume their jobs and report to their assigned locations. When the warning is given, only the tactical coordinator or the sergeant of the guard on duty can cancel the warning. When the warning is given by whatever means, the duty CQ will immediately contact all individuals and make sure all have received the warning and all individuals are accounted for. The sergeant of the guard on duty will assume command of security and implement measures to protect the retreat. When properly relieved by the tactical coordinator, the individual will assume his other duties. The duties of CQ during an alert: 1. Make sure the alert is given to all personnel 2. Use the roster to locate and account for all members. 3. Alert neighbors and other retreats of your alert status. 4. Gather all intel to pass to sergeant of the guard and tactical coordinator. 5. Maintain commo to all positions. 6. Control runners in case commo goes down. The duties of the nanny during an alert: 1. Collect all children and move them to a secure designated location. 2. Last line of defense for the children. The duties of the runner during an alert: 1. Report to CQ to help with communications if commo goes down. 2. Aid CQ in monitoring all communications into the command post to include listening to radios and field phones.

The duties of those assigned a defensive fighting position during an alert: 1. Report to your position immediately established commo with CQ. 2. Bring your fighting load with you to your position. 3. Watch your sector, and be ready to use deadly force if necessary to defend the retreat. 4. Gather and relay any vital information to the CQ. The duties of the medical team during an alert: 1. Report to clinic, and begin prepping for wounded individuals. 2. Be prepared to leave clinic and go to the wounded if the tactical situation is safe enough. The duties of the fire protection team during an alert: 1. Report to assigned location and begin to prep for any accidental or purposeful fires. 2. If there is no immediate fire, you will aid the medical team. 3. Provide innermost security of retreat to include house and barn. 4. Security of all enemy combatives at the enemy collection point. The duties of the livestock collectors during an alert: 1. Collecting and penning the animals. The duties of the quick reaction force during an alert: 1. Report to the command post with fighting load. Afterword Thank you for reading Retreat Security and Small Unit Tactics. Amazon reviews are the most important method of getting the book noticed. If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment to leave a five-star review on Amazon.com. If you don’t feel the book quite measured up to five stars, drop Mark an e-mail at [email protected], and let me know how I can make the next book better. Don’t think of this book as rigid set of guidelines. Rather use it as a jumping-off point to think creatively in formulating a customized plan that will work into your overall preparedness program. From here, commit to continue learning about preparedness. There are tons of excellent resources. Both authors are committed to educating others

about being ready for whatever the future may hold. David Kobler has made tons of videos that cover the entire spectrum of prepping in his SouthernPrepper1 YouTube channel. All of this information is available for free. David speaks at preparedness expos online and in person across the country. David Kobler is also available for private consulting. You can get his rates for phone or in-person consultations by e-mailing him at [email protected]. Mark Goodwin produces two podcasts a week on PrepperRecon.com. The podcasts feature interviews with economic and preparedness experts from across the world. If you are a fan of postapocalyptic fiction, be sure to read Mark Goodwin’s Economic Collapse Chronicles. Liberty-minded individuals and those who believe in the Constitution will find this near-future, Christian dystopian novel series to be right up their alley. Those who are looking to be more informed about the potential threats to America’s financial stability will learn what to watch for and how to prepare themselves for an economic collapse. In book 1, American Exit Strategy, America is on the cusp of financial annihilation. Matt and Karen Bair face the challenges of Main Street during a full-scale financial meltdown. Government borrowing and monetary creation have reached their limits. When funds are no longer available for government programs, widespread civil unrest erupts across the country. Matt and Karen are forced to move to a more remote location, and their level of preparedness is revealed as being much less adequate than they believed prior to the crisis. The Economic Collapse Chronicles use survival fiction to take an indepth look at the real-life politics and economics behind the issues that are likely to trigger a currency collapse or financial meltdown in the near future. The series is a work of fiction … until it becomes history.