The military will not be a factor this far out. They too are going to have logistical problems with fuel, food, and water. They have their own storage of fuel, rations and water but will not be sharing those with the mobs either. The active duty military will not be wasting their precious and limited resources to make sure you have breakfast in the morning. Their resupply and support systems are not going to be working either. The local military are the national guard. The members of those units are our sons and daughters. Do you really think they will be on the other side? As their fathers and grand fathers are, they are seasoned fighters and will be all about taking care of their families. In some cases of heavy attack on our country the DEFCON order will come for many active duty military units to disperse and reform in another area or to go home. Another interesting fact is that it is our sons and daughters who have the keys to the local armories.
The truth is that we depend on ourselves for almost everything now. We are much better prepared to be off the grid, feed ourselves, and protect ourselves than any other civilian population in this country. We support and help each other every day in work and in play. We know our neighbors well and barter between ourselves for different skills and work time constantly. The next organizational step isn’t that big for us. We don’t have to “plan” to live that way, we live that way now.
I think I see part of the misunderstanding we have. I said end of the world if you live in the west - I mean the western world, western europe north america etc.
My comments should be viewed in that context. I realize now you are talking about the western US, which certainly may be the best place to be in such a scenario, but I was not singling out a particular part of north america at all.