Economic Collapse & Security: I Am Your Worst Nightmare

I am the leader of a band of 8-to-12 looters. I have some basic military training. We move from place to place like locusts devouring everything in our path. My group is armed with light weapons and can develop and follow simple plans of attack. We take what we want by force of arms. We prefer none of our victims survive because that could cause problems for us in the future. It has been six months since the grid went down. You and the other five members of your party have settled into what may be a long grinding existence. The every day tasks of growing and gathering have now become routine. The news from the outside is extremely limited but you don’t really miss it much. Life is simple but physically demanding.

Although things may seem stable you will need to keep your team focused and alert. This is your first and most important layer of defense. You should hold an immediate reaction drill once per week. Keep things simple. Practice a specific response to such threats as injury, fire, attack and evacuation. Despite the challenges you must maintain contact with those around you such as neighbors for vital clues that trouble is brewing. Regular monitoring the radio will be critical in providing an early warning of trouble. You may be able to safely interview refugees with risking your party. Keep in mind the information you get from them may not always be reliable.

While you have been farming I have been learning the best tactics to employ to seize your property and your goods. I have been refining them since we hit the road right after the lights went out. I have conducted eight “hits” so far and have been successful seven times. Here are some of my “lessons learned”.

Intelligence gathering and target selection is critical to my success. Targets include those who have large quantities of fuel, food and other valuable supplies. My posse is constantly questioning anyone and everyone we contact searching for this our next victim. Anyone who has ever had knowledge, even second hand, of your preparations is someone of interest to me. I may approach them directly or indirectly. If anyone knows something I will find out about it. Who seems well-fed? Who still has transportation? Who has lights? Who was prepared? Where are they exactly? Somebody talks, either in person or on the radio. They always do.

We search for victims night and day. During the day we are listening for the sounds of machinery, cars, tractors, gunfire or generators. Day or night without a lot of wind those sounds can carry for miles. At night I look for any sort of light. Even a small flash indicates somebody with electricity and that means a rich target. I always have somebody listing to the scanner for any news, leads or insecure chatter. Operational Security (OPSEC) is an important concept for your entire group to understand and maintain. If somebody outside your circle doesn’t have a real need to know about your plans, preparations or procedures then they shouldn’t know period. Develop a cover story and live it like was a bulletproof vest. It is no less important to your protection and survival. During an event you need to blend in with the surrounding environment. Carefully observe noise (such as generators and other engines) and light discipline especially at night. If you need to test fire weapons do it in one sequence to avoid a prolonged noise signature.

Once I find and target you reconnaissance of your retreat is my next step. Only a fool would try to rush in and try to overwhelm a group of “survivalists”. We had a bad experience with that during our second hit. Now we spend at least a day or two trying to size up a large opportunity and the best way to take it down. I will observe retreat activity from a nearby-concealed position. I will get an idea of your numbers, weapons, routines and so much more by careful surreptitious observation. If your group seems alert, I will try and trigger a false alarm with a dog or child to watch your reaction to a threat. That helps me know how you respond, where you are strong and how to attack. I may also obtain a topographical map of the area to identify likely avenues of approach and potential escapes routes you will try to use. I may coerce your neighbors into uncovering a weak spot or access point or other important intelligence. I also have a Bearcat handheld scanner. I will be listening for any insecure chatter from your radios.

Regular patrols at irregular intervals focused on likely observation points and avenues of approach could keep me at bay. You could put down sand or other soft soil in key choke points as a way of “recording” if anyone has recently traveled through the land. Dogs, with their advanced sense of hearing and smell are able to detect and alert you to intruders well in advance of any human. Motion sensing infrared video cameras as a part of a security plan could play a part in your layered defense as long as you have power. A 24 hour manned observation point equipped with high quality optical tools is a must. It should be fortified and if possible concealed. It should have a weapon capable of reaching to the edges of your vision. Seismic intrusion devices, night vision and thermal imaging are phenomenal force multiplying tools. They can give you critical intelligence and warning. You should use them if you have them. Understand they are not fool proof and I can often neutralize them if I know you have them.

These tools and techniques provide you reaction time. Time to plan your response and time to execute that plan. Recognize that a “defender” is always at a disadvantage. By definition a defender will be reacting to my attack. Modern warfare has emphasized the ability of the attacker to operate faster than opponents can react. This can be explained by the OODA loop. Below are the four steps of the classic OODA loop. These are the steps a defender goes through when under attack.

As an attacker I will try and operate at a pace faster than you as a defender can adjust to. I will change my direction, pace, timing and method to force you to continue to process through the OODA loop. This creates confusion and wastes your precious reaction time. As a defender you will need to disrupt or reset your attackers timing with a counter-attack. When you are successful you become the attacker. Your defensive plans should utilize and exploit this concept. Here are a few scenarios:

I will begin the attack when I can engage at least half of your party’s military age personnel in one coordinated effort. I will infiltrate my team into concealed positions around your retreat within 50 to 75 yards. I will target any identified leadership with the first volley. Two thirds of my people will be engaging personnel. The other group will target communications antennas, surveillance cameras and any visible lighting assets. I want your group unable to see, communicate or call for help. The members of my band will each fire two magazines in the initial exchange. Two thirds of my group will change to new concealed positions and wait. One third will fall back into an ambush of the most likely avenue of escape. We will stay concealed and wait until you come out to attend to your wounded and dead. We repeat the attack as necessary until any resistance is crushed.

Ensure you adjust the landscape around your retreat so that I don’t have anyplace offering cover or concealment within 100 yards of your residence. You can create decorative masonry walls that can be used to offer cover for personnel close to your residence. Fighting positions can be built now and used as raised planting beds and then excavated for use in the future. These can be extended or reinforced after any significant event. These structures or other measures such as trenching must be sited carefully to avoid allowing them to be used effectively by an attacker if they are overrun.

For one hit we used an old truck. We forced a refugee to drive it to the retreat gate. We concealed half our group inside the truck. The truck was hardened on the inside with some sandbags around the edges. The other half of our group formed an ambush concealed inside the tree line along the driveway. We killed the driver to make it look good and had one person run away. Those preppers almost waited us out. After nearly three hours they all walked slowly down the driveway. They were bunched up in a group intent on checking out the truck and driver. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

They could have worked together as group to sweep the area 360 degrees around the truck and they would have surely found us. A dog would have also alerted the residents to our presence. They could have taken measures to eliminate the vegetation offering us concealment on the road near the gate. They could have used CS gas or something similar to “deny” any suspicious areas. Lastly they could have done a “reconnaissance by fire”. Shooting into likely hiding spots, including the truck, trying to evoke a response. They should have established an over watch position with the majority of their group. This over watch group would have provided visual security and an immediate response if there were an attack. They were not expecting any additional threats. They didn’t consider that there might be additional danger lurking nearby aside from the truck and they died.

A few weeks ago we surprised and captured a couple of women out tending a garden. It was totally by chance. We were traveling through a very rural area on our way to another town when somebody heard a tractor backfire. We immediately stopped and I sent a small team to recon the noise. They bumped into a small party tending a field at the edge of their retreat. They seized two women and immediately dragged them back to our vehicles. We began negotiations by sending a finger from each one back to the retreat under a white flag. The rest was easy.

This didn’t need to happen. Better noise discipline would have kept us from discovering their retreat. Some simple boundary fencing or tangle foot could have delayed us. The women should have been armed and aware of such a threat. If they has established an over watch for the garden they could have engaged us before we took our hostages or at least alerted the others that there was a problem. They also could have had a quick reaction Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)developed prior to this incident. That Quick Reaction (QR) force could have followed the kidnappers back to our vehicles and set up an ambush of their own. Rural retreat security is a full time job. If you snooze you may lose everything.

I don’t like this option but sometimes the prize is just too tempting. We typically infiltrate quietly at night to prearranged start points. We begin our attack just before dawn when your senses are dulled by a long night watch or from sleep. Based on our reconnaissance we divided your retreat into positions or zones that need specific attention. We prepare for battle by using an air rifle to target any lights or cameras. Our first priority is to engage any site and destroy or degrade them as much as possible. I split my forces into two supporting groups. One group keeps the target position under constant fire. The other group also fires and maneuvers, closing on the target and destroying it with gunfire or improvised weapons. Many times these positions only have one occupant and the task is relatively easy. Often these positions are easy to spot and are too far from each other to provide any effective mutual support. We will work from one position to the next. In the darkness and confusion most of the defenders are disoriented and ineffective. They fall like dominos. We have also used motorcycles to negotiate obstacles and speed through cuts in the perimeter fence. Then throw Molotov Cocktails into any defensive position as they roar past. If you fall back into your residence we will set up a siege. If we can maneuver close enough, perhaps by using a distraction, we will pump concentrated insecticide into your building or we may introduce liquid Propane gas from a portable tank into the house and ignite it with tracer fire.

If there was enough warning time from your OP you could execute a pre-planned response. Your planned response should be simple, easy to understand and execute. Half your group occupies your fighting positions, two to a position. The rest of your party establishes an over watch and concentrate its fire at the enemies trying to fix your positions. If you had more than enough prepared positions the enemy might not know where to attack. It would also provide more flexibility in your defense based on the direction of attack. I would use Night Vision if available or illumination from flares or lights as a last resort. Rats hate light.

Usually people keep main access points blocked from high-speed approach. Likely avenues of approach should also be blocked or choked and kept under observation. Remember though what keeps me out keeps you in. Typically the common techniques of parking vehicles in roadways will only delay my approach not stop it altogether. An ordinary 12-gauge shotgun, shooting slugs, can stop most types of non-military vehicles at close range.

Don’t forget the threat of fire or other non-traditional weapons in your defensive plans.

You could create the illusion of a “dead end” for your main access road by positioning a burned out trailer home or a couple of burned out cars at the false “end” of the road. Concealing the fact that the road actually continues to your residence.

Lastly, develop a plan to evacuate and evade capture. When faced with a significantly superior force it may be the only viable option. This should include simple, reliable communications or signals such as three blasts on a dog whistle. Your fighting positions and barriers need to be constructed to allow coordinated withdrawal in an emergency. You should establish a rally point and time limit to assemble. I believe this should be a priority in your practice drills. During a real emergency you may be able to rally, rearm and plan your own version of the “snipe and siege” to retake your retreat.

Location – Location – Location: High and remote are best OPSEC – Think of it as a form of armor or shield: Practice it and protect it. Observation Post / Listening Post: Your first best chance to counter attack Gates / Fences / other barriers: May slow me down. Might keep you in. Fighting positions: Must provide mutual support and allow for evacuation. Residence: Last line. Don’t become trapped People, Planning and Practice

An aggressive and unexpected counter strike can win the battle. Stay alert for multiple threats or diversionary tactics. Criminals excel at feigning weakness to lower your guard.

My reason for posting this is obvious but should be a reminder survival is always best done as a community. During difficult times there are always things to be done and no one can do everything and still sleep. Everyone can bring something that aids the group. Just a little friendly reminder. - NewAmericaNow

The original poster makes some very disturbing observations and the scenarios that he outlines here are all too plausible. We've seen this and worse play out in other parts of the world. As we descend into the sort of third world tribalism and savagery that will be the inevitable consequences of the very bad ideas that inform our alleged leadership, we need to think about just these sorts of possibilities.

Strong community amongst ourselves and a willingness to take the fight back to the enemy is what's required here. My frank assessment of my local 'hood is that less than half of us can be counted upon. And we're nowhere nearly as organized as we should be in order to deal effectively and decisively with the threats outlined here.

There's work to be done.

“It’s coming, and what’s worse is they planned this and they want this.

Prepare.”

One should watch ,what they wish for!

OPSEC is not quite what is presented here which is more basic intel gathering.
But that is nit picking.
More to the point is Women are the absolute biggest stumbling block to doing just some common sense preparation for any disruption, even here in the Gulf South, hurricanes. See what your wife or significant other does if you propose stockpiling food, water, batteries, and energy bars. Let alone buying a lot of ammo, junk silver, expensive heavy duty flashlights, etc. The push back you will get will be intense. Most American women have been effectively brainwashed to (a) rely on the gubmint in any emergency (b) reflexively oppose any survivalist a gena as ‘racist macho male chauvinism (c) be terrified of ‘violence’ and hate guns as the cause of ‘violence’ not the tool that will protect one when officer friendly is non existent. If you doubt this assessment print this article, give it to the woman in your life and try and have a rational discussion of preparing for the worst.

If you doubt this assessment print this article, give it to the woman in your life and try and have a rational discussion of preparing for the worst.

Yes - that's a 'rubber meets the road' test that few would pass.

Memo to Jeff T.: Stay out of the N GA mountains. You and your merry band of idiots will last about 24 hours before either the militia picks you off or just the rest of us ticked off Rednecks who have equal or superior firearms and more motivation to keep our stuff than you have to take it. We will be waiting out in the woods with night vision and, full camo and a bad attitude. We will kill you where we see you. We will be out at night looking for you. We have been sneaking around in the woods at night with guns for a long long time. Get over yourself.

Hmmmm. Interesting. You might want to check out our own chocchipcookie aka Survival Mom (http://thesurvivalmom.com/). I would also suggest our own justadumbblonde who has a pretty much self sufficient farm. Both female by the way. I'll also add myself, although I am in no way comparing myself to these amazing women. I am the one who is in charge of our prepping because a few years ago my husband wasn't that interested. He wasn't against the idea, he just didn't see that big of a need for it. Now of course his thoughts are different. He gives me all the support I need, and has even learned some gardening and food preservation techniques from me. After all, if something happens to me post-SHTF he'll need to feed our children by himself. Since I'm a trained marksman, NCAA rifle team member thank you very much, that also puts me in charge of firearms training. I am the driving force behind our prepping, and that is not because my husband doesn't give a crap. Women and men are quite different, regardless of what the PC police claim, and women want to nurture and protect our babies at all costs. Prepping is my way of protecting my babies should something happen.

My wife would oppose none of it, in fact just expects me to “gather things” as we can. I wish she would shoot more often though,

Noumenon, thanks for this, and for your essay.

You are a marksmen so you know a lot about hacking fire arms. Where I have lived the great majority of the wives were either current or former school teachers/administrators, gubmint employees, HR specialists, lawyers or those who worked for lawyer lobbyists, or members of the ‘helping professions’. I have encountered two field grade female USArmy officers who were, in their words, ‘afraid of and hated guns’, ( one of these women went from CONUS to being the exec of a Support Group in Korea). I also know from trying to get my own wife to understand the utility of doing even a few of these things and we have hurricanes. The way of resisting is to complain about clutter and state the is no space to store a lot of food or water (not exactly so but repeated over and over again). Next is objection to ‘spending money we can't afford to spend’. My response has been to just quietly begin buying items a few at a time. I fortunately have a number of good quality firearms from earlier in my life.
Few women I have met who have a college degree can think rationally about survival issues. Their learning has taught them this is not a problem. Now the glass ceiling, that is a big big problem .

To your response: that’s what it takes. Addendum to the original post - it was Mrs. Noumenon who alerted me to this article. She keeps her AR15 by her desk and she thinks a whole lot like you do. ‘Nuff said.

I wish you well. My last home was northern VA. I moved to Louisiana and expected a bit of difference. At the meeting of the AAUW chapter my wife belongs to I told one of the officers that I supported the proposed concealed and open carry on college campuses bill a legislator and the state rifle and pistol association was trying to get passed. She and a swarm of the other college ladies went into meltdown. They really believed drunken frat boys would be shooting it out on the LSU commons if this passed. I pointed out this is the same nonsense the gun hysterics said would happen on the streets of every town when the liberal concealed carry law was passed. Since that didn't happen did that mean college educated people were more violent and stupid than the average or what?
My and the other college ladies felt I was being ‘mean and insulting’. Favorite eduspeak for ‘I can't figure out an answer so I will play the gender card.’

LOL!

Get over yourself!
If and when the SHTF, I am your worst nightmare.
You spent all that time and money building up your nice little private stockpile of endtime survival gear, and I come in and take it all away from you via a simple application of lethal force.

The problem with your individual survivalist mentality is that you really think your neighbors haven't already identified the alpha males amongst themselves, because you think we are too stupid to live.

Your “woman” may be the only point in your favor to survive, if and when the hard times come.
Just saying....

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