MountainGuerrilla: Auxiliary Functions within Tribal Structure

This is an old post from John Mosby at the MountainGuerrilla blog. In Auxiliary Functions within the Tribal Structure, John lays out some of the important functions that can and should be performed by those members of your close-knit group who are too old, too young, or too infirm to help with more strenuous activities in the context of a resistance movement, should such fate ever befall you.

…By fulfilling those roles that the auxiliary has historically fulfilled in a resistance, that do not require the fitness or physical capabilities of the guerrilla force or underground, members of a tribe can still contribute worthwhile efforts to the security of their tribe, thus “earning their keep.”

An individual’s specific contribution to the efforts has—and will—depend largely on their socio-economic status, roles, and their occupation…a farmer or homesteader may “only” provide assistance by providing extra harvest to feed the guerrilla force or underground, or to sell on the local black or gray market, in order to help finance tribal operations. On the other hand, the farmer may end up providing barn space for a way-station on an evasion corridor, or for use as a guerrilla hospital.

Regardless of the specific role the auxiliary tribesman plays in the effort, it is critical to understand that the success of their efforts depends on their participation in such operations remains clandestine. The secret must not be kept only from rival organizations, but even from apparently friendly or supportive neighbors who do not enjoy the trust of being part of the closed circle—innangard—that is the tribe. Even other members of the tribe, outside the leadership, may not know exactly what the auxiliary offers the tribe. Keeping this information compartmentalized, even within the innangard, can reduce the chances that someone will inadvertently reveal it to someone that does not “need to know.”

Auxiliary Tasks

While there is really no task that the auxiliary might be able to perform, to support the tribe’s efforts, there are a number of roles the auxiliary has traditionally played that still offer a significant role for members of your tribe to contribute to your efforts of autonomy.

Security and Warning

One of the best efforts your auxiliary tribesmen can offer is the same that the elderly and young children, not ready to be warriors yet, have always provided a tribe. They can act as a physical security and warning system for the tribe. From simply standing watch during training exercises and meetings, to organizing and directing sympathizers into networks to observe, record, and report on the activities of other organizations—rival or not—in the area…

Click here to read the entire article at the Mountain Guerrilla blog.

Prep School Daily: Herbal Medicine – Honey

Another informative article from Jennifer is up at her Prep School Daily blog on the many benefits of honey.

…A simple online search for the medicinal uses of honey yields dozens of hits, if not hundreds, including all the health benefits of honey.  It’s touted for helping with all manner of problems, from acne to weight loss.  We’ll stick with what honey is most especially used for in a true medicinal sense when our society has collapsed.  After all, our honey supply may be limited and taking a teaspoon every day for allergies or in the evening to sleep better will exhaust our stores quickly.

First off, studies have shown that honey is more effective at quieting a cough in children than any over-the-counter cough syrup. Parents also reported that their children slept better.  (However, honey should never, under any circumstance, be given to a child under 12 months of age.)  In addition, it should be noted that the FDA has recommended removing many children’s OTC cough syrups from the shelves because of adverse reactions.  Fortunately, we have honey, which is safer, more effective, and cheaper.  Just a teaspoon or two is all that is needed.  And it works for adults as well.  Also, honey tea does a tremendous job soothing sore throats.  Just remember, when making your tea, boil the water first, remove from heat, and then add the honey.  Boiling the honey itself will reduce or entirely negate many of its medicinal qualities.

Dr. Joseph Alton, author of The Survival Medicine Handbook, notes that honey was used to treat asthma in 19th century.  Patients were directed to breathe deeply from a jar of honey, and improvement usually occurred within a few minutes.  To decrease the number of future episodes, doctors advised drinking one teaspoon of honey in twelve ounces of water three times per day.

As far as healing wounds goes, honey works in much the same manner as sugar, which was discussed last week.  Wounds, especially chronic wounds that aren’t healing, have an alkaline pH, which provides an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, especially MRSA.  Honey (and sugar) are acidic, so they alter the pH and this kills the bacteria.  Honey may be spread directly on a wound and over the surrounding edges, but it will probably be more comfortable for the patient if the honey is spread on some gauze first and then applied to the wound…

Click here to read the entire article at Prep School Daily.

AmPart: Gear for Operating in Cold Weather

Baby, it’s cold outside. But cold and wet or cold and dry, you’ve got to away or at least outside and get some stuff done. JC Dodge at American Partisan discusses options, mostly from military surplus, that can keep your both warm and functional while you are out in the cold – Basic Strategies and Gear for Operating in Cold Weather.

The recent extreme cold weather has made survivalists all over the US realize that whether they’re in a “warm weather” state or not, having the gear and “know how” to operate in extreme cold weather is a necessary reality. I laughed when I got an alert that Tallahassee, FL had 21 deg. Fahrenheit (all temps listed in this port are Fahrenheit) and snow the other day. Why did I laugh? I laughed because I knew a guy in that area years ago who told me he didn’t have to worry about cold weather gear in the area he lived, as they never got real cold weather.

Cold weather has a number of categories that have to be addressed withing their own niche. I usually just go through them as such: “Cold/No Precip,” “Extreme Cold/No Precip,” “Cold/Wet,” “Extreme Cold/Wet.”

…

Staying warm starts with understanding what takes the warmth away when you are in any of the above environments. This starts with doing what you can to stay dry. Not sweating or staying out of the precipitation is your best bet to accomplishing that. Barring the ability to stay dry, having an out layer that is windproof, relatively waterproof and breathable (and with the ability to vent as much heat as possible) is your best bet. This is used in conjunction with under layers of clothing that either wicks away the moisture (like polypro and fleece) or retains its insulative qualities when wet (like wool)…

Click here to read the entire article at American Partisan.

Doom and Bloom: Deadly Viruses, Part 2

Nurse Amy and Dr. Alton of Doom and Bloom Medicine have the second part of a series on Deadly Viruses up at the website. This installment gives a brief overview of several more viruses.

Infectious disease is of major concern in good times or bad, and the family medic must be able to identify some of the deadliest. Having just written a book about infectious diseases and the antibiotics that treat them (Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease: The Layman’s Guide to Available Antibacterials in Austere Settings), we’ve done our research on some of the worst illnesses that can occur even in countries with advanced medical systems.

There are infections out there, however, that are often fatal and can’t be treated with antibiotics. These are usually viral in nature. Last time, we talked about HIV, hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola and its relatives, plus the rodent-borne Hantavirus.

In this part of our series on deadly viruses, we’ll go over a few well-known diseases, but also cover some that you may not have heard about.

ROTAVIRUS

Dehydration from intestinal viruses is a major killer in less-developed countries

The World Health Organization reports that this virus kills more than half a million children annually worldwide. They even believe that every child on the planet has been infected at least once with it. You get it by ingesting bad food and water or touching surfaces contaminated with infected feces…

Click here to read the entire article at Doom and Bloom.

And if you missed it, click here for Part 1.

AmPart: How to Motivate Your Group Volunteers

Kit Perez has a good article up at American Partisan – How to Motivate Your Group Volunteers. It doesn’t matter if your group is a prepper group, a church group, a hobby club, or any other group of volunteers, you’ve probably heard “You can’t expect volunteers to…” or “We don’t want to lose anyone…” as an excuse for not getting something done. Kit addresses these issues and more.

We’ve all been there, in a group where 2-3 people are motivated, working, and “all in,” only to find themselves carrying the rest of the members. It’s one reason why you’ll also hear some folks brag about “not playing well with others” or telling you how they plan to “go it alone.” Fancying themselves some kind of lone wolf in an overly romaticized notino of what a SHTF event actually looks like, they plan to be a cross between Rambo and Tom Hanks in Cast Away. All they need is a volleyball to name Wilson.

The cold, hard reality is that you cannot survive a SHTF event — whether it be a natural disaster, a man-made one, or some other kind of societal meltdown — without help from others. Neighbors, group members, whatever. Which brings us to the obvious problem: What do you do with slackers in your group? How can you motivate them?

The Volunteer Mentality

Part of what you’re up against is the volunteer mentality. In essence, it consists of people saying things like, “well, we’re volunteers. You can’t expect us to ___________ when we aren’t getting paid.” You may also hear people whispering in your ear that because people are volunteers, if you push them too hard they will leave. “We need bodies,” they’ll say. A body, any body, is better than no bodies…or so the conventional wisdom goes.

There are a few problems with that mindset, however, and here are a few concepts I personally hold to when looking at group members for myself, or helping other groups in a consulting capacity…

Every single member of your group should have a task and a purpose. If they don’t, they are merely takers…

Click here to read the entire article at American Partisan.

American Partisan: The Jungle Antenna Revisted

NC Scout at American Partisan has written another article discussing the jungle antenna – The Jungle Antenna Revisited: Task and Purpose for the Partisan and Prepper. NC Scout has written about this antenna and its usefulness previously.

Going back to the early days of the Brushbeater blog, the Jungle Antenna post has been and continues to be one of the more popular posts I’ve done. And for good reason- I wrote it to be used. It’s the antenna every student in the RTO course builds and one of the designs they get hands on with, and it’s the one that they know works from the demonstrations we do with them. But often, as with everything, a context for the task and purpose has to be clarified.

Many preppers who contact me fall into a similar trap. I have a goal and recognize a need. What can I buy that does for me what I want it to do? How do I do this in the most cost-effective way? And finally (but what should be first) how do I obtain the skill to best use the gear I’ve purchased? It’s a problematic point of view for a lot of reasons but one I get frequenct questions about nonetheless. And that’s ok. I’ll normally answer it the same way- Use your stuff. Learn to use it even better, and never stop!

One of my objectives bak then, as it remains in my classes and writing today, was emphasizing the skill of building your own equipment…

Click here to read the entire article at American Partisan.

FO: How to Start an ACE for Community Security

Sam Culper at Forward Observer has posted How do I start an ACE for community security or emergency preparedness? This article gives a brief overview of the analysis part of producing intelligence products. Sam has a wealth of information on this topic, and his book SHTF Intelligence is still available for in depth knowledge.

One of the major commitments I’m going to make to you in 2019 is to answer more questions and write more articles about intelligence and SHTF security. (And there’s a brand new Intelligence video series I’m recording for the Schoolhouse next month.)

I understand a lot of Americans are preparing for some very dire scenarios, and 2019 is showing no signs of slowing down with regard to instability and downside risk.

This morning, I want to write you my answer to a question from a Fox Company member:

“What are the first steps a [mutual assistance group] should take to build their ACE?”

First, let’s define the ACE. It stands for Analysis & Control Element, and it’s our intelligence section for disaster response, emergency preparedness, community security, an SHTF event, or however you want to characterize local operations.

Second, the best way to answer this question is to look at this like a progression:

1. Identify the threat/scenario
2. Define the mission
3. Build an ACE that can support the mission

We build the mission to respond to the threat.

For instance, a general and simple mission statement might look like this:

“Provide security operations for the community to prevent looters and potentially violent criminals from disrupting disaster relief efforts.”

Click here to read the entire article at Forward Observer.

Bushcraft 4 Kids: Bitesize Navigation

Nicholas at Bushcraft4kids.co.uk has a nice brief article up, Bitesize Bushcraft-Navigation, about introducing children to map reading. His recommendations include simple tasks that get your kids acquainted with using maps. In this day and age of GPS, map reading is still a useful and life-saving skill to have.

Here are a few ideas to get children and young people used to simple navigation tasks using a map and or compass.

  • Encourage children to guide you around places you go whether it is a shopping center, a local nature reserve or a zoo. You can find a basic map of most place we go to, give on to your children and ask them to find the next place you are going to. It can be a game to see who finds it first, and or the quickest route to it. They can then guide you there.
  • Four and six figure grid references. Enlarge a map and teach along the corridor and up the stairs. I wa surprised that five and six year olds can often grasp 6 figure grid references.
  • When you give a child any map encourage them to try orientating it…

Read the entire article at Bushcraft4kids by clicking here.

Doom and Bloom: Deadly Viruses, Part 1

Nurse Amy and Dr. Alton of Doom and Bloom Medicine have the first part of a series on Deadly Viruses up at the website. This installment gives a brief overview of several viruses — symptoms, transmission, etc. With the current ebola outbreak now reaching into the million occupant city of Butembo, it’s good to stay informed of health threats that are out there.

Ebola virus

Infectious disease is of major concern in good times or bad, and the family medic must be able to identify some of the deadliest. Having just written a book about infectious diseases and the antibiotics that treat them (Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease: The Layman’s Guide to Available Antibacterials in Austere Settings), we’ve done our research on some of the worst illnesses that can occur even in countries with advanced medical systems. There are infections out there, however, that are often fatal and can’t be treated with antibiotics. These are usually viral in nature.

What are the worst viruses on the planet? That depends: Are you looking at the total number that died from a particular disease over the course of history? Are you monitoring the number that die every year in the present, or is it the percentage of people that die if they get infected? In any case, the statistics can be grim.

In this article, we’ll discuss a mix of the above, and examine a number of viral illnesses that you definitely don’t want to contract…

Click here to read the entire article at Doom and Bloom.

China: 100 Christians Snatched in Raids on Underground Church

From South China Morning Post, 100 Christians snatched in overnight raids on underground Chinese church. China has begun harshly cracking down on churches this year, with an estimated 100,000 Christians arrested in 2018 compared to 3.700 in 2017. Churches are required to mount facial recognition cameras on the pulpit directed toward the congregation so that they can be monitored by the government.

About 100 worshippers at an unofficial church in southwestern China were snatched from their homes or from the streets in coordinated raids which began on Sunday evening.

Chinese authorities targeted members of the Early Rain Covenant Church across various districts of Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, in what appeared to be an effort to close down one of the country’s most prominent Protestant house churches…

“The police said our church is an illegal organisation and we cannot attend any more gatherings from now on.”

The Early Rain Covenant Church is one of China’s few unofficial house churches – Christian assemblies that operate without state sanction – and this is not the first time Wang and other members of the church have been detained.

While most of China’s Protestant house churches operate underground to avoid attracting official attention and control, the Early Rain congregation openly practises its faith, posting sermons online and evangelising on the streets.

Many house churches have been closed this year in China’s harshest religious suppression in decades…

 

 

Washington Examiner: Start Prepping! Electric Grid ‘Prime Target’

The Washington Examiner has a short article up summarizing the findings of a recent 90+ page National Infrastructure Advisory Council report on Catastrophic Power Outage — Start prepping! Electric grid ‘prime target’ of terrorists, ‘profound threat,’ says council.

In a new report that warns that the electric grid is the “prime target” of terrorists, Americans are being urged prepare for the up to six months without electricity, transportation, fuel, money, and healthcare.

“People no longer keep enough essentials within their homes, reducing their ability to sustain themselves during an extended, prolonged outage. We need to improve individual preparedness,” said a just-published report to President Trump.

“There needs to be more individual accountability for preparedness,” adds the report, “Surviving a Catastrophic Power Outage,” from the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council and published by the Department of Homeland Security.

It looked at the potential of a power outage of up to six months and recommended Americans have enough supplies on hand for a minimum 14 days, a standard for some prepper organizations.

“Build a Culture of Preparedness includes objectives to incentivize investments that reduce risk, including pre-disaster mitigation; closing the insurance gap; helping people prepare for disasters; and better learn from past disasters, improve continuously, and innovate,” said a key recommendation… A prior governmental report also called for presidential action to protect the grid. That report warned of a threat to world order in an attack…

Some of those warnings from the report are below:

  • Given the growing frequency and severity of disasters and other risks, there needs to be an increase in individual accountability, enterprise, and community investment in resilient infrastructure.
  • There is a misconception that events occur infrequently.
  • There needs to be more individual accountability for preparedness.
  • Resilience at the state and local level will be critical to enable people to shelter in place and facilitate faster recovery. Any event that requires a mass evacuation will use up critical resources, clog transportation pathways, and reduce the workforce necessary for infrastructure recovery.
  • Electricity, fuel, clean drinking water, wastewater services, food/refrigeration, emergency medical services, communications capabilities, and some access to financial services have been identified as critical lifeline services that would be needed to sustain local communities and prevent mass migration.

Read the entire Examiner article by clicking here.

American Partisan: SIGINT for Everyone

NC Scout at American Partisan has an informative article up, Signals Intelligence: Capabilities for Anyone, discussing readily available and simple equipment that anyone can use to build their signals intelligence capabilities. Signals intelligence is one of the best, if not the best, ways to know what is going on around you, whether that is in the aftermath of a disaster or during a civil disturbance/conflict.

One of the points I’ve stressed for a long time is the value found in using simple equipment to the maximum of its potential. Whatever it might be optics to weapons to electronics, my own combat experience has fostered an appreciation for Keeping it Simple, Stupid. And that’s the very paradigm I teach my class from–taking what’s common and simple to understand and learning the techniques of using it to its peak potential. The same is true for building signals intelligence capabilities among preppers and/or potential partisans. Not that long ago the RAND Corporation published a white paper on the very topic; what they found was that not only does the capability exist to monitor most real-world threats in any given environment, anyone can do it.

During our market scan, we found examples of SIGINT capabilities outside of government that are available to anyone. The capabilities we found have applications in maritime domain awareness; radio frequency (RF) spectrum mapping; eavesdropping, jamming, and hijacking of satellite communications; and cyber surveillance. Most of these capabilities are commercially available, many are free, and some are illegal. In our view, the existence of both legal and illegal markets and capabilities results in an environment where SIGINT has been democratized, or available to anyone.

(Weinbaum, Berner and McClintock, 2017)

From experience monitoring the Taliban on a decade old Radio Shack Pro-96 in Afghanistan, an undisciplined adversary will usually tell you everything you want to know over the air. Even if he thinks he’s secure with electronic encryption, the presence of the signal itself can be detected as soon as he keys up. After working with several private groups and teaching techniques to not get found in my RTO Course, I can positively say that a lot of people are at a distinct disadvantage in the communications department not through equipment but through a complete misunderstanding of the actual function of their gear. As anyone who’s trained with me knows, tactical communications is a whole other animal from nearly everything folks think they know. The first rule of Signals Counterintelligence is to have a competent plan and not set patterns. But what about collection? Those same mistakes we aim to correct through training are likely to be repeated by the opposing force. Even if they have all the technical enables in the world, a lot can be done with basic equipment…

Click here to read the entire article.

Related:

Sparks 31: Low Level Voice Intercept

Sparks 31: Indicator Frequencies

The above links are now gone. Below are the recovered content of the two articles.

LLVI – Low Level Voice Intercept

That intercept operator from the 513th MI Brigade is using an AOR AR8200. A good choice for a wideband portable if you can afford it. Considering what some of you spend on an M4orgery that won’t see half the action a communications receiver in the hands of a competent operative will see, the AOR is a bargain. However, now that events have gone to a slow boil in the US, and that this is a come-as-you-are party, you just have to run what you brung.

Low-Level Voice Intercept (LLVI) is exactly what what the name implies. It’s performing point and sector searches for voice communications, and something scanner hobbyists have been doing for decades. Even if all you have is a cheap Chinese HT, you can still run LLVI as it receives the VHF-high and UHF land mobile bands just fine. I’ve actually had students in previous classes do that, and they managed just fine.

Here are some examples of less-expensive gear you’d use for LLVI. The receiver on the left is a Whistler WS1040. No surprises there. It covers all the necessary bands, does P25 Phase I, trunking, and has Spectrum Sweeper. To the right is an Alinco dual-band (2m/440) HT that has some extended receive coverage up to ~900 MHz. They both have 1/8″ audio jacks for plugging in headphones. I run them right into my amplified shooting earmuffs that conveniently have a 1/8″ audio jack input. It serves both to keep the noise level down at a field LP, and let you hear what’s going on around you. A notebook for logging and keeping useful reference material handy. Spare batteries, writing instrument, and something to hold it all that I found at a local army/navy store.

Go visit Radioreference.com to get frequency data for your point and sector searches, use online mapping will show you places that are located above your average terrain for listening. Gear up, take a quick hike, do some listening, and enjoy the view.

Indicator Frequencies

Via a suggestion from my friend “GDJ”. Here is a list of common indicator frequencies. They are FCC-allocated for public safety intersystem, interoperability, or mutual-aid use. They are usually quiet until something big (involving multiple jurisdictions) happens. That’s what makes them indicator frequencies.  Most of the time they will be analog FM, which means any old flea market special police scanner can be tasked with monitoring them.
While these are the official FCC allocated frequencies for this purpose, that doesn’t necessarily mean a region will be using them. Do your research.Indicator Frequency List
39.46 – Police Intersystem
39.48 – Fire Intersystem
45.86 – Police Intersystem
45.88 – Fire Intersystem
121.500 – Aeronautical “Guard” (AM)
154.2650 – Fire Intersystem
154.2800 – Fire Intersystem
154.2950 – Fire Intersystem
155.1600 – Search and Rescue Common
155.3400 – EMS Mutual Aid
155.4750 – Law Enforcement Mutual Aid
155.7525 – National Interoperability Calling
453.2125 – National Interoperability Calling
851.0125 – Mutual-Aid Calling

Reason: When Nonviolence Isn’t Enough

Jason Brennan, professor of ethics, economics, and public policy at Georgetown University, over at Reason.com has a longer article up, examining government authority, briefly touching on civil disobedience, and then going on to explore when you are justified to go beyond civil disobedience.

When Nonviolence Isn’t Enough: Does the right to self-defense apply against agents of the state?

In August 2017, Richard Hubbard III stopped at a red light in Euclid, Ohio, but his front bumper went a few feet past the white line. The cops pulled him over. That’s no surprise: Police in Euclid, Cleveland Heights, and the surrounding cash-strapped towns strictly enforce traffic rules. But officers didn’t just give the driver a ticket.

The police demanded Hubbard—a black man—step out of his vehicle. Dashcam footage shows that he calmly complied. Yet one officer immediately spun Hubbard around, bent his arm, and slammed him against his Hyundai. He flipped Hubbard again, punched him in the face, and kicked his groin. Hubbard screamed and put his arms up to protect himself. The other officer joined in.

They threw Hubbard to the ground but continued to punch, hammer, and kick him. When he tried to protect his face, they chanted the informal motto of American police, “Stop resisting!” Even when Hubbard was subdued, prostrate with his hands behind his back and two large officers pinning him down, one officer continued to pummel his skull.

Imagine you witness the whole thing. A thought occurs to you: You’re armed. You could shoot the officers, perhaps saving Hubbard’s life or preventing him from being maimed and disabled. May you do so?

Below, I defend a controversial answer: Yes, you may. Shooting the cops in this case is dangerous—they may send a SWAT team to kill you—and in many places it’s illegal. But it is nevertheless morally permissible, indeed heroic and admirable. You have the right to defend yourself and others from state injustice, even when government agents act ex officio and follow the law…